Berks Connect
Money & Insurance

Why Did My Insurance Go Up? A Berks County Answer

Rates rose statewide, and the law says what your renewal must show. What moves a Berks premium, the rules on claims and credit, and how to re-shop it.

Berks Connect Blog|Published October 7, 2026
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If your renewal came in higher and you're asking "why did my insurance go up" when you had no ticket and no accident that was your fault, the answer is that rates rose across Pennsylvania: cars, parts and the cost of rebuilding a house all got more expensive, and insurers are paying out far more than they were a few years ago. Read the notice for what the law requires the company to show you on it, then ask a local agent to price the exact same coverage with more than one company; The Berks County insurance agents page is where to find one.

Why did car and home insurance go up across Pennsylvania?

Because fixing cars and rebuilding houses both got more expensive. The average yearly spend on car insurance in Pennsylvania was $1,018 per insured car in 2022 and $1,155 in 2023, up 13.5%. The average standard homeowners policy went from $1,120 to $1,217 over the same two years, up 8.7%.

No company in Pennsylvania can raise its rates on its own. Every rate change is filed with the Pennsylvania Insurance Department before it takes effect and can be turned down; a car insurance filing normally waits 60 days first. The statewide averages above rose sharply into 2023; the car filings the state approved most recently average slightly lower, so the wave has slowed on average. The table shows what was blocked each year and what the approved car filings averaged.

Year Personal auto increases the Department blocked Homeowners increases the Department blocked Approved auto filings, average change
2023 $64.3 million not reported not reported
2024 $119.7 million $42.9 million not reported
2025 $91 million $16 million 0.2 percent decrease
Early 2026 not yet reported not yet reported 0.5 percent decrease

What the Pennsylvania Insurance Department reported blocking through rate review, by year, and the average change in the auto filings it approved, as of its April 2026 release. The percentages describe approved filings, not any one household's bill.

An average across many filings includes increases, so your own renewal can still rise when your company's filing was an increase, or when something on your policy changed: a new driver, a different car, more miles.

What an insurer is allowed to price on, and what it can't.

So what did you do to earn the increase? Usually nothing: an insurer prices you on a list of things about the car, the house and the people. On a car policy it may look at the type and age of the vehicle, its safety features, where it's garaged, miles driven a year, the coverages and limits you chose, the driving record of every driver on the policy and, at some companies, your credit history, which a company may use to lower a renewal but never to raise one. A driver you've added is on that list. By law it may not charge different rates based on race, religion, national origin or gender.

On a house the list starts with the replacement cost, meaning what it would cost to rebuild the house, not what you paid for it. Then brick or wood frame, distance to a hydrant and a fire station, the age and condition of the house, the claims history of the house and of houses nearby, your deductible, whether home and car are with one company, how long you've been a customer and credit history.

What your renewal notice has to show you.

A surcharge is an extra charge added to your premium for an accident or a violation, so start by looking for a surcharge line. If there isn't one, you weren't charged for an accident or a violation. On a car policy a company can't raise your premium for a claim it paid unless you were at fault, and it can't surcharge you for a medical benefits claim on your own policy. A small accident can't be counted against you either. Take what the company paid for any one person or piece of property after your deductible is taken out, counting the three years before the renewal. If that stayed under the cap, it can't surcharge you or count it against you. The cap is $2,350 as of 2026.

If it does surcharge you, it has to tell you how the surcharge was figured and show the dollar amount on the premium notice. The company also has to send you a detailed statement of what makes up your premium, with any surcharge listed separately; if you don't see it, ask the company or your agent for it.

How to get cheaper car insurance without giving up coverage.

Start with the discounts the law says every company has to offer. If every named insured on the policy is 55 or older and has completed a PennDOT-approved driver improvement course, the discount is at least 5% on every coverage, for each vehicle on the policy.

Airbags and automatic seat belts, which the law calls passive restraints, earn discounts on the first-party benefits coverage, the part of the policy that pays you (your medical bills, and income loss, death and funeral benefits if you bought them): at least 15% for automatic seat belts, 20% for a driver's airbag and 30% for two airbags. Those come off that one coverage, not the whole bill, and the company must already apply them unless it has shown the state they're built into its rates, so ask whether yours does. A passive antitheft device earns at least 10% on comprehensive, the coverage for damage that isn't a crash: theft, fire, hail, a deer.

Beyond those, bundle the car with your home, condo or renters policy for a multi-policy credit. A usage-based program, an app or plug-in that tracks how you drive, can lower the price for a careful driver and can also surcharge one it judges unsafe.

Limited tort means giving up the right to sue for pain and suffering after an accident, except in certain cases, in exchange for a lower price. It can save 40%, but off four pieces of the bill, not the whole bill: the coverage for people you hurt, your own medical benefits, and the two that pay you when the other driver has no insurance or too little. Your policy shows which tort option you have, so check it before counting on the 40%. The exceptions are a question for the agent.

How to lower homeowners insurance on a Berks County house.

One lever on a house is the deductible, the amount you pay first on any claim: raise it and the premium may come down. If your wind-and-hail deductible is a percentage, it's figured on the rebuild cost, not on the claim, so 2% on a house that would cost $200,000 to rebuild means the first $4,000 of a roof claim is yours.

The lever not to pull is the amount the house is insured for. If that amount drops below 80% of the full cost to rebuild, the company may reduce what it pays on a claim.

Premiums often run higher for older homes and homes in poor condition, and that rule names no cutoff year. This county has a lot of them: more than one in four housing units in Berks County, 47,206 of 171,580 (27.5%), were built before 1940, and in the City of Reading it's more than half, 20,518 of 36,032 (56.9%). That figure shows how old the county's houses are, not where the rule starts.

Who has the lowest insurance rates in Pennsylvania?

Nobody has the lowest rate for everyone. Each company weighs the factors above its own way and re-files its rates with the state, so the answer changes by household and by year.

The method is to get quotes from at least three companies for the exact same coverages and limits, because a cheaper quote with a lower limit or a higher deductible isn't cheaper, it's a different policy. Which agent matters: one who quotes several companies can re-shop the policy across all of them, while one who represents a single company can run your policy again with that one company and look for discounts you've missed; we've written about independent agents and one-company agents separately. The Berks County insurance agents page lists the local people who do this.

Questions people ask.

Why did my car insurance go up with no accidents and no tickets?

Because the base rate rose across Pennsylvania. A claim the company paid can't raise your rate unless you were at fault, and any surcharge has to appear in dollars on your notice.

Does your credit score affect car insurance in Pennsylvania?

Some companies use a credit-based insurance score, a number built from your credit report that isn't the same as your credit score. A new company may use it when it first writes your policy; your current company may use it to lower your renewal, never to raise it.

Is it safe to switch companies in the middle of a term?

The one caution is the first 60 days. A new company can take up to 60 days after issuing a policy to finish checking it, and on a new car or home policy you lose some protection from cancellation in that window; on a car policy it still owes you a written reason if it cancels.

What if the notice says cancelled or not renewed instead of a higher number?

On a car policy the company has to mail you a written notice at least 60 days ahead (15 days when the reason is nonpayment or a suspended license or registration), state its specific reason, and tell you that you have 30 days to ask the Insurance Commissioner in writing to review it; the Commissioner has to decide within 40 days. The Pennsylvania Insurance Department's consumer line is 1-866-722-6675.

A higher renewal with no ticket and no at-fault accident isn't a penalty, and the notice has to show you what it is, line by line. Read it, then put the same coverage in front of a local agent and ask for three prices.

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