For auto insurance, whether or not you, yourself, have had any accidents or violations, it can be frustrating to see your rate increase. Insurance is still a “pool” of people paying in–and some are having claims. These days, they are referred to as tiers because carriers group customers together based on a group of commonalities and choose the rate for that group (driving experience, age, claims/insurance/payment history, etc.). Some carriers have two or three tiers while others (like Progressive) can have hundreds. The rater for the carrier can change or the rater for any number of tiers can change based on that tier’s experience. Additionally, our society as a whole is continuing to become more litigious and having more devastating accidents from distracted driving. Higher claims and more lawsuits will continue to drive up prices.