Motor vehicle insurance prices rose 11.1% from February 2024 to February 2025, based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data highlighted by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). When a number like that is sitting in the background, it changes how most of us think about money after a crash, because even a “normal” claim can end up feeling like it carries a lot of financial weight.
Traditionally, people hear about two paths: file through insurance and hope it goes smoothly, or hire an attorney to push for more. There’s a third option worth understanding: AI-assisted self-filing services, such as Mighty.com, that helps you for free build a stronger claim package and pursue fair damages while keeping all of the upside for yourself.
This article walks through what makes this middle lane work, how to approach it responsibly, and how to stay grounded in real-world guardrails as AI becomes more formal in insurance oversight.
Paperwork Has a Payoff
The simplest way to think about an insurance claim is this: it’s a decision made from a file. The stronger and clearer your file is, the easier it is for any system (human or automated) to follow the story you’re telling and verify the dollars attached to it.
That’s one reason CPI methodology is worth a quick mention here. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) explains that the CPI motor vehicle insurance index is built from premium data for selected policies, and it’s designed to measure price change while holding driver and vehicle characteristics constant. That kind of discipline signals what the broader insurance world values: consistent inputs, clean categories, and documentation that can be compared and validated.
AI-assisted self-filing tools aim to help you produce that kind of consistency without needing to become a claims professional. Not by “gaming” the process, but by organizing what happened, what it cost, and what proof exists.
Here’s the “claim file thinking” checklist that tends to make everything smoother, and it’s the only list worth keeping close:
- A simple timeline (collision date, first symptoms if any, appointments, repair shop visits, missed work dates).
- Photos and video captured as soon as safely possible, plus any follow-up photos as damage becomes clearer.
- Repair documentation (initial estimate, supplements, receipts, tow/storage bills).
- Income proof if work was missed (pay stubs, a note from your employer, or other standard records).
- Notes that clarify impact on daily life, written plainly and updated consistently.
None of this is glamorous. But it’s positive in a very real way: it gives you control. And control is often what people are actually looking for when they say they want a “better” outcome.
Help Without the Hefty Cut
If the claim process were intuitive for everyone, far fewer people would seek outside help. But the data suggests plenty of claimants do.
In 2023, 47.7% of auto liability bodily injury claims involved attorney representation, and that figure was reported as up about two percentage points from 2022, according to a Claims Journal report citing findings from Sedgwick. That doesn’t mean every case needs a lawyer, but it does confirm something important: many people feel the process is complicated enough that they want backup.
This is exactly where AI-assisted self-filing can make sense as a “middle lane,” especially for claims that are straightforward on liability and documentation but still demanding in paperwork. It’s support without automatically signing up for a percentage-based fee structure.
A helpful mental model is to treat this option like guided project management. You still own the claim. You still make the calls. The tool’s value is in prompts, structure, and completeness, helping you avoid the common gaps that slow claims down or weaken negotiations.
Cost pressure makes this more than a nice idea. BTS reported that transportation goods and services rose 1.7% year over year (Feb 2024 to Feb 2025), while motor vehicle insurance alone rose much faster in that same period. That mismatch can leave people feeling like there’s less room for extra costs, including professional fees, unless the situation truly demands it.
One more point that doesn’t get said enough: choosing the third option can also be a way to keep conversations calmer. When your information is organized and your requests are clear, it’s easier to stay factual, even when you’re understandably stressed. And yes, that tends to help outcomes, because a clean, consistent file is easier to resolve than a messy one. (That’s the afterthought most people discover late, but it’s worth knowing early.)
AI Has Rules Now, Too
Optimism about AI-assisted self-filing lands better when it’s paired with responsibility. Fortunately, the broader system is moving in that direction. In April 2024, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) issued a Model Bulletin on insurers’ use of artificial intelligence systems, signaling that AI governance is now a serious regulatory topic.
The bulletin focuses on expectations around oversight, risk management, and consumer impacts, which is a strong reminder that AI isn’t a free-for-all in insurance operations. For consumers, that’s good news if it nudges everyone toward clearer processes and better documentation standards.
It also supports a practical approach: be transparent, keep records and assume your claim may be reviewed through systems designed to spot inconsistencies. An AI-assisted self-filing tool can help you stay consistent, but it only works well when what you submit is accurate and well-supported.
This is also where it helps to respect what insurance costs are actually doing in the real world. BTS noted that motor vehicle insurance was the biggest contributor to inflation in the transportation category in that February 2025 reporting. At the same time, motor vehicle maintenance and repair rose 2.5% year over year (Feb 2024 to Feb 2025), which is a reminder that repairs still trend upward even when they don’t spike the way premiums can.
So, if insurers are being pushed to govern and document their AI use, shouldn’t we also bring a well-documented, easy-to-verify story of loss when it’s our turn to be evaluated?
Keep the Calm
A good claim outcome often comes down to avoidable “leakage.” Not fraud, not tricks, just the everyday leakage of missing paperwork, unclear timelines and fees that don’t match the complexity of the situation.
The data supports why people care. Transportation’s share of overall inflation was reported by BTS as 9.8% of the 2.8% CPI increase from Feb 2024 to Feb 2025, and motor vehicle insurance was a standout pressure point inside that picture. BLS also shows motor vehicle insurance has a meaningful weight in CPI (2.796% relative importance in the CPI basket), which reinforces that this expense isn’t a minor line item for many households.
As oversight around AI becomes more formal and consumers become more cost-conscious, “assisted self-filing” can become a mainstream, responsible way to pursue fairness while keeping more of the value you recover. And if better documentation is free to create, why leave money on the table?