What is the Average Cost of Car Insurance in Irvine?

Irvine, located close to Los Angeles, has an estimated population of around 287,400. The city borders the Limestone Canyon Regional Park and the Lake Forest neighborhood. The entire area is one large city, which includes Santa Ana, Anaheim, Westminster, Orange, Tustin, and El Modena. And, because of the city’s size, residents of the area spend a significant part of their time on the road going from home to work.

For statistical purposes, Irvine is grouped with Los Angeles, Anaheim, and other local cities for numbers of vehicle theft. In 2018, vehicle owners experienced 28,928 thefts; this made the rate 405.73 and the national rank of Irvine, CA for theft a whopping #38. Theft is just one of the factors that insurance companies rely on when they set insurance costs for drivers in the area.

The mean commute time to work, for workers 16 years old and older, is 25.6 minutes, which isn’t longer than the national average of around 27 minutes but is long enough that it might mean more expensive insurance. After all, insurance cost is based on risk, and spending almost an hour a day on the road definitely increases the risk that you will get into an accident.

Car insurance is always going to cost a significant amount of money; your insurance agent wants to protect their investment and your investment in your vehicle, whether it’s new, old or something that gets you from Point A to Point B and back again.

How Much Auto Insurance Coverage is Needed for Irvine Drivers?

Because of the area’s size, the number of car thefts and natural disasters (wildfire, rain, and floods), vehicle insurance is more costly than many other places. However, that doesn’t mean that it makes sense to skimp on what you buy. With the least expensive insurance, you’ll save in the short term when you make your monthly payments, but when something happens to your car that leads to damage or other losses, you’ll very likely wind up paying even more.

The law requires that you purchase a minimum amount of insurance for each vehicle you own/drive. This minimum includes bodily injury liability coverage of at least $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident and property damage liability coverage of at least $5,000.

However, if your car is new and you are still making monthly payments on it, your lender is likely going to require that you insure it with a comprehensive policy. The liability policy protects the driver of the other vehicle, if you are found to be at fault in an accident, while a comprehensive policy protects against events not related to vehicular accidents.

Most Expensive and Least Expensive Insurance Rates by Zip Code

Cheap Car Insurance in Irvine by Insurer

A state minimum insurance policy may cost less than $604, but it won’t cover everything should your vehicle be heavily damaged. Even though it’s three times as expensive, buying a collision or full coverage policy may save you money in the long run. No matter what you choose, cost shouldn’t be your only deciding factor. You should also look at reviews for each company you receive a quote from and make sure that their previous customers were happy with the service they received.

Learn how to find cheap car insurance near you.

Low Cost Auto Insurance for Bad Credit in Irvine

Things happen, and it’s easy to find that your credit rating has taken a big hit. Regardless, you still have to buy and maintain insurance on your vehicle. Luckily, California is one of the few states that doesn’t allow your credit rating to affect the cost of your car insurance. No matter what issues you’ve run into in the past, they shouldn’t affect your ability to get a good deal on car insurance now.

Learn how your credit score determines your car insurance premiums.

Differences Between the Two Main Coverages

What is Liability-Only?

Liability insurance will pay for the injuries and/or damages that you cause to others in the case of a collision where you were at fault. In most cases, liability insurance will cost less than full-coverage insurance, but then again, they are both very different in what they cover. Liability is mandatory in all U.S. states, although how much liability you are required to have differs between states. Even if it wasn’t mandatory to have liability insurance, accidents can happen anytime and, if they do, you will need to be able to pay for the damages that you cause if you were the one to blame.

Why You May Want Full Coverage Car Insurance

Full coverage auto insurance in Arizona pays for your injuries and the damages made to your car as well as for others and isn’t just a specific type of a policy but it is instead liability, comprehensive insurance, and collision all combined. Full coverage insurance is not mandatory, but is good to have since it will help pay for your car to be fixed in the event of an accident that causes you injury or damage to your car, even if you were at fault. If the other person that collided with you was at fault, then their insurance will cover the damages to your car and your injuries. This is why there are laws requiring everyone to have insurance to cover the damages they cause.

What are the Major Differences Between Full Coverage and Liability?

Liability and Full coverage policies have many distinctions but the chief one is that under a liability policy your car is not covered. If you are in an accident and are found at-fault, your liability policy will cover the other driver and her passengers. A full coverage policy, on the other hand, covers damage done to your car as a result of a wide range of accidents, even if you are at-fault. These policies also differ when it comes to premium payments.

Average Annual Car Insurance Rates in California by City

Additional cities in California you can check out.

Ways to Lower Your Insurance Premiums

The following auto insurance discounts can be used to help lower your premiums in Irvine:

Of course, the best way to keep your auto insurance rates down is to drive safely and avoid accidents. The better your driving record, the lower your rates. However, there are also other ways to lower your rates.

Shop Around for the Best Price

Prices can vary significantly between insurance agencies so you will need to get a quote from each one. To prevent having to go to each site and put all your information in dozens of times, there are some sites where you can compare the rates of several agencies at once that you should take advantage of.

Bundle with other insurance plans

Most insurance agencies offer you a chance to bundle and get many of your insurance needs from one place; such as renters’ insurance, homeowners’ insurance, auto insurance, and more. You can also save when insuring more than one vehicle.

Reduce the Number of Miles you drive

Reducing the number of miles you drive will reduce your risk for accidents and therefore, your insurance rates. Besides that, it could do your body and your health good to walk sometimes.

Check the Insurance Costs for a Car Before Buying it

Before you buy a car, it is important that you check insurance costs first, as some car types can raise your insurance rates much more than others. Some of the things your premiums may be based on include the cars overall safety record, costs of parts and repairs, the price of the car, and theft likelihood.

Increase your Deductibles

The higher the price of the deductibles the less your rates will be. For example, if you were to increase your deductible from $200 to $500 it would reduce your comprehensive coverage and collision rates by 15-30%.

Watch your Credit Score

Did you know that many people check their credit report only to find several mistakes that can be fixed? Check your credit report often, because the higher your credit score the lower your insurance rates will be.

Using this guide to take full advantage of all driver discounts.

These are the Common Reasons for Insurance Rates in Irvine

Because of the traffic issues in the area, “State” car insurance rates can be quite high based on the area you live in. The risk factors are higher where there is more traffic, so the area is one important factor in your auto insurance rates. As we have seen, other factors that affect your car insurance rate include your age, marital status, how many cars and drivers you have in your household, your driving record, what type of coverage you need, the age and type of your vehicle, the insurance agency, and the average mileage you drive each year. These factors can make huge differences in how much money you have to spend each year on automobile insurance.

Since insurance rates can fluctuate from company to company, it is important that drivers thoroughly educate themselves about automobile insurance and shop around in order to find the very best deal. You literally can save a thousand or more dollars per year by getting quotes from several carriers.

Compare insurance company rates for drivers with a bad record here.

Helpful Irvine, California Vehicle Resources:

Live Traffic and Accidents
https://www.viamichelin.com/web/Traffic/Traffic_info-Irvine-_-California-United_States

DMV (Find Locations, Vehicle Registration, Titles and Insurance Info)
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/business-partner/aaa-irvine-branch/

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