The sheer number of vehicles with unique configurations, along with a volatile used car market, is disrupting accurate insurance valuation and cutting into insurer profits, according to a new report by J.D. Power.

The March Insurance Intelligence Report found that vehicle configuration complexity, driven by a shift from mechanical systems to “software-defined” architectures, has increased exponentially, with over 600,000 unique vehicle configurations sold in North America in the 2025 model year.

Within the large pickup truck segment, the Ford F-150 currently has upwards of 100,000 unique build configurations and, market-wide, more than 600,000 unique vehicle configurations were sold in the United States in the last year alone, according to JD Power data.

What might seem daunting to dealer customers is even more so to insurers. Offering a wide range of factory-installed options, packages, and custom features can dramatically affect a vehicle’s price, leading to two vehicles with the same year, make, model, and trim having vastly different original values, the author James Vecchio, head of VIN Products, noted.

Citing one example, the report highlights a 2024 Ford F-150 Lariat 4WD SuperCrew with a 5.5-foot bed could be sold for approximately $69,630 with standard options, while a fully optioned version of the same vehicle could reach $84,465.

“This creates a consequential underwriting blind spot,” the report states, and “unless they have access to the full 17-digit vehicle identification number (VIN) and the corresponding OEM build data tied to that VIN, they may not know which configuration they are actually insuring—creating up to $14,835 in unknown price variability.”

Insurers typically rely on a shortened VIN identifier—often referred to as a “squish VIN”—that provides basic information such as year, make, model, and sometimes trim level. But the truncated VIN lacks the detailed configuration data needed to assess a vehicle’s full replacement value accurately.

Actuarial models built on incomplete vehicle identification data could be off by as much as $15,000 per vehicle, the report noted.

In addition, used-vehicle retail prices have risen 20% in the past five years.

Those two factors substantially impact auto insurance rates because of the gap between the values insurers assume during underwriting and the costs they ultimately face when repairing or replacing vehicles after a claim.

As a result of a supply shortage due to the pandemic, the average used-vehicle retail price is now $29,488, reflecting a more than 20% increase over the past five years, according to JD Power data.

Insurers typically estimate used cars depreciating at a rate of 20% per year, but market dynamics have shifted. EVs have also muddied the depreciation waters because they have depreciated faster than the market average.

Added technology and AI can both benefit and hinder auto insurance valuations, the report stated.

The key to adapting to these changes lies in accessing the full 17-digit VIN configuration data, OEM build information, real-time vehicle valuation insights, and feature-level vehicle attributes so insurers can build more accurate underwriting models, improve claims severity forecasting, and better align pricing with actual risk, Vecchio said.

The analysis draws on JD Power studies, proprietary market data, and VIN‑level configuration and valuation intelligence, including insights derived from the JD Power StudyPrice 2.0 tool, which decodes the full 17‑digit VIN to reflect a vehicle’s exact build profile.