How to Find the Most Affordable Car Insurance in Connecticut

Connecticut is an affluent state and even their auto insurance premiums are higher. The average car insurance premium in Connecticut is $1,544 annually, which is more than 8 percent higher than the national average. But just because the people of Connecticut have more money doesn’t mean they need to pay more for their car insurance. There are tips and strategies for lowering auto insurance and they will work just as well in Connecticut as anywhere else. But first let’s take a closer look at auto insurance in Connecticut.

State Minimum Liability Requirements

Liability coverage helps pay for the other person’s expenses if you are at fault in an accident. Each state has their own minimum liability requirements for drivers in their state. In Connecticut, the state minimum liability requirements are $25,000 bodily injury liability coverage per person, $50,000 bodily injury liability coverage per accident and $25,000 property damage liability coverage per accident. This minimum liability coverage cost averages at $821 per year in Connecticut.

Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage

Connecticut also requires all its drivers to carry uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of $25,000 bodily injury per person and $50,000 of bodily injury per accident. This insurance protects Connecticut drivers if they should get in an accident with an uninsured or underinsured motorist.

A Full Policy Costs More

A more comprehensive auto insurance policy that includes collision and comprehensive coverages and that comes with $1,000 deductibles will cost an average of $1,404 in Connecticut.

Collision insurance is coverage that helps to repair or replace your car if it’s damaged in an at-fault accident with another vehicle or object such as a fence or a tree. Comprehensive insurance covers events that aren’t covered by collision coverage. These events include fire, theft, vandalism and damages from weather such as a hailstorm, a windstorm, a hurricane and a tornado.

If you are financing your car, your lender may require that you have both collision and comprehensive insurance coverages.

Both collision and comprehensive insurance coverages come with deductibles. A deductible is the amount you need to pay before your auto insurance company begins to pay for your damages to your car or losses. Opting for a high deductible will help to lower your insurance premium, especially on a newer car.

Why Is Car Insurance So Expensive in Connecticut

The state’s affluence impacts its auto insurance premiums. Connecticut auto insurance customers have more expensive vehicles to insure and they also buy higher limits of liability coverage. This adds up to higher auto premiums.

In addition, Connecticut has a high density population in its urban areas and this results in more traffic accidents and more congested roadways. More accidents mean high insurance rates.

Connecticut Is an At-fault State

When it comes to insurance, Connecticut is an at-fault state. This means drivers in Connecticut are responsible for any damage they cause to another vehicle. Who is at fault in an accident is determined by an insurance adjuster.

Cheapest and Most Expensive Cities

New Haven is the most expensive city in Connecticut for auto insurance. Its annual premium averages at $2,250. New London has the least expensive auto insurance with an annual average premium of $1,613.

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How to Save Money on Car Insurance

Looking for ways to get that pricey premium for auto insurance in Connecticut a bit lower? You’ve got lots of choices. There are all kinds of tips and strategies for getting car insurance lower. Here’s the roundup.

Have a good credit score. If you have good or excellent credit you will pay less for your auto insurance. Auto insurance companies have been using consumer credit data to assign risk pools and determine insurance rates since the mid-1990s. In Connecticut, a driver who maintains excellent credit can save $1,476 each year on car insurance compared with a driver with a low credit score. If your credit is not so good there are things you can do to improve it. Get current on all your accounts and pay down debt. Both those things will help to boost your credit score.

Have a good driving record. If you are a safe and accident-free driver who obeys the rules of the road, you will have a good auto insurance rate. So avoid speeding tickets, moving violations, DUIs and at-fault accidents, all will cause your auto insurance premium to go up. In Connecticut, your first minor at-fault collision will cost you $660 per year on your car insurance premiums. A DUI could raise insurance rates in Connecticut by an average of $1,199. In contrast, accident-free drivers save money on car insurance. Connecticut drivers without recent at-fault accidents save 33 percent on their car insurance premiums.

Bundle your policies. Bundle your auto insurance with other insurance policies such as a homeowners policy and save money.

Insure more than one car. Insure more than one car with the same insurance company. Doing so will save you money on your premiums.

Pay once or twice a year. Rather than pay monthly auto insurance bills pay the entire annual amount or six-months amount. Your premium is lower when you pay once or twice a year.

Have anti-theft and safety features. Having certain anti-theft and safety features on your car will lower your auto insurance. So be sure to check with your insurance company about the anti-theft and safety features on your car and find out if you qualify for a discount.

Check your memberships. Members of particular professional organizations and affiliations get discounts on auto insurance. So take a look at the membership cards in your wallet. Do any offer discounts on car insurance? Call your insurance company and find out.

Insure less on older cars. The maximum payout for collision coverage and comprehensive coverage is limited by the value of the car. So if your older car has a low market value, it may not make financial sense to carry collision and comprehensive coverage any longer.

Maintain your insurance coverage. You’ll pay higher insurance rates if you don’t maintain continuous coverage of your auto insurance. So stick with your auto insurance coverage and save.

Choose a high deductible. As mentioned earlier, choosing a high deductible will lower your annual premium, especially when you are insuring a newer car. Just make sure to place the deductible amount in a small emergency fund. That way the money for the deductible will be there if you should ever make an auto insurance claim.

Be a woman. Women make fewer accident claims than men and are rewarded with lower auto insurance rates. Because men have more accidents they pay higher rates.

Be a low-mileage driver. All those heavy commuters with their high mileage driving pay more for their auto insurance. Low-mileage drivers pay less for insurance. So drive less and pay less for auto insurance.

Be older than 25 and younger than 65. Younger and older drivers have more serious accidents and pay more for car insurance. The drivers that are in-between these ages pay less.

Live in a safe neighborhood. If you live in a neighborhood with high accident claims and high auto theft, you are going to pay more for car insurance. If your neighborhood has few accidents and low crime, you’ll pay less for insurance.

Get married. If you are married, you will pay less for car insurance. There is a correlation between being married and exhibiting safe driving behavior. Because of this, married drivers pay less for auto insurance than singles.

Buy a house. Statistics show that people who own homes drive more safely. So let your insurance company know that you own your own home and enjoy the savings on your auto insurance premiums.

Shop around. One of the best ways to save money on car insurance is to shop around. You will want to get insurance quotes from several different lenders. SmartFinancial makes it easy to do. Just enter the type of insurance you are looking for and a zip code to get started. Answer a few quick questions and you’ll be comparing auto insurance rates in Connecticut in no time.

SmartFinancial has access to more than 200 insurance companies so you are bound to find the insurance coverage and the price that you want. Happy shopping and be sure to try out several of the money-saving tips on auto insurance. They all work. So shop smart and drive safe on the roadways of the Constitution State.