Who Has Cheap Portland Car Insurance Rates for College Students?

Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could just magically know the single best company in Portland that has the lowest rates for college students? That is not the case, however, as there are many unknown elements like whether you are male or female, whether you are single or married, and if you have any driving citations, that all impact the cost of your policy. We will try to cover some of these topics and should give you some help in finding cheaper rates.

Finding out which insurers offer the best car insurance rates for college students calls for more time in order to find the best policy. Each company uses a different method to determine premium rates, so let’s examine the most budget-friendly car insurance companies in Oregon.

It’s a good idea to know that Portland, OR car insurance rates are impacted by many factors which can significantly increase or decrease the price you have to pay. Improving your credit score, buying higher coverage limits, or getting caught speeding can produce rate changes resulting in some rates now being cheaper than competitors.

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Grange may offer some of the lowest car insurance rates in Portland at around $687 each year. This is $791 less than the average rate paid by Oregon drivers of $1,478. Oregon Mutual, Country, Travelers, and USAA also rank well as some of the lowest-priced Portland, OR insurance companies.

In the above example, if you have coverage with Travelers and switched to Oregon Mutual, you might realize a yearly price reduction of upwards of $70. Customers with USAA could save as much as $135 a year, and State Farm insureds might cut rates by $227 a year.

These premiums are averaged across all drivers and vehicles in Oregon and and are not figured with a specific vehicle garaging location for college students. So the car insurance company that can offer you the best price may not even be in the top 22 companies in the list above. That’s why you need to quote rates from many companies using your own individual information.

For students in college, one of the more important things that are used to help calculate the annual cost of car insurance is where you choose to live. Areas with more people or more claims likely pay more, whereas areas with less congestion can boast about having cheaper rates.

The following table rates the most costly cities in Oregon for college students to purchase a policy in. Portland is ranked #2 with an annual cost of $1,529 for the average policy, which is about $127 each month.

Premium costs are estimated as the specific geographic location can affect rates noticeably.

The vehicle you are buying coverage for is probably the largest consideration that determines the availability of cheaper coverage for college students. Vehicles with lots of horsepower, poor crash test ratings, or a history of substantial liability claims will cost quite a bit more to insure than safer, lower-performance models.

The data below features coverage prices for a handful of the cheaper automobiles to insure in Oregon.

Data based on single male driver age 20, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and Oregon minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, and claim-free. Premium costs do not factor in specific location information which can change premium rates greatly.

By looking at the data, we can expect makes and models like the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Jeep Wrangler, Honda Odyssey, and Toyota Prius are most likely going to be the most economical vehicles to insure for students in college. The price for an auto insurance policy will tend to be more expensive anyway just because there is more exposure for college students, but generally speaking those models will most likely have the cheapest car insurance rates compared to all other vehicles.

Comparison of full coverage and liability-only policies

Lowering the price of car insurance should be important to the majority of people, and one easy way to buy cheaper insurance for college students is to only buy liability coverage. The example below illustrates the difference between annual premium costs with full coverage and liability only. The premiums assume a clean driving record, no claims, $1,000 deductibles, drivers are not married, and no discounts are taken into consideration.

If we average the cost for ages 20 through 70, physical damage insurance costs $1,455 per year over and above liability only. Many people question if full coverage is worth the money. There is no clear-cut rule that works best for making the decision to drop full coverage, but there is a general guideline. If the yearly cost of comp and collision coverage is more than around 10% of replacement cost minus your deductible, then it’s probably a good time to buy liability coverage only.

For example, let’s assume your vehicle’s book value is $8,500 and you have $1,000 full coverage deductibles. If your vehicle is destroyed, the most your company would pay you is $7,500 after you pay the deductible. If you are currently paying more than $750 annually for physical damage coverage, the it may be a good time to stop paying for full coverage.

The chart below illustrates how your deductible choice can influence insurance costs when searching for cheap insurance for college students. The information is based on a single male driver, comprehensive and collision coverage, and no policy discounts are applied.

A 40-year-old driver could pocket $368 a year by switching their comprehensive and collision coverages from a $100 deductible to a $500 deductible, or save $552 by using a $1,000 deductible. Young drivers, like the age 20 example, can save up to $1,212 annually by selecting a higher deductible. If you do make the decision to raise your deductibles, it is a good idea to have enough savings set aside to enable you to cover the extra out-of-pocket expense, which is the primary disadvantage of high deductibles.

Get discounts on Portland auto insurance

Car insurance companies that offer quotes for college students may additionally offer premium discounts that may potentially lower prices by 35% or more if you are eligible to receive them. A few popular companies and their offered discounts can be read below.

• State Farm includes discounts for multiple autos, accident-free, defensive driving training, good student, Drive Safe & Save, and good driver.
• Farmers Insurance offers discounts for electronic funds transfer, alternative fuel, homeowner, teen driver, early shopping, mature driver, and switch companies.
• GEICO offers premium reductions for multi-vehicle, anti-theft, daytime running lights, air bags, good student, and federal employee.
• American Family policyholders can earn discounts including TimeAway discount, early bird, bundled insurance, multi-vehicle, mySafetyValet, accident-free, and good student.
• Nationwide offers discounts including multi-policy, easy pay, business or organization, Farm Bureau membership, family plan, and accident-free.
• Progressive discounts include online signing, multi-vehicle, homeowner, continuous coverage, online quote discount, and multi-policy.

The diagram below compares annual premium costs with and without discounts being applied to the rates. The premiums are based on a male driver, no accidents, no driving violations, Oregon state minimum liability limits, comp and collision included, and $1,000 deductibles.

The first bar for each age group shows the average annual price with no discounts. The lower bar shows the rates with continuous coverage, anti-theft, good student, paid-in-full, paperless filing, and vehicle safety discounts applied. When discounts are factored in, the average savings per year on car insurance for college students is 19% or $256.

Why you should be comparing rates

Oregon car insurance rates are based on many factors that control the price of your policy. Simply having another birthday, having a teen driver, or having an accident may generate price changes that can now make some companies more affordable than before.

In addition, insurers modify rates every year as an adjustment for underwriting gains or losses. Higher than normal claims may cause more expensive premiums, while long-term profits may result in cheaper Portland car insurance rates.

As an example, the data below shows which companies have the cheapest car insurance in Portland, OR for a 40-year-old male driver with a clean driving record, no accidents, and excellent credit. When comparing rates based on his current risk factors, Grange might quote the lowest car insurance rates in Portland at $966 each year. This is $512 less than the average premium paid by Oregon drivers of $1,478. Country, Oregon Mutual, Travelers, and USAA are also included in the best Portland, OR auto insurance companies.

Now we will give the driver from the first example some claims, a lower credit score, and a traffic ticket or two. Since each auto insurance company has their own guidelines to set their prices, analyzing rate quotes may now result in a different ranking of affordable Portland car insurance companies as shown below.

Amica now has the lowest price in Portland with Mutual Enumclaw, GEICO, California Casualty, and Country also having competitive pricing. This example demonstrates why it is critical to shop around to get the cheapest auto insurance rates for college students. Rates are made up of many risk factors and change frequently, so the cheapest option when you bought your policy may now cost much more than other companies.

The Portland, OR, insurance agents below are willing to help you make a decision which auto insurance coverages would be the best in your situation, as some drivers wish to get some professional input when shopping for the best coverage for college students. It’s not always easy to find coverage yourself, so agents can give you comfort knowing you have adequate protection in the event of a claim.

To locate a Portland auto insurance agent in your neighborhood, click the button link following the list or click here to compare price quotes.

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