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Car insurance is required by law in most states, and North Carolina isn’t an exception. Insurance is intended to protect you in case of accidents. You can use your car insurance to help pay for costs incurred in an accident. It can also help pay for medical bills and property damage the other party incurs in an accident that involves you.
Because of its necessity, many car owners look for the best car insurance they can find. However, getting car insurance can be a problem if you don’t know where to get affordable coverage. Let’s look at which companies provide the best cheap car insurance in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before diving in, let’s first look at the importance of car insurance.
Why Is Car Insurance Important?
The main reason car insurance is important is that it’s a legal requirement to operate a vehicle. It can cover many costs, such as paying legal fees in case of accidents. However, car insurance is important for other reasons, which include:
Financial Protection
Car accidents can be expensive. There’s the cost of repairing of any damaged property, covering legal fees, and paying for medical expenses and other damages, such as lost income. This burden can fall on you, especially if you were responsible for the accident. Dealing with all this can be a strain on your wallet, which is where car insurance comes in. Your liability coverage can help with all these costs. Your insurance company will follow the terms of your policy to cover as many damages as possible, saving you from using your own money.
Personal Protection
Auto insurance not only protects or covers the other party, but it can also help you. If you’re in an accident with a driver who doesn’t have insurance, you can use your uninsured motorist coverage to help pay for the damages. The other driver might not have enough assets or money to cover your damages, and if you don’t have insurance, you might have to deal with these costs yourself. Insurance coverage helps lower or eliminate the amount of money you need to pay.
Insurance coverage also protects your passengers. If you get hurt in an accident, you can use personal injury protection and medical payments coverage to help pay for your and your passenger’s medical bills. The coverage can extend to medical bills, hospital visits, and even the cost of surgery.
Saves Repair Costs
Sometimes your car can get damaged in other circumstances beyond car accidents. While choosing the right repair shop is invaluable, you also have to select cheap car insurance in Charlotte that helps to cover minor car repairs. Your comprehensive coverage saves you from funding the repairs completely out of your own pocket.
6 Types of Insurance Coverage
Car insurance is a blanket term covering various types of insurance coverage. When shopping around for a new car, getting acquainted with various auto insurance companies and the coverage they offer is crucial. There are typically six types of insurance coverage. These include:
1. Auto Liability Coverage
This coverage is required by law in most states, including North Carolina. It can help pay for any medical costs or personal injury costs for the other party if you’re responsible for an accident. It can also pay for the other party’s property damage.
2. Comprehensive Coverage
Comprehensive coverage covers damage to your car caused by natural disasters, such as hail. It also protects you from damage from theft or vandalism. It’s optional in North Carolina, but it’s a good option to protect your car from unforeseen events.
3. Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage
This coverage is required in North Carolina, and it protects you in case you get into an accident with a party without insurance. It also helps to cover your damages if the other party doesn’t have sufficient insurance to pay for your damages.
4. Medical Payments Coverage
This covers your medical payments if you or your passengers are injured in an accident. It can cover costs such as surgeries and X-rays as well as hospital visits.
5. Collision Coverage
This pays to repair or replace your car if you get in an accident with another car or hit an object, such as a mailbox.
6. Personal Injury Protection
This coverage helps pay for medical expenses. It can also cover any expenses arising from your injuries. This can include coverage for lost income or child care expenses, depending on your specific policy.
Cheap Car Insurance in Charlotte
Many insurance agencies offer insurance coverage, some with astronomical prices. Below are some of the most affordable insurance options you can find:
Geico
This is one of the cheapest car insurance agencies in Charlotte. Geico has very favorable rates, with full coverage costing only $939 a year and minimum coverage of $408. Geico is also your best option if you have poor credit. It offers annual premium coverage of $1,380, cheaper than you would get anywhere. It beats Progressive with $31 a year and Erie with $1,417 for the premium coverage. Geico is the overall cheapest company for any coverage, especially for those with poor credit.
Erie
This company offers the best insurance companies for drivers with prior incidents. If you were involved in an accident where you were at fault, Erie is your best and most affordable option. Its full coverage rate is $1,395, which is friendlier to prior offenders than any other company. The company only had a $67 increase a year for drivers with prior accidents on their records.
NC Farm Bureau
NC Farm Bureau has the best rates if you are a driver with a previous speeding ticket. Its annual rate for speeding tickets was only $1,853, which is more affordable than Geico, with Erie being the most expensive. This company is also the cheapest for drivers with a DUI. It only costs an average of $5,428.
Progressive
This is the fourth cheapest insurance coverage you can get. It offers full coverage at $1,411. Its minimum liability coverage only comes to $632, although you may need to spend more in out-of-pocket fees if you go with this option.
Progressive charges $1,900 for drivers with speeding tickets, $2,268 for drivers with prior accidents, and $5,571 annually for drivers with a DUI. This is higher than the previous three but a fair price compared to other companies in Charlotte.
It can be a daunting task to find cheap car insurance in Charlotte, North Carolina, but these four companies can come to your rescue. They offer some of the cheapest annual rates in Charlotte. They also cater to people with bad credit, speeding tickets, and DUIs, as well as new or young drivers.
At FIXD, our mission is to make car ownership as simple, easy, and affordable as possible. Our research team utilizes the latest automotive data and insights to create tools and resources that help drivers get peace of mind and save money over the life of their car.
