It’s hard to avoid all the catchy commercials from car insurance companies like Progressive and The General that guarantee the cheapest price. So you should just select the one with the best jingle, right?
It’s just not that easy, however, as there are a whole bunch of unknowns like the area you live in, if you need full coverage or just liability, what your desired deductibles are, and if you are a man or woman. The information below will cover the best ways to avoid overpriced car insurance and will hopefully give you a good start in finding the cheapest insurance.
Finding dependable, reasonably-priced insurance is easier said than done, and determining which insurers offer the cheapest car insurance rates for drivers under 21 may require even more diligence. Policy prices will most likely be much higher than the average policy in New Jersey due to the potentially higher risk associated with selling insurance for minors, but competitively-priced insurance should be obtainable with a little diligence. Each company uses slightly different criteria for setting rates, so let’s take a look at the most competitive car insurance companies in New Jersey.
It’s a good idea to be aware that New Jersey car insurance rates are impacted by many factors that will increase or decrease the policy premium. Price variation is why it is important to perform an extensive rate comparison to find affordable insurance rates for drivers under 21. Insurance rates are calculated by many different factors and can change without notice, so the most affordable company the last time you shopped around may now be wasting a lot of money.
Cheap Insurance Rates for Minors
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Rank | Company | Cost Per Year |
---|---|---|
1 | 21st Century | $1,078 |
2 | Travelers | $1,180 |
3 | New Jersey Manufacturers | $1,310 |
4 | Palisades | $1,341 |
5 | Penn National | $1,379 |
6 | The Hartford | $1,476 |
7 | California Casualty | $1,495 |
8 | Allstate | $1,538 |
9 | USAA | $1,585 |
10 | Mercury | $1,651 |
11 | Amica | $1,832 |
12 | Esurance | $1,913 |
13 | Progressive | $1,919 |
14 | MetLife | $1,991 |
15 | GEICO | $2,196 |
16 | State Farm | $2,226 |
17 | Encompass | $2,374 |
18 | Liberty Mutual | $2,978 |
19 | Hanover | $4,027 |
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21st Century may have some of the lowest car insurance rates in New Jersey at around $1,078 annually. Travelers, New Jersey Manufacturers, Palisades, and Penn National are also some of the cheapest New Jersey auto insurance companies.
In the rate table above, if you currently buy coverage from New Jersey Manufacturers and switched to 21st Century, you might see an annual savings of upwards of $232. Customers with Palisades may save as much as $263 a year, and Penn National policyholders might lower prices by $301 a year.
Understand that those estimates are averages for all types of drivers and the different vehicles they drive and do not take into consideration a price increase for drivers under 21. So the insurer that can offer you the lowest price may not even be featured in the list above. That is why you need to get quotes using your own driver information and specific vehicle type.
When buying auto insurance for minors, one of the key considerations that auto insurance companies use when figuring car insurance rates is where your car is garaged. Areas that are more densely populated like East Orange, Paterson, and West New York will most likely have higher rates, whereas areas that are not as densely populated generally have lower rates.
The information below sorts the most costly cities in New Jersey for drivers under 21 to purchase car insurance in.
Rank | City | Average Per Year |
---|---|---|
1 | East Orange | $2,571 |
2 | Newark | $2,522 |
3 | Paterson | $2,448 |
4 | Elizabeth | $2,446 |
5 | West New York | $2,431 |
6 | Union City | $2,426 |
7 | Kearny | $2,358 |
8 | Clifton | $2,345 |
9 | Passaic | $2,301 |
10 | Hoboken | $2,283 |
11 | Jersey City | $2,276 |
12 | Bayonne | $2,274 |
13 | Camden | $2,221 |
14 | Linden | $2,163 |
15 | Perth Amboy | $2,144 |
16 | Fort Lee | $2,123 |
17 | Atlantic City | $2,106 |
18 | Hackensack | $1,980 |
19 | Sayreville | $1,939 |
20 | New Brunswick | $1,932 |
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Table data uses comparative as the specific geographic location can influence prices substantially.
Finding a good quality insurance company is hard considering how many different companies insure vehicles in New Jersey. The company information shown below can help you analyze which providers to look at purchasing from. The ratings below only include the companies with a significant amount of written premium nationwide, so smaller companies that only insure vehicles in New Jersey are not factored into the list.
Company | Value | Customer Service | Claims | Customer Satisfaction | A.M Best Rating | Overall Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mercury Insurance | 87 | 96 | 100 | 87% | A+ | 93.4 |
The Hartford | 88 | 96 | 91 | 93% | A+ | 92.6 |
Progressive | 84 | 94 | 99 | 90% | A+ | 92.4 |
Travelers | 84 | 93 | 100 | 87% | A++ | 92.3 |
State Farm | 84 | 93 | 95 | 87% | A++ | 91 |
Farmers Insurance | 87 | 92 | 90 | 85% | A | 90.6 |
Safeco Insurance | 85 | 91 | 87 | 86% | A | 88.4 |
USAA | 71 | 93 | 98 | 87% | A++ | 88 |
GEICO | 73 | 93 | 95 | 85% | A++ | 87.1 |
21st Century | 85 | 85 | 91 | 89% | A | 86.9 |
Liberty Mutual | 72 | 91 | 97 | 83% | A | 86.4 |
AAA Insurance | 85 | 85 | 88 | 86% | A | 85.8 |
Nationwide | 71 | 90 | 93 | 83% | A+ | 84.9 |
Allstate | 69 | 92 | 92 | 83% | A+ | 84.4 |
American Family | 77 | 96 | 80 | 85% | A | 83.8 |
Esurance | 70 | 80 | 89 | 77% | A+ | 79.2 |
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Data Source: Insure.com Best Car Insurance Companies
<img class="shadow floatright" src="http://www.quoteclickinsure.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/car-insurance-drivers-under-21-nj.jpg" alt="Cheaper New Jersey car insurance for minors” />Insurers that provide coverage for drivers under 21 may also give you special discounts that could potentially reduce rates by as much as 35% or more if you meet eligibility requirements. Larger car insurance companies and some of their more popular discounts can be read below.
Discount | State Farm | Progressive | Allstate | Geico | Farmers | Liberty Mutual | Nationwide |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bundled policies | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Multiple vehicles | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Anti-theft | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Anti-lock brakes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
Air bags | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Daytime running lights | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
New vehicle | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
Safe driver | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Defensive driver training | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Low mileage | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Military | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Employment | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Full payment | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Paperless billing | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Customer loyalty | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
Good student | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Student away from home | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Own your home | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No |
Seat belt use | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
Get quote online | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Teenage driver | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No |
Federal employee | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
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The chart below shows the difference between insurance rates with and without discounts. The information is based on a female driver, no accidents or driving violations, New Jersey state minimum liability limits, comprehensive and collision coverage, and $250 deductibles.
The first bar for each age group shows insurance cost with no discounts. The lower bar shows the rates with vehicle safety, anti-theft, continuous coverage, good student, paid-in-full, and passive restraint discounts applied. In this example, the average savings per year on car insurance for drivers under 21 is 13% or $218.
google.charts.setOnLoadCallback(drawDiscqcibChart);function drawDiscqcibChart() {var data = google.visualization.arrayToDataTable([[‘Age of Insured’, ‘Female Driver No Discounts’, ‘Female Driver with Discounts’],[‘Age 20’, 4801,3451],[‘Age 30’, 3069,2395],[‘Age 40’, 2683,2221],[‘Age 50’, 2593,1941],[‘Age 60’, 3027,1877]]);var options = {title: ‘Effect of Discounts on Insurance Price for Drivers Under 21’,titleTextStyle: {color: ‘#333’,fontSize: 17,bold: true},width: ‘100%’,height: 500,’chartArea’:{left:100,top:50,’width’: ‘100%’, ‘height’: ‘70%’},legend: {position: ‘bottom’},colors: [‘#c096ca’, ‘#e1b7ec’],hAxis: {title: ‘Annual Auto Insurance Cost for Average Vehicle’,minValue: 0,format: ‘$###,###’},vAxis: {title: ‘Age of Insured’}};var formatter = new google.visualization.NumberFormat({fractionDigits: 0,prefix: ‘$’});formatter.format(data,1);formatter.format(data,2);var chart = new google.visualization.BarChart(document.getElementById(‘qcibdisc’));chart.draw(data, options);}
If you are shopping around for car insurance, the first places to look would be State Farm, Geico, Progressive, and Allstate. Combined they make up almost half of all auto insurance written. The data below breaks down some of the different features offered by each company.
State Farm | Geico | Progressive | Allstate | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Number of Discounts | 3rd | 2nd | 4th | 1st |
Overall Satisfaction | 4th | 1st | 3rd | 2nd |
Handling of Claims | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 1st |
Price Ranking | 2nd | 1st | 3rd | 4th |
U.S. market share | 18.3% | 11.4% | 8.8% | 10% |
Coverage for ridesharing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Accident forgiveness | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Roadside service | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
New car replacement coverage | No | No | No | Yes |
Rating based on usage | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Mechanical breakdown insurance | No | Yes | Yes | No |
Offered in New Jersey | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Where you can buy | State Farm-only agents | Online or through a Geico agent | Buy online or from an independent agent | Only buy from Allstate agents |
Number of agents | 18,000+ | 150+ | 30,000+ | 11,000+ |
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