How Much Does Auto Insurance Cost for Drivers with a Bad Driving Record in Utah?

You have probably seen the ads from car insurance companies like The General, Liberty Mutual, and State Farm promising enormous savings. So you just need to pick one at random, right?

It’s not that easy, however, as there are a whole bunch of unknown aspects such as if you have ever let your coverage lapse, if you are married, if you are insuring for full coverage or just liability only, and what level of deductibles you need. We are going to cover the things that cause high insurance rates and will hopefully give you a good beginning to your search for cheaper coverage.

The make and model of vehicle to be insured is probably the most important factor when comparison shopping for cheap insurance for drivers with a bad driving record in Utah. Vehicles with higher performance, poor crash test ratings, or a track record of large liability claims will cost quite a bit more to insure than safer, lower-performance models. The data below features coverage premiums for a handful of the most economical vehicles to buy insurance for.

Above prices assume single female driver age 40, two speeding tickets, two at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and Utah minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include homeowner, multi-policy, and multi-vehicle. Estimates do not factor in specific location information which can decrease or increase insurance rates substantially.

Looking at the rates, makes and models like the Honda CR-V, Honda Accord, Ford Escape, Hyundai Elantra, and Chevrolet Traverse are most likely to be the most affordable vehicles to insure for bad drivers. Rates will be more costly just due to the fact that there is more exposure for drivers with a bad driving record, but generally speaking those specific models will have the best insurance prices possible.

For bad drivers, one of the more important considerations that is used by insurance companies to determine rate quotes is where you keep your vehicle. Areas that are more densely populated or have higher claim rates like Kearns, West Jordan, and Sandy are more likely to have higher rates, whereas areas with fewer weather claims and lower vehicle theft rates benefit from lower rates.

The next table ranks the higher priced cities in Utah for drivers with a bad driving record to buy auto insurance in.

Premium amounts are comparative as specific Utah garaging address can lower or raise premium rates considerably.

How accidents and violations affect rates in Utah

The best way to maintain the best auto insurance prices in Utah for bad drivers is to be a careful driver and avoid accidents and traffic violations. The diagram below illustrates how violations and at-fault collisions raise auto insurance rates for different age groups of insureds. The data assumes a single male driver, full physical damage coverage, $250 deductibles, and no other discounts are factored in.

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The data in the chart shows the average cost of an auto insurance policy per year with no violations or accidents is $1,412. Get one speeding ticket and the average cost rises to $1,589, an increase of $177 each year. Now add in one accident along with the one speeding ticket and the yearly cost of auto insurance for drivers with a bad driving record jumps again to an average of $2,086. That’s an increase of $674, or $56 per month, just for not driving safely!

Rate comparison of full coverage and liability-only

Finding cheap insurance for drivers with a bad driving record in Utah is important to the majority of vehicle owners, and one way to save on the cost of insurance is to not insure for full coverage. The example below illustrates the difference between annual premium costs when comparing full coverage to liability only. The rate quotes are based on no driving violations, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, single status, and no discounts are factored in.

google.charts.setOnLoadCallback(drawFclqcibChart);function drawFclqcibChart() {var data = google.visualization.arrayToDataTable([[‘Age of Insured’, ‘Full Coverage with $1,000 Deductibles’, ‘Liability Only’],[‘Age 20’, 1911,817],[‘Age 30’, 1015,453],[‘Age 40’, 985,419],[‘Age 50’, 903,393],[‘Age 60’, 877,387],[‘Age 70’, 1091,515]]);var options = {title: ‘Full Coverage Rates Versus Liability Only Rates’,titleTextStyle: {color: ‘#333’,fontSize: 17,bold: true},width: ‘100%’,height: 500,’chartArea’: {left:100,top:50,’width’: ‘100%’, ‘height’: ‘70%’},legend: {position: ‘bottom’},colors: [‘#6791b9′,’#98bee2’],hAxis: {title: ‘Annual Auto Insurance Cost for Average Vehicle in Utah’,minValue: 0,format: ‘$###,###’},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(‘qcibfcl’));chart.draw(data, options);}

If all age groups are averaged, physical damage coverage on your policy costs $1,130 per year over liability only. That is a large expense which might make you wonder if paying for full coverage is worth it. There is no clear-cut rule for eliminating full coverage, but there is a guideline you can consider. If the annual cost of having full coverage is more than 10% of the vehicle’s replacement cost less your deductible, then it might be time to consider dropping full coverage.

For example, let’s assume your vehicle’s claim settlement value is $6,500 and you have $1,000 deductibles. If your vehicle is destroyed, the most you would get paid by your company is $5,500 after paying the physical damage deductible. If you are currently paying more than $550 annually for your policy with full coverage, then you may need to consider dropping full coverage.

There are some cases where dropping physical damage coverage is not financially feasible. If you still owe a portion of the original loan, you are required to maintain full coverage to protect the lienholder’s interest. Also, if your savings is not enough to buy a different vehicle in the event your current vehicle is totaled, you should not consider dropping full coverage.

Does State Farm, Geico, Allstate, or Progressive have the cheapest car insurance?

If you’re looking for the best auto insurance for bad drivers, the companies with the most market share are State Farm, Geico, Allstate, and Progressive. When combined, they make up 48.5% of the entire U.S. market share. All four offer physical damage and liability coverage, but each has a distict selection of optional coverages and features that you can choose from. The following table illustrates price and claims rank as well as some different options that policyholders can buy.