Cheap Car Insurance for First-time Drivers in California

You have probably seen the catchy advertisements from auto insurance companies like State Farm, Nationwide, and Allstate claiming huge savings, so drivers should just choose one randomly, right?

It’s not that easy, however, as there are a whole bunch of unknowns like what coverage limits you want, the type of vehicle you drive, how you use your vehicle, and deductibles for comprehensive and collision coverage, that all go into determining the rate you pay. The content below covers the best ways to pay less and also should give you a good start to your coverage search.

Trying to find cost effective car insurance is not the easiest thing to accomplish, and finding out which companies quote the lowest-priced insurance rates for first-time drivers requires even more rate comparisons. Policy rates may be significantly higher than the average policy in California because of the potential for more claims related to selling insurance for new drivers, but economical coverage should be available with a little diligence. Every insurance provider uses slightly different criteria to set premium rates, so first let’s look at the rankings for the most affordable insurance companies in California.

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Wawanesa quotes some of the cheapest car insurance rates in California at around $1,146 each year. USAA, Century National, CSAA, and Nationwide also are some of the best California car insurance companies.

As the example above demonstrates, if you are currently insured with CSAA and switched to USAA, you might realize savings of upwards of $67. Drivers with Nationwide may save as much as $95 a year, and 21st Century policyholders might lower prices by $183 a year.

If you want to find out if you’re overpaying, click here or visit any of the companies below.

Remember that these premium estimates are averaged across all drivers and vehicles in California and do not factor in a price surcharge for first-time drivers. So the auto insurance company that has the cheapest price for you may not even be shown in the list of companies above. That point stresses why you need to compare rates from multiple companies using your own personalized driver profile and vehicle information.

For California drivers, one of the criteria that is used to help calculate rate quotes is where you live in California. Cities that have higher claim levels or more people like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento tend to pay more, whereas cities that are not as densely populated profit from lower rates.

The table below illustrates the most costly cities in California for first-time drivers to buy auto insurance in.

Price information shown is approximated as specific California zip code can decrease or increase insurance rates significantly.

The vehicle you are seeking coverage for is a large consideration when trying to find cheap car insurance for first-time drivers in California. Vehicles with limited top-end speed, an excellent safety record, or a low likelihood of liability claims will cost quite a bit less to insure than adrenaline junky models. The next list illustrates car insurance prices for a handful of the cheaper vehicles to buy insurance for.

Cost estimates assume single female driver age 16, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and California minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include claim-free, and safe-driver. Rates do not factor in vehicle location which can decrease or increase rates substantially.

Based upon the rates shown, we can infer that makes and models like the Ford Escape, Honda Accord, Honda CR-V, Toyota Prius, and Chevrolet Traverse are most likely going to be some of the less-costly vehicles to insure for new drivers. Car insurance rates will tend to be more expensive just because there is more claim exposure for first-time drivers, but overall those particular models will have the least expensive rates compared to all other vehicles.

Selecting a highly-rated car insurance provider can be a challenge considering how many different companies there are to choose from in California. The rank data shown below could help you choose which auto insurance companies to look at when buying insurance for first-time drivers. The rankings below are only made up of insurance companies that insure vehicles in the majority of U.S. states, so smaller companies that only insure vehicles in California will not be included in these rankings.

Who has the cheapest insurance quotes for new drivers?

Drivers have many ways to buy insurance in California, but the three most common ways are from an independent insurance agent, an exclusive insurance agency like Liberty Mutual or State Farm, or from a direct company like Progressive. You can use whichever method you prefer, but it’s good to know the differences in how they function.

Independent insurance agents work for many companies and can get rate quotes from every one. These types of agents will quote rates with many companies, which can give you the best chance of finding a lower price. If prices rise, your agent can switch companies which requires no work on your part.

An exclusive ageny is usually restricted to just one company, examples being Farmers Insurance or State Farm agents. These agents normally cannot compare other company’s rates, which necessitates shopping around.

The third popular method of shopping for insurance is direct, which means you bypass an independent or exclusive agent and instead shop from a direct company like Progressive. Shopping direct may be a decent choice consumers who do not need advice for asset protection and have knowledge of how insurance works and possible exclusions.

Which method is best for finding cheap car insurance for first-time drivers in California? Our initial answer would be buying from a direct company yields the cheapest rates since there is no middleman, but unfortunately, that is not the case. An argument could also be made that using an independent agent results in the cheapest rates because they can quote many companies, but that’s not always true, either. In many cases, the exclusive agents have extremely competitive rates that are the cheapest.

Since insurance rates vary so much, really the best method to buy the cheapest coverage is to obtain price quotes and compare them. In a perfect world, youll get prices from all three types to have a good selection of rates to choose from. For a list of companies offering online discounts, click here to view.