Who Has Affordable Chicago Car Insurance Rates for Good Students?

This would be a much shorter article if we could just tell you the exact car insurance company that has the best deal on coverage in Illinois. It’s just not that simple, as there are a lot of unknown aspects like how high your deductibles should be, if you have a lapse in coverage, if you are a homeowner or renter, and your age, that all impact the price you pay. We are going to cover the best ways to shop for cheaper coverage and should give you a solid foundation to find cheaper car insurance in Chicago.

Deciphering which company offers the best car insurance rates for good students takes a tad more effort in order to find the lowest price. Every insurance company uses a little different formula to determine premium rates, so let’s look at the rankings for the car insurance companies with the most affordable rates in Chicago, IL.

It’s a good idea to be aware that Chicago, IL car insurance rates are influenced by many factors which can substantially change the price of coverage. Improving your credit score, getting married, or getting a few speeding tickets can trigger changes in premium that can make some companies more affordable than competitors.

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The Hartford may offer some of the best car insurance rates in Chicago at around $769 per year. This is $580 less than the average rate paid by Illinois drivers of $1,349. Rockford Mutual, Titan, Erie, and Cincinnati Insurance also qualify as some of the best Chicago, IL insurance companies.

In the above example, if you are a policyholder with Erie and switched to The Hartford, you might achieve an annual savings of about $145. Policyholders with Cincinnati Insurance might save as much as $146 a year, and USAA policyholders might lower prices by $181 a year.

It’s important to note that these prices are averages for all types of insureds and vehicles and do not take into consideration a specific location for good students. So the auto insurance company that can offer you the lowest price may not even be in the list above. That underscores the importance of why you need to quote rates from many companies using your own personal information and vehicle type.

The make and model of vehicle that is being insured is one of the largest considerations when comparing quotes for the best cheap insurance for good students. Vehicles with reasonable performance levels, good safety features, or a low likelihood of having liability claims will cost significantly less to insure than higher performance models. The list below illustrates coverage prices for a selection of the cheaper vehicles to buy insurance for.

Data assumes single female driver age 16, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and Illinois minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include claim-free, and safe-driver. Rate information does not factor in vehicle garaging location which can modify prices substantially.

Based upon these rates, we can infer that cars like the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, and Honda Accord are most likely going to be a few of the cheaper vehicles to insure for student drivers.

Full coverage or liability only

Finding cheaper car insurance is important to most vehicle owners, and one way to save on the cost of insurance for good students is to not buy comprehensive and collision coverage. The example below visualizes the comparison of insurance prices with full coverage and liability only. Data assumes a clean driving record, no at-fault accidents, $100 deductibles, marital status is single, and no discounts are taken into consideration.

On average, comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy costs an additional $2,010 per year over and above liability coverage. That raises the question if full coverage is worth the money. There isn’t a written rule that works best for making the decision to drop comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy, but there is a general school of thought. If the yearly cost of comp and collision coverage is more than around 10% of replacement cost minus your deductible, then you may want to consider only buying liability coverage.

Rate increases following a ticket or accident

The easiest method to obtain affordable car insurance rates for student drivers is to be a cautious driver and avoid traffic citations and accidents. The example below shows how violations and accidents can impact car insurance costs for each age group. The rate quotes are based on a single female driver, comp and collision included, $1,000 deductibles, and no discounts are applied.

In the previous chart, the average cost of car insurance in Illinois per year with no violations or accidents is $1,401. Receive one speeding ticket and the average cost jumps to $1,590, an increase of $189 each year. Then include two accidents along with the one speeding ticket and the 12-month cost of car insurance for good students jumps again to an average of $3,371. That’s an increase of $1,970, or $164 per month, just for being a less-than-perfect driver!

Why it’s important to shop around

Chicago, IL car insurance rates are based on many factors that will increase or decrease the cost of having a policy. Improving your credit rating, becoming a homeowner, or having an at-fault accident may cause policy rate changes that may make certain companies more affordable than others.

Not only may your risk profile change, but auto insurance companies change rates as often as every three months in order to remain profitable. Higher than usual claims can cause high rates, while lower claim levels may result in cheaper Chicago car insurance rates.

To illustrate this point, the bar chart below demonstrates which company has the cheapest car insurance in Chicago, IL for a 30-year-old male driver with a clean driving record, no accidents, and solid credit. If we estimate rates based on his current risk profile, The Hartford has the most affordable car insurance rates in Chicago at $1,223 annually. This is $126 less than the average price paid by Illinois drivers of $1,349. Rockford Mutual, Titan, Erie, and Cincinnati Insurance are the remainder of the most affordable Chicago, IL auto insurance companies.

In the next rate comparison, we’ll give the driver in the first chart a chargeable accident, a little lower credit rating, and a speeding citation. Since every car insurance company has a proprietary method for establishing rates, comparing insurance quotes may now show a completely different list of the cheapest companies as shown below.

SECURA now has the best price in Chicago with Travelers, Utica National, State Farm, and Safeco completing the list. This illustrates why it is so important to shop around with many companies to find the most budget-friendly car insurance rates for good students.

Insurance prices are influenced by many different factors and change substantially, so the best option two years ago may now be one of the more expensive options.