What Insurance is Cheapest for Drivers with Accidents in Long Beach?

The vehicle model requiring insurance is one of the biggest factors when consumers are trying to find the most economical coverage for drivers with accidents. Vehicles with high performance, poor safety ratings, or high incidents of liability claims will cost quite a bit more to insure than safer models. The next table presents coverage rates for a selection of the most economical vehicles to insure in California.

Premium data assumes single female driver age 30, no speeding tickets, two at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and California minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include multi-vehicle, multi-policy, and homeowner. Premium amounts do not factor in Long Beach, CA location which can raise or lower coverage rates significantly.

Based upon the table data, we can expect vehicles like the Honda CR-V, Honda Accord, Toyota Prius, and Hyundai Elantra are going to be the cheaper vehicles to insure for drivers with at-fault accidents. Rates will trend higher because of the fact that there is more liability risk for drivers with accidents, but overall those particular models will tend to have the cheapest rates that you’ll find.

For drivers with at-fault accidents, one of the big things that are looked at to determine insurance cost is where you call home in Long Beach. Areas with a lot of weather claims or more people tend to have more expensive car insurance rates, whereas less populated areas tend to receive cheaper rates.

The following table ranks the highest-priced areas in California for drivers with accidents in which to buy car insurance. Long Beach ranks #9 with an annual cost of $1,578 on average, which is about $132 each month.

Price information shown is estimated as the specific zip code location can increase or decrease insurance rates significantly.

How much more does full coverage cost?

Reducing the cost of insurance is probably important to the majority of drivers, and one of the easiest ways to reduce the cost of insurance for drivers with accidents is to not insure for full coverage. The diagram below shows the comparison of insurance premiums with full physical damage coverage compared to only buying the minimum liability limits required in California. The rates are based on a clean driving record, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, single marital status, and no other discounts are factored in.

As an average for all age groups, physical damage coverage costs $2,003 per year more than just buying liability insurance. That raises the question if you should buy full coverage at all. There is no exact formula to eliminate full coverage, but there is a general convention. If the yearly cost of comp and collision coverage is more than around 10% of the replacement cost of your vehicle minus the policy deductible, then you may want to consider only buying liability coverage.

For example, let’s assume your vehicle’s replacement cost is $8,000 and you have $1,000 physical damage deductibles. If your vehicle is damaged in an accident, you would only receive $7,000 after you pay the deductible. If premiums are more than $700 a year for comprehensive and collision coverage, then it might be time to consider dropping full coverage.

There are some scenarios where dropping physical damage coverage is not advised. If you have an outstanding loan on your vehicle, you have to carry full coverage in order to prevent the bank from purchasing higher-priced coverage. Also, if you cannot afford to purchase a different vehicle if your current one is damaged, you should not remove full coverage.

The chart below illustrates how your choice of deductibles can change insurance premiums when trying to find cheap insurance for drivers with accidents. The costs are based on a single male driver, full coverage, and no additional discounts are factored in.

As shown above, a 30-year-old driver could lower their policy premium by $488 a year by changing from a $100 deductible to a $500 deductible, or save $736 by using a $1,000 deductible. Even younger insureds, such as the 20-year-old chart data, can save up to $1,432 or even more by using a higher deductible.

When using a larger deductible, it is essential to have plenty of money set aside to be able to pay the extra out-of-pocket expense, which is the one inconvenience of using high deductibles.

Illustration showing the impact of accidents and violations

The recommended way to receive affordable insurance rates for drivers with at-fault accidents is to be a cautious driver and not have accidents or get tickets. The illustration below shows how violations and accidents can influence insurance costs for each age group. Data assumes a married male driver, full physical damage coverage, $1,000 deductibles, and no discounts are taken into consideration.

In the prior example, the average cost of car insurance in California per year with no accidents or violations is $2,091. Get written up for one speeding ticket and the average cost surges to $2,410, an increase of $319 each year. Now throw in one accident along with the one speeding ticket and the 12-month cost of insurance for drivers with accidents jumps again to an average of $3,300. That’s an increase of $1,210, or $101 per month, just for being a less-than-perfect driver!

Compare rates to save

California insurance rates are influenced by many factors that may substantially change your annual premium. Turning one year older, getting divorced, or having an at-fault accident can trigger price changes resulting in some companies being cheaper than competitors. Not only may your risk profile change, but insurance companies change premium rates every year or even multiple times each year in order to protect their financial rating. An unexpected high level of claims may result in increased rates, while a better claims history may cause cheaper Long Beach car insurance rates.

For example, the graph below shows which company has the cheapest car insurance in Long Beach, CA for a 40-year-old male driver with no prior accidents, a clean driving record, and great credit. If we estimate rates based on his current situation, USAA might quote the most affordable car insurance rates in Long Beach at $1,390 a year. This is $261 less than the average price paid by California drivers of $1,651. Wawanesa, CSAA, Century National, and Nationwide are the rest of the cheapest Long Beach, CA auto insurance companies.

Now let’s give the driver from the first set of rates an accident surcharge, a little lower credit rating, and a traffic citation. Because each insurer has their own guidelines for determining rates in each state, comparing rates may now present a substantially altered list of affordable Long Beach car insurance companies as shown below.

Grange now has the cheapest price in Long Beach, CA with Progressive, Allstate, GEICO, and Allied now rounding out the top five. This demonstrates why Long Beach drivers need to compare as many rates as possible to find cheap insurance quotes for drivers with accidents. Prices can be determined by many things and can change substantially, so the best price when you last compared rates may now not even be in the top five.