You have probably watched the commercials from companies like Progressive, GEICO, and State Farm that say if you switch you’ll get the cheapest rates. So you just need to select the one with the best jingle, right?
It’s not quite that easy, unfortunately, as there are a whole slew of unknown elements such as what deductibles you want to use, whether or not you own a home, and your financial responsibility, that all go into determining the rate you pay. We will try to teach you about the best ways to save on auto insurance and will give you a solid foundation to find cheaper car insurance.
One of the more important things that are looked at to help calculate car insurance rates is where you normally keep your vehicle in San Antonio. More populated areas will most likely have higher rates, whereas areas with less congestion benefit from having to pay less for coverage.
The illustration below shows the highest-priced areas in Texas for homeowners in which to buy car insurance. San Antonio is ranked #11 with an annual cost of $1,722 on average, which is approximately $144 each month.
| Rank | City | Annual Premium |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | McAllen | $2,016 |
| 2 | Brownsville | $1,908 |
| 3 | Dallas | $1,855 |
| 4 | Amarillo | $1,840 |
| 5 | Houston | $1,835 |
| 6 | Laredo | $1,833 |
| 7 | Grand Prairie | $1,811 |
| 8 | Mesquite | $1,807 |
| 9 | Garland | $1,778 |
| 10 | Pasadena | $1,740 |
| 11 | San Antonio | $1,722 |
| 12 | Irving | $1,719 |
| 13 | Lubbock | $1,716 |
| 14 | Beaumont | $1,702 |
| 15 | Austin | $1,676 |
| 16 | Carrollton | $1,664 |
| 17 | Arlington | $1,658 |
| 18 | El Paso | $1,632 |
| 19 | McKinney | $1,625 |
| 20 | Fort Worth | $1,621 |
| 21 | Plano | $1,576 |
| 22 | Corpus Christi | $1,572 |
| 23 | Abilene | $1,561 |
| 24 | Waco | $1,537 |
| 25 | Killeen | $1,518 |
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Information shown are comparative as the specific San Antonio residence address can lower or raise auto insurance rates significantly.
Shopping around for reasonably-priced insurance is not most people’s favorite thing to do, and figuring out which companies offer the lowest-priced auto insurance rates for homeowners will require even more shopping around.
Every auto insurer uses slightly different criteria for filing rates in each state, so let’s take a look at the auto insurance companies with the most affordable rates in Texas. It’s important to understand that Texas auto insurance rates are calculated based on many things which can substantially change the cost of a policy. That is why San Antonio drivers need to perform a complete rate comparison when trying to find the most affordable insurance quotes for homeowners. Insurance rates consist of many different factors and can change substantially, so the most economical option when you bought your policy may now be one of the more expensive options.
Cheap Insurance Rates for Homeowners
| Rank | Company | Cost Per Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Travelers | $1,041 |
| 2 | USAA | $1,084 |
| 3 | Texas Farm Bureau | $1,247 |
| 4 | Germania Mutual | $1,282 |
| 5 | Esurance | $1,421 |
| 6 | California Casualty | $1,424 |
| 7 | Mercury | $1,506 |
| 8 | State Farm | $1,510 |
| 9 | Safe Auto | $1,549 |
| 10 | Nationwide | $1,600 |
| 11 | Allstate | $1,650 |
| 12 | Progressive | $1,715 |
| 13 | Amica | $1,757 |
| 14 | Home State | $2,071 |
| 15 | GEICO | $2,156 |
| 16 | MetLife | $2,183 |
| 17 | Encompass | $2,232 |
| 18 | Unitrin | $2,241 |
| 19 | 21st Century | $2,396 |
| 20 | Titan | $2,646 |
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Travelers may offer some of the lowest car insurance rates in San Antonio at around $1,041 a year. USAA, Texas Farm Bureau, Germania Mutual, and Esurance would also make the list of some of the cheapest San Antonio, TX auto insurance companies.
In the rate table above, if you buy coverage from Esurance and switched to USAA, you might realize annual savings of upwards of $337. Insureds with California Casualty may save as much as $340 a year, and Mercury customers might realize rate reductions of up to $422 a year.
To get a fast rate comparison, click here to get quotes or visit any of the companies below.
It’s important to note that these premiums are averages for all drivers and vehicles and do not take into consideration a specific zip code for homeowners. So the auto insurance company that is most affordable for your situation may not even be in the top 23 companies in the list above. That helps illustrate why you need to quote rates from as many companies as possible using your own specific driver and vehicle information.
Should you buy full coverage?
Lowering the price of auto insurance is important to the majority of vehicle owners, and one way to buy cheaper insurance for homeowners is to only buy liability coverage. The diagram below compares insurance rates with full physical damage coverage and with liability coverage only. The data assumes a clean driving record, no claims, $250 deductibles, marital status is single, and no additional discounts are factored in.
As an average for all age groups, comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy costs an extra $2,000 per year more than buying just liability insurance. Many drivers will wonder if you should buy full coverage at all. There is no written rule of when to stop paying for full coverage on your policy, but there is a guideline you can consider. If the yearly cost of full coverage is more than 10% of replacement cost minus your deductible, then it could be time to drop full coverage.
For example, let’s say your vehicle’s replacement value is $8,500 and you have $1,000 policy deductibles. If your vehicle is severely damaged, the most you would receive is $7,500 after paying your deductible. If premium cost is more than $750 a year for full coverage, then it might be time to consider dropping full coverage.
There are a few cases where removing full coverage is not a good plan. If you still have a loan on your vehicle, you have to keep full coverage in order to satisfy the requirements of the loan. Also, if you don’t have enough money to buy a different vehicle in the event your current vehicle is totaled, you should not consider dropping full coverage.
Types of discounts on San Antonio auto insurance rates
Insurance companies that provide coverage for homeowners may also give you price discounts that can lower rates by as much as 30% if you qualify. A few of the larger companies and a partial list of their discounts can be found below.
- State Farm offers premium reductions for Drive Safe & Save, good student, defensive driving training, accident-free, multiple autos, and student away at school.
- American Family policyholders can earn discounts including good student, TimeAway discount, multi-vehicle, accident-free, good driver, and mySafetyValet.
- GEICO offers discounts including multi-vehicle, anti-theft, anti-lock brakes, military active duty, and emergency military deployment.
- 21st Century includes discounts for teen driver, air bags, homeowners, student driver, automatic seat belts, anti-lock brakes, and defensive driver.
- Progressive discounts include online quote discount, homeowner, good student, continuous coverage, multi-vehicle, and online signing.
The example below shows the comparison of car insurance rates with and without discounts applied to the policy premium. The data assumes a female driver, no accidents, no driving violations, Texas state minimum liability limits, comp and collision included, and $100 deductibles. The first bar for each age group shows premium with no discounts. The lower bar shows the rates with defensive driving course, vehicle safety, homeowner, safe-driver, accident-free, and multiple policy discounts applied. When drivers take advantage of discounts, the average savings per year on auto insurance for homeowners is 28% or $570.
How violations and accidents impact rates
The recommended way to score affordable auto insurance rates for people who own their homes is to be a careful driver and avoid getting tickets or having accidents. The information below illustrates how speeding tickets and fender-benders can drive up auto insurance costs for different age groups of insureds. The data assumes a married female driver, full coverage, $500 deductibles, and no discounts are taken into consideration.
In the example above, the average cost of a car insurance policy in San Antonio per year with no accidents or violations is $1,513. Factor in one speeding ticket and the average cost swells to $1,762, an increase of $249 each year. Then add two accidents along with the one speeding ticket and the annual cost of auto insurance for homeowners jumps again to an average of $3,931. That’s an increase of $2,419, or $202 per month, just for not maintaining a clean driving record!