How Much Does Car Insurance Cost for Veterans in South Dakota?

Finding dependable, budget car insurance is not most people’s favorite thing to do, and finding out which company offers the cheapest car insurance rates for veterans calls for even more perseverance.

Every insurance company uses a slightly different approach to set policy rates, so let’s begin by taking a look at the most competitive car insurance companies in South Dakota. It’s important to understand that South Dakota car insurance rates are influenced by many factors which can substantially change the cost of your policy. Price variation is why it is so important to compare lots of rates when trying to get the cheapest insurance rates for veterans. Prices are impacted by many factors and can change substantially, so the cheapest company when you bought your policy may now be costing you a lot of money.

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USAA normally has some of the lowest car insurance rates in South Dakota at around $657 per year. Auto-Owners, Farmers Mutual of Nebraska, State Farm, and Unitrin are also some of the cheapest South Dakota auto insurance companies.

As the example above demonstrates, if you are currently insured with State Farm and switched to Auto-Owners, you might see annual savings of about $73. Insureds with Unitrin could save as much as $141 a year, and Western National policyholders might cut rates by $154 a year.

To see how much you can save, click here to get quotes or quote prices from the following companies.

Remember that these policy prices are averaged for all types of insureds and vehicles and do not take into consideration a price discount for veterans. So the company that can offer you the best price may not even be included in the list of companies shown earlier. That point stresses why you need to get quotes using your own specific driver information and vehicle.

Performance level and cost of the vehicle requiring coverage is a large consideration when comparison shopping for economical auto insurance for veterans. Vehicles with high performance features, a lack of modern safety features, or a high likelihood of having liability claims will cost more to insure than more economical and safe models. The tables below outlines car insurance costs for a selection of the most budget-friendly automobiles to buy coverage for.

Above prices assume married male driver age 30, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $500 deductibles, and South Dakota minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include homeowner, multi-vehicle, claim-free, safe-driver, and multi-policy. Rate quotes do not factor in zip code location which can alter rates greatly.

Premium data assumes married male driver age 30, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $500 deductibles, and South Dakota minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include multi-vehicle, homeowner, claim-free, multi-policy, and safe-driver. Prices do not factor in your specific South Dakota location which can modify premium rates noticeably.

Above prices assume married male driver age 30, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $500 deductibles, and South Dakota minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, multi-policy, multi-vehicle, claim-free, and homeowner. Rate information does not factor in specific zip code location which can alter auto insurance rates greatly.

Liability only or full coverage

Finding cheap auto insurance for veterans in South Dakota is probably important to the majority of people, and one great way to find cheap insurance is to only pay for liability coverage. The information below shows the comparison of auto insurance rates with full phyical damage coverage and with liability coverage only. The data is based on no claims or driving violations, $250 deductibles, drivers are not married, and no discounts are factored in.

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On average, full coverage costs an additional $2,073 per year more than carrying just liability coverage. That may make you wonder if full coverage is worth the money. There is no exact rule to eliminate physical damage insurance, but there is a general guideline. If the annual cost of coverage is more than 10% of replacement cost minus your deductible, then it might be time to buy liability only.

For example, let’s say your vehicle’s replacement value is $12,000 and you have $1,000 deductibles. If your vehicle is damaged in an accident, the most your company will settle for is $11,000 after the policy deductible has been paid. If it’s costing in excess of $1,100 annually for physical damage coverage, then it might be time to buy liability only.

The chart below demonstrates how deductible levels can increase or decrease insurance prices when quoting cheap insurance for veterans. Data assumes a married female driver, full physical damage coverage, and no discounts are applied to the premium.

google.charts.setOnLoadCallback(drawDfdqcibChart);function drawDfdqcibChart() {var data = google.visualization.arrayToDataTable([[‘Age of Insured’, ‘$100 Deductible’,’$250 Deductible’,’$500 Deductible’,’$1,000 Deductible’],[‘Age 20’, 2535,2321,2075,1841],[‘Age 30’, 1779,1621,1441,1267],[‘Age 40’, 1757,1605,1433,1265],[‘Age 50’, 1539,1407,1257,1115],[‘Age 60’, 1467,1341,1197,1061],[‘Age 70’, 1581,1445,1297,1153]]);var options = {title: ‘Impact of Higher Deductibles on Insurance Cost in South Dakota’,titleTextStyle: {color: ‘#333’,fontSize: 17,bold: true},width: ‘100%’,height: 700,’chartArea’: {left:100,top:50,’width’: ‘100%’,’height’: ‘80%’},legend: {position: ‘bottom’,textStyle: {fontSize: 12}},bar: {groupWidth: ‘80%’},colors: [‘#6791b9′,’#75a8d8′,’#98bee2′,’#bad4ec’],hAxis: {title: ‘Annual Auto Insurance Cost for Average Vehicle’,minValue: 0,format: ‘$###,###’},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);}

The data above shows that a 40-year-old driver could pocket $282 a year by increasing from a $100 deductible to a $500 deductible, or save $424 by selecting a $1,000 deductible. Young drivers, such as the Age 20 example, have the ability to save $694 each year just by choosing higher deductibles when buying full coverage.

If you do make the decision to raise your deductibles, it will now be necessary to have enough spare savings to cover the extra out-of-pocket expense that comes with higher deductibles.

Who has the cheapest insurance quotes for veterans?

There are quite a few ways to find affordable car insurance in South Dakota, but the three most common are through a captive (or exclusive) agency such as State Farm or Liberty Mutual, a non-exclusive or independent agent, or direct either online or via phone.

Each way has the same basic process, but they differ in how they provide rate quotes.

Independent agents are appointed by several companies and can provide price quotes from every one. These agents are not employed by one specific company and can get prices from more than one company, which can give you a better comparison. If the agent locates a cheaper price, your agent can switch companies without having to get a different agent.

A captive, or exclusive, agent is contracted to one company, two examples being Allstate and Liberty Mutual agents. These agents usually cannot give you multiple price quotes, which does not give you the best rate comparison.

Choosing to buy car insurance direct means you do not use a local agent and buy direct online or over the phone from a company like Esurance or Geico. This car insurance option is good for families who do not have complex finances and have a decent understanding of what coverages, limits, and deductibles they need.

Out of those three methods, which one works best to find cheap auto insurance for veterans in South Dakota? It would be simple to say shopping direct saves money since it doesn’t require paying agent commissions, but unfortunately, it’s not that simple. We could also assume that an independent agency results in the cheapest rates since they have access to many companies, but that assumption is also not accurate. In many circumstances, exclusive agents have coverage prices that are well below what direct and independents offer.

Since car insurance companies use so many rating factors, the best way to get rock-bottom rates is to compare lots of quotes. Money-saving experts recommend you get price quotes from independent, exclusive, and direct to have the best rate selection. For a list of companies offering online discounts, click here to view.