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The 10 Most Expensive and Cheapest States for Car Accident Repairs

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Most people know that where they live plays a role when it comes to their car insurance premiums. But you might be surprised to know that drivers in some states also pay a lot more for accident repairs. The Dolman Law Group’s recent research found that drivers in Rhode Island pay nearly five times as much for repairs as people in Hawaii, the cheapest state.

The 10 most expensive states for accident repairs:

  1. Rhode Island: $1,987 per capita
  2. Georgia: 1,761 USD
  3. Connecticut: $1,712
  4. New Jersey: $1,577
  5. Delaware: $1,518
  6. Tennessee: $1,472
  7. Wyoming: $1,457
  8. Louisiana: $1,413
  9. Maine: $1,396
  10. Kentucky: $1,378

Why are costs so high in Rhode Island? One of the main reasons is the low percentage of licensed drivers in the state. Only 68.8 percent of the population has a driver’s license. This increases the cost per capita, while states with a higher percentage of licensed drivers can spread these repair costs across a larger portion of the population. It’s worth noting that Rhode Island has the lowest fatality rate of all the states in the study.

However, Rhode Island lawmakers also passed a new law that extends the age of vehicles at which insurers cannot cover the cost of non-OEM parts during repairs. They can now refuse non-OEM parts for cars that are up to 72 months old, which can further increase repair costs in the state.

At the other end of the spectrum, the average repair cost in many states is well under the $1,000 mark:

  1. Hawaii: $410
  2. Pennsylvania: 520 USD
  3. Oregon: $669
  4. Minnesota: $674
  5. California: $736
  6. Virginia: $756
  7. Idaho: $758
  8. West Virginia: $815
  9. Arizona: $817
  10. Washington: 832 US dollars

Earlier this year, Car blog A similar topic was covered by NetCredit, which used data from RepairPal. Dolman Law Group analyzed the number of licensed drivers, the financial impact of accidents, and the number of fatal accidents in each state to create their list. The NetCredit study ranked California as the most expensive state and West Virginia as the least expensive.

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