It’s hard to avoid all the catchy advertisements from insurers like GEICO, Liberty Mutual, and Nationwide that make promises of the cheapest rates. So you just need to choose one randomly, right?
It’s just not that simple, as there are a whole bunch of unknowns such as whether you are female or male, your age, and the neighborhood you live in. The content below will cover the best ways to compare rates and should give you a solid foundation to find cheaper car insurance in Ohio.
Figuring out which companies have the best car insurance rates for unemployed drivers takes a bit more work than just picking a company at random. Every car insurance company has a proprietary method for determining rates in each state, so let’s look at the rankings for the car insurance companies that tend to be cheaper in Columbus, OH.
Cheap Insurance Rates for Job Seekers
| Rank | Company | Cost Per Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utica National | $647 |
| 2 | Erie | $667 |
| 3 | Allied | $676 |
| 4 | Frankenmuth | $687 |
| 5 | Travelers | $705 |
| 6 | USAA | $711 |
| 7 | Merchants Insurance Group | $748 |
| 8 | Cincinnati Insurance | $749 |
| 9 | Motorists Mutual | $824 |
| 10 | Grange Mutual | $836 |
| 11 | General Casualty | $837 |
| 12 | Hastings Mutual | $858 |
| 13 | State Farm | $858 |
| 14 | Central Mutual | $874 |
| 15 | Atlantic States | $904 |
| 16 | Westfield | $918 |
| 17 | Auto-Owners | $968 |
| 18 | Western Reserve | $970 |
| 19 | Progressive | $982 |
| 20 | American Family | $1,010 |
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Utica National may offer some of the best car insurance rates in Columbus at around $647 a year. Erie, Allied, Frankenmuth, and Travelers also make the cut as some of the cheaper Columbus, OH auto insurance companies.
In this example, if you buy coverage from Erie and switched to Utica National, you could see a yearly savings of around $20. Policyholders with Allied may save as much as $29 a year, and Frankenmuth policyholders might reduce prices by as much as $40 a year.
To see how much you can save, click here to get a free quote or quote rates from the companies below.
Understand that those premiums are averages across all drivers and vehicles and and are not figured with a specific zip code for unemployed drivers. So the auto insurance company that fits your age and vehicle best may not even be in the top 33 companies shown above. That emphasizes why you need to compare rates from multiple companies using your own driver information and specific vehicle type.
For the unemployed, one of the more important factors that are looked at to determine the price you pay for insurance is where you call home. Areas with high crime rates or more dense population are more likely to have higher rates, whereas less populated areas have the gratification of cheaper auto insurance rates.
The illustration below ranks the most costly cities in Ohio for unemployed drivers in which to purchase auto insurance. Columbus is listed at #5 having an annual price of $1,211 for the average policyholder, which is about $101 each month.
| Rank | City | Annual Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Youngstown | $1,273 |
| 2 | Cleveland | $1,235 |
| 3 | Toledo | $1,229 |
| 4 | Cleveland Heights | $1,214 |
| 5 | Columbus | $1,211 |
| 6 | Cincinnati | $1,186 |
| 7 | Akron | $1,157 |
| 8 | Euclid | $1,140 |
| 9 | Dayton | $1,120 |
| 10 | Hamilton | $1,102 |
| 11 | Newark | $1,085 |
| 12 | Fairfield | $1,063 |
| 13 | Springfield | $1,061 |
| 14 | Canton | $1,058 |
| 15 | Middletown | $1,055 |
| 16 | Lakewood | $1,041 |
| 17 | Parma | $1,037 |
| 18 | Strongsville | $1,031 |
| 19 | Beavercreek | $1,027 |
| 20 | Kettering | $1,020 |
| 21 | Cuyahoga Falls | $997 |
| 22 | Mansfield | $992 |
| 23 | Lorain | $985 |
| 24 | Mentor | $978 |
| 25 | Elyria | $975 |
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Rates are approximated as zip code location can affect premium rates substantially.
Price comparison of only insuring for liability
Saving on car insurance is important to the majority of drivers, and a great way to pay less for insurance for unemployed drivers is to not buy comprehensive and collision coverage. The illustration below shows the comparison of insurance rates with liability coverage only compared to full coverage. The price estimates are based on no claims, a clean driving record, $250 deductibles, drivers are not married, and no discounts are taken into consideration.
Averaged for all age groups, physical damage coverage on your policy costs an extra $1,629 per year more than just insuring for liability. A very common question is when is it safe to stop buying full coverage. There isn’t a written rule of when to drop comp and collision coverage, but there is a general guideline you can use. If the annual cost of coverage is more than about 10% of the settlement you would receive from your company, then you might want to think about dropping full coverage.
For example, let’s pretend your vehicle’s replacement value is $9,000 and you have $1,000 policy deductibles. If your vehicle is severely damaged, you would only receive $8,000 after you pay the deductible. If it’s costing in excess of $800 annually for comprehensive and collision coverage, then it’s probably a good time to buy liability coverage only.
There are some circumstances where dropping physical damage coverage is not a good idea. If you haven’t paid off your loan, you must maintain physical damage coverage in order to prevent your loan from defaulting. Also, if your finances do not allow you to purchase a different vehicle in the event your current vehicle is totaled, you should not consider dropping full coverage.
Discount Columbus insurance
Insurance providers that offer quotes for unemployed drivers may also give you price discounts that can reduce rates by as much as 25% or more if you qualify. Larger car insurance companies and the discounts they provide are:
- Progressive includes discounts for multi-vehicle, multi-policy, good student, homeowner, online quote discount, and continuous coverage.
- GEICO offers premium reductions for anti-lock brakes, air bags, seat belt use, driver training, multi-policy, and five-year accident-free.
- State Farm may have discounts that include anti-theft, good driver, safe vehicle, multiple policy, Drive Safe & Save, Steer Clear safe driver discount, and student away at school.
- Esurance offers discounts for anti-theft, paid-in-full, online quote, good student, safety device, defensive driver, and Pac-12 alumni.
- The Hartford discounts include driver training, vehicle fuel type, good student, air bag, and defensive driver.
The information below illustrates the comparison of insurance rates with and without policy discounts. The costs are based on a female driver, a clean driving record, no at-fault accidents, Ohio state minimum liability limits, full physical damage coverage, and $100 deductibles.
The first bar for each age group shows premium with no discounts. The lower bar shows the rates with vehicle safety, anti-theft, accident-free, homeowner, marriage, and multiple vehicle discounts applied. When these discounts are applied, theaverage yearly reduction on car insurance for unemployed drivers is 27% or $340.
Don’t make the mistake of not shopping around
Columbus car insurance rates are impacted by many things that may substantially change the price of coverage. Simply improving your credit, moving across town, or getting a few speeding tickets may generate price changes resulting in some rates now being more affordable than others.
In addition to those changes, insurance companies change rates at least once a year to adjust for gains or losses. Heavy losses can cause more expensive premiums, while less frequent claims can result in cheaper Columbus car insurance rates.
To help illustrate this point, the chart below shows which company has the cheapest car insurance in Columbus, OH for a 30-year-old male driver with no accidents, a clean driving record, and a decent credit rating. If we estimate rates based on his current rating profile, Utica National may have the cheapest car insurance rates in Columbus at $820 annually. This is $220 less than the average price paid by Ohio drivers of $1,040. Erie, Frankenmuth, Allied, and USAA are the rest of the best Columbus, OH auto insurance companies.
Now we will give the driver in the first example some claims, a lower credit rating, and a traffic citation. Due to the fact that each insurance company uses their own method to establish rates, comparing rates could now result in a different list of affordable Columbus car insurance companies as shown below.
Cincinnati Insurance now has the cheapest rate in Columbus with Merchants Insurance Group, Motorists Mutual, Grange Mutual, and General Casualty also being competitive. This demonstrates why it is crucial to take the time to shop around when trying to get the best insurance quotes for unemployed drivers. Rates are impacted by many risk factors and can change without notice, so the best company the last time you checked may now be priced much higher than other options.