Who Has Affordable San Francisco Auto Insurance for 18 Year Olds?

The words “low-cost” and “insurance” really don’t belong together, especially when shopping around for the best insurance rates for 18 year olds. To help control this cost, let’s take a look at some situations that determine auto insurance prices, and find a few ways to cut the cost of the next policy you buy.

The car, truck, or SUV you are insuring is probably the biggest factor when looking for economical coverage for 18 year olds. Vehicles with high performance, poor passenger safety features, or a history of substantial liability claims will cost more to insure than safer, lower-performance models. The table below presents auto insurance rates for a selection of the more affordable vehicles to buy insurance for.

Data based on single female driver age 18, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and California minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, and claim-free. Table data does not factor in zip code location which can affect coverage prices greatly.

Looking at the data, models like the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, and Jeep Wrangler are some of the most budget-friendly vehicles to insure for teen drivers. The price for an auto insurance policy will tend to be more expensive just due to the fact that there is more inherent risk for 18 year olds, but in general those specific models will probably have the lowest insurance rates compared to other vehicles.

For teen drivers, one of the big things that determine the price you pay for insurance is where your residence is in San Francisco. More densely populated places will most likely pay more, whereas areas with less crime or weather claims benefit from lower prices.

The next table shows the priciest cities in California for 18 year olds in which to buy car insurance. San Francisco ranks #3 with an annual rate of $1,693 for car insurance, which is around $141 per month.

Information shown are estimated as specific location information can influence coverage rates significantly.

Determining which company offers the cheapest insurance rates for 18 year olds will require a little more effort in order to find the best policy. Every car insurance company uses their own method for determining rates in each state, so we will examine the insurance companies with the most affordable rates in California.

Cheapest Insurance Rates for Teens

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USAA normally has some of the cheapest car insurance rates in San Francisco at around $1,143 each year. This is $508 less than the average rate paid by California drivers of $1,651. Wawanesa, Century National, CSAA, and Nationwide also make the cut as some of the more affordable San Francisco, CA auto insurance companies.

As the example above demonstrates, if you are insured with CSAA and switched to USAA, you might realize an annual premium reduction of around $91. Policyholders with Nationwide could save as much as $107 a year, and 21st Century insureds might see rate reductions of $182 a year.

These estimates are averages for all drivers and vehicles in California and and are not figured with an exact location for 18 year olds. So the auto insurance company that is best for you may not even be in the top 24 companies in the list above. That’s why you need to get rate quotes from many companies using your own driver data and vehicle information.

Ending up with the right insurance provider can be challenging considering how many companies are available to choose from in San Francisco. The company information displayed below could help you analyze which car insurance providers to look at when shopping around. The ratings below are only comprised of the largest companies in America, so companies with more of a regional focus are not included in this list.

Top 10 Major Auto Insurers in San Francisco Ranked by Customer Service

1. AAA of Southern California
2. GEICO
3. State Farm
4. The Hartford
5. Mercury Insurance
6. The General
7. Progressive
8. Allstate
9. AAA Insurance
10. American Family

Top 10 Major Auto Insurers in San Francisco Ranked by Claims Service

1. AAA of Southern California
2. State Farm
3. Esurance
4. AAA Insurance
5. Progressive
6. Liberty Mutual
7. GEICO
8. Allstate
9. Titan Insurance
10. The Hartford

Discounts on San Francisco insurance rates

Insurance providers that sell policies for 18 year olds may also provide discounts that may potentially lower prices by as much as 40% or more if you are eligible for them. A list of companies and their possible discounts are detailed below.

• State Farm includes discounts for driver’s education, good student, multiple policy, accident-free, and student away at school.
• Nationwide offers discounts for business or organization, family plan, defensive driving, Farm Bureau membership, multi-policy, good student, and accident-free.
• GEICO has savings for military active duty, emergency military deployment, defensive driver, anti-lock brakes, driver training, and five-year accident-free.
• AAA offers premium reductions for good student, multi-car, education and occupation, multi-policy, and pay-in-full.
• 21st Century offers discounts including air bags, automatic seat belts, 55 and older, early bird, driver training, anti-lock brakes, and student driver.
• The Hartford policyholders can earn discounts including bundle, vehicle fuel type, air bag, driver training, and defensive driver.

The chart below compares insurance premiums with and without discounts applied to the rates. Data assumes a male driver, no accidents or driving violations, California state minimum liability limits, full coverage, and $100 deductibles.

The first bar for each age group shows premium with no discounts. The second bar shows the rates with anti-theft, vehicle safety, paperless filing, paid-in-full, good student, and continuous coverage discounts applied. When drivers qualify for the discounts, the average amount saved each year on insurance for 18 year olds is 28% or $1,194.

Insurance rate increases from tickets or accidents

The easiest way to earn the cheapest insurance premiums for teen drivers is to pay attention while driving and not get tickets or have accidents. The illustration below illustrates how violations and fender-benders increase insurance costs for different age groups. The costs are based on a married male driver, full coverage, $1,000 deductibles, and no other discounts are factored in.

The data in the chart shows the average cost of a car insurance policy per year with no accidents and a clean driving record is $1,570. Add in two speeding tickets and the average cost hikes up to $2,158, an increase of $587 each year. Now get one accident along with the two speeding tickets and the annual cost of insurance for 18 year olds goes up to an average of $2,751. That’s an increase of $1,181, or $98 per month, just for not driving carefully!

The San Francisco car insurance agencies listed below can help you decide which car insurance policy is best, since some drivers have questions and prefer to have a professional recommendation when shopping for the best coverage for 18 year olds. It can be complicated to find the cheapest rate yourself, so using a licensed agent can give peace of mind knowing your policy gives you adequate protection.

To find a San Francisco insurance agent by location nearest to you, click the link after the list.

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