Who Has Affordable Car Insurance for Drivers with a Bad Driving Record in Oakland?

For bad drivers, one of the more important things that aid in calculating auto insurance rates is where you keep your car in Oakland. More populated areas will most likely have higher rates, whereas areas with less people or fewer weather incidents benefit from having to pay less for coverage.

The table below lists the highest-priced places in California for drivers with a bad driving record to buy car insurance in. Oakland is ranked at #3 with an annual premium of $1,755 for the average policyholder, which is approximately $146 monthly.

Table data uses estimated as specific location information can raise or lower premium rates considerably.

Comparing quotes for low-cost auto insurance is not always easy, and determining which companies have the lowest-priced insurance rates for drivers with a bad driving record requires even more rate comparisons. Each insurer has a unique formula to determine premium rates, so let’s begin by taking a look at the insurance companies that tend to be cheaper in Oakland.

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USAA may offer some of the most affordable car insurance rates in Oakland at around $1,143 per year. This is $508 less than the average price paid by California drivers of $1,651. Wawanesa, Century National, CSAA, and Nationwide also are some of the best Oakland, CA car insurance companies.

As shown above, if you currently have coverage with CSAA and switched to USAA, you may realize an annual savings of roughly $91. California drivers with Nationwide might save as much as $120 a year, and 21st Century customers might see rate reductions of $182 a year.

Understand that those premiums are averages across all ages of drivers and types of vehicles and do not take into consideration a specific zip code for drivers with a bad driving record. So the auto insurance company that can offer you the best price may not even be in the top 24 companies in the list above. That underscores the importance of why you need to get quotes using your own driver information and specific vehicle type.

Does it make sense to buy full coverage?

Finding cheaper insurance is important to most people, and an effective way to reduce the cost of insurance for drivers with a bad driving record is to not pay for full coverage. The diagram below shows the difference between car insurance rates when comparing full coverage to liability only. The costs are based on a clean driving record, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, single status, and no discounts are applied to the premium.

If all age groups are averaged, physical damage coverage on your policy costs $1,849 per year more than buying just liability insurance. That proposes the question if buying full coverage is worth the expense. There is no exact formula of when to stop paying for physical damage coverage on your policy, but there is a guideline you can consider. If the annual cost of having full coverage is about 10% or more of the vehicle’s replacement cost less your deductible, then you might want to think about dropping full coverage.

For example, let’s say your vehicle’s book value is $4,500 and you have $1,000 physical damage deductibles. If your vehicle is totaled in an accident, you would only receive $3,500 after paying your deductible. If you are paying more than $350 annually for comprehensive and collision coverage, then you may need to consider dropping full coverage.

There are a few situations where eliminating full coverage is not a good plan. If you have an outstanding loan on your vehicle, you must maintain physical damage coverage in order to satisfy the requirements of the loan. Also, if your savings is not enough to buy a different vehicle in the even your car is totaled, you should not consider dropping full coverage.

Reckless driving habits raise insurance rates

The ideal way to score the most affordable insurance rates in Oakland for bad drivers is to be a cautious driver and maintain a clean driving record. The information below demonstrates how citations and accident claims can influence insurance premiums for each age group. The premiums assume a single male driver, full physical damage coverage, $100 deductibles, and no additional discounts are factored in.

In the prior example, the average cost of a car insurance policy in Oakland per year with no accidents and a clean driving record is $2,525. Get one speeding ticket and the average cost rises to $2,844, an increase of $319 each year. Now add in two accidents along with the one speeding ticket and the 12-month cost of insurance for drivers with a bad driving record jumps again to an average of $5,524. That’s an increase of $2,999, or $250 per month, just for not paying attention while driving!

Finding a good quality company can be rather challenging considering how many different insurance companies sell coverage in Oakland. The company ratings shown next could help you decide which auto insurers you want to consider when looking for cheaper rates.

These ratings include companies that insure vehicles across America, so companies that may only write in California are not factored into the list. If you’d like to compare prices from these companies and more, just click here.

Top 10 Major Auto Insurance Companies Overall in Oakland

1. USAA
2. American Family
3. AAA of Southern California
4. State Farm
5. The Hartford
6. AAA Insurance
7. GEICO
8. The General
9. Titan Insurance
10. Progressive

Top 10 Major Auto Insurance Companies in Oakland Ranked by Customer Satisfaction

1. Titan Insurance – 95%
2. USAA – 94%
3. AAA of Southern California – 92%
4. AAA Insurance – 91%
5. Nationwide – 90%
6. State Farm – 90%
7. The Hartford – 89%
8. GEICO – 89%
9. The General – 88%
10. 21st Century – 88%

Your cheap policy may actually be overpriced

Oakland, CA insurance rates are based on many factors which can substantially change your annual premium. Simply having a birthday, buying a home instead of renting, or getting a few speeding tickets can produce rate changes resulting in some companies being cheaper than competitors. Not only may things change on your end, but insurance companies file new California auto insurance rates multiple times each year to help ensure profitability. A period of higher than normal claims may result in rate increases, while profitable underwriting can cause cheaper Oakland car insurance rates.

For instance, the chart below shows the companies that have the cheapest car insurance in Oakland, CA for a 45-year-old male driver with a good driving record, no prior claims, and a decent credit rating. If we estimate prices based on his current risk factors, USAA may offer the cheapest car insurance rates in Oakland at $1,531 a year. This is $120 less than the average rate paid by California drivers of $1,651. Wawanesa, Century National, CSAA, and Nationwide are also included in the cheapest Oakland, CA auto insurance companies.

In this example, we will give the driver from the first set of rates a couple of claims, bad credit, and a speeding ticket. Since each auto insurer has their own unique process to set premium rates, analyzing rate quotes may now show a different list of the cheapest Oakland car insurance companies as shown below.

Grange now has the cheapest insurance rate in Oakland with GEICO, Mercury, Allied, and Progressive also having competitive pricing. This example demonstrates why it is critical to spend some time comparing rates to find the most budget-friendly insurance quotes for drivers with a bad driving record. Prices are calculated by many risk factors and change substantially, so the best option the last time you shopped your coverage around may now be one of the higher cost companies.