Consumers don't have good information; applying for car insurance is a big pain, so they usually don't know. They probably apply once, then have the same car in

Consumers don't have good information; applying for car insurance is a big pain, so they usually don't know. They probably apply once, then have the same car insurance for years... which might mean that they are paying too much. Same basic problem as an employee who has worked at the same company for 10 years, and gotten their 3% raise every year - the market may have changed radically, but looking is a burden (emotionally, and otherwise) so they are unaware of that. Enter a tremendous flood of car insurance advertising... to get people to actually evaluate if they are paying too much.