What car insurance costs in Mississippi

Where the Mississippi bill lands

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) tracks what insurers collected per insured car in each state. Its 2023 figures, the newest it has published by state, show a Mississippi average expenditure of $1,200, up 13% from $1,061 in 2022.

Liability averaged about 14% below the national figure and collision about 4% below. Comprehensive, the coverage for theft and non-crash damage such as storms, was about 32% above it. As a result, a fully covered Mississippi car cost only 3% less than the U.S. average, while the overall expenditure was 6% lower.

Coverage Mississippi requires

Mississippi's liability minimums, in effect since January 1, 2006, are $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $25,000 per accident for property damage. A separate state office, the Safety Responsibility Division, enforces the compulsory liability law; questions about your policy go to the Insurance Department.

• Uninsured motorist coverage must be part of an auto liability policy, at least at the state minimums, unless you reject it in writing on a form approved by the Insurance Department. You may keep the bodily injury part while rejecting the property damage part.
• Uninsured motorist property damage may exclude the first $200 of damage.
• Collision and comprehensive are optional under state law, though a lender will require them on a financed car.

Rejecting uninsured motorist coverage saves money on paper. But the Insurance Research Council estimated that more than one Mississippi driver in four was uninsured in 2023, so the odds that the driver who hits you can't pay are higher here than in any other state. Weigh the trade-off with our page on limits and deductibles.

How Mississippi oversees prices

Insurers change their rates and premium formulas by asking the Mississippi Insurance Department for a rate review. The department's Property and Casualty Rating Division reviews the rates, rules and forms for all property and casualty policies. The department lists credit score among the factors used to rate auto insurance. Its Regulation 2003-1 sets limits: an insurer can't refuse, cancel or nonrenew a policy, or set your rate, solely on credit history or an insurance score, and if credit works against you it must tell you up to four main reasons. Our page on credit-based insurance scores explains how that factor usually works.

If your insurer decides not to renew your policy and you can't settle the dispute with the company, the department says to call it at 800-562-2957. Keeping coverage in force while you sort it out matters: a gap can make the next policy cost more. See how a lapse affects your price.

When regular insurers turn you down

The Mississippi Automobile Insurance Plan (MSAIP) offers coverage to eligible drivers who can't get it in the voluntary market, sharing them among the companies that write auto insurance in the state. Any agent with a valid Mississippi property and casualty license can place business through it. You need a valid Mississippi driver's license and a car registered in Mississippi. Our guide to assigned risk plans covers what to expect.

Practical ways to pay less in Mississippi

1. 1 Collect quotes on the same limits. Include uninsured motorist coverage in every quote so the comparison is fair.
2. 2 Look at the comprehensive deductible. Comprehensive is the line where Mississippi runs furthest above the U.S. average.
3. 3 Ask which safe-driver and multi-policy discounts apply. Our page on safe driver discounts lists what insurers commonly look for.
4. 4 Get help if a dispute stalls. The Mississippi Insurance Department's Consumer Help Line is 800-562-2957 (601-359-2453 in the Jackson area), and complaints can be filed online.

Questions drivers ask