For low mileage drivers, one of the more important factors that aid in calculating car insurance rates is where your residence is. Areas with more people or even just a higher incidence of claims tend to pay more, whereas areas with less congestion benefit from having to pay less for coverage.
The illustration below shows the most expensive places in California for infrequent drivers in which to buy car insurance. Irvine is ranked at #20 with the yearly price of $1,384 for coverage, which is around $115 per month.
| Rank | City | Average Per Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles | $2,168 |
| 2 | Glendale | $2,142 |
| 3 | San Francisco | $1,745 |
| 4 | Sacramento | $1,720 |
| 5 | Oakland | $1,687 |
| 6 | Stockton | $1,603 |
| 7 | Santa Clarita | $1,595 |
| 8 | San Bernardino | $1,580 |
| 9 | Long Beach | $1,562 |
| 10 | Modesto | $1,547 |
| 11 | Fontana | $1,535 |
| 12 | Garden Grove | $1,508 |
| 13 | Moreno Valley | $1,506 |
| 14 | Anaheim | $1,488 |
| 15 | Santa Ana | $1,483 |
| 16 | Riverside | $1,482 |
| 17 | Fresno | $1,472 |
| 18 | San Jose | $1,423 |
| 19 | Huntington Beach | $1,402 |
| 20 | Irvine | $1,384 |
| 21 | Fremont | $1,361 |
| 22 | Oxnard | $1,344 |
| 23 | Bakersfield | $1,340 |
| 24 | San Diego | $1,340 |
| 25 | Chula Vista | $1,298 |
| Compare Rates Now Go | ||
Rate quotes are comparative as specific Irvine zip code can change rates considerably.
Establishing which companies have the cheapest auto insurance rates for infrequent drivers requires a bit more effort in order to find the best policy.
Every insurance provider has their own process to set premium rates, so to begin we’ll rank the most competitive auto insurance companies in Irvine. It’s a good idea to be aware that Irvine auto insurance rates are impacted by many things which can significantly increase or decrease the price you pay. Turning one year older, buying another vehicle, or getting a couple of tickets may generate price changes resulting in some companies being more affordable than the competition.
Find the Cheapest Car Insurance in California
| Rank | Company | Cost Per Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | USAA | $1,109 |
| 2 | Wawanesa | $1,146 |
| 3 | Century National | $1,178 |
| 4 | CSAA | $1,222 |
| 5 | Nationwide | $1,263 |
| 6 | 21st Century | $1,338 |
| 7 | Grange | $1,477 |
| 8 | Progressive | $1,512 |
| 9 | Allstate | $1,513 |
| 10 | Mercury | $1,533 |
| 11 | GEICO | $1,575 |
| 12 | Allied | $1,603 |
| 13 | MetLife | $1,606 |
| 14 | The Hartford | $1,623 |
| 15 | Esurance | $1,688 |
| 16 | Unitrin | $1,750 |
| 17 | State Farm | $1,750 |
| 18 | Travelers | $1,806 |
| 19 | Bristol West | $1,831 |
| 20 | Farmers | $2,026 |
| Get a Custom Quote Go | ||
USAA quotes some of the cheapest car insurance rates in Irvine at around $1,109 annually. This is $542 less than the average policy premium paid by California drivers of $1,651. Wawanesa, Century National, CSAA, and Nationwide also make the cut as some of the more affordable Irvine, CA insurance companies.
As the example above demonstrates, if you currently buy coverage from CSAA and switched to Wawanesa, you could realize yearly savings of around $76. Customers with Nationwide might save as much as $117 a year, and 21st Century policyholders might reduce rates by $192 a year.
These premium estimates are averaged for all drivers and vehicles and do not factor in a specific zip code for infrequent drivers. So the car insurance company that has the cheapest rates for you may not even be in the top 24 companies shown above. That point stresses why you need to compare rates from multiple companies using your own individual information.
Get discount Irvine car insurance rates
Insurance companies that provide coverage for infrequent drivers may also give you discounts that can reduce rates by as much as 30% if you qualify. A list of companies and the discounts they provide are:
- Farm Bureau may include discounts for multi-policy, multi-vehicle, good student, safe driver, and youthful driver.
- MetLife offers premium reductions for multi-policy, defensive driver, good driver, claim-free, and good student.
- Progressive includes discounts for online quote discount, multi-vehicle, multi-policy, online signing, continuous coverage, good student, and homeowner.
- AAA has discounts for anti-theft, good student, AAA membership discount, pay-in-full, multi-car, and education and occupation.
- American Family may offer discounts for bundled insurance, accident-free, Steer into Savings, good driver, and TimeAway discount.
- GEICO may have discounts that include military active duty, five-year accident-free, air bags, multi-policy, and driver training.
- State Farm policyholders can earn discounts including driver’s education, anti-theft, good student, accident-free, defensive driving training, and Drive Safe & Save.
The information below visualizes the comparison of car insurance rates with and without discounts. The premiums are based on a female driver, no claims or violations, California state minimum liability limits, comp and collision included, and $100 deductibles. The first bar for each age group shows the average annual price with no discounts. The lower bar shows the rates with homeowner, claim-free, marriage, safe-driver, defensive driving course, and vehicle safety discounts applied. When discounts are factored in, theaverage amount saved on auto insurance for infrequent drivers is 28% or $661.
Bad driving habits will cost you more
The common sense way to snag good auto insurance premiums in Irvine for low mileage drivers is to drive safe and avoid accidents and keep your driving record clean. The example below highlights how speeding tickets and at-fault collisions can drive up insurance rates for each different age group. Data assumes a married male driver, comprehensive and collision coverage, $500 deductibles, and no other discounts are factored in.
In the chart above, the average cost of a car insurance policy per year with no violations or accidents is $1,768. Receive two speeding tickets and the average cost increases to $2,437, an increase of $669 each year. Now throw in two accidents along with the two speeding tickets and the 12-month cost of auto insurance for infrequent drivers goes up to an average of $5,042. That’s an increase of $3,274, or $273 per month, just for being a less-than-perfect driver!
The example below shows how different deductible levels can raise or lower insurance costs when researching cheap insurance for infrequent drivers. The information is based on a married female driver, comp and collision included, and no discounts are applied.
As shown above, a 50-year-old driver could lower rates by $300 a year by switching from a $100 deductible to a $500 deductible, or save $456 by changing to a $1,000 deductible. Youthful drivers, like the Age 20 category, could reduce their rates as much as $750 or more by choosing larger deductibles on their policy.
If you do raise deductibles, it is a good idea to have enough spare savings to pay the extra out-of-pocket expense, which is the one disadvantage of using larger deductibles.