When shopping for the cheapest auto insurance for drivers with at-fault accidents, one of the many criteria that help determine the amount you pay each year for auto insurance is where you choose to live in West Virginia. Cities with larger populations or higher claim trends like Elkins, Cross Lanes, and South Charleston tend to pay more, whereas cities that are not as densely populated have the gratification of cheap auto insurance for drivers with accidents in West Virginia.
The illustration below displays the most expensive places in West Virginia for drivers with accidents in which to buy car insurance.
Rank | City | Annual Rate |
---|---|---|
1 | Elkins | $1,416 |
2 | Bluefield | $1,392 |
3 | Cross Lanes | $1,367 |
4 | Princeton | $1,356 |
5 | South Charleston | $1,350 |
6 | Beckley | $1,350 |
7 | Charleston | $1,350 |
8 | Oak Hill | $1,348 |
9 | Parkersburg | $1,342 |
10 | Vienna | $1,336 |
11 | Huntington | $1,326 |
12 | Dunbar | $1,324 |
13 | St. Albans | $1,323 |
14 | Pea Ridge | $1,322 |
15 | Nitro | $1,311 |
16 | Fairmont | $1,302 |
17 | Teays Valley | $1,296 |
18 | Bridgeport | $1,287 |
19 | Clarksburg | $1,284 |
20 | Wheeling | $1,278 |
21 | Weirton | $1,274 |
22 | Morgantown | $1,268 |
23 | Moundsville | $1,263 |
24 | Cheat Lake | $1,238 |
25 | Martinsburg | $1,236 |
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Table data uses estimated as the specific zip code location can change insurance rates substantially.
Determining which insurers offer the cheapest car insurance rates for drivers with accidents takes a tad more effort than just quoting one company’s rates. Every insurance company has their own guidelines for establishing rates, so let’s look at the rankings for the car insurance companies with the most affordable rates in West Virginia.
Compare Cheap Insurance Quotes for Accident Prone Drivers
Rank | Company | Cost Per Year |
---|---|---|
1 | Erie | $931 |
2 | The Hartford | $1,049 |
3 | State Auto | $1,229 |
4 | USAA | $1,287 |
5 | Westfield | $1,314 |
6 | Progressive | $1,539 |
7 | State Farm | $1,553 |
8 | Encompass | $1,572 |
9 | Nationwide | $1,583 |
10 | GEICO | $1,744 |
11 | California Casualty | $1,788 |
12 | Motorists Mutual | $1,803 |
13 | Safeco | $1,803 |
14 | Allstate | $2,253 |
15 | Liberty Mutual | $3,178 |
16 | Sentry | $3,962 |
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Erie may offer some of the cheapest car insurance rates in West Virginia at around $931 a year. The Hartford, State Auto, USAA, and Westfield would also be considered some of the cheapest West Virginia insurance companies.
In the above example, if you currently buy coverage from USAA and switched to The Hartford, you may see an annual savings of approxmiately $238. Insureds with Westfield might save as much as $265 a year, and Progressive policyholders might realize rate reductions of up to $490 a year.
Bear in mind that those policy rates are averages for all insureds and vehicles and and are not calculated with a rate surcharge for drivers with accidents. So the auto insurance company that is best suited for you may not even be featured in the chart above. That is why you need to get quotes using your own specific driver and vehicle information.
The chart below demonstrates how deductible levels can affect annual premium costs when getting quotes for cheap insurance for drivers with accidents. The premiums assume a married female driver, full physical damage coverage, and no discounts are factored in.
google.charts.setOnLoadCallback(drawDfdqcibChart);function drawDfdqcibChart() {var data = google.visualization.arrayToDataTable([[‘Age of Insured’, ‘$100 Deductible’,’$250 Deductible’,’$500 Deductible’,’$1,000 Deductible’],[‘Age 20’, 2317,2125,1905,1695],[‘Age 30’, 1625,1485,1323,1167],[‘Age 40’, 1605,1471,1315,1165],[‘Age 50’, 1407,1291,1157,1029],[‘Age 60’, 1345,1233,1101,979],[‘Age 70’, 1441,1321,1189,1061]]);var options = {title: ‘Impact of Deductibles on Auto Insurance Prices in West Virginia’,titleTextStyle: {color: ‘#333’,fontSize: 17,bold: true},width: ‘100%’,height: 700,’chartArea’: {left:100,top:50,’width’: ‘100%’,’height’: ‘80%’},legend: {position: ‘bottom’,textStyle: {fontSize: 12}},bar: {groupWidth: ‘80%’},colors: [‘#6791b9′,’#75a8d8′,’#98bee2′,’#bad4ec’],hAxis: {title: ‘Annual Auto Insurance Cost for Average Vehicle’,minValue: 0,format: ‘$###,###’},vAxis: {title: ‘Age of Insured’}};var formatter = new google.visualization.NumberFormat({fractionDigits: 0,prefix: ‘$’});formatter.format(data,1);formatter.format(data,2);formatter.format(data,3);formatter.format(data,4);var chart = new google.visualization.BarChart(document.getElementById(‘qcibdfd’));chart.draw(data, options);}
In the chart above, a 30-year-old driver could save $290 a year by switching the physical damage coverage from a $100 deductible up to a $500 deductible, or save $440 by choosing a $1,000 deductible. Younger drivers, like the 20-year-old, could save up to $622 each year by choosing a larger deductible amount. If you make the decision to raise deductibles, it is a good idea to have additional savings on hand to be able to pay the extra out-of-pocket expense associated with higher deductibles.
In a perfect world, the best way to snag affordable car insurance prices for drivers with at-fault accidents is to be a cautious driver and avoid getting tickets or having accidents. The diagram below demonstrates how speeding tickets and at-fault accidents can drive up car insurance costs for different age categories. The rates are based on a single male driver, comp and collision included, $500 deductibles, and no discounts are applied.
google.charts.setOnLoadCallback(drawVioqcibChart);function drawVioqcibChart() {var data = google.visualization.arrayToDataTable([[‘Age of Insured’, ‘No Violations or Accidents’, ‘One Speeding Ticket and No Accidents’, ‘One Speeding Ticket and Two Accidents’],[‘Age 20’, 2941,3163,5143],[‘Age 30’, 1551,1771,3753],[‘Age 40’, 1517,1737,3719],[‘Age 50’, 1385,1605,3587],[‘Age 60’, 1339,1561,3543],[‘Age 70’, 1649,1867,3849]]);var options = {title: ‘Impact of Tickets and Accidents on West Virginia Insurance Premiums’,titleTextStyle: {color: ‘#333’, fontSize: 17, bold: true},width: ‘100%’,height: 600,’chartArea’: {left:100,top:50,’width’: ‘100%’, ‘height’: ‘70%’},legend: {position: ‘bottom’,textStyle: {fontSize: 12}},colors:[‘#b2da64′,’#eed355′,’#e39e71’],hAxis: {title: ‘Annual Auto Insurance Cost for Average Vehicle in West Virginia’,minValue: 0,format: ‘$###,###’},vAxis: {title: ‘Age of Insured’}};var formatter = new google.visualization.NumberFormat({fractionDigits: 0,prefix: ‘$’});formatter.format(data,1);formatter.format(data,2);formatter.format(data,3);var chart = new google.visualization.BarChart(document.getElementById(‘qcibvio’));chart.draw(data, options);}
In the previous example, the average cost of a car insurance policy per year with a clean driving record and no accidents is $1,730. Factor in one speeding ticket and the average cost surges to $1,951, an increase of $220 each year. Now throw in two accidents along with the one speeding ticket and the annual cost of car insurance for drivers with accidents goes up to an average of $3,932. That’s an increase of $2,202, or $184 per month, just for not being attentive to the road!
Due to technology, there are many ways to get cheap car insurance quotes in West Virginia, but the most popular ways are using a captive (or exclusive) agency such as Liberty Mutual or State Farm, an independent insurance agent, or buying direct from a company like Progressive or Geico. All three ways are similar, but buyers need to know the differences in how they function.
Independent insurance agents write business for many companies and can provide price quotes from each one. These types of agencies will provide you with more rate quotes, which may provide you with a better chance of saving money. If you are not satisfied with one company, you can get a different policy which prevents you from having to switch agents.
An agent who is captive is only able to give prices for one insurance company, examples being a State Farm or Farmers agent. Exclusive agencies are unable to provide a range of price quotes, so if rates are high, they cannot give you alternative choices.
Buying car insurance direct means you do not use local agents and instead buy direct either online or via phone. Buying car insurance direct may be a decent choice people who have limited assets and have some degree of understanding of what coverage options they need.
So out of those three methods, which one works best to find cheap auto insurance for drivers with accidents in West Virginia? We’d like to tell you buying from a direct company results in the best prices because you bypass the middleman, but that turns out to not be true. An argument could also be made that using an independent agent guarantees the cheapest rates because they can quote many companies, but again, it’s not necessarily true. For the right applicant, exclusive agencies have extremely competitive rates that cannot be met by either independent or direct companies.
Because it’s impossible to say who has the best car insurance rates, the only true way to buy the cheapest policy is to compare lots of quotes. It’s a good idea to get prices from all three to get an idea of which is cheapest. For a list of car insurance companies with low rates, click here to view.