Who Has the Cheapest Auto Insurance for First-time Drivers in Michigan?

When shopping for insurance for new drivers, one of the many components that aid in calculating the amount you pay for auto insurance is where you choose to live. Regions with larger populations or more claims like Detroit, Southfield, and Warren tend to have higher rates, whereas areas with less traffic congestion and claims generally benefit from lower insurance rates.

The illustration below shows the highest-priced areas in Michigan for first-time drivers to buy auto insurance in.

Prices are estimated as specific location information can modify insurance rates substantially.

The vehicle requiring insurance is one of the largest factors when shopping for the cheapest auto insurance for first-time drivers in Michigan. Vehicles with high performance, a lack of advanced safety features, or an increased likelihood of liability claims will cost quite a bit more to insure than safer, lower-performance models.

The table below ranks auto insurance premiums for a number of the most economical vehicles to buy insurance for.

Data based on single male driver age 17, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and Michigan minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, and claim-free. Prices do not factor in vehicle garaging location which can influence prices greatly.

Looking at the rates, you can infer that vehicles like the Honda CR-V, Chevrolet Traverse, and Ford Escape will be some of the most affordable vehicles to insure for new drivers. The price of auto insurance will tend to be higher because there is more claim exposure for first-time drivers, but in general those particular vehicles will have the cheapest auto insurance rates compared to all other vehicles.

Rate increases following a ticket or accident

The common sense way to receive affordable auto insurance rates in Michigan for new drivers is to be a safe driver and avoid getting tickets or having accidents. The diagram below highlights how traffic violations and at-fault fender-benders can impact premium costs for different age groups. The information is based on a married male driver, comprehensive and collision coverage, $500 deductibles, and no policy discounts are applied.

google.charts.setOnLoadCallback(drawVioqcibChart);function drawVioqcibChart() {var data = google.visualization.arrayToDataTable([[‘Age of Insured’, ‘No Violations or Accidents’, ‘One Speeding Ticket and No Accidents’, ‘One Speeding Ticket and Two Accidents’],[‘Age 20’, 5233,5683,9617],[‘Age 30’, 2731,3179,7113],[‘Age 40’, 2631,3085,7017],[‘Age 50’, 2411,2859,6791],[‘Age 60’, 2361,2817,6747],[‘Age 70’, 2735,3185,7119]]);var options = {title: ‘Effect of Violations and Accidents on Michigan Insurance Prices’,titleTextStyle: {color: ‘#333’, fontSize: 17, bold: true},width: ‘100%’,height: 600,’chartArea’: {left:100,top:50,’width’: ‘100%’, ‘height’: ‘70%’},legend: {position: ‘bottom’,textStyle: {fontSize: 12}},colors:[‘#b2da64′,’#eed355′,’#e39e71’],hAxis: {title: ‘Annual Auto Insurance Cost for Average Vehicle in Michigan’,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);var chart = new google.visualization.BarChart(document.getElementById(‘qcibvio’));chart.draw(data, options);}

In the previous example, the average cost of car insurance in Michigan per year with no accidents or violations is $3,017. Get one speeding ticket and the average cost rises to $3,468, an increase of $451 each year. Now get two accidents along with the one speeding ticket and the 12-month cost of auto insurance for first-time drivers increases to an average of $7,401. That’s an increase of $4,384, or $365 per month, just for a couple of infractions!

The chart below highlights how deductible choice can increase or decrease insurance rates when getting quotes for cheap insurance for first-time drivers. The premiums are based on a single male driver, comprehensive and collision 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’,’$1,000 Deductible’],[‘Age 20’, 7559,6839,6057,5319],[‘Age 30’, 3881,3547,3157,2781],[‘Age 40’, 3869,3513,3105,2719],[‘Age 50’, 3511,3191,2829,2483],[‘Age 60’, 3387,3081,2735,2405],[‘Age 70’, 4083,3733,3347,2981]]);var options = {title: ‘Effect of Deductibles on Car Insurance Rates in Michigan’,titleTextStyle: {color: ‘#333’,fontSize: 17,bold: true},width: ‘100%’,height: 700,’chartArea’: {left:100,top:50,’width’: ‘100%’,’height’: ‘80%’},legend: {position: ‘bottom’,textStyle: {fontSize: 12}},bar: {groupWidth: ‘80%’},colors: [‘#6791b9′,’#75a8d8′,’#98bee2′,’#bad4ec’],hAxis: {title: ‘Annual Auto Insurance Cost for Average Vehicle’,minValue: 0,format: ‘$###,###’},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 chart above illustrates that a 50-year-old driver could save $682 a year by switching their comprehensive and collision coverages from a $100 deductible to a $500 deductible, or save $1,028 by switching to a $1,000 deductible. Even younger drivers, like the 20-year-old category, have the ability to save as much as $2,240 each year by using higher deductibles when buying full coverage. When increasing deductibles, it will be required to have plenty of discretionary funds to enable you to pay the extra out-of-pocket expense. This is the primary disadvantage of choosing high deductibles.