Who Has the Cheapest Auto Insurance Rates for College Students in Irvine?

For students in college, one of the largest criteria that aid in calculating the amount you pay for auto insurance is where you choose to live in Irvine. Areas with more people or higher crime rates are more likely to pay higher prices, whereas less populated areas benefit from having to pay less for coverage.

The illustration below sorts the most expensive areas in California for college students to buy car insurance in. Irvine shows up at #19 with the yearly price of $1,384 for car insurance, which is approximately $115 monthly.

Premium costs are estimated as specific location information can influence auto insurance rates substantially.

The type of vehicle that needs insurance is a significant factor when shopping for low-cost coverage for college students. Vehicles with reasonable performance levels, a plethora of safety features, or low incidents of liability claims will cost significantly less to insure than adrenaline junky models. The next table shows auto insurance costs for a selection of the most affordable automobiles to insure in California.

Data based on single male driver age 20, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and California minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include claim-free, and safe-driver. Rates do not factor in the specific area where the vehicle is garaged which can modify premiums greatly.

Looking at the numbers, you can conclude that makes and models like the Honda CR-V, Ford Escape, Volkswagen Jetta, and Toyota Prius should be a few of the most economical vehicles to insure for students in college. The cost of auto insurance will tend to be more expensive because there is more claim exposure for college students, but in general those makes and models will probably have the least expensive rates possible.

Should you buy full coverage?

Reducing the cost of auto insurance should be important to most vehicle owners, and one easy way to buy cheap insurance for college students is to only buy liability coverage. The information below illustrates the comparison of car insurance costs with full coverage and liability only. The premiums assume no claims or driving citations, $500 deductibles, drivers are single, and no discounts are taken into consideration.

If we average the cost for ages 20 through 70, physical damage coverage costs an extra $2,075 per year more than just insuring for liability. At some point, almost every driver questions when is the right time to remove full coverage. There is no clear-cut rule to delete comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy, but there is a general guideline. If the annual cost of having full coverage is more than 10% of the vehicle’s replacement cost less your deductible, then you might consider buying liability only.

How to get discounts on Irvine car insurance

Auto insurance companies that offer coverage for college students may additionally offer discounts that can reduce rates by as much as 35% or more if you qualify. A few popular companies and a selection of discounts include:

• State Farm discounts include multiple autos, multiple policy, safe vehicle, Drive Safe & Save, and driver’s education.
• Esurance policyholders can earn discounts including anti-theft, good student, renters, Pac-12 alumni, and claim free.
• Progressive may include discounts for continuous coverage, homeowner, multi-vehicle, online signing, and good student.
• Liberty Mutual offers discounts including safety features, exclusive group savings, newly retired, good student, and multi-car.
• Auto-Owners Insurance may have discounts that include multiple vehicles, safe driver, good student, company car, anti-theft, and multi-policy.
• GEICO has savings for driver training, defensive driver, emergency military deployment, multi-vehicle, multi-policy, membership and employees, and military active duty.

The diagram below compares premium costs with and without discounts being applied to the rates. The premiums assume a female driver, no claims or driving citations, California state minimum liability limits, comprehensive and collision coverage, and $500 deductibles. The first bar for each age group shows insurance cost with no discounts. The lower bar shows the rates with passive restraint, good student, anti-theft, paperless filing, vehicle safety, and paid-in-full discounts applied. With discounts applied, theaverage yearly reduction on auto insurance for college students is 21% or $420.

Why you should be comparing rates

Irvine, CA auto insurance rates are impacted by many factors which can significantly increase or decrease your annual premium. Simply having a birthday, having a teenage driver, or getting into an accident may generate price changes resulting in some companies being cheaper than before.

In addition, car insurance companies file new California car insurance rates without warning to adjust for gains or losses. Higher than normal claims can cause more expensive prices, while a better loss history may produce lower-cost Irvine car insurance rates.

To illustrate this example, the chart below shows which company has the cheapest car insurance in Irvine, CA for a 40-year-old female driver with a clean driving record, no accidents, and a good credit rating. When comparing rates based on her current situation, USAA may have the cheapest car insurance rates in Irvine at $1,219 a year. This is $432 less than the average rate paid by California drivers of $1,651. Wawanesa, Nationwide, CSAA, and Century National are also on the list of the best Irvine, CA auto insurance companies.

Now we will give the driver from the above example a chargeable accident, slightly worse credit, and a speeding citation. Since each auto insurer has a proprietary method for setting prices, analyzing rate quotes most likely will result in a different list of affordable Irvine car insurance companies as shown below.

Grange now has the lowest price in Irvine, CA with Mercury, Allstate, Allied, and Progressive completing the list. This example shows why California drivers need to perform an extensive rate comparison to find the cheapest insurance rates for college students. Auto insurance prices are impacted by many factors and change substantially, so the cheapest rate the last time you compared rates may now be costing you a lot of money.

How to find low-cost car insurance for college students

Lowering your rates is not difficult, and here are some of the recommended money-saving ideas that can help Irvine drivers buy low-cost car insurance.

• Accidents can significantly increase rates
• Better credit scores save money
• Choose a safer vehicle and pay lower rates
• Raise deductibles to save money
• Just one traffic violation will increase your rates
• Compare rates often to find the best deal

That last tip is notably necessary, as we hit on in the prior information. Insurance prices in Irvine go up and down frequently, so don’t be tentative to buy a different policy if a cheaper price is available. Being loyal to a particular company is commendable, but we do not recommend it if that faithfulness ends up costing you a small fortune year after year. In just a few minutes you could shop around and find cheaper car insurance for college students.

If you aren’t sure which coverage you need and prefer to get some professional advice when shopping around for cheaper insurance for college students, the agencies below can help you decide which policy fits your needs best. To find an agent using an interactive map, click the button at the bottom or click here to get price quotes now.

• Farmers Insurance: James Lohse
  4850 Barranca Pkwy #202 – Irvine, CA 92604 – (949) 559-0175
• Rebecca Higgs – State Farm Insurance Agent
  5410 Trabuco Rd #100 – Irvine, CA 92620 – (949) 726-9015
• Willis Insurance Services of CA Inc
  18101 Von Karman Ave # 600 – Irvine, CA 92612 – (949) 885-1200
• Peter Green Insurance Agency LLC
  3151 Airway Ave Suite F203 – Costa Mesa, CA 92626 – (714) 258-2800

View more Irvine, CA insurance agents