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If you’re a good driver, good news: You’ll probably spend a lot less on car insurance than most folks. The best car insurance companies often reward drivers with accident- and claims-free histories with the lowest rates they offer. Many companies also offer apps or telematics-based devices that track your driving so you can prove your skills to your insurer in exchange for lower rates.[1]
Here’s what you should know about the best car insurance for good drivers.
Quick Facts
Many auto insurance companies offer discounts specifically for people with good driving records.
Auto-Owners offers the cheapest car insurance for good drivers, at an average of $110 per month.
Even with a good driving record, comparing quotes from multiple insurers is the best way to find a policy that meets your budget and needs.
The cheapest car insurance companies for good drivers
If you have a good driving record, you’ll want to check out Auto-Owners for cheap car insurance. The average full-coverage policy costs 35% less than the next-closest option, Travelers. Here are some other insurers that offer cheap car insurance for good drivers.
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Insurance Company
Average Monthly Quote for Good Drivers
Insurify Quality (IQ) Score
Auto-Owners
$110
4.1
Travelers
$169
4.3
State Farm
$172
4.4
GEICO
$175
4.3
Nationwide
$182
4.1
Disclaimer: Table data sourced from real-time quotes from Insurify's 50-plus partner insurance providers and quote estimates from Quadrant Information Services. Actual quotes may vary based on the policy buyer's unique driver profile.
Insurify uses an in-house, proprietary method to rate and review the best car insurance companies. The Insurify Quality (IQ) Score uses more than 15 crucial criteria, including average premiums, customer satisfaction, discounts, third-party ratings, and more, to calculate a final score for a company.
Criteria are weighted by importance to the consumer — factors such as customer reviews and affordability influence the score more than availability and third-party ratings. With the IQ Score, Insurify is able to provide quantitative ratings for drivers to better compare car insurance companies and make informed decisions to meet their coverage needs.
Auto-Owners focuses on people who love cars and drive them safely. It’s one of a few companies that offer insurance coverage for car enthusiasts who own classic or modified cars. It also offers discounts for drivers with a “favorable loss history,” as well as other common discounts like having certain safety features or bundling insurance policies.
However, while Auto-Owners generally has good ratings and reviews, it ranks below average in customer satisfaction, according to a 2022 J.D. Power survey.[2]
If you’re making the switch to an electric car or hybrid, Travelers is a good option because of the discounts it offers. While Travelers has a lower-than-average volume of customer complaints lodged against it with the NAIC, it unfortunately also features low overall customer satisfaction and claims satisfaction scores from J.D. Power.[4]
If you drive your car for a rideshare app like Uber or Lyft, you may want to consider another company, since Travelers only offers rideshare coverage in Colorado and Illinois. Similarly, while Travelers does offer discounts for bundling policies, the discount is relatively limited, at just 13%.
State Farm is the largest private car insurance company in the United States, covering almost 17% of all vehicles on the road.[6] Yet despite its size, State Farm still has a lower-than-average volume of customer complaints and a higher-than-average J.D. Power score.[7]
State Farm also offers many common discounts, such as for bundling policies and being accident-free.
GEICO, famous for its signature gecko mascot, is also noted for offering many great discounts. Available discounts include going five years without an accident (savings of up to 22%), having certain safety features in your car (savings of up to 23%), or for being a member of the military (savings of up to 15%).
On the opposite end, GEICO doesn’t offer gap coverage or rideshare insurance. If you need to speak to someone in person — such as if you have a problem with your claim — the company only operates a relatively small network of agents.
If you only use your car occasionally, check out Nationwide’s Vanishing Deductible program, which lowers your deductible by $100 per year, down to a minimum of $500. It’s available as an optional rider on your policy, for a fee. Nationwide’s SmartMiles program also offers an option to pay a monthly fee based on how much you actually drive.
Nationwide doesn’t offer rideshare coverage, though. And it also received very low ratings from J.D. Power for overall customer satisfaction and for claims satisfaction.[2]
Pros
Vanishing Deductible program
Mileage-based pricing option
Low volume of customer complaints on the NAIC complaint index
Cons
Rideshare coverage not available
Low customer satisfaction scores from J.D. Power
Very poor claims satisfaction ratings from J.D. Power
Methodology
Data scientists at Insurify analyzed more than 40 million real-time auto insurance rates from our partner providers across the United States to compile the car insurance quotes, statistics, and data visualizations displayed on this page. The car insurance data includes coverage analysis and details on drivers’ vehicles, driving records, and demographic information.
Quotes for Allstate, Farmers, GEICO, State Farm, and USAA are estimates based on Quadrant Information Services’ database of auto insurance rates. With this information, Insurify is able to offer drivers insight into how companies price their car insurance premiums.
How your driving record affects your car insurance rates
One of the most serious driving offenses is a DUI, and research shows that about 1 out of every 4 drivers convicted of this offense will do it again.[10] Similar logic applies if you’ve caused an accident or gotten a speeding ticket in the past.
If you have these marks on your record, you’re seen as more of a gamble by your insurer, and you’ll pay higher rates as a result, as illustrated by the table below.
Status
Average Monthly Quote
Clean driving record
$259
Speeding ticket
$347
At-fault accident
$370
DUI
$515
Disclaimer: Table data sourced from real-time quotes from Insurify's 50-plus partner insurance providers. Actual quotes may vary based on the policy buyer's unique driver profile.
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Who’s considered a good driver?
Most people think they’re a good driver, but are they a good driver in an insurer’s eyes?
When it comes down to it, insurers assess who’s a good driver and who isn’t based on one overriding factor, according to Bob Passmore, department vice president of personal lines for the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA). “Auto insurers base premiums on the likelihood someone will file an insurance claim and the cost of claims,” Passmore says.
Your personal history of traffic violations and prior insurance claims factor heavily into an insurer’s cost determinations. If you’ve gotten into accidents or filed claims in the past, insurers judge you as statistically more likely to do it again.
Your age also has a big impact, as young drivers may not have as much skill behind the wheel, and the reaction time of senior drivers may not be as quick. Both groups often pay higher premiums because of this.
Many insurers also offer telematics devices or apps that record your driving, giving you a score and potentially offering discounts.
“Not all insurers utilize the same set of factors to determine a driver’s risk profile,” says Passmore. “But all of the factors that are used are correlated with the risk of loss and help companies make accurate predictions.”
That’s also why it’s important to shop around for rates, because insurers have different ways of determining if you’re a good driver.
Why do good drivers get better car insurance rates?
“Insurers offer better rates to drivers who are less likely to have a claim and whose claims are likely to be less costly,” says Passmore. “In this way, rates are based on the likelihood and cost of claims, which is the fairest way to price insurance.”
In other words, if the insurance company thinks you’ll cost it less money, it won’t charge you as much.
Types of car insurance for good drivers
You’ll need to decide between several different types of coverage options when you shop for a policy. You may not end up purchasing all of these, but it’s a good idea to know what’s out there so you can decide if a level of coverage is something you need:
Liability insurance: Required by most states, this coverage will pay some or all of the costs if you injure someone else or damage their property.
Collision coverage: Lenders may require you to purchase this type of policy to cover any damage to your own car in an accident. This coverage is optional if your car is paid off.
Comprehensive coverage: Similarly required by lenders unless you drive a paid-off car, this covers any damage to your car from non-collision factors, like falling trees and riots.
Underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage: Required in certain states, this covers you if the driver who hit you either doesn’t have insurance or doesn’t have enough coverage.
Personal injury protection: Mandatory in some states and optional in others, this covers any injuries or costs to make things right for your home life after an accident, such as lost wages or funeral costs.
Gap insurance: This willcover the remaining balanceon your auto loan if your car is totaled while you’re still paying it off.
Umbrella policy: This provides a blanketamount of extra coverageon top of your already-purchased coverages just in case you happen to have a particularly spendy claim.
How to find the best car insurance for good drivers
Follow these four steps to find the best car insurance policy for your needs:
Figure out what you need. A lot of coverage options and specialty insurers are available to choose from. Make sure you’re clear about what types of coverage — and how much — you need, as well as any complicating factors that might lead you to seek out particular types of insurers.
Research insurers. Read reviews for popular insurers in your state. Check customer reviews, A.M. Best financial security ratings, and customer satisfaction scores from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and J.D. Power. Check what coverage options and discounts each insurer has available to you.
Gather quotes. Set aside an hour or two togather quotes online. Aim forat least three companies, but the more, the better. This is one of the single-best things you can do to find the lowest rates for your individual situation.
Choose the best option. Purchase a policy with the insurer you’re most comfortable with, whether that’s the lowest-cost option or based on another factor you find important.
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Best car insurance for good drivers by state
Nationwide averages are an interesting point of comparison, but they don’t tell you the full picture. Car insurance rates can vary wildly depending on where you live — sometimes so much that a good driver in a high-cost state will pay even more than a bad driver in a low-cost state.
Below, you can see the average monthly quotes, by state, for the general population and for good drivers.
Disclaimer: Table data sourced from real-time quotes from Insurify's 50-plus partner insurance providers and quote estimates from Quadrant Information Services. Actual quotes may vary based on the policy buyer's unique driver profile.
Car insurance for good drivers FAQs
Looking for more ideas on how to find the best car insurance for good drivers? Check out the information below. You can also check out our 2023 guide, How to Compare Car Insurance Rates.
Is car insurance required for good drivers?
Yes. All drivers are generally required to have car insurance, regardless of how safely they drive. Some states, such as New Hampshire, waive this requirement if you can show proof of sufficient funds to insure yourself, but this is based on your financial standing and not your driving skills.
Which car insurance company is cheapest for good drivers?
Auto-Owners is the cheapest car insurance company for good drivers, running an average of $80 per month for liability-only coverage and $110 per month for full coverage. The next-closest company, State Farm, is quite a bit more expensive, costing an average of $127 and $172 per month for liability-only and full coverage, respectively.
Who are the most expensive drivers to insure?
Drivers with significant infractions in their history, such as a DUI, are generally the most expensive to insure. Very young or inexperienced drivers may also be more expensive to insure, and drivers living in some states with high fraud rates and extra insurance requirements, like New York, also are generally more expensive to insure.
What factors affect car insurance rates for good drivers?
The rates that good drivers pay for car insurance are affected by the same things as everyone else’s rates, including purchasing extra coverage, living in a state that requires additional insurance or has high fraud rates, living in an urban area, or having a poor credit score. Any of these factors may increase your rates, even if you’re a good driver.
Lindsay VanSomeren is a freelance personal finance writer living in Suquamish, WA. Her work has appeared with FICO, Credit Karma, The Balance, and more. She enjoys helping people learn how to manage their money better so they can live the life they want.
