Best Cheap Car Insurance in Louisiana for 2020

If you want to find cheap car insurance in Louisiana, don’t go with the first quote you get. Rates for the same coverage options and limits can fluctuate from one insurer to the next, so it’s wise to compare as many estimates as possible. This is especially important in Louisiana, where car insurance rates are among the highest in the country.

NerdWallet has done the heavy lifting for you. We compared rates from the seven largest insurers in the state and found the five cheapest options for several driver types.

Cheapest for good drivers in Louisiana

For a Louisiana driver with good credit and a clean driving record, the cheapest insurance companies and their average rates for full coverage are:

1. Geico: $1,813 per year.
2. Louisiana Farm Bureau: $2,105 per year.
3. Safeway: $2,500 per year.
4. Allstate: $2,663 per year.
5. State Farm: $3,252 per year.

Drivers with no recent accidents or violations can get cheaper car insurance rates for having good credit. For this calculation, NerdWallet averaged rates for 40-year-old men and women with a clean driving record and good credit. In terms of driving and credit history, a large portion of drivers are closest to this profile, which carries standard "full coverage" insurance, including comprehensive and collision, along with state-required coverage. Prices shown include a good driver discount, when available from the insurer.

Cheapest for minimum coverage in Louisiana

To get bare-bones auto insurance in Louisiana, the cheapest companies and average rates for minimum required coverage are:

1. Geico: $641 per year.
2. Louisiana Farm Bureau: $834 per year.
3. Allstate: $1,094 per year.
4. State Farm: $1,224 per year.
5. Safeway: $1,487 per year.

We calculated these numbers by averaging rates for 40-year-old good drivers (earning them a discount if the insurer offers one) who have only the minimum mandatory insurance in their state. Such light coverage isn't typically recommended, since it might not cover all the bills resulting from a car accident, but it's better than nothing — especially if you can't afford much more. If you're looking for the cheapest possible insurance you can get, though, you'll still want to get quotes from at least three auto insurers.

Cheapest for good drivers with poor credit

For drivers in Louisiana with blemished credit and a good driving record, these are the cheapest insurance companies and average rates for full coverage:

1. Safeway: $2,500 per year.
2. Geico: $2,585 per year.
3. Allstate: $3,853 per year.
4. Louisiana Farm Bureau: $4,361 per year.
5. State Farm: $5,528 per year.

If you have a spotty credit history, it's important to shop around to find the cheapest auto insurance rates you can. Poor credit can have a bigger effect on car insurance premiums than even a DUI conviction or a recent at-fault crash, but prices vary by insurer. To calculate these figures, NerdWallet averaged rates for 40-year-olds with a clean driving record and associated good driver discount, if the insurer offered one. They had poor credit as reported to their insurer, and standard "full coverage" car insurance.

Cheapest for drivers with one at-fault crash

After an at-fault wreck, the cheapest insurers and their average rates for full coverage in Louisiana are:

1. Louisiana Farm Bureau: $2,267 per year.
2. Geico: $3,060 per year.
3. Safeway: $3,076 per year.
4. State Farm: $3,961 per year.
5. Allstate: $4,132 per year.

After a relatively minor crash, some auto insurers will charge a lot more than others for coverage. To get these figures, we averaged rates for 40-year-olds with typical "full coverage" insurance and one recent at-fault crash costing $10,000 in property damage. Your rates will remain high for three to five years after you cause an accident or have a moving violation. If you fall into this category, be sure to shop for new insurance rates just after the three-year and five-year anniversaries of your infraction.

Cheapest insurance after a DUI in Louisiana

For someone whose driving history includes a recent DUI, these are the cheapest insurance companies and average rates for full coverage in Louisiana:

1. Louisiana Farm Bureau: $2,105 per year.
2. Safeway: $3,283 per year.
3. Allstate: $3,567 per year.
4. State Farm: $4,560 per year.
5. Geico: $4,659 per year.

A conviction for driving under the influence, or DUI, generally results in higher auto insurance premiums than before. NerdWallet analyzed rates for 40-year-old drivers and standard “full coverage” car insurance with a recent DUI conviction to see which companies were cheapest. Rates can vary by hundreds between carriers after a DUI, and some penalize for longer than others, so it’s important to shop around for the best price right after you see a price hike and each year after that.

Cheapest insurance after a ticket in Louisiana

For a Louisiana driver with a recent speeding ticket, these are the insurance companies with the cheapest average rates for full coverage:

1. Louisiana Farm Bureau: $2,105 per year.
2. Safeway: $2,558 per year.
3. Geico: $2,629 per year.
4. Allstate: $3,125 per year.
5. State Farm: $3,685 per year.

Getting a speeding ticket will result in higher car insurance rates from most companies for three to five years. To see who has the cheapest rates, we calculated average car insurance rates for 40-year-old drivers with “full coverage” insurance and a recent ticket for speeding 16 mph over the limit. Though these larger companies were the cheapest we found on average, others may be cheaper for you, so be sure to get at least three quotes before deciding on a carrier.

Cheapest for couples and families in Louisiana

When you’re buying auto insurance for two or three drivers, the companies that are cheapest for singles may not have the lowest rates for you. For that reason, be sure to shop around for car insurance quotes whenever there’s a major change in your life, like getting married or adding a newly licensed driver. We looked at rates for a 50-year-old couple, with and without a teen driver, to find out which insurers have the best prices for families in Louisiana.

Cheapest for a married couple in Louisiana

For a husband and wife in Louisiana, both 50 years old, these are the cheapest companies and average rates to insure two vehicles with full coverage auto insurance, assuming clean credit and driving records:

1. Geico: $3,029 per year.
2. Safeway: $3,714 per year.
3. Louisiana Farm Bureau: $3,962 per year.
4. Allstate: $4,411 per year.
5. State Farm: $6,348 per year.

Couples who live together can save on auto insurance by combining policies, whether they are married or not, because they can earn multi-car and multi-driver discounts. Once they tie the knot, rates can dip further, but not because of discounts — insurers see married people as less risky and so charge them lower rates. Our hypothetical 50-year-old couple’s clean driving record also earns them both a good driver discount.

Cheapest for families with a teen in Louisiana

For a 50-year-old couple in Louisiana plus an 18-year-old driver, here are the cheapest companies and average rates for insuring two vehicles with full coverage car insurance:

1. Geico: $5,495 per year.
2. Louisiana Farm Bureau: $7,269 per year.
3. Allstate: $8,169 per year.
4. Safeway: $8,342 per year.
5. Progressive: $10,272 per year.

Taking that same couple and adding a teen with two years’ driving experience is sure to cause a big jump in rates. Since different insurers tend to see a teen’s inexperience in different ways, we analyzed rates to see which companies had the cheapest car insurance for teens. These rates are averaged for 50-year-old couples with male and female 18-year-old drivers across the state.

Cheapest for young drivers in Louisiana

When you’re a young driver with limited experience behind the wheel, cheap car insurance may not be easy to find — especially in Louisiana, where rates are higher overall than in most other states. But prices can vary widely, because each insurer views age and other personal factors differently. To see which companies are cheapest for young drivers, we checked rates for 25-year-olds in Louisiana.

Cheapest full coverage for young good drivers

For full coverage, a Louisiana 25-year-old with a clean driving history and good credit may want to check out these insurers, which returned the cheapest average rates:

1. Louisiana Farm Bureau: $2,105 per year.
2. Geico: $2,146 per year.
3. Allstate: $2,917 per year.
4. Safeway: $3,146 per year.
5. State Farm: $3,686 per year.

Drivers in their 20s can have a hard time finding cheap car insurance, and that's even truer when they need full coverage. The rates above are averages for 25-year-old male and female drivers all over the state with comprehensive and collision coverages, which are often required for drivers with active auto loans or leases. These rates reflect a good driver discount, but no others. Young drivers, like all drivers, should check several quotes to find the cheapest for the coverage levels they need.

Cheapest minimum coverage for young good drivers

For a young driver who plans to stick with Louisiana’s minimum required insurance, these are the cheapest companies and their average rates:

1. Geico: $767 per year.
2. Louisiana Farm Bureau: $834 per year.
3. Allstate: $1,189 per year.
4. State Farm: $1,371 per year.
5. Safeway: $1,881 per year.

Since young people often have fewer assets to protect with liability insurance, they can usually get away with lower coverage limits. For an age group with relatively high insurance rates on average, that's good news, keeping rates as low as possible. For this price set, we averaged rates for 25-year-old male and female drivers living across the state who have clean driving records, good credit and bare-bones insurance coverage.

Poor credit and minimum coverage

When a young Louisiana driver has poor credit and a good driving record, these insurers show the cheapest average rates for minimum coverage:

1. Geico: $1,097 per year.
2. Allstate: $1,700 per year.
3. Louisiana Farm Bureau: $1,728 per year.
4. Safeway: $1,881 per year.
5. State Farm: $2,419 per year.

Poor credit is common for younger folks just starting out, who may still be building their credit files. That can increase rates further, so it's extra important to shop around and compare as many insurance quotes as possible to find the cheapest you can get. For these prices, we averaged rates across the state for 25-year-old male and female drivers with no recent accidents or violations (earning them a good driver discount), minimum coverage car insurance, and credit in the "poor" tier as reported to an insurer.

Cheapest for minimum coverage after a crash

For a 25-year-old driver who has caused an accident, here are the cheapest companies and average rates in Louisiana for minimum required insurance:

1. Louisiana Farm Bureau: $906 per year.
2. Geico: $1,223 per year.
3. State Farm: $1,687 per year.
4. Allstate: $2,002 per year.
5. Safeway: $2,326 per year.

To get prices for this group, we averaged rates for 25-year-old male and female drivers across the state with good credit and a recent at-fault crash costing $10,000 in property damage. Since car insurance is often pricier after a crash, and especially so for young drivers, we assumed minimum required insurance in the state to contain costs for our hypothetical driver. If you've caused a crash, no matter your age, be sure to check auto insurance quotes just after the third and fifth anniversaries of your incident, when insurers often adjust rates downward.

Cheapest for minimum coverage after a DUI

These are the cheapest insurers for young drivers in Louisiana with a DUI on their record, ranked by average rates for minimum coverage:

1. Louisiana Farm Bureau: $834 per year.
2. Allstate: $1,736 per year.
3. Geico: $1,805 per year.
4. State Farm: $2,000 per year.
5. Safeway: $2,474 per year.

Young drivers with a recent DUI on their records will need to be diligent to find the lowest car insurance rates they can get — it's likely that many companies' rates will be quite expensive. But spending the time to shop around for quotes can help you find the lowest. For this analysis, we averaged rates for male and female 25-year-old drivers with a recent on-record DUI. They had good credit and minimum required car insurance, which helps keep rates down.

Cheapest for minimum coverage and a ticket

For a 25-year-old Louisiana driver with a recent speeding ticket, the cheapest insurers and average rates for minimum coverage are:

1. Louisiana Farm Bureau: $834 per year.
2. Geico: $1,044 per year.
3. Allstate: $1,470 per year.
4. State Farm: $1,540 per year.
5. Safeway: $1,955 per year.

Getting a speeding ticket is never fun, and neither is the higher car insurance bill you may receive months later. At that point it's time to shop around for better rates, and it wouldn't hurt to repeat on your third and fifth ticket anniversaries, when insurers may adjust rates downward. We analyzed rates for 25-year-old male and female drivers with a recent speeding violation for going 16 mph over the speed limit to see prices for this group.

Cheap for military families

Cheap car insurance for drivers with a military connection is often available through USAA, which offers policies exclusively for active service members, veterans and their families. We didn’t include USAA in our rankings because it isn’t available to the general public, but USAA was among the three cheapest options in Louisiana for every driver category listed above.

Recap: Cheapest car insurance in Louisiana

• Good drivers: Geico
• Minimum coverage: Geico
• Poor credit: Safeway
• After an at-fault crash: Louisiana Farm Bureau
• After a DUI: Louisiana Farm Bureau
• After a speeding ticket: Louisiana Farm Bureau
• Married couples: Geico
• Families with a teen: Geico
• Young good drivers: Louisiana Farm Bureau
• Minimum coverage for young good drivers: Geico
• Minimum coverage for young drivers with poor credit: Geico
• Minimum coverage for young drivers after a crash: Louisiana Farm Bureau
• Minimum coverage for young drivers after a DUI: Louisiana Farm Bureau
• Minimum coverage for young drivers after a ticket: Louisiana Farm Bureau

» MORE: Compare car insurance

Minimum required auto insurance in Louisiana

Louisiana drivers are required to carry liability insurance, which covers others’ injury treatment and property damage after crashes you cause.

The minimum limits you must buy are:

• $15,000 bodily injury liability per person.
• $30,000 bodily injury liability per accident.
• $25,000 property damage liability per accident.

Although this will be enough to drive legally, experts recommend getting more than the bare minimum to avoid paying out of pocket after serious crashes. You may also want optional coverage such as collision, comprehensive and uninsured motorist coverage.

Check out NerdWallet’s guide to car insurance requirements by state for more information on how these coverage options work and what makes sense for your policy.

Alternative car insurance in Louisiana

Drivers who are denied auto insurance on the open market thanks to such factors as a checkered driving record can shop for coverage through the Louisiana Automobile Insurance Plan.

Try our car insurance comparison tool to view rates from top companies.

Methodology

For our “good driver” profile, NerdWallet averaged rates from the largest insurers in the state for 40-year-old men and women in all ZIP codes with 12,000 annual miles driven. The policy includes:

• $100,000 bodily injury liability per person.
• $300,000 bodily injury liability per accident.
• $50,000 property damage liability per accident.
• $100,000 uninsured motorist coverage per person.
• $300,000 uninsured motorist coverage per accident.
• Collision coverage with a $1,000 deductible.
• Comprehensive coverage with a $1,000 deductible.

If required, minimum additional coverages were added. Our “young driver” had all the same characteristics, but average rates were for 25-year-old men and women. We used the same assumptions for all other driver profiles, with the following exceptions:

• For drivers with minimum coverage, we adjusted the numbers above to reflect minimum required coverage by law in the state.
• We changed the credit tier from “good” to “poor” as reported to the insurer to see rates for drivers with poor credit.
• For drivers with one at-fault crash, we added a single at-fault crash costing $10,000 in property damage.
• For drivers with a ticket, we added a single speeding violation for driving 16 mph over the speed limit.
• For drivers with a DUI, we added a single drunken driving violation.

We used a 2016 Toyota Camry LE for all single drivers. Couples in our analyses were 50-year-old men and women with good credit and clean driving histories, averaged across all ZIP codes with the same policy outlined above. To see rates for families with a teen, we added an 18-year-old licensed two years ago, averaging rates for male and female teens. For couples and families we added a 2016 Nissan Rogue S to create a two-car household. These are rates provided by Quadrant Information Services. Your own rates will be different.