How Much are Raleigh Car Insurance Rates for Young Drivers?

It would sure make life easier if we could tell you the one auto insurance company that has the rock bottom lowest rates in North Carolina. Regrettably, it’s not quite that easy, as there are many unknowns such as the vehicle you are insuring, your credit rating, whether you are single or married, and any driving violations you may have, that all help calculate your car insurance rates. The information below covers some of these factors and will give you a good start in finding the cheapest insurance.

For youthful drivers, one of the largest considerations that are used to help calculate car insurance rates is where you normally keep your vehicle in Raleigh. Regions with more people or even just more weather-related claims tend to pay more, whereas areas that tend to be more rural tend to receive cheaper rates.

The next table sorts the most expensive areas in North Carolina for young drivers to buy car insurance in. Raleigh is ranked at #9 with an annual cost of $760 for the average insured, which is approximately $63 each month.

Rate information is comparative as the specific zip code location can raise or lower rates significantly.

The make and model of vehicle to be insured is one of the main factors in finding low-cost coverage for young drivers. Vehicles with economical engines, an excellent safety record, or a track record of few liability claims will cost substantially less to insure than fast, unsafe models.

The data below showcases auto insurance premiums for the most cost-effective vehicles to insure.

Data variables include single male driver age 17, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and North Carolina minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, and claim-free. Prices do not factor in specific location which can modify price quotes noticeably.

Looking at the data, models like the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Jeep Wrangler, and Toyota Prius are likely to be the most budget-friendly vehicles to insure for youthful drivers. The price for car insurance will trend higher because there is more claim risk for young drivers, but overall those particular models will tend to have the cheapest auto insurance rates compared to other types of vehicles.

Finding decent, low-priced insurance is not the easiest thing to do, and finding out which companies quote the cheapest car insurance rates for young drivers may require additional perseverance.

Every auto insurer uses their own calculation for establishing rates, so we’ll go over the car insurance companies with the overall cheapest rates in North Carolina.

Cheap Insurance Rates for Teens

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Progressive quotes some of the lowest car insurance rates in Raleigh at around $658 each year. Utica National, NC Farm Bureau, Penn National, and GEICO also rank well as some of the cheapest Raleigh, NC insurance companies.

As shown in the rates above, if you currently buy coverage from GEICO and switched to Utica National, you may see annual savings of approximately $58. Customers with Liberty Mutual may save as much as $59 a year, and Titan policyholders might reduce prices by as much as $67 a year.

To compare your rates to other North Carolina insurance companies, click here to get a free quote or quote prices from the following companies.

Be aware that those policy prices are averages across all insureds and vehicles and and are not figured with an exact location for young drivers. So the company that can offer you the best price may not even be in the top 20 companies shown above. That points out the importance of why you need to quote rates from many companies using your own driver information and specific vehicle type.

The information below shows how different deductible levels can affect insurance premiums when researching cheap insurance for young drivers. The price estimates are based on a married female driver, full coverage, and no policy discounts are applied.

The chart above illustrates that a 50-year-old driver could save $230 a year by increasing from a $100 deductible up to a $500 deductible, or save $344 by choosing a $1,000 deductible. Even younger insureds, like the Age 20 chart data, could possibly save $568 annually just by using higher deductibles.

If you do make the decision to raise your deductibles, it is necessary to have enough funds in savings to allow you to cover the extra out-of-pocket expense. That is the one drawback of using higher deductibles.

Does full coverage make sense?

Finding cheaper car insurance is probably important to most drivers, and one of the fastest ways to buy cheap insurance for young drivers is to buy liability only. The example below shows the difference between insurance costs when comparing full coverage to liability only. The data assumes no claims or violations, $250 deductibles, single marital status, and no discounts are applied.

If we average the cost for all age groups, comp and collision coverage costs an extra $1,785 per year over and above liability only. At some point, almost every driver questions when is the right time to remove full coverage. There is no exact formula that is best for determining when to drop physical damage insurance, but there is a general guideline. If the annual cost of coverage is more than 10% of replacement cost minus your deductible, then it could be time to drop full coverage.

For example, let’s pretend your vehicle’s settlement value is $4,500 and you have $1,000 physical damage deductibles. If your vehicle is damaged in an accident, the most you would receive is $3,500 after you pay the deductible. If it’s costing you more than $350 annually to have full coverage, then it might be time to consider dropping full coverage.

There are a few situations where eliminating full coverage is not a good idea. If you still owe a portion of the original loan, you must maintain physical damage coverage to satisfy the loan requirements. Also, if you can’t afford to buy a different vehicle if your current one is totaled, you should keep full coverage on your policy.

Here’s why you should shop around

Raleigh car insurance rates are based on many factors which can significantly increase or decrease the cost of a policy. Simply improving your credit, getting divorced, or getting a few speeding tickets may generate price changes resulting in some rates now being cheaper than others. And not only may your rating factors change, but auto insurance companies change the rates they charge in North Carolina every year in order to maintain liquidity for claims. An unexpected high level of claims can cause more expensive premiums, while a better claims history may produce cheaper Raleigh car insurance rates.

To illustrate this point, the bar chart below demonstrates which company has the cheapest car insurance in Raleigh, NC for a 35-year-old female driver with no violations or accidents, and solid credit. Based on her current risk factors, Utica National might offer the most affordable car insurance rates in Raleigh at $709 each year. This is $163 less than the average policy premium paid by North Carolina drivers of $872. Progressive, Liberty Mutual, GEICO, and Titan round out the rest of the best Raleigh, NC auto insurance companies.

Now we will pretend the driver from the first example an accident claim, a lower credit score, and a few traffic violations. Due to the fact that every insurance company has their own formula for establishing rates, comparing prices may now result in a different ranking of affordable Raleigh car insurance companies as shown below.

Penn National now has the best price in Raleigh with State Farm, Auto-Owners, National General, and Travelers now rounding out the top five. This example proves why drivers need to compare rates when trying to get the lowest car insurance rates for young drivers. Prices are impacted by many factors and can increase or decrease at any time, so the most economical company two years ago may now be one of the more expensive options.