How the check works
Every figure the check shows comes from a public source or from the two numbers you type. This page lists the sources, the arithmetic and the limits.
What you enter
The premium for the term that is ending, the premium on the renewal notice, and whether the policy renews every 6 or 12 months. From those the check works out the change in dollars and in percent, and scales a 6-month change to a year by doubling it.
The calculation runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.
Source one: rate filings
In most states insurers file their rate changes with the state insurance department. Most departments receive the filings through SERFF, a filing system run by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and make them available to the public.
Filings on record here:
- Tennessee: 17 filings, as of October 2026, copied from the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance's Monthly Auto Policy Rates on November 13, 2026.
From each filing the check uses these figures, as the insurer reported them:
- Overall rate impact
- The average change the filing produces across the company's affected policies.
- Maximum and minimum rate impact
- The largest increase and the largest decrease the filing produces for any single policy.
- Policies affected
- How many policies the filing applies to.
- Disposition date
- The day the state closed its review of the filing.
- SERFF tracking number
- The public identifier of the filing, so anyone can look it up.
The check uses private passenger auto filings only (type of insurance codes 19.0000 and 19.0001). Motorcycle and recreational vehicle filings appear on the state pages but are not compared with a car renewal.
Filings are made by legal entities, not brands. One advertised brand can have several underwriting companies, each with its own figures, which is why the check asks for the company name on your declarations page. Company names appear here as they do in the public record. This site is not affiliated with any insurer or regulator.
Source two: the national price index
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a monthly index of what households pay for motor vehicle insurance. The series is: Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, motor vehicle insurance, not seasonally adjusted.
The index stood at 890.473 in September 2025 and 846.102 in September 2026, a change of −5.0%. In October 2026 it was 854.597, +1.0% on the month before. BLS did not publish a 12-month change for October 2026 because October 2025 prices were not collected.
Source: BLS Consumer Price Index news release, read on November 13, 2026.
How the comparison is made
When there is a filing for your company, your percentage change is placed against it. Two changes within 1 percentage point of each other are treated as the same.
| Result | When your change is |
|---|---|
| Above the filed range | more than 1 point above the largest increase in the filing |
| Above the filed average | more than 1 point above the overall impact, but inside the range |
| In line with the filing | within 1 point of the overall impact |
| Below the filed average | more than 1 point below the overall impact, but inside the range |
| Below the filed range | more than 1 point below the largest decrease in the filing |
| Not explained by the filing | an increase, while the filing changed no rates |
| No rate change filed | flat or lower, while the filing changed no rates |
When there is no filing for your company, your change is placed against the national index in the same way: above, in line with, or below the trend.
A change smaller than 0.5% in either direction is described as flat.
Limits
- A filing applies from an effective date. The monthly tables do not show it, so a filing on record may not have reached your renewal yet.
- More than one filing can apply to the same renewal, and only the most recent one on record is compared.
- A filing describes a company's whole book. It says nothing about your driving record, vehicle, address or any other rating factor on your own policy.
- The national index covers 12 months. A renewal on a 6-month policy compares two half-year terms.
- The index is an average of prices paid across the country. It is not a forecast for any one policy.
- The check is not a quote and not insurance advice.
Dates and corrections
The date each source was last read is shown beside it. If you find a figure that does not match its source, write to contact@ratemyrenewal.com and it will be corrected.
The calculation code is version 1.0.0. A self-test page runs its checks in your browser.