Auto Insurance Shopping Jumps 13.2% in Q3 as Switching Rises: JD Power

Auto insurance shopping rose 13.2% from Q2 to Q3 2026, while switching carriers climbed 5.1%, according to JD Power's Q3 2026 Signals Intelligence for Personal Lines Insurance report. The gap between those two numbers tells the real story: consumers still compare, but fewer of them find a reason to move.

JD Power attributes the shift to moderating rate actions across the personal lines market. "As rate actions moderate and premium increases begin to stabilize, consumers are finding fewer opportunities for meaningful savings through switching carriers," the firm noted in the report. In plain terms, the savings gap between incumbent carriers and rivals has narrowed. That removes the main incentive that drove record shopping activity over the past two years.

What do the Q3 2026 numbers show?

The report breaks shopping and switching into three lines of business, and each one moved differently:

• Auto: Shopping increased 13.2% quarter over quarter and stayed flat year over year. Switching rose 5.1%.
• Home: Shopping went up 7.7%, and switching rose 3.0%.
• Renters: Shopping increased 6.5% in Q3. Switching rose 3.9% quarter over quarter but fell below last year's level.

Auto shopping growth has slowed significantly from the elevated levels observed during 2024 and 2025, JD Power said. The comparison is straightforward: shopping rates that once surged year over year now barely hold steady, even as the quarterly figure rebounds.

Property tells an even cooler story. "Property shopping has cooled more sharply, with periods of negative year-over-year growth reflecting reduced urgency among consumers to seek alternative coverage options," JD Power added.

Why did shopping spike in the first place?

The Signals platform launched in 2020, and JD Power's data traces a full market cycle since then. Pandemic-driven cost pressures pushed premiums and shopping activity higher. Widespread rate increases initially limited switching, because every carrier was raising prices at once, so moving bought little relief. That is the mechanism worth understanding: switching follows the spread between carriers, not the absolute price level.

As pricing stabilized and carriers resumed pursuing growth, switching rose. Shopping has stabilized somewhat since, though JD Power notes current levels remain elevated compared with earlier periods.

Is this the new norm?

JD Power raises one open question in the report: whether AI agents such as Meta Muse could drive shopping and switching even higher by making it easier for consumers to find better rates. The firm does not answer it. But the premise matters for carriers and agents. The comparison-shopping behaviors consumers developed during the recent market cycle are likely to remain a lasting feature of the insurance landscape, JD Power noted, regardless of where rates go next.

The structural point stands even as volumes normalize. A consumer who learned to check three quotes before renewal does not unlearn that habit when premiums flatten.

What happens next?

JD Power says monitoring shopping, and especially switching, will remain critical for carriers and agents through Q4 2026 and into 2027. The emphasis on switching is deliberate. When rate increases slow, switching becomes the leading indicator of competitive pressure, because it shows where retention is actually breaking rather than where consumers are merely browsing.

For agents, the practical read is this: quote requests may ease from their 2024-2025 peak, but retention work does not. Every renewal now sits in front of a customer who knows how to shop, and increasingly has tools that shop automatically.