Who Has the Cheapest Jersey City Auto Insurance Rates for First-time Drivers?

Establishing which companies quote the most affordable insurance rates for first-time drivers takes a tad more effort in order to find the best policy. Each insurance company has a proprietary formula to determine premium rates, so let’s examine the lowest cost insurance companies in Jersey City.

It’s important that readers know that New Jersey insurance rates are impacted by many factors which can significantly increase or decrease the price you pay for coverage. Simply having another birthday, increasing deductibles, or getting a couple of tickets can cause premium changes that may make certain companies cheaper than before.

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21st Century normally has some of the cheapest car insurance rates in Jersey City at around $1,111 per year. This is $741 less than the average policy premium paid by New Jersey drivers of $1,852. Travelers, New Jersey Manufacturers, Penn National, and Palisades also make the cut as some of the cheapest Jersey City, NJ car insurance companies.

As the rates illustrate above, if you buy coverage from Travelers and switched to 21st Century, you could earn an annual savings of around $80. Drivers with New Jersey Manufacturers may save as much as $147 a year, and Penn National policyholders might lower prices by up to $268 a year.

If you want to see how much you could save, click here to start your custom quote or visit several of the following companies.

These policy rates are averages across all drivers and vehicles and do not factor in an exact vehicle garaging location for first-time drivers. So the insurer that can offer you the best price may not even be in the top 19 companies shown above. That underscores the importance of why you need to get auto insurance quotes using your own driver and vehicle profiles.

One of the many criteria that determine the amount you pay each year for auto insurance is the neighborhood you call home. Areas with a lot of weather claims or more people are more likely to pay higher prices, whereas areas with less crime or weather claims have the gratification of cheaper auto insurance rates.

The next table ranks the most expensive areas in New Jersey for first-time drivers in which to purchase auto insurance. Jersey City is ranked at #11 with a yearly cost of $2,276 on average, which is approximately $190 monthly.

Rate quotes are comparative as specific Jersey City garaging address can influence coverage prices substantially.

The vehicle model requiring insurance is one of the biggest factors when looking for cheap auto insurance for first-time drivers. Vehicles with more horsepower, poor safety ratings, or a track record of large liability claims will cost substantially more to insure than safer models.

The list below illustrates insurance premiums for a handful of the cheaper automobiles to insure.

Cost estimates assume single female driver age 17, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and New Jersey minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, and claim-free. Rate information does not factor in vehicle garaging location which can modify auto insurance rates noticeably.

Based on these rates, we can assume that models like the Honda CR-V, Ford Escape, Toyota Prius, Ford F-150, and Ford Explorer are some of the cheaper vehicles to insure for new drivers. Auto insurance rates will tend to be higher just because there is more liability risk for first-time drivers, but overall those makes and models will most likely have the lowest insurance rates compared to all other vehicles.

Discount Jersey City auto insurance

Car insurance companies that provide coverage for first-time drivers may also offer price discounts that could reduce prices by 30% or more if you are eligible. A list of companies and their possible discounts are outlined below.

• Farm Bureau offers discounts including renewal discount, good student, safe driver, driver training, and multi-policy.
• Liberty Mutual policyholders can earn discounts including exclusive group savings, newly retired, hybrid vehicle, newly married, new move discount, safety features, and multi-policy.
• State Farm offers discounts for driver’s education, good driver, Drive Safe & Save, defensive driving training, good student, multiple policy, and passive restraint.
• Auto-Owners Insurance offers premium reductions for teen driver, multi-policy, good student, air bags, anti-lock brakes, and group or association.
• GEICO may include discounts for driver training, anti-theft, defensive driver, anti-lock brakes, five-year accident-free, seat belt use, and emergency military deployment.
• SAFECO has savings for homeowner, accident prevention training, multi-car, bundle discounts, safe driver, drive less, and anti-theft.

The diagram below illustrates the difference between auto insurance costs with and without policy discounts. The rate quotes are based on a male driver, no violations or claims, New Jersey state minimum liability limits, full physical damage coverage, and $100 deductibles. The first bar for each age group shows the average annual price with no discounts. The second shows the rates with good student, continuous coverage, vehicle safety, anti-theft, paid-in-full, and passive restraint discounts applied. When drivers qualify for the discounts, the average amount saved each year on insurance for first-time drivers is 28% or $1,315.

Cost comparison with and without full coverage

Paying less for insurance is the goal of most drivers, and one of the easiest ways to find cheaper insurance for first-time drivers is to buy liability only. The illustration below shows the comparison of premium costs with full physical damage coverage compared to only buying liability only. The prices are based on no violations or claims, $250 deductibles, single marital status, and no discounts are applied.

Averaged for all age groups, comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy costs an additional $2,515 per year over liability only. Many drivers may wonder if it’s a good idea to buy full coverage. There is no set rule to drop physical damage insurance, but there is a general convention. If the annual cost of coverage is more than 10% of replacement cost minus your deductible, then you might want to think about dropping full coverage.

For example, let’s pretend your vehicle’s replacement cost is $7,500 and you have $1,000 physical damage deductibles. If your vehicle is totaled in an accident, the most you would get paid by your company is $6,500 after the policy deductible has been paid. If you are paying more than $650 annually for full coverage, then it may be the right time to buy liability only.

There are some cases where dropping full coverage is not advised. If you haven’t paid off your loan, you must maintain physical damage coverage to protect the lienholder’s interest in the vehicle. Also, if you cannot afford to purchase a different vehicle in the even your car is totaled, you should maintain full coverage.

The diagram below highlights how deductible selection can raise or lower insurance rates when researching cheap insurance for first-time drivers. The data assumes a married male driver, comp and collision included, and no discounts are taken into consideration.

The chart above illustrates that a 30-year-old driver could cut expenses by $372 a year by changing their physical damage coverage from a $100 deductible up to a $500 deductible, or save $562 by choosing a $1,000 deductible. Even younger insureds, such as the 20-year-old chart data, could reduce their rates as much as $1,114 or even more just by choosing higher deductibles when buying full coverage. If you make the decision to raise deductibles, it is important to have additional funds squirreled away to enable you to pay the extra out-of-pocket expense, which is the main inconvenience of larger deductibles.

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New Jersey insurance rates are based on many factors that can increase the cost of a policy. Simply having another birthday, having a claim, or getting a few speeding tickets can trigger rate changes that can now make some companies more affordable than others.

Not only may things change on your end, but insurers amend pricing multiple times each year to adjust for gains or losses. A period of higher than normal claims can result in higher prices, while profitable underwriting may cause cheaper Jersey City car insurance rates.

To help illustrate this point, the data below shows the companies that have the cheapest car insurance in Jersey City, NJ for a 45-year-old male driver with no accidents or violations, and a good credit history. When comparing rates based on his current situation, 21st Century offers the best car insurance rates in Jersey City at $1,466 annually. This is $386 less than the average premium paid by New Jersey drivers of $1,852. Travelers, New Jersey Manufacturers, Palisades, and Penn National are also on the list of the cheapest Jersey City, NJ auto insurance companies.

The next chart shows rates after we give the driver from the above example a couple of claims, a lower credit score, and a traffic citation. Due to the fact that every insurance company has a proprietary method to determining premium rates, getting updated rate quotes most likely will result in a substantially altered list of affordable companies as shown below.

Allstate now has the lowest car insurance rate in Jersey City, NJ with The Hartford, USAA, Mercury, and Travelers now rounding out the top five. This illustrates why Jersey City drivers need to shop around with many companies to find the most economical car insurance rates for first-time drivers.

Insurance rates can be determined by many things and can change without notice, so the cheapest company the last time you shopped around may now be one of the more expensive options.