You have surely seen all the catchy commercials from companies like State Farm and The General promising dirt cheap rates, so drivers should just pick the company with the catchiest ad, right?
That is not the case, however, as there are a whole bunch of unknown elements like whether you are male or female, whether you are single or married, and if you have any driving citations, that all impact the price you pay. We will attempt to cover the best ways to avoid high prices and hopefully give you enough understanding to have a good start in finding the cheapest car insurance in Philadelphia.
The vehicle model on the policy is one of the primary factors that determines whether or not you can buy cheaper coverage for college graduates. Vehicles with high performance, a lack of advanced safety features, or high incidents of liability claims will cost substantially more to insure than more economical and safe models.
The data below features auto insurance prices for some of the more affordable automobiles to buy coverage for.
| Vehicle Make and Model | Estimated Cost for Full Coverage |
|---|---|
| Toyota Prius | $4,789 |
| Ford Escape XLT 2WD | $4,887 |
| Honda CR-V LX 4WD | $4,892 |
| Ford Focus SE 4-Dr Sedan | $5,014 |
| Volkswagen Jetta LE 4-Dr Sedan | $5,112 |
| Nissan Altima 2.5 4-Dr Sedan | $5,117 |
| Dodge Grand Caravan Hero | $5,112 |
| Toyota RAV4 Sport 4WD | $5,119 |
| Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 2WD | $5,112 |
| Toyota Tacoma Double Cab 4WD | $5,120 |
| Honda Accord EX-L 4-Dr Sedan | $5,281 |
| Hyundai Elantra GLS 4-Dr Sedan | $5,388 |
| Toyota Corolla LE | $5,397 |
| GMC Sierra SLT Extended Cab 4WD | $5,482 |
| Nissan Rogue S AWD | $5,487 |
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Prices above based on single male driver age 50, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and Pennsylvania minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, homeowner, claim-free, multi-policy, and multi-vehicle. Table data does not factor in zip code location which can revise premiums greatly.
Based upon these rates, you can see that vehicles like the Toyota Prius, Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Ford Focus, and Volkswagen Jetta are a few of the most budget-friendly vehicles to insure for college grads.
Buying reasonably-priced auto insurance is not most people’s favorite thing to do, and figuring out which insurers offer the cheapest insurance rates for college graduates involves additional perseverance. Every car insurance company has their own guidelines for establishing rates, so we’ll go over the insurance companies that tend to be cheaper in Pennsylvania.
Best Auto Insurance Prices for Grads
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| Rank | Company | Cost Per Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | General Casualty | $718 |
| 2 | USAA | $785 |
| 3 | Travelers | $787 |
| 4 | Erie | $816 |
| 5 | Penn National | $832 |
| 6 | Amica | $982 |
| 7 | Auto-Owners | $993 |
| 8 | Atlantic States | $1,036 |
| 9 | Donegal Mutual | $1,058 |
| 10 | GEICO | $1,157 |
| 11 | State Farm | $1,174 |
| 12 | Allied | $1,190 |
| 13 | California Casualty | $1,222 |
| 14 | State Auto | $1,241 |
| 15 | Encompass | $1,344 |
| 16 | Mutual Benefit Group | $1,397 |
| 17 | Progressive | $1,414 |
| 18 | Harleysville | $1,452 |
| 19 | Nationwide | $1,477 |
| 20 | Chubb | $1,536 |
| Quote Your Rates Go | ||
General Casualty may have some of the most affordable car insurance rates in Philadelphia at around $718 annually. USAA, Travelers, Erie, and Penn National also make the cut as some of the lowest-priced Philadelphia, PA car insurance companies.
As the example above demonstrates, if you currently buy coverage from Travelers and switched to General Casualty, you might achieve a yearly price reduction of roughly $69. Pennsylvania drivers with Erie may save as much as $98 a year, and Penn National insureds might lower prices by $114 a year.
Bear in mind that those rates are averages for all drivers and vehicles and and are not calculated with an exact zip code location for college graduates. So the insurer that is best for you may not even be in the top 30 companies shown above. That illustrates why you need to get rate quotes from many companies using your own specific driver information and vehicle.
Get discount Philadelphia insurance rates
Insurance companies that offer cheap quotes for college graduates may additionally offer premium discounts that could potentially reduce rates by as much as 35% or more if you meet eligibility requirements. A list of companies and some of the discounts include:
- Farm Bureau may have discounts that include good student, multi-policy, driver training, multi-vehicle, 55 and retired, and renewal discount.
- Liberty Mutual may offer discounts for good student, exclusive group savings, preferred payment discount, new graduate, newly married, and new move discount.
- State Farm may include discounts for multiple policy, passive restraint, good student, safe vehicle, driver’s education, Drive Safe & Save, and multiple autos.
- Auto-Owners Insurance discounts include multiple vehicles, good student, safe driver, safe vehicle, mature driver, and multi-policy.
- GEICO policyholders can earn discounts including daytime running lights, federal employee, military active duty, membership and employees, good student, anti-lock brakes, and air bags.
- SAFECO includes discounts for multi-car, drive less, accident prevention training, homeowner, teen safety rewards, and safe driver.
The information below shows the comparison of insurance costs with and without discounts applied to the premium. The premiums assume a female driver, a clean driving record, no claims, Pennsylvania state minimum liability limits, comprehensive and collision coverage, and $100 deductibles. The first bar for each age group shows the price with no discounts. The second bar shows the rates with anti-theft, safe-driver, claim-free, defensive driving course, passive restraint, and multiple policy discounts applied. When these discounts are applied, theamount saved on insurance for college graduates is 28% or $548.
The illustration below illustrates how your choice of deductibles can affect annual premium costs when trying to find cheap insurance for college graduates. Data assumes a married female driver, full physical damage coverage, and no policy discounts are applied.
In the chart above, a 50-year-old driver could reduce rates by $270 a year by switching the physical damage coverage from a $100 deductible to a $500 deductible, or save $406 by switching to a $1,000 deductible. Youthful drivers, like the 20-year-old, could lower their rates as much as $668 each year just by using higher deductibles.
If you make the decision to raise deductibles, it is a good idea to have enough funds in savings to enable you to pay the extra out-of-pocket expense. This is the primary disadvantage of choosing high deductibles.
Why are you paying too much for Philadelphia car insurance?
Philadelphia, PA insurance rates are impacted by many factors which can significantly increase or decrease the price of coverage. Turning one year older, buying a new vehicle, or getting caught speeding can trigger changes in premium resulting in some companies being more affordable than others.
Not only may things change on your end, but companies file new Pennsylvania auto insurance rates every year or even multiple times each year in order to offset underwriting gains or losses. Unexpectedly high claims can result in additional price hikes, while long-term profits can result in lower-priced Philadelphia car insurance rates.
To illustrate this example, the graph below shows a variety of companies that have the cheapest car insurance in Philadelphia, PA for a 30-year-old female driver with no prior accidents, a clean driving record, and solid credit. When comparing rates based on her current rating profile, General Casualty might quote the lowest car insurance rates in Philadelphia at $1,683 a year. This is $26 more than the average price paid by Pennsylvania drivers of $1,657. Erie, Travelers, Penn National, and USAA are the rest of the top five cheapest Philadelphia, PA auto insurance companies.
The chart below compares rates after we give the driver from the first rate comparison a claim surcharge, a little lower credit rating, and an imperfect driving record. Since each company has a unique approach to determining premium rates, analyzing rate quotes may result in a different set of the cheapest car insurance companies in Philadelphia as shown below.
Amica now has the best insurance rate in Philadelphia, PA with Atlantic States, Erie, Donegal Mutual, and Travelers also being competitive. This example illustrates why Pennsylvania drivers need to compare many different companies when trying to get the cheapest car insurance rates for college graduates. Rates consist of many risk factors and can increase or decrease at any time, so the cheapest option the last time you compared rates may now be priced much higher than other options.
How to find economical car insurance for college graduates
It’s not impossible to find cheaper rates, and here are some of the recommended thrifty suggestions that can help you get cheaper coverage.
- Increase your deductibles
- Get cheaper liability coverage by choosing a safer vehicle
- Drive safely
- Pay cheaper rates with good credit scores
- Having at-fault accidents will increase rates
- Compare rates regularly and switch companies to save money
That last piece of advice is especially vital, as was affirmed in the article above. Prices charged by car insurance companies can change considerably based on profitability, so don’t be unwilling to change insurance companies if a more affordable price is available.
Being loyal to a particular company is commendable, but it’s not recommended if your bullheadedness ends up costing you a small fortune. It only takes a couple minutes to shop around to find cheaper insurance for college graduates in Philadelphia.