Aside from the great weather in southern California, residents are sitting pretty because they probably get a good deal on car insurance.

The Consumer Federation of America today released the results of an auto insurance study that found states with more regulation of the industry save consumers money.

Fifteen states require auto insurers to submit rate increases to them for approval before putting them in effect.

Among those, California did the best job of saving drivers money. From 1989 to 2005 rates increased only 12.9 percent, which beats the next lowest, New Jersey by almost 8 percent.

States whose rates were the highest included Hawaii, DC, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont.

The study attributes the cost savings to state regulation and says that states where regulation is lacking, where consumers rely on a more free market system, they pay more.

To see the full study go here: www.consumerfed.org/pdfs/state_auto_insurance_report.pdf

April 24, 2008