The best way we recommend to get the cheapest car insurance rates in Columbus is to start comparing rates regularly from providers who sell auto insurance in Ohio.
- Step 1: Try to understand how your policy works and the measures you can take to keep rates down. Many rating criteria that increase rates like your driving record and poor credit history can be remedied by making minor driving habit or lifestyle changes.
- Step 2: Request price quotes from exclusive agents, independent agents, and direct providers. Exclusive agents and direct companies can provide rates from a single company like GEICO or State Farm, while independent agencies can provide prices for a wide range of companies. View a list of agents
- Step 3: Compare the new quotes to the premium of your current policy to determine if switching companies saves money. If you can save money, ensure coverage does not lapse between policies.
One important bit of advice is to compare identical deductibles and limits on each quote request and and to get price quotes from every insurance company. This helps ensure an accurate price comparison and a thorough selection of prices.
A recent insurance study revealed that most insurance buyers in Ohio have been with the same company for more than four years, and about 40% of consumers have never shopped around. Most drivers in America could save up to $859 every year by just comparing quotes, but they mistakenly think it’s difficult to compare rates and save money.
When price shopping your coverage, having more price comparisons helps locate the best offered rates.
The companies in the list below provide comparison quotes in Ohio. If multiple providers are shown, we suggest you visit several of them in order to get a fair rate comparison.
Lower-cost Columbus insurance rates with discounts
Insurance is not an enjoyable expense, but you may find discounts that could help you make your next renewal payment. Some trigger automatically at quote time, but lesser-known reductions have to be asked about before you will receive the discount. If you aren’t receiving every discount possible, you could be getting lower rates.
- Service Members Pay Less – Having a deployed family member could trigger a small discount.
- Seat Belt Usage – Forcing all vehicle occupants to buckle up can save up to 10 percent (depending on the company) off the medical payments premium.
- Homeowners Savings – Just being a homeowner may earn you a small savings because owning a home is proof of financial responsibility.
- Driving Data Discount – Columbus drivers who agree to allow companies to monitor vehicle usage remotely such as Progressive’s Snapshot and State Farm’s In-Drive could see a rate decrease if they exhibit good driving behavior.
- Drivers Education – Teen drivers should enroll in driver’s education as it will make them better drivers and lower rates.
- Good Grades Discount – Maintaining excellent grades can get you a discount of up to 25%. The good student discount can last until age 25.
- Save with More Vehicles Insured – Buying a policy with multiple cars on one policy can reduce the rates for all insured vehicles.
- Cautious Drivers – Drivers who don’t get into accidents may save up to 50% more compared to rates paid by drivers with frequent claims.
- Payment Discounts – By making one initial payment rather than paying in monthly installments you could save 5% or more.
- Low Mileage Discounts – Driving fewer miles could qualify for slightly better prices than normal.
Don’t be surprised that most discount credits are not given to your bottom line cost. The majority will only reduce specific coverage prices like liability, collision or medical payments. So when it seems like having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, insurance companies wouldn’t stay in business. Any amount of discount should definitely cut your insurance premiums.
Larger insurance companies and some of their more popular discounts can be found below.
- GEICO may include discounts for air bags, anti-theft, anti-lock brakes, membership and employees, multi-vehicle, federal employee, and five-year accident-free.
- Auto-Owners Insurance discounts include safe vehicle, anti-theft, paid in full, mature driver, and paperless.
- American Family offers discounts for mySafetyValet, good student, TimeAway discount, air bags, bundled insurance, and defensive driver.
- Esurance has savings for Switch & Save, homeowner, multi-policy, online shopper, paid-in-full, and DriveSense.
- Progressive offers discounts including multi-policy, good student, continuous coverage, homeowner, online signing, and multi-vehicle.
- State Farm policyholders can earn discounts including Drive Safe & Save, passive restraint, anti-theft, student away at school, safe vehicle, and accident-free.
- AAA includes discounts for AAA membership discount, good student, good driver, pay-in-full, multi-car, and multi-policy.
When quoting, ask every prospective company to apply every possible discount. Discounts might not be available to policyholders in Columbus. If you would like to see a list of insurance companies that have a full spectrum of discounts in Columbus, click this link.
Insurance agencies can find coverage gaps
A lot of people prefer to have an agent’s advice and doing so can bring peace of mind A good thing about comparing rates online is that drivers can save money and get cheap car insurance quotes and still choose a local agent.
For easy comparison, once you complete this form (opens in new window), your insurance data gets sent to participating agents in Columbus that provide free Columbus auto insurance quotes to get your business. You never need to find an agent since rate quotes are delivered to you instantly. You can find lower rates without a big time investment. If you have a need to get a comparison quote from one company in particular, don’t hesitate to search and find their rate quote page to submit a rate quote request.
Finding a good provider shouldn’t rely on just the price. Here are some questions you should ask.
- How are they compensated?
- Do they specialize in personal lines auto insurance in Columbus?
- Is the agency active in community causes in Columbus?
- Are they full-time agents?
- What is the agency’s Better Business Bureau rating?
Once you have received reasonable responses as well as a price you’re happy with, you may have just found an provider that can be relied on to adequately provide car insurance. But keep in mind you can cancel a policy for any reason so never feel that you are obligated to any specific company indefinitely.
Which is the best car insurance?
When choosing your policy for your vehicles, there really is not a perfect coverage plan. Every situation is different and your car insurance should be unique as well.
These are some specific questions can help discover whether your personal situation will benefit from professional help.
- Can I still get insurance after a DUI?
- Will my Ford Five Hundred be repaired with OEM or aftermarket parts?
- What vehicles should carry emergency assistance coverage?
- Why are teen drivers so expensive to add on to my policy?
- If I drive on a suspended license am I covered?
- Do I need replacement cost coverage on my Ford Five Hundred?
- When does my teenage driver need to be added to my policy?
- How much cheaper are high deductibles?
If you don’t know the answers to these questions but a few of them apply, then you may want to think about talking to an agent. To find an agent in your area, fill out this quick form or click here for a list of car insurance companies in your area.
It may be expensive, but it’s not optional
Despite the fact that auto insurance is not cheap in Columbus, buying auto insurance is required in Ohio but also provides important benefits.
- Most states have minimum mandated liability insurance limits which means you are required to carry specific minimum amounts of liability insurance in order to be legal. In Ohio these limits are 25/50/25 which means you must have $25,000 of bodily injury coverage per person, $50,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and $25,000 of property damage coverage.
- If your vehicle has a loan, almost all lenders will have a requirement that you have comprehensive coverage to guarantee payment of the loan. If coverage lapses or is canceled, the bank will be required to insure your Ford at a much higher rate and require you to pay for the much more expensive policy.
- Insurance protects both your Ford Five Hundred and your assets. Insurance will pay for most medical and hospital costs for you, any passengers, and anyone injured in an accident. One of the most valuable coverages, liability insurance, will also pay to defend you in the event you are sued. If mother nature or an accident damages your car, comprehensive and/or collision insurance will cover the damage repairs after a deductible is paid.
The benefits of buying enough insurance more than cancel out the cost, especially if you ever need it. On average, a vehicle owner in Columbus is overpaying over $865 each year so you should quote and compare rates each time the policy renews to ensure rates are competitive.
Insurance coverages 101
Knowing the specifics of insurance aids in choosing which coverages you need and the correct deductibles and limits. Insurance terms can be ambiguous and coverage can change by endorsement. Shown next are the usual coverages found on the average insurance policy.
Comprehensive insurance
Comprehensive insurance will pay to fix damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. You need to pay your deductible first and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive can pay for claims like a broken windshield, hitting a deer, hitting a bird and rock chips in glass. The highest amount you’ll receive from a claim is the actual cash value, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value consider dropping full coverage.
Coverage for uninsured or underinsured drivers
Your UM/UIM coverage provides protection from other motorists when they either are underinsured or have no liability coverage at all. Covered losses include injuries to you and your family and also any damage incurred to your Ford Five Hundred.
Since a lot of drivers have only the minimum liability required by law (25/50/25 in Ohio), their limits can quickly be used up. That’s why carrying high Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage should not be overlooked.
Coverage for medical expenses
Med pay and PIP coverage pay for bills such as dental work, doctor visits, funeral costs, chiropractic care and nursing services. They are often used to fill the gap from your health insurance program or if you are not covered by health insurance. They cover both the driver and occupants and will also cover getting struck while a pedestrian. PIP is not available in all states and may carry a deductible
Collision coverage protection
Collision coverage pays to fix your vehicle from damage caused by collision with a stationary object or other vehicle. You will need to pay your deductible and then insurance will cover the remainder.
Collision can pay for things such as colliding with another moving vehicle, rolling your car, sustaining damage from a pot hole, driving through your garage door and backing into a parked car. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so consider dropping it from vehicles that are older. You can also raise the deductible on your Five Hundred to get cheaper collision coverage.
Liability insurance
This protects you from injuries or damage you cause to people or other property in an accident. Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. Your policy might show policy limits of 25/50/25 that means you have $25,000 in coverage for each person’s injuries, a total of $50,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and property damage coverage for $25,000.
Liability insurance covers things such as funeral expenses, structural damage and court costs. How much liability coverage do you need? That is a personal decision, but you should buy as high a limit as you can afford. Ohio state law requires minimum liability limits of 25/50/25 but it’s recommended drivers buy more liability than the minimum.
The chart below demonstrates why low liability limits may not provide you with enough coverage.
One last note
We just covered a lot of ways to get a better price on Ford Five Hundred insurance in Columbus. The most important thing to understand is the more quotes you get, the better your comparison will be. You may even find the biggest savings come from a small mutual company. Some small companies can often insure niche markets at a lower cost compared to the large companies like Progressive or GEICO.
When shopping online for insurance, it’s not a good idea to skimp on coverage in order to save money. There are a lot of situations where drivers have reduced liability limits or collision coverage only to find out that a couple dollars of savings turned into a financial nightmare. Your focus should be to buy enough coverage for the lowest price, but do not sacrifice coverage to save money.
More detailed insurance information is available in these articles:
- Smart Auto Insurance Tips (Insurance Information Institute)
- What Car Insurance is Cheapest for a Honda Civic in Columbus? (FAQ)
- Who Has the Cheapest Auto Insurance Rates for 19 Year Olds in Columbus? (FAQ)
- Who Has the Cheapest Car Insurance Rates for Drivers with a Bad Driving Record in Columbus? (FAQ)
- Collision Insurance Coverage (Nationwide)
- Anti-Lock Brake FAQ (iihs.org)
- Choosing a Car for Your Teen (State Farm)