Florida car owners already pay some of the country’s highest insurance premiums. Last year’s storms threatened to push even higher prices.
Now experts warn that President Donald Trump’s prices could worsen the situation.
In 2024, the Floridians paid on average nearly $ 3,200 per year for car insurance, according to Insurify, a price comparison site. Without prices, the average annual premiums had to reach almost $ 3,500.
With a price of prices targeting steel and aluminum, foreign cars and car parts, the Floridians could pay on average nearly $ 4,000 per year in 2026 – an increase of almost 25%, said Matt Brannon, an analyst based in Saint Petersburg for Insurific.
Several factors determine its insurance rate – certain staff, certain macroeconomics. Insurers mostly weigh the history of personal driving, said Brannon. But almost as important is the cost of repairs, where the Trump administration prices are located.
In February, the Trump administration renewed 25% prices on steel and aluminum. Almost two thirds of a given car is made from these two materials, which could increase costs to produce cars and car parts, which increases prices, said Brannon.
Last week, a price on imported cars entered into force. According to the White House, about half of the cars that Americans are manufactured are made in foreign countries.
But what will have the most impact on insurance rates, said Brannon is the 25% tariffs on key automobile parts, such as engines, transmissions and electrical components, which should start in May. While the owners of the invoice for a new vehicle, insurance often pays for repairs and new parts – and insurers will easily transmit these prices to consumers, said Brannon.
According to the White House, about three -quarters of the materials of American vehicles come from other countries.
Wednesday’s announcement by the Trump administration of a 90 -day break on reciprocal prices for most other nations does not seem to stop the samples from cars and automotive parts.
Why is car insurance so dear to Florida to start?
Three risk factors inflate automobile insurance rates in Florida, said Brannon. Premiums should be the highest third in the country by 2026.
The first risk factor is hurricanes. It is estimated that 90,000 complaints landed on the offices of the insurers of Hurricane Debby, Helene and Milton last year, which cost businesses up to $ 5 billion, said Brannon.
Florida also has high rates of dispute and insurance fraud, he said.
“When you have insurers forced to cover this type of losses, they often turn around and increase their consumer bonuses,” said Brannon.
Automobile insurance rates have rushed in recent years after diving during the first years of the pandemic. The automotive insurance sector corrected the course while the Americans returned to work and redesigned the roads. Average rates increased by 23% between 2022 and 2023, according to Insurify.
This year was supposed to mark an increase in increased rate increases in recent years, said Brannon. The prices have decreased this possibility.
But analysts also carefully look at a current change in the Trump administration, which could alleviate bonuses increases, said Brannon. The stock market clues crushed, then rebounded quickly during last week in the middle of uncertainty as to whether the civil servants will retract their most devastating prices or will create new exemptions, as was made for the goods of Canada and Mexico.
Should I keep the purchase of a new car?
Although all car owners feel the effect of insurance rate increases, those looking for a new or used car could cope with additional challenges.
Prices on full cars, now in force, could increase prices up to $ 2,000 to $ 6,000 for new cars, said Brannon. According to S&P Global, almost half of the sales of American cars could be affected, which follows the automotive industry. These price increases could stimulate the demand for used cars, increase costs in this sector also, said Brannon.
Motor sales have increased in recent weeks before the pricing threat, according to the New York Times. And car manufacturers are already starting to reduce imports due to prices.
What about gas?
If there is a silver lining of a world stock market fall, it is that the price of oil has dropped to a lower over four years in the midst of recession fears. The Trump administration said it wanted to maintain the price of low energy, pricing tariff exemptions for crude oil and liquid natural gas from other nations.
According to AAA, Tampa Bay has had a slow increase in gas prices that have to do with the maintenance of refineries and seasonal variations. The average price of Florida is currently almost $ 3.20 Gallon for ordinary fuel.
But if the price of oil remains low, consumers could soon see a certain relief at the pump, said Patrick de Haan, principal analyst at Gasbuddy, a price monitoring service.
An accident on the stock market, plus an increase in prices elsewhere, could leave the Americans with less money to spend on plane tickets and travel on the road, reducing gas request, said from Haan. In the short term, this means that gas will be cheaper.
But in the long term, refineries will slow production, he said. When consumer demand bounces, there could be an increase in prices.
How is Port Tampa Bay?
Port Tampa Bay provides almost half of Florida’s fuel. Fortunately, most of her fuel comes at the national level in Texas, spokesperson Lisa Wolf-Chason told Tampa Bay Times in February.
About a third of the loading tonnage of the port comes from foreign trade. If fewer foreign expeditions arrive, the port could lose the costs of the importers that importers pay, Wolf-Chason said. But most of the impact of prices will be felt by the tenants of the port.
Already, the port notes an increase in the use and requests for the use of its area of foreign commercial, which allows companies to store freight and manufacturing products before going through American customs, said Torrey Chambliss, who heads the area at Port Tampa Bay.
While companies will possibly have to pay prices on imports, the foreign commercial area allows them to avoid paying these prices at the same time, said Chambliss.
The port has two goals, said Chambliss: bringing back to manufacture on American soil, while helping foreign and national tenants to survive. It is not realistic to bring all production to America while remaining competitive at costs, he said.
“We try to soften the impact as much as possible,” he said
