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Cheap car insurance in San Antonio is not hard to find if you shop around for rates and take advantage of the many available discounts. On average, drivers will pay $1,500 per year for full coverage auto insurance. This is slightly lower than the national average of $1,548 but slightly higher than the state average of $1,415. Many factors can affect your rates, such as age, credit score, and driving record.
Texas Minimum Liability Requirement
You must carry the state minimums to drive in San Antonio legally. Opting for only this type of coverage will provide you with the lowest rates, but may cost you more out of pocket if you are in an accident. At the minimum, your insurance policy needs to have:
- $30,000 bodily injury protection per person
- $60,000 bodily injury protection per accident
- $25,000 for property damage
Most insurers will recommend amounts of $100,000, $300,000, and $100,000 to ensure proper protection.
Cheapest Car Insurance in San Antonio
Several insurance companies in the San Antonio area offer lower rates on car insurance, especially for drivers with clean records. Some companies will be the cheapest for minimum coverage, while others will provide the best rates for those looking at full coverage options. Some of the lowest cost insurers in the city include:
- GEICO: GEICO charges an average of $462 per year for minimum coverage and $1,408 per year for full coverage. They are popular with buyers due to their high claim service levels and ability to manage the entire account online.
- USAA: Another cheap car insurer in the city is USAA, which is available to active and retired military members and their dependents. Their average minimum coverage will run around $470 per year, and full coverage is around $1,398.
- Nationwide: Nationwide offers an average cost for a minimum of insurance at $515 and full coverage at around $1,367. They may not be the cheapest for minimum coverage but are one of the lowest for full coverage.
- Allstate: Allstate does not have the lowest rates in the city, but they are competitive. Their average annual cost for minimum coverage is $573, and full coverage is $1,754. However, they are popular as they offer many other optional coverages, such as ride-share.
Cheapest Car Insurance With a Poor Driving Record
One of the determining factors that will most significantly affect your car insurance rates is your driving record. Previous accidents, traffic violations, and DUIs can increase your rates significantly. These rates will often stay higher for an average of three years.
If you have violations or at-fault accidents on your driving record, some companies in San Antonio will offer lower rates than the competition.
At-Fault Accident
Fred Loya Insurance will provide you with the lowest annual rates if you have one at-fault accident on your record. On average, their full coverage for those with a previous accident will run around $1,488 per year. State Farm comes in a close second with an average rate of $1,633 per year for those with one at-fault accident.
Allstate will increase your rates the most after an accident and have an average annual rate of $7,364 per year for drivers with a recent at-fault accident on their record.
Traffic Tickets
Traffic tickets, such as speeding tickets, can increase your annual insurance premium. Issues like speeding put you into the category of a high-risk driver, and you may face auto rate increases of up to 49%.
Fred Loya Insurance also offers the most reasonable rates for those with a speeding ticket. Average annual rates for one infraction run around $1,196. State Farm is again close behind, with an average annual rate of $1,367 with one ticket.
Allstate is the company that will raise rates the most after a speeding ticket. Allstate drivers will pay $4,364 per year for full coverage with one infraction.
DUI
A DUI will impact your insurance rates, increasing them as high as 62%. They also tend to stay on your record longer than accidents and traffic violations, which makes securing a lower rate even more important. Again, the two companies that offer the lowest full coverage rates for those with a DUI are Fred Loya and State Farm. Their average annual rates for a first-offense DUI are $2,047 and $2,098.
Credit Score
A low credit score can also affect your car insurance rates. Those with a poor credit score will have higher rates. This is primarily because studies have linked poor credit scores to higher rates of accident claims. The number of claims also tends to be higher for those with a poor credit score.
Though credit score does play a factor in your rates, it is not as significant as an accident or traffic violation, and raising your credit score will likely lower your rates. Fred Loya Insurance is your best option if you have had credit problems. They offer annual rates as low as $1,196 for full coverage for those with poor credit.
Age
The factor that will most significantly affect your insurance rates is your age. With age comes experience, and younger drivers are more likely to have accidents and traffic violations than older drivers. Teen drivers will pay the highest rates, sometimes over 125% more than middle-aged drivers.
The best rates are offered to 30- and 40-year-old drivers, running an average of $1,500 per year for full coverage. Teen drivers can pay anywhere from $3,485 for a full coverage policy per year to $9.255. Fred Loya Insurance again comes in the cheapest, while Nationwide has the highest rates for a teen driver. The good news is that once you reach the age of 25, most carriers will provide you with coverage only slightly more expensive than the average if you have a clean record.
Finding cheap car insurance in San Antonio is important, especially for younger drivers and those with less than perfect driving records. To find the best rate, it is important to shop around and take advantage of all your carrier’s discounts.
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.
