Best Cheap Car Insurance in New York for 2018

If you’re looking for the cheapest car insurance in New York, it pays to shop around. The same coverage and limits can fetch very different rates from company to company, meaning you may lose out on a great deal by settling for the first quote you get.

To make your shopping easier, NerdWallet researched rates from the eight largest auto insurers in New York to find the most affordable options for a variety of driver types, including:

Good drivers

Young drivers

Drivers with one at-fault crash

Drivers with poor credit

Retired drivers

Also in this article:

Minimum car insurance requirements in New York

Alternative car insurance in New York

» FIND YOUR MATCH: Who’s the cheapest carrier for you?

Cheapest for good drivers

For drivers with no at-fault accidents, DUIs or moving violations.

Geico offered the best car insurance rate for good drivers in New York in our analysis, with an average price of around $91 per month. Travelers and Allstate were the next cheapest options, respectively.

If you have a clean driving record, you can push your rates even lower by making sure you get the discounts you’re entitled to, such as a claim-free discount for steering clear of accidents for an extended time period.

Cheapest for young drivers

For drivers in their early 20s.

Young drivers tend to need less coverage than motorists with families or greater savings to protect, a factor that we included in our analysis.

Geico notched by far the cheapest average rates for drivers in their early 20s, at roughly $50 a month, followed by New York Central Mutual Fire and Travelers. If you’re under 25, still in school and have a B average or better, ask your insurer or agent about a good student discount to trim rates even more.

Cheapest for drivers with one at-fault crash

Causing an accident typically triggers a price increase at renewal time. The severity of the rate hike depends on the insurer. Geico’s average cost for this group — the cheapest we found — was more than $200 a year higher than the company’s rate for drivers of the same age with no accidents.

Not all insurers appear to penalize you for one accident. Allstate returned the same rate for drivers with one at-fault crash and those with clean records — $1,890.

Cheapest for drivers with poor credit

For drivers placed in a “Poor Credit” tier.

Having poor credit can prevent you from getting the cheapest car insurance in New York when you buy your policy. The lowest rate we found was Geico at about $128 per month.

However, each insurer has its own approach for covering drivers with credit problems, so it pays to shop around. One insurer in our test gave drivers with a clean record and poor credit a quote of nearly $7,300 per year — more than $607 a month.

Cheapest for retired drivers

For drivers in their mid- to late 60s who no longer use their car for commuting.

Even though auto insurance rates can climb with age, retirees can typically get a relatively good deal thanks to their reduced time behind the wheel. For this reason, we looked at rates for drivers in their 60s who travel half as much as our other groups.

The cheapest New York car insurance quote we found was from Geico at roughly $73 a month. This was cheaper than the company’s rate for drivers half that age who face a daily commute.

Retirees in New York can also save by refreshing their driving skills with an online accident prevention course, which reduces base car insurance rates by 10% for three years. Learn more about the state’s many approved course providers.

Minimum car insurance requirements in New York

New York auto insurance laws require car owners to carry liability insurance, personal injury protection (PIP) and uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage (UMBI).

The minimum coverage limits are:

• $25,000 bodily injury liability per person
• $50,000 bodily injury liability per accident
• $10,000 property damage liability per accident
• $50,000 PIP
• $25,000 UMBI per person
• $50,000 UMBI per accident

For the best financial protection, consider buying more than the bare minimum. Any costs that surpass your coverage limits would have to come out of your own pocket. A serious accident could easily leave you owing more than, say, $10,000 to repair another driver’s car.

Alternative car insurance in New York

If car insurance companies are declining you for coverage due to DUIs, crashes or other factors, you could qualify for car insurance through the New York Automobile Insurance Plan (NYAIP).

NerdWallet’s comparison tool lets you view New York car insurance rates from top companies side by side and possibly trim hundreds off your premium.

Here’s a summary of where you’ll find the cheapest insurance, by category: