How to Find Affordable Car Insurance in Kentucky

In Kentucky, the average auto insurance price is $2,050 per year, which is almost 44 percent higher than the national average. To say the folks in the Bluegrass State need a break on their car insurance is an underestimate. They need many, many breaks. Lucky for them there are tips and strategies for lowering car insurance premiums. We’ll discuss all that later on. First, we’ll take a look at car insurance in Kentucky.

State Minimum Liability Requirements

If you ever cause a car crash, liability insurance pays for other people’s injuries and property damage, up to your liability limit. Each state has liability requirements for drivers in their state. In Kentucky, the state minimum liability requirements are $25,000 bodily injury liability coverage per person, $50,000 bodily injury liability coverage per accident and $10,000 property damage liability coverage per accident. The cost for the minimum liability requirements in Kentucky is an average of $1,062 per year.

A Full Policy Costs More

Choosing a more robust policy with collision and comprehensive coverages and $1,000 deductibles would cost almost $1,839 or maybe more.

Collision insurance is coverage that helps to repair or replace your car if it is damaged in an at-fault accident with another vehicle or object such as a fence or a tree. Comprehensive auto 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 there is a loan on your car, your lender may require you to carry both collision and comprehensive insurance coverages. 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. Both collision and comprehensive coverages require deductibles. Choosing a high deductible can help to lower your auto insurance premium.

Kentucky Is a No-fault State

If you happen to get in an accident, no-fault insurance will reimburse you for any hospital or medical expenses, wage losses from an inability to work and if necessary funeral costs. No-fault insurance will cover these expenses regardless of who is responsible for the accident. No-fault insurance does not cover damages to your car.

No-fault insurance is also known as Personal Injury Protection (PIP). In Kentucky, a basic PIP policy with the minimum coverage you can buy pays benefits of up to $10,000 for medical expenses, lost wages and survivor’s benefits if someone is killed in a car accident.

Cheapest and Most Expensive Cities

In Kentucky, the most expensive city for auto insurance is Louisville with an average annual premium of $2,523. The cheapest city for auto insurance is Fort Thomas with an average annual premium of $1,581. Louisville is Kentucky’s largest city and the city sits on the Ohio River along the Indiana border. Fort Thomas sits on the southern bank of the Ohio River and is the site of an 1890 US Army Post.

Why Is Car Insurance So Expensive in Kentucky?

Kentucky has a law that requires drivers to carry PIP and as mentioned earlier the minimum requirement for PIP is coverage for $10,000. So paying for PIP adds to the cost of car insurance in Kentucky. Other reasons car insurance is so expensive in Kentucky is the state has higher than average traffic fatalities, the cost of insurance is rising in Kentucky and nationwide and auto repairs are getting more expensive and this repair cost gets passed on to consumers from insurance companies. There also are drivers in Kentucky that drive without insurance. These uninsured drivers accounted for 12 percent of drivers on the roadways in 2015. The cost of uninsured drivers gets passed down to consumers through higher auto premiums.

Compare Insurance Rates for New Drivers in Kentucky

How to Save Money on Car Insurance

Looking for ways to save money on car insurance in Kentucky? These tips and strategies can help. Use as many as you can to save money.

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. In Kentucky, married drivers save an average of $113 per year on auto insurance policies.

Be a safe driver. Driving safely and following the rules of the road will save you money on your car insurance. In Kentucky, drivers without a recent moving violation typically save 16 percent on their auto insurance. But have a DUI or an at-fault accident and your premiums will rise. In Kentucky, your first minor at-fault accident will lead to about $1,114 extra per year on your car insurance premium. A DUI would increase your yearly premium by about $1,084 -- or more. So drive safely and follow the rules of the road and save money on your car insurance. And if you have been a good driver be sure to ask for a discount. You’ve earned it.

Have good credit. If you have good or excellent credit, you will enjoy great rates on your car insurance. If you have no or bad credit you will pay much more for your car insurance. Insurance companies have been using consumer credit data for assigning risk pools and to set rates since the mid-1990s.

A good or excellent credit customer pays much less for auto insurance than someone with no or bad credit. In Kentucky, a driver with excellent credit saves about $2,773 per year on auto insurance compared with a driver with bad credit.

If you’ve got bad credit there are things you can do to improve it. Get current on all past due accounts, pay down debt and avoid taking on new debt. All these things will help to raise your credit score.

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

Insure more than one car. Insure more than one car with the same insurance company and you’ll save money on your premiums.

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

Have anti-theft and safety features. Having certain anti-theft and safety features on your car will lower your car insurance premium. Check with your insurance company to see whether the anti-theft and safety features on your car qualify you for a discount.

Check memberships. Members of particular professional organizations and affiliates get discounts on car insurance. So check the memberships in your wallet and ask your insurance company if you are due a membership discount.

Insure less for 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 coverages any longer.

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

Be a woman. Women make fewer accident claims than men and are rewarded with lower auto insurance rates. Men make more accident claims and pay more.

Be a low-mileage driver. A heavy commuter who racks up the miles is going to pay more for car insurance. A low-mileage driver is going to pay less. So drive less and pay less in auto insurance.

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 money.

Choose a high deductible. As mentioned earlier, choosing a high deductible will save you money on your car insurance premium. Just be sure to place the deductible amount in a small emergency fund. That way the money will be there if you should need to file an auto insurance claim.

Choose a safe neighborhood. If you live in a neighborhood with high accident claims and auto theft, you are going to pay more for your car insurance. But if you live in a neighborhood with few accident claims and low crime, you are going to pay less for your auto insurance. So choose a safe neighborhood and save money on your car insurance.

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 premium.

Shop around. The best way to save money on car insurance is to shop around. You’ll want to get quotes from several insurance companies. 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 Kentucky in no

time.

SmartFinancial has access to more than 200 insurance companies so you are bound to find the insurance coverage and price that you want. So shop smart for insurance and drive safely on the roads of the Bluegrass State.