Insurance Rate Guard Editorial Staff

First Acceptance Arizona Rates: How to Check If Yours Went Up in 2026

Disclaimer: Insurance Rate Guard is not an insurance agency and does not provide professional financial advice. Our content is for educational purposes only. Please consult a professional advisor before making any financial decisions.

If you’re insured with a nonstandard carrier like First Acceptance, your rate can climb more often and more sharply than it would with a standard-market insurer. Here’s how to check for yourself whether your carrier filed a rate change in Arizona this year, without relying on figures no one can confirm.

Insurers can’t raise rates in Arizona without first filing the request with the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions (DIFI). Those filings are public, and you can search them directly for free.

How to Look Up Your Insurer’s Rate Filing Yourself

DIFI publishes its rate filings through SERFF (System for Electronic Rate and Form Filing), the same platform nearly every state insurance department uses. You can search any insurer operating in Arizona at SERFF Filing Access for Arizona or through DIFI’s filing access page.

The process is simple:

  1. Open the portal and accept the terms of use (it’s free; you just agree to the NAIC’s conditions, since the NAIC runs the system).
  2. Search by your insurer’s name, or if you have a filing’s tracking number, look it up directly.
  3. Check the filing’s “Rate/Rule Schedule” to see the percentage change, the effective date, and how many policies it affects.

If you find nothing, your insurer may not have filed a recent change, or a filing may still be under review. DIFI also accepts public records requests if you need more detail than the portal shows.

Why Nonstandard Insurers Change Rates More Often

First Acceptance, like other nonstandard insurers, specializes in drivers who have a hard time getting coverage elsewhere: drivers with prior accidents, violations, or lapses in coverage, often carrying a required SR-22. That risk pool produces more claims per policy than the book at standard-market carriers like GEICO or State Farm, so rates in this segment tend to move more often and by larger percentages when claims costs shift.

That doesn’t make every increase unfair. It means your renewal deserves a closer look than it would on a standard-market policy.

What to Do If Your Renewal Went Up

Your declarations page is the only reliable source for your actual rate; no article can tell you what you specifically will pay. If your premium climbed at your last renewal, here’s what you can do:

  1. Ask whether you still need nonstandard coverage. If your SR-22 requirement has ended and your record is clean, get quotes from standard carriers like GEICO or Progressive before you renew.
  2. Look up your insurer’s filing in the SERFF portal (above) to confirm whether the increase came from a general rate change or something specific to your profile.
  3. Compare at least two other nonstandard insurers with identical coverage limits, since pricing swings widely in this market.
  4. Raise your deductible on collision and comprehensive if you can cover a larger out-of-pocket cost after a claim.
  5. Re-shop every six months instead of waiting for your full annual renewal, since nonstandard rates can shift faster than standard-market pricing.

Sources