Utah car insurance rates are spiking

The cost of car insurance has climbed rapidly in Utah for the past 18 months.

Why it matters: Fast-rising insurance rates contribute to a transportation affordability crisis — especially in places where people have few alternatives to car ownership.

Driving the news: Utah's average annual cost of full-coverage insurance hit $2,009 in June, per Insurify, a digital insurance agent that helps users collect quotes from multiple insurers.

• That's up from $1,127 in January 2021.

Between the lines: Insurers are still catching up after driving and accident rates climbed after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Axios' Courtenay Brown reports , leaving them with more money going out than coming in.

• "The longer it took to address that issue, the deeper in the hole the insurers were and the more price increases they actually needed," Yaron Kinar, an analyst who covers insurers at Jefferies, told Courtenay.

Lucky us: Utah insurance rates still trend below costs elsewhere — though we're gradually catching up.

• The national average reached $2,329, up from $1,601 in January of 2021.