You have probably watched the commercials from companies like The General, GEICO, and Liberty Mutual that promise big savings, so you just need to pick one at random, right?
That is not the case, however, as there are many unknown elements like if full coverage is needed, your financial stability, if you are a homeowner, and what liability limits you need, that all impact the price you pay. In this article, we will cover some of these topics and will hopefully give the reader a good start in finding the cheapest insurance.
For felons, one of the more important considerations that help determine insurance cost is where you choose to live. Areas with more people or more claims tend to have higher rates, whereas areas with lower vehicle theft rates and fewer weather claims benefit from lower rates.
The information below ranks the most expensive areas in California for felons to buy an auto insurance policy in. San Francisco shows up at #4 with an annual cost of $1,693 for the average policy, which is around $141 each month.
| Rank | City | Annual Premium |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles | $2,168 |
| 2 | Glendale | $2,058 |
| 3 | Oakland | $1,755 |
| 4 | San Francisco | $1,693 |
| 5 | Sacramento | $1,652 |
| 6 | San Bernardino | $1,628 |
| 7 | Long Beach | $1,578 |
| 8 | Stockton | $1,556 |
| 9 | Santa Clarita | $1,548 |
| 10 | Modesto | $1,547 |
| 11 | Fontana | $1,535 |
| 12 | Garden Grove | $1,524 |
| 13 | Fresno | $1,517 |
| 14 | Santa Ana | $1,497 |
| 15 | Moreno Valley | $1,491 |
| 16 | Anaheim | $1,488 |
| 17 | Riverside | $1,482 |
| 18 | Fremont | $1,403 |
| 19 | San Jose | $1,395 |
| 20 | San Diego | $1,381 |
| 21 | Irvine | $1,371 |
| 22 | Huntington Beach | $1,360 |
| 23 | Oxnard | $1,344 |
| 24 | Bakersfield | $1,340 |
| 25 | Chula Vista | $1,311 |
| Compare Rates Now Go | ||
Rates are estimated as the specific zip code location can lower or raise premiums greatly.
Deciding which companies have the lowest-priced insurance rates for felons will take more time in order to find the lowest price quote. Every insurance company has their own guidelines to determine rates, so let’s take a look at the insurance companies that tend to be cheaper in San Francisco, CA.
It’s a good idea to be aware that San Francisco insurance rates are impacted by many factors which can significantly increase or decrease the cost of having a policy. Getting older, moving to a new city, or having a fender bender may cause policy rate changes resulting in some rates now being cheaper in comparison to the competition.
Cheap Insurance Rates for Felons
| Rank | Company | Cost Per Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | USAA | $1,109 |
| 2 | Wawanesa | $1,181 |
| 3 | Century National | $1,190 |
| 4 | CSAA | $1,222 |
| 5 | Nationwide | $1,250 |
| 6 | 21st Century | $1,338 |
| 7 | Grange | $1,433 |
| 8 | GEICO | $1,529 |
| 9 | Allied | $1,541 |
| 10 | Progressive | $1,542 |
| 11 | Mercury | $1,548 |
| 12 | Allstate | $1,559 |
| 13 | The Hartford | $1,591 |
| 14 | MetLife | $1,638 |
| 15 | Unitrin | $1,682 |
| 16 | Esurance | $1,688 |
| 17 | State Farm | $1,733 |
| 18 | Travelers | $1,806 |
| 19 | Bristol West | $1,831 |
| 20 | Farmers | $2,026 |
| Quote Your Rates Go | ||
USAA generally has some of the lowest car insurance rates in San Francisco at around $1,109 annually. Wawanesa, Century National, CSAA, and Nationwide also are some of the more affordable San Francisco, CA insurance companies.
In this example, if you have coverage with Wawanesa and switched to USAA, you may see a yearly price reduction of in the neighborhood of $72. Drivers with Century National might save as much as $81 a year, and CSAA customers might realize rate reductions of up to $113 a year.
To find out how much you can save, click here to get quotes or quote rates from the companies below.
Understand that those prices are averaged across all insureds and vehicles and and are not figured with a vehicle location for felons. So the company that can offer you the best rate may not even be in the list above. That is why you need to compare rates from as many companies as possible using your own personal information and vehicle type.
The chart below illustrates how your deductible choice can raise or lower premium costs when quoting cheap insurance for felons. The premiums assume a single female driver, full physical damage coverage, and no discounts are taken into consideration.
In the chart above, a 50-year-old driver could lower their car insurance rates by $476 a year by changing from a $100 deductible up to a $500 deductible, or save $712 by changing to a $1,000 deductible. Youthful drivers, like the 20-year-old example, could drop their prices as much as $1,216 or more by choosing larger deductibles on their policy.
If you do raise deductibles, it will be required to have enough savings set aside to cover the extra out-of-pocket expense that is associated with using high deductibles.
Does it make sense to buy full coverage?
Saving money when shopping for insurance is probably important to the majority of drivers, and a good way to lower the cost of insurance for felons is to buy liability only. The illustration below compares auto insurance costs when comparing full coverage to liability only. Data assumes no accidents, no driving violations, $100 deductibles, marital status is single, and no discounts are applied.
If we average all the age groups together, full coverage on your policy costs $2,525 per year over and above liability coverage. A very common question is if you should buy full coverage. There is no definitive formula for excluding physical damage coverage on your policy, but there is a guideline you can consider. If the annual cost of having full coverage is more than around 10% of the vehicle’s replacement cost less your deductible, then it could be time to drop full coverage.
For example, let’s pretend your vehicle’s settlement value is $11,500 and you have $1,000 policy deductibles. If your vehicle is destroyed, the most you would get paid by your company is $10,500 after the deductible is paid. If it’s costing you more than $1,050 annually for comprehensive and collision coverage, the it may be a good time to stop paying for full coverage.
Selecting a good quality insurance company can be a challenge considering how many companies are available to choose from in San Francisco. The company rank data in the lists below could help you analyze which car insurance providers you want to consider purchasing a policy from.
The ratings below are only made up of companies who write in the majority of U.S. states, so companies that have a smaller presence will not be included in the list. To check rates from these companies and more, click here.
| 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 |
| Compare Rates Now Go | ||||||
Data Source: Insure.com Best Car Insurance Companies
The importance of shopping around
California insurance rates are impacted by many things that control your annual premium. Simply getting older, buying a home, or getting a driving violation can produce rate changes resulting in some rates now being more affordable than others.
Not only may things change on your end, but car insurance companies modify pricing as often as every three months in order to remain profitable. Higher than normal claims may result in higher priced premiums, while lower claims may result in lower-priced San Francisco car insurance rates.
The bar chart below shows which company has the cheapest car insurance in San Francisco, CA for a 40-year-old male driver with no accidents, a clean driving record, and a good credit history. If we estimate rates based on his personal profile, USAA may have the lowest car insurance rates in San Francisco at $1,530 each year. This is $121 less than the average premium paid by California drivers of $1,651. Wawanesa, Century National, CSAA, and Nationwide are also on the list of the top five cheapest San Francisco, CA auto insurance companies.
In this example, we will give the driver from the first set of rates a chargeable claim, a little lower credit rating, and an imperfect driving record. Because each insurer uses their own formula to determining premium rates, comparing rates will most likely result in a different ranking of the cheapest San Francisco car insurance companies as shown below.
Grange now has the cheapest price in San Francisco with Progressive, Allstate, Mercury, and GEICO completing the list. This example shows why it is crucial to compare rates to find affordable car insurance quotes for felons.
Auto insurance prices are made up of many things and can decrease or increase without notice, so the cheapest company the last time you checked may now be costing you a lot of money.