Affordable Auto Insurance: How To Go About It
You will find everything important to know about Affordable Auto Insurance here!
Ever brought a new car and just admired the beauty of it? Your new asset purchased by the money of your own hard work. And it would actually kill you a little if something happened to your new car.
Even the slightest bit of scratch would be enough to break your heart.
And let’s just talk about how expensive a car hazard could be on your pocket. A car accident, theft or even a small mishap could charge you a lot of money. What if you don’t have that much left, because you just got a car?
In such a case, auto insurance is your best bet.
Having your car insured for a time period saves you from the unexpected expense of such a mishap.
If you’re new to the world of insurance and have no idea what auto insurance is and how to go about it, this will guide you and answer all your questions.
What is Auto Insurance?
Auto insurance is a type of insurance that provides protection to your vehicle. Whether it be a car or a bike, you can easily get it insured.
Auto insurance is typically used to cushion the blow of an accident or mishap that you’re not able to afford financially. Your insurance company will cover the cost.
How does it work?
Naturally when people get their vehicles insured, they pay premiums on a monthly or annual basis to cover the cost. Then when the time comes, the insurance company provides protection by mitigating the expense otherwise caused by an accident.
There are many factors that decide whether you should be given an insurance plan or not, factors such as your age, health, years of driving experience, history of driving records and other relevant information that is needed.
Affordable Full Coverage Auto Insurance
Full coverage means that your insurance company gives full protection to you and the car and bears every expense that comes with it.
The policy that is outlined for you during the start naturally covers the following losses when you pay your premiums regularly. These coverages include:
- Damage to your property: If your car is stolen and you’re not able to retrieve it back, or if there have been vehicle damages due to a road accident or some other physical harm caused to your car.
- Legal requirement: Any legal action that must be taken against someone who has intentionally or unintentionally caused harm to your property will also be covered in the policy.
- Liability: Damage that you’ve caused to someone else’s property along with yours. Also known as collision coverage. All of this is covered in an affordable liability auto insurance package which covers your expenses when you’re at fault in a road accident.
- Medical expenses: If there has been an injury or hospital bills need to be paid that have been caused by an accident, or if there has been a temporary loss of wages because of the accident will also be covered in the auto insurance policy.
- Comprehensive coverage: This is if your car is damaged by a tree or a concrete pavement and you’re at fault.
Auto insurance policy covers the damage done to your car either by you, or a family member or even a distant friend who was driving your car with your consent.
A personal auto insurance guarantees protection to the driver himself, whether he is driving his own car, or someone else’s- with their permission of course. But you can’t use your car for commercial purposes; only to be used for your own personal driving. We’ll talk about commercial insurance later in this article.
Now that we know what auto insurance is and how it works, it is important to discuss all affordable auto insurance plans and know what matters while being light on the pocket.
Cheap Affordable Auto Insurance
Looking for a cheap affordable auto insurance may be your new task of the day, you have just gotten done with paying a hefty amount for your car which is why you’re now looking for affordable options.
We get that.
Here are some ways that you can easily get an affordable auto insurance rate.
There is a lot of pressure on you and how good of a driver you are. For instance, if you have a clean driving record with accidents at all, and you haven’t ever been charged for drunk driving- chances are you will pay very minimum premiums on your policy.
People who have had medical conditions or are a little older may pay more.
If you’ve ever done a driving course, chances are you will pay a lower amount of premiums.
Your mileage plays a huge role! For instance if you drive your car for 3000 miles a day, chances are you will get a costly car insurance plan. If you drive less than 1000 miles a day you can pay less. What smart people do is use means of mass transit to avoid driving their personal car so much. This is one great technique of cutting down the cost of your auto insurance.
Increasing deductibles leads to paying very low premiums overall. Deductibles are the amount of coverage that you can pay from your own pocket before the insurance company steps in. These usually range from $250-$1000 depending upon how much you can afford to contribute to the loss. If your deductible amount is high, chances are you will pay a very low rate of premium.
You might also NOT need full coverage, and just for the actual damage caused to your vehicle. Asking for miscellaneous coverage in the shape of car rental or roadside coverage you’re actually just making your premiums go VERY high. Think about it, what parts do you actually need covered? And then just settle on paying for those only.
Affordable Commercial Auto Insurance
If you have a commercial work that you do to earn money; whether you’re a truck driving company and use it for transportation of hefty goods, or if you use your own car for deliveries or even running an Uber, there are chances that your vehicle will depreciate over time; in terms of value AND wear and tear.
When your personal vehicle is used for commercial purposes, it is used a lot of times and sometimes not with a lot of care.
In such cases it is important to have your car insured, and this way you have to opt for a commercial auto insurance option.
This is usually used by businesses that have a fleet of vehicles and want them all insured in case something were to happen to them. For businesses that rely heavily on vehicles, it is important to have it running without the additional cost and hassle of accidents.
Progressive Commercial Auto Insurance is a company that operates in having vehicles insured and has a variety of plans that may be suitable for all businesses.
Affordable Auto Insurance Near Me
Most states require some form of auto insurance. And of course the quotes vary. Here is a chart of rates of affordable auto insurance quotes sorted out by state and ranked as most expensive to cheapest.
| 1 | Michigan | $2,878 |
| 2 | Louisiana | $2,389 |
| 3 | Florida | $2,239 |
| 4 | Texas | $2,050 |
| 5 | California | $1,968 |
| 6 | Georgia | $1,936 |
| 7 | DC | $1,928 |
| 8 | Rhode Island | $1,918 |
| 9 | South Carolina | $1,759 |
| 10 | Delaware | $1,757 |
| 11 | Colorado | $1,741 |
| 12 | Montana | $1,693 |
| 13 | Connecticut | $1,688 |
| 14 | Wyoming | $1,684 |
| 15 | Kentucky | $1,621 |
| 16 | Arkansas | $1,620 |
| 17 | Mississippi | $1,580 |
| 18 | Nevada | $1,570 |
| 19 | New Jersey | $1,558 |
| 20 | Arizona | $1,557 |
| 21 | New Mexico | $1,479 |
| 22 | Oklahoma | $1,468 |
| 23 | Maryland | $1,467 |
| 24 | Minnesota | $1,453 |
| 25 | West Virginia | $1,451 |
| 26 | Alabama | $1,449 |
| 27 | Illinois | $1,434 |
| 28 | Kansas | $1,432 |
| 29 | Washington | $1,426 |
| 30 | Missouri | $1,411 |
| 31 | South Dakota | $1,394 |
| 32 | Nebraska | $1,365 |
| 33 | North Carolina | $1,359 |
| 34 | Tennessee | $1,357 |
| 35 | Alaska | $1,337 |
| 36 | Oregon | $1,327 |
| 37 | New York | $1,320 |
| 38 | Utah | $1,300 |
| 39 | Hawaii | $1,295 |
| 40 | Vermont | $1,294 |
| 41 | Massachusetts | $1,275 |
| 42 | Pennsylvania | $1,270 |
| 43 | Virginia | $1,270 |
| 44 | North Dakota | $1,229 |
| 45 | Indiana | $1,213 |
| 46 | Iowa | $1,123 |
| 47 | Idaho | $1,062 |
| 48 | Wisconsin | $1,049 |
| 49 | Ohio | $1,034 |
| 50 | New Hampshire | $985 |
| 51 | Maine | $912 |
Note: Sample rates have been extracted online, courtesy of Bankrate.
The cheapest auto insurance rates are in states like Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio etc. as the table mentions. States like Michigan, Florida, Texas are very expensive.
But what about when you want to look for affordable auto insurance in expensive states?
Most Affordable Auto Insurance in Florida
Here are the cheapest full coverage auto insurance rates in Florida:
| Rank | Insurer | Car insurance quote |
| 1 | GEICO | $984 |
| 2 | State Farm | $1,063 |
| 3 | Liberty Mutual | $1,278 |
| 4 | Direct General | $1,915 |
Affordable Auto Insurance Dallas
| Rank | Auto Insurance Company | Average Annual Rate |
| 1 | GEICO | $1,288 |
| 2 | Progressive | $1,382 |
| 3 | Texas Farm Bureau | $1,464 |
| 4 | State Farm | $1,620 |
| 5 | Mercury | $1,896 |
Affordable Auto Insurance Texas
| Rank | Company | Average annual premium |
| 1 | Fred Loya Insurance | $545 |
| 2 | State Farm | $617 |
| 3 | Chubb | $753 |
| 4 | GEICO | $940 |
| 5 | Dairyland | $959 |
Affordable Auto Insurance in GA (Georgia)
| Rank | Company | Average annual rate |
| 1 | Georgia Farm Bureau | $512 |
| 2 | GEICO | $784 |
| 3 | Progressive | $942 |
| 4 | Allstate | $1,361 |
Affordable Auto Insurance in Michigaz
| Rank | Company | Average annual cost |
| 1 | Auto-Owners Insurance Co. | $1,485 |
| 2 | Frankenmuth Insurance | $1,556 |
| 3 | Progressive | $1,729 |
| 4 | State Farm | $2,909 |
Best Affordable Auto Insurance in California
| Rank | Insurer | Car insurance quote |
| 1 | GEICO | $376 |
| 2 | CSAA | $454 |
| 3 | Progressive | $485 |
| 4 | Mercury | $527 |
| 5 | Auto Club | $570 |
| 6 | State Farm | $705 |
| 7 | Allstate | $713 |
| 8 | Farmers | $763 |
Affordable Auto Insurance Omaha NE (Nebraska)
| Rank | Insurer | Annual insurance premium |
| 1 | Nebraska Farm Bureau | $344 |
| 2 | State Farm | $389 |
| 3 | American Family | $509 |
| 4 | Nationwide | $595 |
| 5 | Progressive | $611 |
| 6 | Allstate | $682 |
Affordable Auto Insurance NJ (New Jersey)
| Rank | Insurer | Car insurance quote |
| 1 | State Farm | $596 |
| 2 | GEICO | $629 |
| 3 | New Jersey Manufacturers | $918 |
| 4 | Progressive | $1,075 |
Affordable Auto Insurance Toledo Ohio
| Rank | Insurer | Premium |
| 1 | Westfield | $361 |
| 2 | GEICO | $419 |
| 3 | Erie | $463 |
| 4 | State Farm | $481 |
| 5 | Grange Mutual | $503 |
| 6 | Progressive | $698 |
| 7 | Allstate | $774 |
| 8 | Nationwide | $792 |
Affordable Auto Insurance Spartanburg SC (South Carolina)
| Rank | Insurer | Average annual premium |
| 1 | Auto-Owners Insurance Co | $567 |
| 2 | GEICO | $687 |
| 3 | State Farm | $688 |
| 4 | Southern Farm Bureau | $858 |
| 5 | Progressive | $878 |
Affordable Auto Insurance Colorado
| Rank | Company | Annual premium |
| 1 | State Farm | $348 |
| 2 | Progressive | $806 |
| 3 | Nationwide | $991 |
| 4 | GEICO | $1,096 |
Affordable Auto Insurance Tennessee
| Rank | Company | Average annual rate |
| 1 | Tennessee Farmers | $407 |
| 2 | Erie | $444 |
| 3 | State Farm | $459 |
| 4 | GEICO | $526 |
| 5 | Progressive | $599 |
| 6 | Nationwide | $771 |
Note: All these quotes have been extracted online, courtesy of Value Penguin.
Affordable Auto Insurance Company
Now that you have all the state quotes and which companies are most affordable, you need to weigh this comparison and see which company will be most suitable for you.
In all of these options, we have handpicked the most affordable auto insurance companies and compared which sort of coverage is available with rates depending upon the type of coverage.
Minimum vs. full coverage average annual rates by company
| Company | Full coverage | Minimum coverage | Annual difference |
| Geico | $1,198 | $478 | $720 |
| State Farm | $1,511 | $624 | $887 |
| Progressive | $1,766 | $774 | $992 |
| Liberty Mutual | $1,778 | $900 | $878 |
| Allstate | $1,834 | $784 | $1,050 |
| Farmers | $1,865 | $926 | $939 |
Affordable Auto Insurance for College Students
If you’re a new driver or somebody in your teens, chances are you will have to look for an auto insurance that covers you.
There is affordable auto insurance for new drivers available, but let’s be real. Your budget isn’t too high. It is smart that you’re looking for cheap options for yourself. So it is important to note these tips to land an insurance policy that charges you very less premiums.
- Complete a defensive driving course
- Know all traffic rules and regulations
- Accident forgiveness- benefit often offered to teens as their insurance package
- Having your hands on anti-theft devices
Basically anything that can prove you’re a cautious driver will help you in getting a very affordable low cost auto insurance package.
Affordable Auto Insurance for High Risk Driver
If you’re a high risk driver and are looking for auto insurance, chances are you’ll have a hard time looking for one.
A high risk diver is someone who is likely to make more claims down the road- meaning someone who will cost the insurance company money! A poor credit, history of road accidents or violations, a record of Driving Under Influence (DUI) will all lessen your chances of being insured. Because let’s be clear: high risk driver means higher premiums!
But don’t lose hope.
There are still affordable auto insurance rates available for high risk drivers. Here are all the companies that may be able to assist you.
| Insurance company | Drivers with a clean record | Drivers with a recent DUI | Drivers with a poor credit |
| Geico | $642 | $1,470 | $3,950 |
| Progressive | $1,073 | $1,320 | $5,378 |
| Safe Auto | $1,406 | $1,791 | $5,695 |
Note: Insurance rates have been extracted online, courtesy of NerdWallet.
How can I avoid paying high risk driver rates?
The process is simple but time consuming.
The only way you can avoid paying the insurance rates of high risk drivers is when you improve your credit score. This can simply be done to prove to the company and the State that you’re a safe driver. Try taking safety courses and have a clean record free of violations for some time.
Never let your auto insurance lapse. Drivers who let their insurance lapse are considered high risk drivers and when they want to insure themselves again, they tend to pay higher premiums.
If you have a violation incident on your record, the best way to apply for new insurance is after 3-5 years- this will lead you to getting cheaper rates when you shop around for insurance.
There are ways and avoiding being a high risk driver is pretty much doable, but it will require time and consistency.
Conclusion
Getting auto insurance depends on many factors like your age, driving history, credit scores etc., and the rates naturally differ from state to state and company to company.
In today’s time when getting into accidents or even the slightest damage to your car can be so costly, it is important to have your vehicle insured. This will not only cushion you from financial charges but also give you the peace of mind that you and your car are under protection.
And looking for affordable auto insurance is a real challenge. There are companies who charge a lot for insurance and you end up paying very high premiums! A cost effective insurance plan is very important and there are insurance companies that do just that.
This article gives you an insight on what auto insurance is and what are the cheapest states and most affordable companies.
