Best Auto Insurance Rates in Austin, Texas

Compare Auto Insurance in Austin

Tuesday, January 8 2019 By QuoteWizard

Austin, Texas is famous for its nightlife. It’s the self-proclaimed “Live Music Capital of the World” and with other attractions like the Alamo Drafthouse and a ton of theatres, you probably won’t have much time to shop for affordable car insurance rates.

Average Austin Car Insurance Rates

How much is car insurance in Austin, TX? The relatively high accident rate and correspondingly high rate of insurance claims make average insurance prices here more expensive than the national and state average. The average cost of car insurance in Austin is $1,272 per year for men and $1,333 for women. The average cost of auto insurance in Texas is $934.22 per year. The national average annual cost is $889.01.

Prices will vary depending on multiple factors including: your driving record and the number of points on your driver's license, gender, your car, age, policy limits, coverage (liability or comprehensive), and the total number of claims filed in your zip code.

The graph below shows the change in average Texas auto insurance rates from 2011 to 2015, the most recent year the data is available. According to the III, car insurance rates in Texas increased from $808 in 2011 to $934 in 2015, a jump of $125, or 15.48 percent.

QuoteWizard helps consumers compare insurance quotes from both national insurance companies and local independent agents. Comparing quotes can help you find cheap car insurance rates near Austin, Texas and save up to 40% on your premium.

Last year, 15,757 people used QuoteWizard to compare car insurance quotes in Austin, TX from multiple companies to find the cheapest rates.

Best Car Insurance Companies in Austin, TX

This is our list of the most popular car insurance companies reported by QuoteWizard users living in Austin, Texas last year. 2,610 of these users were uninsured when they requested a quote.

Other popular Austin, Texas car insurance companies: Safeco, MetLife, Country Financial, American Family, 21st Century, Travelers, Hartford, and Texas Farm Bureau.

Top 10 Vehicles

These are the most popular car makes and models owned by Austin, TX drivers requesting quotes through QuoteWizard last year.

Minimum Car Insurance Requirements in Austin, TX

Austin, Texas has a minimum liability coverage requirement known as the 30/60/25 rule. This means each policy must include at least:

• Individual Bodily Injury Liability (BIL): $30,000.
  The maximum your insurance company will pay for an individual person injured in a car accident.
• Total Bodily Injury Liability: $60,000.
  The most your insurance carrier will pay in total for every person injured in a car accident.
• Property Damage Liability (PDL): $25,000.
  The total amount your insurer will pay for property damage caused by a car accident.

Austin Drivers

Allstate Insurance publishes an annual report quantifying how safe it is to drive in the 200 most populous US cities. Austin ranked 158th out of the 200 cities. While most US drivers go ten years without having an accident, drivers here are involved in crashes every 7.4 years. It's a sure bet that the high frequency of car accidents is helping to raise the cost of car insurance in Austin.

2,610 of the 15,757 Austin drivers that used QuoteWizard last year said they had incidents on their driving records ranging from speeding tickets to car accidents.

Driving Conditions

Factors that can affect insurance rates are weather and road conditions.

Weather

Austin weather is humid subtropical with hot and humid summers and mild winters with cold nights. Austin is dry, but it can receive a lot of rain in April and September, creating slick roads and long commutes. It’s not unusual for thunderstorms to produce hail, sometimes damaging. On a more positive note, it almost never freezes or snows here.

Road Conditions

TRIP reports that Austin drivers waste as much as $507 a year on fuel, time, and car repairs due to the high number of potholes, ruts, and rough street conditions. According to Trip, 16 percent of the major roads here are in poor condition and in need of immediate repair. Another 32 percent of local roads are mediocre.

Traffic Congestion

According to TomTom's annual traffic index report, Austin ranks 115th for worst traffic congestion in the world. The average commuter spends an extra 31 minutes per hour and 119 hours a year stuck in traffic on peak hour commutes lasting 60 minutes.

Moving Violations

Moving violations like speeding tickets, failure to yield, accidents, or drunk driving can give you a bad driving record. You don't want that to happen because bad drivers pay the most for insurance coverage. The worst case is when you're insurer changes your status to "non-preferred" and makes you purchase a non-standard high-risk auto insurance policy.

Traffic Tickets

The City of Austin Municipal Court website allows you to pay traffic citations and tells drivers how to contest tickets.

The City of Austin wrote more than 144,346 traffic citations for moving violations in 2015, a decrease of 15 percent from the 169,913 citations written in 2014.

SR-22 DWI Insurance

A DWI conviction may require you to obtain an SR-22 form. Get a quote and compare rates from top companies that specialize in Austin DWI insurance.

DWI Crashes and Injuries

Austin official reported 1,234 crashes involving alcohol or drugs in 2017. That same year, city officials also reported 737 injuries and 22 fatalities from accidents involving impaired drivers.

Car Accident Statistics

Austin reported 15,118 car crashes in 2017 resulting in 9,693 injuries, 517 of them serious.

Traffic Fatalities

Austin Police reported 73 fatal collisions in 2017 resulting in 78 deaths. All traffic deaths are a tragic loss, and considering the estimated population of 950,715 Austin ranks among the nation's worst in terms of traffic fatalities per capita.

Vehicle Theft Rates

Austin Police reported 2,090 auto thefts in 2017. This is a rate of 2.20 per 1,000 residents. This was very close to the national rate of 2.37 thefts per 1,000 people.

Car Insurance Discounts

Are you looking for more affordable car insurance? Discounts are a great way to lower your rates. These are some of the many auto insurance discounts available to drivers in Austin, TX depending on your insurance carrier.

1. The average Austin household has two cars. If you’re one of them, talk to your agent about multi-car discount options.
2. Austin has the lowest rates of crash fatalities of Texas’ major cities. Safe drivers with clean records can earn a discount.
3. If you have more than one insurance policy, consider bundling them with one company. You could save up to 15 percent.
4. 4 percent of Austinites work from home, the highest percentage in the country. People who don’t commute to and from work can qualify for a low-mileage discount.
5. Do you have a car with anti-lock brakes? That’s an easy way to qualify for a discount.

Rate Methodology

¹ We compared rates from three different insurance companies for 30-year-old male and female drivers with a 2010 Honda Accord. Our rate profiles have a clean driving record and drive less than 10,000 annual miles. Coverage includes state liability minimum of 25/50/10 and 25/50/10 underinsured motorist coverage. Policies also include $10,000 personal injury protection and a $500 comprehensive and collision deductible.

Sources:

• City of Austin Texas
• United States Census Bureau - Austin, TX

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