Who Has Cheap Oakland Auto Insurance for College Students?

The car, truck, or SUV needing coverage is one of the largest factors when shopping for the best insurance for college students. Vehicles with lower performance, an excellent safety record, or a positive history of liability claims will cost less to insure than higher performance models.

The data below outlines insurance prices for a handful of the most economical vehicles to insure in California.

Data assumes single female driver age 20, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and California minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, and claim-free. Prices do not factor in specific location which can decrease or increase premium rates substantially.

Based upon the table data, we can infer that makes and models like the Honda CR-V, Honda Accord, Ford Escape, and Hyundai Elantra should be the most budget-friendly vehicles to insure for students in college. Prices will trend higher just due to the fact that there is more claim exposure for college students, but overall those particular models will have the cheapest rates compared to other types of vehicles.

Deciphering which insurers offer the best insurance rates for college students will involve a little more effort in order to find the best policy. Each auto insurer has a different formula for setting prices, so we’ll take a look at the insurance companies that tend to have lower prices in California.

Best Car Insurance Prices for College Students

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USAA generally has some of the cheapest car insurance rates in Oakland at around $1,121 per year. Wawanesa, CSAA, Nationwide, and Century National also rank well as some of the lowest-priced Oakland, CA insurance companies.

As shown in the table above, if you are a customer of Century National and switched to Wawanesa, you might realize a yearly savings of upwards of $80. California drivers with 21st Century could save as much as $179 a year, and Grange customers might cut rates by $287 a year.

It’s important to note that these premiums are averaged across all drivers and vehicles in California and do not factor in an exact location for college students. So the company that can offer you the lowest price may not even be in the top 24 companies shown above. That points out the importance of why you need to get car insurance quotes using your own driver data and vehicle information.

For students in college, one of the more important factors that are used to help calculate insurance cost is where you choose to live. Regions with larger populations or more claims tend to pay slightly more, whereas less populated areas benefit from lower coverage costs.

The illustration below ranks the highest-priced areas in California for college students in which to buy car insurance. Oakland shows up at #4 with the annual price of $1,704 for coverage, which is around $142 monthly.

Table data uses approximated as specific Oakland garaging address can raise or lower auto insurance rates significantly.

Insurance rate increases from tickets or accidents

The common sense way to earn affordable insurance rates for students in college is to be a good driver and not get tickets or have accidents. The chart below highlights how traffic violations and accidents drive up auto insurance rates for different age categories. The premiums assume a single male driver, full physical damage coverage, $500 deductibles, and no discounts are applied.

The data charted above shows the average cost of a car insurance policy in California per year with a clean driving record and no accidents is $2,075. Factor in two speeding tickets and the average cost surges to $2,743, an increase of $668 each year. Now include two accidents along with the two speeding tickets and the annual cost of insurance for college students goes up to an average of $5,349. That’s an increase of $3,273, or $273 per month, just for not being a responsible driver!

Best insurance company in Oakland

Choosing the right insurance provider can be rather challenging considering how many different insurance companies sell coverage in California. The company information displayed below can help you decide which car insurance companies you want to consider when comparing insurance rates for college students. The rankings below include companies with a nationwide focus, so companies that only write business in California or surrounding areas are not taken into consideration for the list.

Top 10 Major Car Insurance Companies in Oakland Ranked by Customer Service

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

Types of discounts on Oakland car insurance

Car insurance companies that provide policies for college students may also offer special discounts that may potentially lower prices by 25% or more if you meet specific criteria. Companies and some of the premium reductions they offer are:

• State Farm may have discounts that include defensive driving training, student away at school, safe vehicle, passive restraint, driver’s education, good student, and Drive Safe & Save.
• Progressive has discounts for good student, online quote discount, homeowner, multi-vehicle, and online signing.
• Travelers offers discounts for home ownership, student away at school, early quote, multi-policy, driver training, new car, and IntelliDrive.
• American Family offers premium reductions for accident-free, TimeAway discount, Steer into Savings, good driver, mySafetyValet, good student, and air bags.
• Liberty Mutual offers discounts including safety features, newly retired, multi-car, good student, and hybrid vehicle.

The example below compares premium costs with and without discounts applied to the rates. The data assumes a male driver, no claims, a clean driving record, California state minimum liability limits, full coverage, and $250 deductibles.

The first bar for each age group shows the average annual price with no discounts. The lower bar shows the rates with vehicle safety, paid-in-full, good student, continuous coverage, passive restraint, and anti-theft discounts applied. When these discounts are applied, theaverage yearly reduction on insurance for college students is 19% or $429.

How to find budget-friendly car insurance for college students

It is possible to find better rates, and here are a few thrifty suggestions that can help California drivers find lower-cost coverage.

• Being accident-free can lower rates significantly
• Maintaining good credit helps earn cheaper rates
• Buying your home and auto policies from the same company can earn a discount
• Don’t have frequent claims
• Save money by observing traffic laws and speed limits
• Raise deductibles
• Shop your coverage around for the best deal

That last tip is remarkably vital, as we discussed in this piece. Insurance prices change a lot, so drivers shouldn’t be resistant to change to a new company if a lower-cost policy is available. Many drivers prefer to stick with one company, but it’s not a great idea if that inflexibility results in costing you money that could be spent on other things. It only takes a couple minutes to compare prices and find cheaper auto insurance for college students in Oakland.

The auto insurance agents in Oakland shown below are willing to answer your questions and help you decide which policy is best, as some people prefer to have professional advice when trying to find the best insurance rates for college students. It’s not always easy to do it yourself, so insurance agents licensed in the state of California can bring comfort knowing your coverage gives you enough coverage if you have a claim. To find an auto insurance agency in your neighborhood, click the button following the list.

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