US auto insurance shopping growth slowed to 1.4% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, down from 3.2% in the first quarter, according to the latest LexisNexis Risk Solutions US Insurance Demand Meter.
New policy growth eased slightly as well, to 3.3% from 3.6%, though both figures remained positive enough for LexisNexis to classify the market as "warm" rather than cooling toward contraction.
Shopping activity overall stayed close to record territory even as the growth rate slowed. By the end of the second quarter, 47.2% of auto insurance policies in force had been shopped at least once in the prior 12 months, keeping the market near the historic highs LexisNexis has tracked since the report's 2020 launch.
Rate revisions taking effect during the quarter were roughly evenly split, with 38% representing increases, 36% decreases and 27% rate-neutral, a mix that helps explain why shopping activity has moderated rather than reversed. LexisNexis has previously found that rate decreases are less likely than increases to prompt a policyholder to start shopping.
For the first time since the second quarter of 2022, the exclusive agent distribution channel outgrew both the direct and independent agent channels, expanding for a third consecutive quarter to 6.8% in the period.
Direct channel growth, which had led the market as recently as the first quarter with 9.4% growth, slowed considerably. The independent agent channel continued contracting for a third straight quarter, though the pace of decline eased slightly, to negative 6.4% from negative 7.9% in the prior quarter.
Jeff Batiste, senior vice president and general manager for US auto and home insurance at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, said the shift reflects a more disciplined phase of the market cycle.
"In this new market cycle, insurers are still pursuing growth but with greater discipline and clearer guardrails. That makes precision segmentation more critical than ever," Batiste said, adding that carriers matching the right risk to the right rate will be best positioned for durable, profitable growth.
Policyholders aged 66 and older recorded the strongest shopping growth of any age cohort for the 14th consecutive quarter, extending a streak Insurance Business has tracked across multiple LexisNexis reports over the past two years.
That said, the pace of growth in this segment has been decelerating alongside the broader market, easing from 7.1% in the first quarter to 4.1% in the second. This age group's share of total shoppers has nonetheless grown structurally over time, rising from 14.6% of all auto insurance shoppers in the second quarter of 2020 to 16.7% today.
LexisNexis introduced a new retention signal in this quarter's report: policyholders 66 and older who are actively shopping their auto insurance and also have an active MLS home listing showed a notably higher attrition rate, 23.2%, compared with 19.7% for shoppers in the same age group without a listed home.
That combination, an older policyholder shopping their auto policy while also preparing to relocate, may give carriers a more precise early signal of departure intent than shopping activity alone, since a move often means a policyholder is reassessing their entire insurance program rather than simply price-checking a single line.
The persistence of this age group's shopping activity fits a trend Insurance Business has tracked closely across the past two years of LexisNexis reporting. Consumers 66 and older led all cohorts for 13 consecutive quarters as of the first quarter of 2026 and were separately found to be driving average policy retention down to 78% industry-wide as traditionally loyal segments became more willing to switch.
LexisNexis has previously noted that this group is typically regarded as higher lifetime-value and lower-risk, meaning sustained elevated shopping among older policyholders carries more retention risk for carriers than the same behavior among younger, higher-churn segments would.
For carriers and agents managing retention among older policyholders specifically, the MLS-listing signal offers a more actionable trigger than shopping activity alone, since it points to a life event, relocation, that often coincides with a broader insurance review rather than a simple price comparison.
Combined with the exclusive agent channel's resurgence this quarter, the data suggests carriers leaning on agent-based distribution may be better positioned to catch these relationship-driven retention conversations before a policyholder's move prompts a full switch, compared with a purely direct or digital acquisition model built around price alone.
