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Car Insurance
Learn more about auto insurance with detailed research, rankings, and guides to fit your needs
What Car Insurance Do You Need?
The car insurance coverage that you need to purchase in order to operate your vehicle legally will depend on the state that you live in and the car that you drive. Most states require liability insurance at a minimum. However, this will only protect others in an accident and not yourself, which is why it’s important to look at all of your coverage options as you make a decision.
There are six main types of car insurance you may find when shopping around:
- Liability car insurance: Pays for damage to the other party’s vehicle and their medical bills when you cause an accident
- Collision insurance: Repairs your car after an accident
- Comprehensive insurance: Repairs your car after a collision with an object, an environmental event or vandalism/theft
- Underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage: Covers your medical bills and auto repairs if the other driver has inadequate or no insurance
- Medical payments (MedPay): Covers medical bills for you and your passengers after an accident
- Personal injury protection (PIP): Covers medical bills plus lost wages and funeral costs
How Much Does Car Insurance Cost?
The cost of car insurance is based on numerous factors. Everything from your neighborhood, age, driving profile and credit score to the type of vehicle you drive can influence your rates. All the best car insurance companies advertise discounts and low rates, but which ones are actually affordable?
You can find better car insurance rates by shopping around, looking for car insurance discounts, trying usage-based insurance, changing your limits or deductible and considering insurance costs before buying a vehicle.
How To Shop For Car Insurance
You can often find better car insurance rates simply by shopping around. Compare at least three to five companies each time you shop, or use a comparison tool to get multiple quotes at once. We recommend comparing car insurance quotes each time your policy is up for renewal.
Look for car insurance discounts
One of the easiest ways to save on car insurance is to find the right discounts for your situation. Some companies have great student discounts, while others have better discounts for military members. Fill out online quote forms completely to qualify for as many discounts as possible. You can always call an agent to discuss special situations not covered on a quote form.
Common car insurance discounts include:
- Safe driver
- Multi-vehicle
- Multi-policy
- Good student
- Homeowner
- Vehicle safety features
- Military member or veteran
- Military deployment
- Low mileage
- Defensive driving
- Teen driving education
- Professional association
- Senior
- Student away at school
- Loyalty
- Pay-in-full
- Paperless billing
Try usage-based insurance
You can save on an existing policy by trying usage-based insurance if your provider offers it. Examples are Snapshot® from Progressive, DriveEasy® from Geico and SafePilot™ from USAA. These programs track your driving habits in real time, including late-night driving, hard braking, cornering and acceleration.
However, one of the main factors in usage-based insurance is mileage. You may not see big savings if you drive for work or have a long commute. Some companies can also raise your rate if you are a bad driver. Check out our telematics insurance guide for more information.
Change your limits or deductible
If you don’t want to switch insurance providers, you can change the limits on your policy or change your deductible to save money. Raising your deductible will lower your rate, but make sure you can afford to pay it if you need to.
Check insurance costs before buying a vehicle
If you’re choosing from multiple vehicles, get insurance quotes for each of them to see the difference in prices. To save money, buy a used car with good safety features and crash ratings. Try to avoid vehicles with high rates of theft in your area, as well.
Best Car Insurance Companies
Auto insurance coverage is highly personalized, so the best car insurance company for you may not be the same for someone else. Our research team did an industry-wide review of the best car insurance companies in the country. We rated each insurer based on five main factors: cost, coverage, reputation, availability and customer experience.
After 765+ hours of analysis, we found the 10 best car insurance companies are State Farm, USAA, Geico, Erie Insurance, Travelers, Auto-Owners Insurance, Progressive, Nationwide, American Family Insurance and Farmers. Each company offers a wide selection of insurance coverage options at affordable prices.
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Comparisons
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By Age
- Cheap Car Insurance for 16-Year-Olds
- Cheap Car Insurance for 17-Year-Olds
- Best Car Insurance for 18-Year-Olds
- Best Car Insurance for 19-Year-Olds
- Best Car Insurance for 20-Year-Olds
- Best Cheap Car Insurance for 21-Year-Olds
- Cheapest Car Insurance for Young Adults
- Car Insurance for 25-Year-Olds
- Cheap Car Insurance for 50-Year-Olds
- Best Car Insurance For Seniors
- Cheap Car Insurance For Teen Drivers
- Cheapest Car Insurance for Teens
Cities
- Cheap Car Insurance in Baltimore
- Cheap Car Insurance in Columbia, MD
- Cheap Car Insurance in Frederick, MD
- Cheap Car Insurance in Raleigh
- Cheap Car Insurance in Charlotte
- Cheap Car Insurance in Atlanta
- Cheap Car Insurance in Chicago
- Cheap Car Insurance in Houston
- Las Vegas, Nevada Car Insurance
- Cheap Car Insurance in Orlando