By: Richard L. Smith
If you’ve noticed your auto insurance bill climbing year after year, you’re not alone.
Across Newark, Essex County, and throughout New Jersey, residents are feeling the squeeze from rising costs on nearly everything—housing, groceries, utilities, gasoline, and health care.
Yet one expense that often flies under the radar until the renewal notice arrives is auto insurance.
Recently, during a Facebook discussion among Newark residents, the topic of car insurance sparked strong reactions. One comment stood out:
“Car insurance is a scam. You pay for just in case every year and when you do need it, they try to fix your car with the cheapest parts and labor possible, then raise your insurance like a penalty.”
While that statement reflects frustration more than fact, it captures a sentiment many drivers in our Garden Stare share. People are paying more than ever, and many wonder exactly what they’re getting in return.
Yup, I remember getting my first auto insurance policy in the mid-1990s while attending William Paterson University.
Like many young drivers from Newark, I knew insurance wasn’t optional, but finding coverage that fit a college student’s budget wasn’t easy.
NO AGENCY WOULD WRITE ME A POLICY! And if they did, it was out of this world expensive.
I ended up at Massey’s Insurance on Lyons Avenue in Newark’s South Ward.
Mr. Raymond J. Massey operated a respected African-American-owned insurance agency out of what appeared to be a large converted home. 
Mr. Massey was always professionally dressed, knowledgeable, and willing to take the time to explain the process to a young driver just getting started.
He was the only one that wrote me a policy. I honestly think he felt sorry for me lol.
Those were different times. Newark and parts of Northern NJ was dealing with significant auto theft issues, and obtaining affordable insurance could be challenging depending on where you lived and what you drove.
Even then, insurance wasn’t cheap. I paid $1175 for just Liability Insurance at that time.
Not long after purchasing my policy, I experienced my first minor crash while driving on Ferry Street in Newark’s Ironbound section. Another driver came through the Monroe Street area and sideswiped my vehicle 1977 Buick Elantra given to me by my sister to get to work as at Seafood Department Clerk at the Kings Super Market in Chatham NJ.
It wasn’t a major crash, but as a young driver who had only carried insurance for a few months, it certainly got my attention.
Like many first-time drivers, it was a lesson in why insurance exists in the first place—even when we don’t like paying for it.
Fast forward three decades, car theft is significantly down in Newark compared to then; many New Jersey drivers are paying substantially more than they did years ago.
In many households, premiums have doubled or even tripled over time, becoming another major expense competing for space in already stretched family budgets.
According to the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, insurance carriers continue to cite rising repair costs, labor expenses, vehicle replacement values, medical claims, and other claim-related costs as factors driving premium increases.
State regulators review rate filings and oversee requests for insurance rate adjustments.
The reality is that today’s vehicles are far more expensive to repair than the cars many of us drove in the 1990s.
What was once a simple bumper repair may now involve sensors, cameras, radar systems, and computerized safety technology that must be replaced and recalibrated after even minor collisions.
Changes in New Jersey’s insurance requirements, increasing liability costs, inflation, and the growing expense of vehicle repairs have all contributed to the pressure facing both insurers and consumers.
Still, many drivers feel trapped.
New Jersey requires motorists to carry insurance to legally operate a vehicle. That means families often have little choice but to absorb premium increases, search for another carrier, or reduce coverage options where possible.
For working families in Newark, Irvington, East Orange, Elizabeth, Jersey City, Paterson, and communities across North Jersey, the impact is real.
An increase of $50, $100, or more per month may not seem significant on paper, but over the course of a year it becomes another burden added to already rising living expenses.
Consumer advocates have called for greater transparency in rate-setting and stronger oversight of premium increases, while the insurance industry argues that rates reflect the actual cost of claims and the risks associated with insuring drivers.
The truth likely falls somewhere in between.
Insurance companies face higher costs than they did 30 years ago, but consumers are also facing higher costs than they did 30 years ago. Both realities exist at the same time.
What remains unanswered for many New Jersey residents is a simple question: At what point does a legally required product become unaffordable for the people who are required by law to purchase it?
I often think back to that day at Massey’s Insurance on Lyons Avenue when I walked out with my first policy in hand. The prices seemed high back then, but compared to today’s premiums, they almost seem reasonable.
For many drivers across North Jersey, the conversation is no longer just about insurance. It’s about affordability, fairness, and whether the average working family can continue keeping up with the rising cost of simply getting behind the wheel.
And judging by the conversations happening every day across Newark and beyond, that debate is far from over.
Editor’s Note: Information regarding insurance rate filings, regulatory oversight, and factors influencing premium increases is based on data and guidance provided by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance and related state government sources.