Insurance, Gen Z, Credit Freezes: Your Questions Answered

Both before and during each Market Pulse webinar, our audience submits their burning questions to our expert panelists, some of which we run out of time to cover in the live webinar and which we then answer in this blog. For our January Market Pulse webinar, our panel included Amy Crews Cutts, President and Chief Economist at AC Cutts and Associates, Jesse Hardin, and Maria Urtubey, Senior Advisors at Equifax. Below are their answers on questions around insurance price increases, credit freezing, and more. 

Q: Is the recent increase in vehicle insurance driven by a post-pandemic rebound in driving?

Amy Crews Cutts: Total miles driven has not increased relative to prepandemic numbers. But, the number of accidents has increased. People are driving inattentively (texting, etc). When they do get in an accident, the cars have more complex systems, so what used to be a small paint repair now requires new bumpers or more for thousands because of all the sensors. Cars are safer, but they are heavier and are built to collapse to protect occupants, leading to more damage for a given type of accident.

Q: Going back to the insurance rates increasing due to natural disasters — Is there any data that shows how those higher rates are affecting consumers nationally? Is there any data that shows rates increasing in places like NY and TX due to the insurance increases in CA and FL?

Cutts: Yes - Bankrate and Forbes both have information on that, as well as the Insurance Information Institute. Here is Bankrate’s data for 2024 and January 2025. I think they have similar information for the prior years where comparisons could be made.

Q: Have consumers levered up or delevered over time?

Jesse Hardin: In general, Gen. Z and other populations have levered up from post pandemic to now. There is some evidence in consumer sentiment surveys to suggest consumers may pull back from heightened spending in 2025 and economists generally are predicting spending will slow in 2025.

Q: Has there been an increase in the number of people that have credit frozen or in certain age groups? Can individuals request the free annual credit report if credit is frozen?

Maria Urtubey: We typically observe a 3% freeze rate at the total level but have seen it increase to 4% in 2024. Among Super Prime consumers (those with a risk score of 720+), this rate is over 5% among GenZ-ers and it's above 10% among those 55+ years of age. Among Subprime consumers (those with a risk score < 620), the freeze rate is at most 2%, though it is lower than that among the younger Subprime generations.

Yes, you can still request your free credit report even if you have placed a credit freeze on it. To apply for credit though, you will need to, at least temporarily, lift the security freeze first.

For more on credit freezes, see 8 Facts About Security Freezes.

Q: Do you have data comparing the number of Gen Z who have filed for Bankruptcy in 2024 versus the older generations?

Hardin: The only data we have seen to date is commenced bankruptcy cases from the US Court system, but the data does not show generational data. The data we've reviewed does show bankruptcy volume picking up, but just nearing levels seen before the pandemic, which is representative of backlog volumes built up during the pandemic.

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