Cheapest Auto Insurance for 18 Year Olds in California

Finding out which companies have the lowest-priced car insurance rates for 18 year olds takes a little more sweat in order to find the best policy.

Every insurance provider uses their own method to set premium rates, so we’ll take a look at the overall cheapest car insurance companies in California.

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USAA has some of the best car insurance rates in California at around $1,143 a year. Wawanesa, CSAA, Nationwide, and Century National also make the cut as some of the more affordable California auto insurance companies.

As depicted above, if you currently buy coverage from CSAA and switched to USAA, you could see savings of roughly $79. Insureds with Nationwide might save as much as $83 a year, and Century National insureds might reduce prices by as much as $83 a year.

If you want to find out if you’re overpaying, click here to start a quote or quote prices from the following companies.

Understand that those premium estimates are averages across all ages of drivers and types of vehicles and do not take into consideration a rate increase for 18 year olds. So the auto insurance company that can offer you the lowest price may not even be in the above rate chart. That point stresses why you need to compare prices as often as possible using your own personal information and vehicle type.

For teen drivers, one of the largest considerations that affect the amount you pay each year for auto insurance is where your residence is. Regions with larger populations or more claims like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento tend to have more expensive auto insurance rates, whereas less populated areas generally pay lower car insurance rates.

The next table lists the most costly cities in California for 18 year olds in which to purchase auto insurance.

Information shown are comparative as the specific California residence address can affect coverage prices greatly.

The vehicle model you are insuring is a large consideration when looking for economical auto insurance for 18 year olds. Vehicles with more horsepower, poor passenger safety features, or a high likelihood of having liability claims will cost substantially more to insure than more modest models.

The next list features auto insurance costs for a number of the most affordable automobiles to buy coverage for.

Data based on single female driver age 18, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $500 deductibles, and California minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, and claim-free. Table data does not factor in specific location information which can modify insurance rates substantially.

Based on these rates, you can infer that cars like the Ford Escape, Hyundai Elantra, Honda CR-V, and Honda Accord are likely to be a few of the more affordable vehicles to insure for teen drivers. Auto insurance rates will be more expensive just because there is more claim exposure for 18 year olds, but in general those particular models will tend to have the lowest prices that you’ll find.

The example below shows how different deductible levels can impact annual premium costs when quoting cheap insurance for 18 year olds. The data is based on a single female driver, full coverage, and no discounts are factored in.

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A 30-year-old driver could lower their car insurance rates by $544 a year by increasing from a $100 deductible to a $500 deductible, or save $816 by choosing a $1,000 deductible. Even younger insureds, such as the 20-year-old chart data, could save up to $1,216 every year just by choosing larger deductibles.

When increasing deductibles, it will be important to have plenty of savings on hand to allow you to cover the extra out-of-pocket expense. That is the one disadvantage of using higher deductibles.

Allstate, Progressive, State Farm, and Geico compared

When buying auto insurance for teen drivers in California, the most popular companies are Allstate, Progressive, State Farm, and Geico. They all have unique features and discounts that may steer you one way or another. The table below rates some of the different options that policyholders can buy.

How to get the cheapest car insurance for 18 year olds in California

It’s not impossible to find cheaper rates, and here are some of the better penny-pinching suggestions that can help California drivers locate more affordable car insurance.

• Increase your credit rating
• Save money by bundling your home and auto policies
• Do not get traffic violations
• Raise physical damage deductibles
• Avoid filing excessive claims
• Avoid having at-fault accidents
• Comparison shop at least every other year

That last piece of advice is notably vital, as was emphasized in the article above. Auto insurance prices in California fluctuate considerably, so don’t be tentative to switch to a new company if a lower price can be found. We understand brand loyalty, but it isn’t a good idea if that inflexibility results in costing you money that could be used for better things. It only take a few minutes to shop around and find cheaper insurance for 18 year olds.

Cheapest insurance quotes for teen drivers

There are quite a few ways to comparison shop for car insurance in California, but the most frequently used ways are through an independent insurance agent, an exlusive agent such as Allstate or State Farm, or direct from companies such as Geico or Progressive. They all have the same end result, but they differ in how they price policies.

Independent insurance agencies are appointed by several companies and can do rate comparisons with all of them. Agents of this type are not limited to a single company and can provide you with more rate quotes, which can help you get the best idea of how your rates compare. If your premiums go up, your policy is moved internally and you can remain with the same agent.

A captive or exclusive agent is only able to write business for a single insurance company such as a Liberty Mutual or State Farm agent. This type of agents cannot provide rate quotes from other companies, so smart shoppers will want to get additional comparison quotes.

The final way is buying direct, which means you skip a local insurance agent and instead buy from a direct company like Geico or Esurance. Buying direct can be a good choice for drivers who do not need advice for risk management and know what specific coverages and deductibles they need.

So which of the methods works best to find the cheapest car insurance for 18 year olds in California? The majority of car insurance shoppers assume that buying from a direct car insurance company results in the best prices since there is no middleman, but in reality, that is not true. We could also assume that an independent agent is the best way to save because they can shop around, but again, that’s not a true statement. In a lot of cases, the exclusive agents have really good rates that are impossible to beat.

Due to that fact that car insurance uses so many rating variables, the guaranteed way to get rock-bottom rates is to compare rate quotes from as many companies as possible. It takes a little work, but we recommend you get prices from all three to give yourself the best selection. For a list of companies with some of the cheapest California car insurance rates, click here to view.