Best Auto Insurance Rates in Houston, Texas

Compare Auto Insurance in Houston

Tuesday, April 24 2018 By Larry Canonica

With a population of around 2.3 million people, Houston, Texas is the fourth largest city in the United States. Now, Houston residents can get car insurance savings that are every bit as big as their city with QuoteWizard.

Average Houston Car Insurance Rates

How much is car insurance in Houston, TX? You can thank bad driving and an extremely high vehicle theft rate for rising car insurance rates in Houston. Average rates here are higher than both the state and national averages. The average cost of auto insurance in Texas is $934.22 per year. The national average cost is $889.01.

Prices may vary depending on your driving history and the points on your driver's license. The total number of insurance claims filed in your zip code is also a factor.

Houston, TX Average Annual Car Insurance Rates

Coverage	Men	Women
Liability	$915	$1,017
Collision	$417	$400
Comprehensive	$135	$116
Total Cost Per Year	$1,467	$1,533
Price Per Month	$122.25	$127.75
Methodology: We compared rates from three different insurance companies for single 30-year-old male and female drivers. They rent in Houston and own a 2010 Honda Accord. Our rate profiles defined males and females who are currently insured, clean driving record and drive less than 10,000 annual miles. Coverage includes Texas state liability minimum of $30,000/$60,000/$25,000. And 30/60/25 underinsured motorist coverage with $2,500 personal injury protection. Plus a $500 comprehensive and collision deductible.

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 quotes from both national insurance companies and local agents. Comparing quotes can help you find cheap car insurance rates near Houston, Texas. You can save up to 40% on your premium.

Last year, 64,413 residents used QuoteWizard to compare auto insurance quotes in Houston, TX from multiple companies.

Top 10 Vehicles in Houston

These are the most common vehicles owned by Houston drivers requesting quotes through QuoteWizard in the past year.

Best Car Insurance Companies in Houston

These are the most common car insurance companies reported by the 64,413 QuoteWizard users in Houston, Texas last year. Of these users, 12,915 were uninsured when they requested a quote.

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

Legal Minimum Insurance Requirements

Houston, 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 amount your insurer pays for a person injured in a car accident.
• Total Bodily Injury Liability: $60,000.
  The total your insurance company pays for every person injured in a car accident.
• Property Damage Liability (PDL): $25,000.
  The most your insurance carrier pays for property damage caused by a car accident.

Recommended Coverage Levels

It's not a great idea to buy only legal minimum coverage. While it costs less, minimum coverage becomes more expensive if you file a claim. Why? Minimum coverage does not include comprehensive or collision coverage. Plus, it's easy to exceed minimum coverage levels after an accident.

Minimum coverage only pays for damages to other people, their car, and their property. Minimum coverage does not cover you, your injuries, or your property. If you have minimum coverage and you cause an accident, you're on the hook for your expenses.

Collision coverage pays for damages to your car after an accident. Comprehensive coverage pays for damages that don't involve another car. That includes natural disasters, falling tree branches, theft, and vandalism.

With that in mind, we recommend that Houston drivers buy the following coverage:

• Individual Body Injury Liability: $100,000
• Total Bodily Injury Liability: $300,000
• Property Damage Liability: $100,000

If you can afford it, buy comprehensive and collision coverage. You should choose a reasonable deductible. Also consider uninsured/underinsured coverage. This covers damages caused by drivers who have little or no insurance. Finally, medical payment coverage and personal injury protection covers medical costs after an accident.

Houston Drivers

Allstate recently published a report ranking cities by how safe drivers in those cities are. Drivers here are far from the worst, but there's plenty of room for improvement. Houston ranked 167th out of 200 cities.

While most US drivers go ten years between accidents, drivers here have car accidents every 7.2 years. Out of 64,413 QuoteWizard users in Houston, 3,725 reported incidents on their driving records.

Driving Conditions

Driving conditions in Houston are a major reason insurance rates in this city are higher than the national average. Severe weather and inadequate road maintenance negatively affect driving conditions.

Weather

Houston weather is warm because it's so close to the Gulf of Mexico. Summers are hot and humid. Winters are mild. Frequent heavy rainfall and below sea-level elevation creates many problems for local drivers in the form of urban flooding. On the bright side, it almost never snows.

Road Conditions

The condition of Houston roads can be an issue for drivers. City records show that road paving has decreased by 53% since 2008. If you think potholes are getting worse, it's not your imagination. Pothole repairs have declined from 19,000 fixes in 2012 to 16,000 in 2014. TRIP reports that 80% of the city's roads are in either poor or mediocre condition. Road conditions cost Houston drivers $722 a year in extra vehicle operating costs due to traffic congestion, crashes, and repairs.

Traffic Congestion

TomTom has ranked Houston 11th for worst traffic congestion in the United States. An average commuter spends 130 hours per year stuck in heavy traffic on poorly maintained roads.

Moving Violations

Moving violations like speeding tickets, accidents, and drunk driving will give you a bad driving record. Your insurer will flag you as a high risk driver with high insurance rates.

Traffic Tickets

It's not easy, but fighting traffic tickets may be well worth your while. Even if you can't get the ticket dismissed, you may be able to have the charges lowered. If nothing else, fight the number of points assessed to your driver's license because of a moving violation. These points are what insurers look at when determining your insurance rates. If you want to keep your insurance rates low, you want to keep these points off your driver's license.

The City of Houston Municipal Courts website allows you to pay your red light camera ticket or other traffic tickets. You can also find out how to contest a ticket.

DWI Arrests

Approximately 4,904 reported DWI incidents in 2014. In 2014, impaired drivers were involved in 1,633 accidents. Those crashes caused 99 severe injuries and 85 fatalities.

SR-22 DWI Insurance

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

Car Accident Statistics

Houston, TX officials reported 67,241 car crashes in 2016 resulting in 32,015 injuries, 1,304 of the injuries were severe.

Traffic Fatalities

Houston reported 245 car accident-related fatalities on its roadways in 2016. According to the Texas Department of Transportation 93 of these fatalities involved drunk drivers with a blood alcohol content of .08 or higher.

Vehicle Theft Rates

Houston Police reported 13,627 vehicle thefts in 2016. A rate of 5.95 per 1,000 resident. This is more than double the national rate of 2.20 thefts per 1,000 people.

Save With Car Insurance Discounts

Are you looking for cheap car insurance in Houston, TX? Discounts are a great way to lower your insurance rates. These are some of the many auto insurance discounts available to Houston, TX drivers. Get a quote and find out which discounts you qualify for with your current or multiple insurance companies.

1. Get a new car. You might qualify for the new car discount offered by many insurance carriers. If the car has safety features like electronic stability control or anti-lock brakes, you may receive more discounts
2. If you're 55 or older you could qualify for either the senior discount or the 55 and retired discounts
3. Remove full comprehensive coverage from your policy
4. Maintain at least a B grade point average in school to qualify for the good student discount
5. Keep your driving record clean with no ticket or accidents to qualify for the safe driver or accident free discount
6. Live in a safe neighborhood with low crime and good drivers. People that live in areas with high crime and urban driving conditions file more claims. For you, that can mean higher rates no matter how clean your driving record is
7. Take a defensive driving course from an accredited driving school
8. Bundle your auto policy with your homeowners, renters, or life insurance. Bundling is one of the best discounts because can save you more than any other single discount. Bundling insurance policies together under one insurer can knock as much as 15% off your premium
9. Married couples should ask about the married driver discount
10. Shop around and compare cheap car insurance quotes in Houston and discover every discount you qualify for

Car insurance agents near Houston, TX:

Sources:

• City of Houston Municipal Court Court - Traffic Tickets
• City of Houston Texas
• Houston Police Department
• Houston Texas Crime Rates
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• United States Census Bureau - Houston, TX
• Houston, TX Transportation by the Numbers - TRIP

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