From the direct mail offers that auto insurers keep sending consumers, you wouldn't know that corporate advertising and marketing budgets are shrinking.

According to the direct marketing gurus at Mintel Comperemedia, nearly 3 billion auto insurance direct mail offers were mailed from Q2 2008 through Q1 2009. This is about the same number mailed the previous year, despite a sharp downward turn in the economy.

Furthermore, the past two years' mail volume represents a high for the industry. Five years ago, auto insurers sent less than half as many offers.

There is a simple explanation for the volume of direct mail offers, says Daniel Hayes, vice president of insurance services for Mintel Comperemedia-the need for insurers to remain profitable in this recession.

"The recession brings new challenges, like rising repair costs and more uninsured motorists, to the auto insurance industry," Hayes said. "Insurers realize higher rates won't bode well with cash-strapped consumers, so they're using direct mail to communicate policy changes with drivers."

Annual direct written premium (DWP) for private passenger auto insurance, which grew around 8 percent each year in the early 2000s, has fallen flat in recent years. In 2007, for example, annual DWP fell for the first time since 1993 (by 0.4 percent). Throw in the mix that consumers are cutting collision coverage and increasing deductibles to cut their costs, and insurers have more reasons to boost revenue.

"Despite proposed rate increases, auto insurers still focus on finding savings for individual drivers," Hayes said, adding that three themes are emerging in auto insurance direct mailings: saving over competitors' rates, accident forgiveness, and rewards for safe driving.

During Q2 2008 to Q1 2009, Mintel Comperemedia reports that Geico was the top mailer of auto insurance offers, sending nearly one-third of the pieces tracked. State Farm followed with 16 percent of the total mailings, while Liberty Mutual, The Hartford, and Allstate rounded out the top five. Together, these five insurers accounted for 70 percent of auto insurance direct mail tracked by Mintel Comperemedia.