The words “cheap” and “auto insurance” really shouldn’t be used in the same sentence, especially when searching for the best price on coverage for first-time drivers. To help control this cost, let’s get started by showing you some of the factors that help determine insurance rates, and come up with some ways to slash the price of your next policy.
One of the more important factors that determine the cost of insurance is where you keep your vehicle in San Jose. Regions with more people or even just more weather-related claims tend to have more expensive car insurance rates, whereas areas with less congestion tend to receive slightly lower rates.
The following table lists the most costly cities in California for first-time drivers to buy car insurance in. San Jose comes in at #18 with a yearly premium of $1,437 for the average policyholder, which is around $120 each month.
| Rank | City | Premium Per Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles | $2,104 |
| 2 | Glendale | $2,079 |
| 3 | Oakland | $1,738 |
| 4 | San Francisco | $1,693 |
| 5 | Sacramento | $1,669 |
| 6 | San Bernardino | $1,628 |
| 7 | Garden Grove | $1,570 |
| 8 | Long Beach | $1,562 |
| 9 | Stockton | $1,556 |
| 10 | Modesto | $1,547 |
| 11 | Moreno Valley | $1,536 |
| 12 | Fontana | $1,535 |
| 13 | Santa Clarita | $1,533 |
| 14 | Riverside | $1,527 |
| 15 | Fresno | $1,502 |
| 16 | Anaheim | $1,488 |
| 17 | Santa Ana | $1,453 |
| 18 | San Jose | $1,437 |
| 19 | Fremont | $1,389 |
| 20 | Huntington Beach | $1,374 |
| 21 | Irvine | $1,371 |
| 22 | Chula Vista | $1,350 |
| 23 | Bakersfield | $1,340 |
| 24 | San Diego | $1,327 |
| 25 | Oxnard | $1,304 |
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Premium costs are approximated as specific San Jose garaging address can modify prices noticeably.
Buying low-priced auto insurance is not the easiest thing to accomplish, and finding out which companies offer the best car insurance rates for first-time drivers may require even more work.
Each auto insurer uses different criteria for establishing rates, so let’s take a look at the most affordable car insurance companies in San Jose, CA. It’s important that readers know that San Jose car insurance rates are based on many factors that can increase the cost of coverage. Turning one year older, increasing liability limits, or getting a couple of tickets can cause premium changes that can now make some companies more affordable than before.
Compare Cheap Insurance Quotes for Inexperienced Drivers
USAA may have some of the cheapest car insurance rates in San Jose at around $1,109 each year. This is $542 less than the average price paid by California drivers of $1,651. Wawanesa, CSAA, Nationwide, and Century National also are some of the cheaper San Jose, CA car insurance companies.
As illustrated above, if you have coverage with Nationwide and switched to USAA, you may see a yearly savings of in the neighborhood of $117. Insureds with Century National may save as much as $117 a year, and 21st Century customers might cut rates by $216 a year.
These prices are averaged across all drivers and vehicles and do not take into consideration a specific zip code for first-time drivers. So the insurer that has the cheapest rates for you may not even be in the list above. That point stresses why you need to get rate quotes from many companies using your own driver data and vehicle information.
The diagram below shows how choosing a deductible can influence insurance prices when getting quotes for cheap insurance for first-time drivers. Data assumes a married male driver, full coverage, and no discounts are taken into consideration.
A 50-year-old driver could save $308 a year by switching their comprehensive and collision coverages from a $100 deductible to a $500 deductible, or save $466 by using a $1,000 deductible. Youthful drivers, like the Age 20 category, could save $1,026 or more by choosing larger deductibles on their policy.
When increasing deductibles, it’s a good idea to have spare funds to be able to pay the extra out-of-pocket expense, which is the one shortcoming of high deductibles.
Types of discounts on San Jose auto insurance
Insurers that offer quotes for first-time drivers may also provide policy discounts that can lower rates by 25% or more if you meet the requirements. A list of car insurance companies and some of the premium reductions they offer are outlined below.
- State Farm offers discounts for passive restraint, defensive driving training, Drive Safe & Save, accident-free, and multiple autos.
- Liberty Mutual may offer discounts for new vehicle discount, safety features, multi-car, newly married, and new graduate.
- American Family may include discounts for mySafetyValet, defensive driver, bundled insurance, good driver, multi-vehicle, TimeAway discount, and accident-free.
- Progressive includes discounts for multi-policy, online signing, continuous coverage, homeowner, and multi-vehicle.
- Farmers Insurance policyholders can earn discounts including youthful driver, alternative fuel, mature driver, distant student, and good student.
- Auto-Owners Insurance may have discounts that include anti-theft, paid in full, group or association, multiple vehicles, mature driver, student away at school, and air bags.
- SAFECO offers discounts including teen safety rewards, multi-car, accident prevention training, teen safe driver, and drive less.
The illustration below shows the comparison of premium costs with and without some available policy discounts. The costs are based on a male driver, no claims or driving citations, California state minimum liability limits, comprehensive and collision coverage, and $100 deductibles. The first bar for each age group shows the average rate with no discounts. The lower bar shows the rates with anti-theft, passive restraint, vehicle safety, paperless filing, good student, and continuous coverage discounts applied. When taking advantage of discounts, theaverage amount saved on car insurance for first-time drivers is 28% or $893.
Why are you paying too much for car insurance?
San Jose, CA car insurance rates are based on many factors which can substantially change the price of your policy. Simply getting older, moving across town, or getting a few speeding tickets may generate price changes resulting in some rates now being more affordable than others. Not only may things change on your end, but insurers file new California auto insurance rates every year to adjust for heavy claims or excess profits. Significantly higher losses can result in additional price hikes, while better underwriting can produce cheaper San Jose car insurance rates.
To help illustrate this point, the chart below compares the cheapest car insurance in San Jose, CA for a 30-year-old male driver with no accidents or violations, and good credit. Based on his personal risk profile, USAA offers the best car insurance rates in San Jose at $1,190 annually. This is $461 less than the average rate paid by California drivers of $1,651. Century National, Wawanesa, CSAA, and Nationwide are the remaining best San Jose, CA auto insurance companies.
In this example, we will give the driver in the first chart some claims, bad credit, and a blemish on his driving record. Because every insurance company has a different process for determining rates in each state, comparing insurance quotes may now show a different ranking of companies as shown below.
Grange now has the lowest price in San Jose with Allstate, Progressive, Mercury, and The Hartford completing the list. This example shows why it is so important to perform an extensive rate comparison when trying to find the most affordable insurance rates for first-time drivers. Car insurance prices can be determined by many risk factors and can increase or decrease at any time, so the best price the last time you shopped your coverage around may now not even be in the top five.
The agencies below are willing to provide answers to your questions and help you determine which policy fits your needs best, since lots of people like to have professional advice when shopping for cheaper insurance for first-time drivers. It can be difficult to find the best policy on your own, so insurance agents can give you satisfaction knowing you have adequate asset protection. To find an agent using an interactive map, click the button at the bottom of the list.
- Farmers Insurance – Jeff Senigaglia
950 S Bascom Ave #2113 – San Jose, CA 95128 – (408) 297-6686 - Farmers Insurance
1080 Minnesota Ave # 4 – San Jose, CA 95125 – (408) 294-4348 - Kathy Barber – State Farm Insurance Agent
5615 Cottle Rd – San Jose, CA 95123 – (408) 365-7268