Who Has Affordable Auto Insurance Rates for High Risk Drivers in San Francisco?

For high risk drivers, one of the more important things that help determine the amount you pay for auto insurance is where you live. Cities with larger populations or higher claim trends likely pay more, whereas areas with less crime or weather claims tend to receive slightly lower rates.

The next table sorts the priciest cities in California for high risk drivers to buy an auto insurance policy in. San Francisco is ranked at #3 with an annual cost of $1,711 for car insurance, which is about $143 monthly.

Rate quotes are comparative as the garaging address in San Francisco can alter price quotes significantly.

Establishing which company has the cheapest insurance rates for high risk drivers may require a little more sweat in order to find the best policy. Each insurance company has a proprietary method for determining prices, so we’ll take a look at the most affordable insurance companies in California.

It’s important that readers know that California insurance rates are based on many factors which can substantially change the price you have to pay for coverage. Simply having another birthday, becoming a homeowner, or getting a few speeding tickets can trigger price changes that can cause some rates to be more affordable than competitors.

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USAA generally has some of the cheapest car insurance rates in San Francisco at around $1,121 per year. Century National, Wawanesa, Nationwide, and CSAA also make the cut as some of the more affordable San Francisco, CA insurance companies.

As the example above demonstrates, if you currently have a policy with Wawanesa and switched to USAA, you might see savings of about $71. Drivers with Nationwide might save as much as $92 a year, and CSAA insureds might see rate reductions of $101 a year.

Remember that these estimates are averages across all ages of drivers and types of vehicles and and are not figured with a specific location for high risk drivers. So the car insurance company that can offer you the best price may not even be in the top 24 companies in the list above. That illustrates why you need to compare as many prices as possible using your own driver data and vehicle information.

The car, truck, or SUV that is being insured is one of the largest factors that determines whether or not you find the best cheap insurance for high risk drivers. Vehicles with average performance, modern passenger safety features, or low incidents of liability claims will cost much less to insure than high performance models. The table below shows coverage prices for some of the more affordable automobiles to insure.

Cost estimates assume single female driver age 30, two speeding tickets, two at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and California minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include homeowner, multi-vehicle, and multi-policy. Rate quotes do not factor in specific garaging location which can impact insurance rates greatly.

Looking at the data, we can infer that vehicles like the Honda CR-V, Honda Accord, Ford Escape, and Toyota Prius are most likely to be the most affordable vehicles to insure for high risk drivers. The price for an auto insurance policy will be more costly just due to the fact that there is more exposure for high risk drivers, but in general those models will most likely have the cheapest auto insurance rates available.

Safe drivers pay less for insurance

In a perfect world, the best way to get the cheapest insurance rates in California for high risk drivers is to be a safe driver and avoid getting tickets or having accidents. The illustration below shows how violations and accidents influence insurance premiums for each different age group. The data assumes a single male driver, comp and collision included, $250 deductibles, and no discounts are factored in.

The chart shows that the average cost of a car insurance policy in San Francisco per year with no accidents and a clean driving record is $2,314. Get written up for two speeding tickets and the average cost rises to $3,067, an increase of $754 each year. Then include two accidents along with the two speeding tickets and the annual cost of insurance for high risk drivers jumps again to an average of $5,841. That’s an increase of $3,528, or $294 per month, just for being a less-than-perfect driver!

The illustration below illustrates how your deductible choice can increase or decrease insurance rates when searching for cheap insurance for high risk drivers. The rate quotes are based on a married female driver, full coverage, and no additional discounts are factored in.

As shown above, a 40-year-old driver could lower rates by $360 a year by increasing from a $100 deductible to a $500 deductible, or save $544 by choosing a $1,000 deductible. Even younger drivers, like the 20-year-old category, can save up to $896 each year just by choosing higher deductibles when buying full coverage.

If you do make the decision to raise your deductibles, it will be important to have emergency funds available to cover the extra out-of-pocket expense. That is the one disadvantage of using higher deductibles.

Why are you paying too much for car insurance?

San Francisco, CA insurance rates are impacted by many things that control the price you have to pay for coverage. Simply getting older, increasing deductibles, or getting a DUI may generate price changes that can cause some rates to be cheaper than competitors. In addition to those changes, insurance companies amend pricing as often as every three months to adjust for heavy claims or excess profits. Higher than normal claims may cause additional premium costs, while a better claims history may cause lower-cost San Francisco car insurance rates.

As an example, the graph below analyzes the cheapest car insurance in San Francisco, CA for a 40-year-old female driver with no accidents or violations, and excellent credit. If we compare prices based on her personal profile, USAA quotes the most affordable car insurance rates in San Francisco at $1,491 annually. This is $160 less than the average rate paid by California drivers of $1,651. Century National, Wawanesa, Nationwide, and CSAA are also on the list of the most affordable San Francisco, CA auto insurance companies.

In this next rate comparison, we will give the driver from above some claims, less-than-perfect credit, and a speeding ticket. Since each auto insurance company has a proprietary formula to set premium rates, comparing prices may result in a new list of the cheapest companies as shown below.

Grange now has the lowest car insurance rate in San Francisco with Allstate, Mercury, Allied, and Progressive also having competitive pricing. This illustrates why drivers need to do a thorough rate comparison to get the lowest car insurance quotes for high risk drivers.

Car insurance prices are impacted by many different factors and change frequently, so the cheapest rate the last time you shopped around may now be costing you a lot of money.

The insurance agents in San Francisco listed below are willing to help you decide which car insurance company is the best fit, since many consumers aren’t sure which coverage to buy and prefer to get some professional advice when comparing insurance rates for high risk drivers. It can be difficult to find the cheapest auto insurance company, so a professional agent can bring comfort knowing you have sufficient coverage at claim time.

To locate a San Francisco auto insurance agent nearest to you, click the button at the bottom.

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