The words “affordable” and “insurance” probably shouldn’t be used in the same sentence, especially when comparison shopping for the cheapest auto insurance for a learners permit. To save some money, let’s familiarize you with some situations that have a considerable impact on car insurance prices, and come up with some ideas to take the sting out of your next policy.
For new drivers, one of the big criteria that are used to help calculate the amount you pay each year for auto insurance is where you normally keep your vehicle in Louisville. Cities with larger populations or higher claim trends are more likely to have higher rates, whereas areas that tend to be more rural have the gratification of cheaper auto insurance rates.
The table below ranks the most expensive areas in Kentucky for a learners permit to purchase car insurance in. Louisville is ranked #1 with an annual rate of $2,090 for the average insured, which is around $174 per month.
| Rank | City | Premium Per Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Louisville | $2,090 |
| 2 | Frankfort | $1,725 |
| 3 | Jeffersontown | $1,685 |
| 4 | Saint Matthews | $1,660 |
| 5 | Ashland | $1,656 |
| 6 | Paducah | $1,647 |
| 7 | Radcliff | $1,638 |
| 8 | Elizabethtown | $1,611 |
| 9 | Madisonville | $1,600 |
| 10 | Murray | $1,597 |
| 11 | Winchester | $1,563 |
| 12 | Henderson | $1,541 |
| 13 | Danville | $1,534 |
| 14 | Covington | $1,532 |
| 15 | Hopkinsville | $1,493 |
| 16 | Georgetown | $1,491 |
| 17 | Richmond | $1,475 |
| 18 | Lexington | $1,469 |
| 19 | Independence | $1,466 |
| 20 | Erlanger | $1,463 |
| 21 | Nicholasville | $1,459 |
| 22 | Fort Thomas | $1,440 |
| 23 | Florence | $1,427 |
| 24 | Bowling Green | $1,418 |
| 25 | Owensboro | $1,376 |
| Compare Prices Now Go | ||
Premium costs are estimated as the specific area where the vehicle is garaged can lower or raise premiums noticeably.
Trying to buy reasonably-priced car insurance is hard enough, and determining which insurers offer the lowest-priced auto insurance rates for a learners permit will involve even more shopping around. Each auto insurer uses a different method for setting prices, so to begin we’ll rank the overall cheapest auto insurance companies in Louisville, KY.
It’s a good idea to know that Louisville, KY auto insurance rates are calculated based on many things which can significantly increase or decrease the price of coverage. Simply getting older, increasing liability limits, or having a fender bender may generate price changes that may make certain companies higher-priced than the competition.
Find Cheaper Auto Insurance in Kentucky
| Rank | Company | Cost Per Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cincinnati Insurance | $1,126 |
| 2 | Kentucky Farm Bureau | $1,128 |
| 3 | USAA | $1,211 |
| 4 | Auto-Owners | $1,371 |
| 5 | Grange Mutual | $1,577 |
| 6 | Motorists Mutual | $1,601 |
| 7 | Travelers | $1,663 |
| 8 | State Farm | $1,848 |
| 9 | Westfield | $1,888 |
| 10 | Safe Auto | $1,913 |
| 11 | Nationwide | $2,085 |
| 12 | Electric | $2,139 |
| 13 | Progressive | $2,140 |
| 14 | State Auto | $2,254 |
| 15 | Encompass | $2,288 |
| 16 | GEICO | $2,437 |
| 17 | Safeco | $2,709 |
| 18 | Shelter | $3,135 |
| 19 | MetLife | $3,146 |
| 20 | Liberty Mutual | $3,708 |
| Find Cheaper Rates Go | ||
Cincinnati Insurance normally has some of the best car insurance rates in Louisville at around $1,126 annually. This is $1,017 less than the average premium paid by Kentucky drivers of $2,143. Kentucky Farm Bureau, USAA, Auto-Owners, and Grange Mutual also qualify as some of the cheapest Louisville, KY insurance companies.
In this example, if you have coverage with Auto-Owners and switched to Cincinnati Insurance, you may realize savings of around $245. Customers with Grange Mutual may save as much as $451 a year, and Motorists Mutual insureds might reduce rates by $475 a year.
To see if you’re overpaying, click here to get quotes or click through to the companies below.
Remember that these estimates are averages across all drivers and vehicles and and are not figured with an exact zip code location for a learners permit. So the car insurance company that fits your situation best may not even be in the top 21 companies in the list above. That point stresses why you need to get rate quotes from many companies using your own specific driver information and vehicle.
Kentucky auto insurance companies ranked
Ending up with a high-quality car insurance company is hard considering how many companies sell coverage in Kentucky. The company information below can help you select which car insurance providers you want to consider purchasing from. These rankings are only made up of companies who write in the majority of U.S. states, so companies that have a smaller presence will not be included in the list.
| Company | Value | Customer Service | Claims | Customer Satisfaction | A.M Best Rating | Overall Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travelers | 93 | 98 | 99 | 88% | A++ | 95.1 |
| USAA | 83 | 99 | 100 | 91% | A++ | 94.1 |
| AAA Insurance | 91 | 95 | 92 | 90% | A | 93.3 |
| Nationwide | 85 | 95 | 97 | 89% | A+ | 92.4 |
| Allstate | 77 | 100 | 97 | 88% | A+ | 90.7 |
| State Farm | 80 | 94 | 96 | 88% | A++ | 90.6 |
| The Hartford | 88 | 93 | 91 | 87% | A+ | 90.4 |
| Safeco Insurance | 91 | 95 | 85 | 88% | A | 90.2 |
| Progressive | 88 | 94 | 83 | 88% | A+ | 90.1 |
| American Family | 91 | 86 | 95 | 83% | A | 89.7 |
| Esurance | 86 | 90 | 94 | 90% | A+ | 89.5 |
| The General | 86 | 93 | 89 | 84% | A- | 88.2 |
| GEICO | 79 | 89 | 95 | 87% | A++ | 87.8 |
| 21st Century | 86 | 82 | 90 | 84% | A | 86.4 |
| Liberty Mutual | 79 | 87 | 95 | 78% | A | 85.3 |
| Erie Insurance | 87 | 84 | 85 | 85% | A+ | 85.3 |
| Farmers Insurance | 77 | 80 | 80 | 84% | A | 80.3 |
| Compare Rates Now Go | ||||||
Data Source: Insure.com Best Car Insurance Companies
The illustration below shows how different deductible levels can change insurance rates when searching for cheap insurance for a learners permit. The prices are based on a single male driver, full physical damage coverage, and no discounts are factored in.
In the chart above, a 50-year-old driver could reduce rates by $268 a year by increasing from a $100 deductible to a $500 deductible, or save $404 by changing to a $1,000 deductible. Younger drivers, like the age 20 example, could drop their prices as much as $880 every year just by choosing higher deductibles. When increasing deductibles, it’s a good idea to have plenty of money set aside to enable you to pay the extra out-of-pocket expense, which is the primary disadvantage of high deductibles.
Should you buy full coverage?
Finding the cheapest auto insurance is the goal of the majority of people, and an effective way to find cheap insurance for a learners permit is to only buy liability insurance. The example below shows the difference between insurance prices with liability coverage only compared to full coverage. Data assumes no violations or claims, $100 deductibles, drivers are single, and no additional discounts are factored in.
If we average all the age groups together, comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy costs $1,873 per year over and above liability coverage. Lot’s of drivers question if buying full coverage is a waste of money. There is no clear-cut formula of when to drop comp and collision coverage, but there is a guideline you can consider. If the yearly cost for physical damage coverage is 10% or more of the replacement cost of your vehicle minus the policy deductible, then you might want to think about dropping full coverage.
For example, let’s pretend your vehicle’s replacement cost is $5,500 and you have $1,000 physical damage deductibles. If your vehicle is destroyed, you would only receive $4,500 after you pay the deductible. If it’s costing in excess of $450 annually for your policy with full coverage, then you might consider buying liability only.
There are some circumstances where dropping full coverage is not a good idea. If you still owe money on your vehicle, you have to keep full coverage in order to prevent the bank from purchasing higher-priced coverage. Also, if you can’t afford to buy a different vehicle if your current one is in an accident, you should keep full coverage.
Why you should shop around
Louisville, KY auto insurance rates are impacted by many factors which can substantially change the price you have to pay for coverage. Getting older, having a claim, or having an accident may prompt premium changes that can make some companies more affordable than before.
In addition to those changes, companies change their prices as often as every quarter to adjust for heavy claims or excess profits. Heavier than normal losses can cause higher prices, while a better loss history may cause more affordable Louisville car insurance rates.
For instance, the chart below compares the cheapest car insurance in Louisville, KY for a 45-year-old male driver with no accidents, a clean driving record, and good financial standing. If we compare prices based on his personal risk profile, Cincinnati Insurance might quote the best car insurance rates in Louisville at $1,728 annually. This is $415 less than the average policy premium paid by Kentucky drivers of $2,143. Kentucky Farm Bureau, USAA, Auto-Owners, and Motorists Mutual are also included in the cheapest Louisville, KY auto insurance companies.
The next chart shows rates after we give the driver from the first rate comparison a chargeable claim, less-than-perfect credit, and a speeding citation. Due to the fact that every auto insurer has their own unique process for determining rates in each state, comparing prices will most likely result in a slightly different list of companies as shown below.
Kentucky Farm Bureau now has the best auto insurance rate in Louisville, KY with USAA, Travelers, State Farm, and Westfield also having competitive pricing. This shows why it is critical to perform a complete rate comparison to find cheap auto insurance quotes for a learners permit.
Insurance prices are calculated by many factors and change substantially, so the best price the last time you shopped your coverage around may now be quite expensive.