The words “low-priced” and “auto insurance” really don’t belong together, in particular when comparison shopping for the best coverage prices for state employees. Because it’s not cheap, let’s start the ball rolling by going over some things that significantly impact car insurance rates, and come up with some ways to shave a little off your next policy.
Figuring out which companies offer the cheapest insurance rates for state employees takes a bit more effort than just quoting one company’s rates. Every car insurance company has a unique formula for determining rates in each state, so we’ll go over the insurance companies that tend to be cheaper in California.
We do need to point out that San Francisco, CA insurance rates are influenced by many factors which can significantly increase or decrease the policy price. Improving your credit rating, moving to a different location, or getting a reckless driving citation may prompt premium changes that can now make some companies cheaper than others.
Compare Cheap Insurance Quotes in California
USAA has some of the cheapest car insurance rates in San Francisco at around $1,155 a year. Wawanesa, CSAA, Nationwide, and Century National are also some of the cheapest San Francisco, CA auto insurance companies.
As the rates illustrate above, if you currently have coverage with Nationwide and switched to USAA, you could realize a yearly savings of approximately $71. Insureds with Century National could save as much as $71 a year, and 21st Century insureds might realize rate reductions of up to $183 a year.
To discover how much you can save, click here to start your custom quote or quote rates from the companies below.
Understand that those policy prices are averaged across all drivers and vehicles and do not take into consideration a specific vehicle garaging location for state employees. So the car insurance company that has the cheapest rates for you may not even be in the top 24 companies shown above. That emphasizes why you need to compare rates from as many companies as possible using your own personalized driver profile and vehicle information.
For state workers, one of the largest components that are used to help calculate the price you pay for insurance is where you keep your vehicle. Areas with more people or more claims likely pay more, whereas more rural areas have the benefit of cheaper auto insurance prices.
The table below ranks the highest-priced places in California for state employees to purchase car insurance in. San Francisco is ranked #3 having an annual price of $1,745 for the average insurance policy, which is around $145 monthly.
| Rank | City | Average Per Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles | $2,168 |
| 2 | Glendale | $2,121 |
| 3 | San Francisco | $1,745 |
| 4 | Oakland | $1,738 |
| 5 | Sacramento | $1,703 |
| 6 | San Bernardino | $1,644 |
| 7 | Long Beach | $1,626 |
| 8 | Santa Clarita | $1,595 |
| 9 | Stockton | $1,588 |
| 10 | Garden Grove | $1,570 |
| 11 | Fontana | $1,566 |
| 12 | Modesto | $1,547 |
| 13 | Riverside | $1,497 |
| 14 | Moreno Valley | $1,491 |
| 15 | Anaheim | $1,488 |
| 16 | Santa Ana | $1,483 |
| 17 | Fresno | $1,457 |
| 18 | San Jose | $1,423 |
| 19 | Huntington Beach | $1,402 |
| 20 | Bakersfield | $1,381 |
| 21 | Fremont | $1,348 |
| 22 | Oxnard | $1,344 |
| 23 | Irvine | $1,330 |
| 24 | San Diego | $1,327 |
| 25 | Chula Vista | $1,311 |
| Compare Prices Now Go | ||
Prices are comparative as specific San Francisco garaging address can alter insurance rates greatly.
Finding a highly-rated car insurance provider can be difficult considering how many companies sell insurance in California. The company ratings displayed below can help you analyze which car insurance companies to look at buying from. The rankings below are only comprised of large nationwide companies, so companies that may only write in California are not factored into this list.
| Company | Value | Customer Service | Claims | Customer Satisfaction | A.M Best Rating | Overall Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USAA | 98 | 100 | 100 | 94% | A++ | 98.6 |
| American Family | 98 | 89 | 100 | 86% | A | 95.4 |
| AAA of Southern California | 91 | 94 | 97 | 92% | A+ | 94.1 |
| State Farm | 88 | 93 | 96 | 90% | A++ | 92.4 |
| The Hartford | 94 | 92 | 90 | 89% | A+ | 91.7 |
| AAA Insurance | 88 | 89 | 95 | 91% | A | 91.2 |
| GEICO | 84 | 93 | 93 | 89% | A++ | 90.3 |
| The General | 89 | 91 | 89 | 88% | A- | 90 |
| Titan Insurance | 90 | 87 | 91 | 95% | A+ | 89.6 |
| Progressive | 84 | 91 | 93 | 87% | A+ | 89.5 |
| Mercury Insurance | 88 | 91 | 90 | 85% | A+ | 89.4 |
| Allstate | 85 | 90 | 92 | 88% | A+ | 89.3 |
| Nationwide | 87 | 88 | 84 | 90% | A+ | 88.7 |
| Liberty Mutual | 84 | 87 | 93 | 88% | A | 88.5 |
| 21st Century | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88% | A | 86.7 |
| Compare Rates Now Go | ||||||
Data Source: Insure.com Best Car Insurance Companies
The illustration below demonstrates how deductible levels can affect insurance rates when getting quotes for cheap insurance for state employees. The prices are based on a married female driver, comp and collision included, and no policy discounts are applied.
A 40-year-old driver could save $408 a year by changing from a $100 deductible up to a $500 deductible, or save $614 by changing to a $1,000 deductible. Younger drivers, such as the Age 20 example, could save up to $1,008 every year just by choosing higher deductibles when buying full coverage.
When increasing deductibles, it will be important to have enough funds in savings to be able to cover the extra out-of-pocket expense, which is the one inconvenience of using high deductibles.
Why you should compare rates
San Francisco insurance rates are determined by lots of factors which can substantially change the cost of your policy. Improving your credit rating, having a teenage driver, or getting a couple of tickets can trigger rate changes that may make certain companies affordable when they were higher priced.
Not only may your situation change, but insurance companies amend pricing as often as every quarter in order to offset underwriting gains or losses. Significantly higher losses may cause increased rates, while profitable underwriting may produce cheaper San Francisco car insurance rates.
The graph below analyzes the cheapest car insurance in San Francisco, CA for a 30-year-old female driver with no prior accidents, a clean driving record, and good credit. Based on her personal profile, USAA offers the best car insurance rates in San Francisco at $1,427 annually. This is $224 less than the average rate paid by California drivers of $1,651. Wawanesa, Century National, CSAA, and Nationwide are also included in the cheapest San Francisco, CA auto insurance companies.
The example below compares rates after we give the driver in the first example a claim, bad credit, and a traffic ticket or two. Due to the fact that every insurance company uses their own calculation to establish rates, analyzing rates could now result in a significantly different list of affordable San Francisco car insurance companies as shown below.
Grange now has the lowest price in San Francisco with Allstate, Mercury, Allied, and Progressive now being in the top five. This demonstrates why it is so important to do a thorough rate comparison to find the best insurance rates for state employees. Insurance prices can be altered by many risk factors and change frequently, so the cheapest option three years ago may now not even be in the top five.