Who Has the Cheapest Car Insurance Quotes for Drivers Over Age 70 in Rhode Island?

You’ve seen the captivating commercials from insurers like Farmers, Progressive, and Liberty Mutual claiming the cheapest price. So drivers just need to choose any of them, right?

Regrettably, it’s not quite that easy, as there are a whole bunch of unknown aspects like the liability claim history for your vehicle model, what your desired deductibles are, and if you are a homeowner, that all impact the price you pay. This article covers the things that influence insurance rates and will hopefully give the reader a jump start in finding the best auto insurance.

Finding decent, low-priced car insurance is not always easy, and finding out which insurers offer the most affordable insurance rates for drivers over age 70 will take even more perseverance. Policy prices may be somewhat greater than the average policy in Rhode Island due to the potential for higher claims related to selling insurance for older drivers, but affordable coverage may be attainable if you shop around.

Every auto insurer uses their own method for establishing rates, so let’s begin by examining the insurance companies that tend to have lower prices in Rhode Island.

Compare Cheap Insurance Quotes for Age 70+

Compare Rates Today

USAA normally has some of the cheapest car insurance rates in Rhode Island at around $698 per year. State Farm, Travelers, Amica, and Progressive also are some of the cheapest Rhode Island insurance companies.

In the above rates, if you currently have a policy with Amica and switched to State Farm, you could see yearly savings of roughly $417. Insureds with Progressive might save as much as $449 a year, and Quincy Mutual customers might reduce prices by as much as $532 a year.

Be aware that those premiums are averaged across all types of drivers and the different vehicles they drive and and are not figured with a price increase for drivers over age 70. So the company that fits your age and vehicle best may not even be featured in the above list. That emphasizes why you need to get quotes using your own driver and vehicle profiles.

When shopping for cheaper auto insurance for older drivers, one of the many things that is used by auto insurance companies to calculate the annual cost of car insurance is where your car is garaged in Rhode Island. Areas with high crime rates or more dense population like Providence, Pawtucket, and East Providence likely pay more, whereas areas with lower vehicle theft rates and fewer weather claims benefit from lower rates.

The next table ranks the highest-priced areas in Rhode Island for drivers over age 70 to buy car insurance in.

Premium costs are approximated as the specific geographic location can decrease or increase premiums substantially.

Should you buy full coverage?

Finding the cheapest car insurance for drivers over age 70 in Rhode Island should be important to most drivers, and one way to pay less for insurance is to not pay for full coverage. The chart below compares yearly insurance costs with full coverage compared to only the Rhode Island minimum liability coverage. The information is based on no accidents or driving violations, $100 deductibles, marital status is single, and no discounts are applied.

google.charts.setOnLoadCallback(drawFclqcibChart);function drawFclqcibChart() {var data = google.visualization.arrayToDataTable([[‘Age of Insured’, ‘Full Coverage with $100 Deductibles’, ‘Liability Only’],[‘Age 20’, 3979,1225],[‘Age 30’, 2067,673],[‘Age 40’, 2049,623],[‘Age 50’, 1859,583],[‘Age 60’, 1797,573],[‘Age 70’, 2177,767]]);var options = {title: ‘Savings of Only Insuring for Liability’,titleTextStyle: {color: ‘#333’,fontSize: 17,bold: true},width: ‘100%’,height: 500,’chartArea’: {left:100,top:50,’width’: ‘100%’, ‘height’: ‘70%’},legend: {position: ‘bottom’},colors: [‘#6791b9′,’#98bee2’],hAxis: {title: ‘Annual Auto Insurance Cost for Average Vehicle in Rhode Island’,minValue: 0,format: ‘$###,###’},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 averaged for all ages, physical damage coverage on your policy costs $2,321 per year over liability only. A very common question is if it’s a good idea to buy full coverage. There isn’t a steadfast formula of when to stop paying for comp and collision coverage, but there is a general guideline. If the annual cost of your full coverage insurance is 10% or more of the settlement you would receive from your company, then you may want to consider only buying liability coverage.

There are some circumstances where buying only liability insurance is not recommended. If you haven’t satisfied your loan, you have to keep full coverage in order to satisfy the requirements of the loan. Also, if your finances do not allow you to purchase a different vehicle if your current one is damaged, you should keep full coverage on your policy.

How to get discounts on Rhode Island car insurance

Insurers that offer the cheapest car insurance for drivers over age 70 in Rhode Island may provide policy discounts that could reduce prices by 25% or more if you qualify for them. A few of the larger companies and the discounts they provide are detailed below.

• State Farm discounts include good student, multiple autos, good driver, defensive driving training, driver’s education, anti-theft, and passive restraint.
• GEICO policyholders can earn discounts including multi-vehicle, anti-lock brakes, anti-theft, emergency military deployment, five-year accident-free, and federal employee.
• SAFECO may have discounts that include multi-car, drive less, homeowner, teen safety rewards, bundle discounts, and anti-lock brakes.
• Farmers Insurance offers premium reductions for pay in full, distant student, alternative fuel, teen driver, and bundle discounts.
• AAA has discounts for multi-car, anti-theft, education and occupation, AAA membership discount, and good driver.
• USAA has savings for vehicle storage, new vehicle, annual mileage, military installation, multi-vehicle, and multi-policy.

The diagram below shows the difference between premium costs with and without policy discounts. The premiums assume a female driver, no accidents or driving violations, Rhode Island state minimum liability limits, full coverage, and $500 deductibles. The first bar for each age group shows the average annual price with no discounts. The second bar shows the rates with multiple vehicle, marriage, multiple policy, defensive driving course, vehicle safety, and claim-free discounts applied. When drivers qualify for the discounts, the average amount saved each year on insurance for drivers over age 70 is 28% or $549.

google.charts.setOnLoadCallback(drawDiscqcibChart);function drawDiscqcibChart() {var data = google.visualization.arrayToDataTable([[‘Age of Insured’, ‘Female Driver No Discounts’, ‘Female Driver with Discounts’],[‘Age 20’, 2933,1337],[‘Age 30’, 2021,2113],[‘Age 40’, 1875,1465],[‘Age 50’, 1643,1359],[‘Age 60’, 1589,1193],[‘Age 70’, 1853,1153]]);var options = {title: ‘Comparison of Insurance Rates for Drivers Over Age 70’,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 in Rhode Island’,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);}

Who has the cheapest insurance quotes for older drivers?

Consumers have many ways to compare insurance quotes in Rhode Island, but the most prevalent ways are from an exlusive agent like Auto-Owners or State Farm, an independent or non-exclusive agent, or buying direct from a company like Progressive or Geico.

Each way has the same basic steps, but each is slightly different in how they work.

Independent agents have contracts with many companies and can provide price quotes from each one. These types of agents are usually affiliated with several companies and can provide multiple price quotes, which may provide you with the best chance of finding a lower price. If they find a lower price, an independent agent can move your coverage and you don’t have to switch agencies.

Exclusive agencies are able to quote prices with a single insurance company, two of the more popular are Liberty Mutual and Allstate agents. These agents are not able to compare rates from other companies, so they have no alternatives for high prices.

Drivers who opt to buy insurance direct forego a local agent and instead shop direct online or over the phone from a company like Progressive or Esurance. This option may be a decent choice consumers who have little risk and have some degree of understanding of what specific coverages and deductibles they need.

Out of those three methods, which one works best for finding the cheapest car insurance for drivers over age 70 in Rhode Island? We wish we could say buying direct saves money since there isn’t an agent involved, but in reality, that argument does not hold true. And we’d like to say an independent agent results in the best rates due to having more companies to select from, but that’s not always true, either. In many cases, exclusive agents have very competitive rates that other insurance companies cannot touch.

Because it’s impossible to say who has the best insurance rates, really the only way to ensure the lowest rates is to get rate quotes and compare. If you want to save money, get prices from all three types to give yourself enough choices. For a list of companies offering online discounts in Rhode Island, click here to view.