The Best High-Risk Auto Insurance

High-risk drivers pay higher car insurance rates than low-risk drivers, which is why it’s critical to find an affordable provider. State Farm offers consistent low rates, including for high-risk drivers, without compromising on quality.

Affordable Coverage for High-Risk Drivers

State Farm is one of the most affordable providers overall and the company’s low rates apply to high-risk drivers, too. In general, State Farm charges high-risk drivers about 15 to 20 percent less than the competition.

State Farm offers a number of coverage options and policies:

• Bodily injury and property damage liability
• Collision and comprehensive
• Car rental and travel expenses
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist
• Medical payments and personal injury protection
• Emergency roadside assistance
• Rideshare driver coverage
• Motorcycle, boat, off-road vehicle, motorhome, and travel trailer insurance

Many Applicable Discounts

High-risk drivers can lower their auto insurance costs by applying State Farm’s discounts:

• Drive Safe & Save: Save up to 30 percent when you demonstrate good habits by tracking your driving on State Farm’s mobile app.
• Steer Clear: Drivers under age 25 with clean records for the past three years get a discount of up to 15 percent for completing an app-based driver training program.
• Defensive driver: When you take a qualifying driver safety course, you lower your premiums.
• Good driver: Avoid at-fault accidents and moving violations for three years to qualify for this discount.
• Vehicle safety: Passive restraints, anti-theft technology, and other safety features earn you a discount. If your car doesn’t have these features, consider installing them or trading in for a safer vehicle.
• Multivehicle: If you insure two or more vehicles in your household on the same policy, you can save up to 20 percent.

Save by Bundling

State Farm offers other types of insurance policies. You’ll save when you combine all your insurance needs in one place. Here are some examples:

• Home and condo: State Farm claims that customers can save over $1,100 by insuring homes or condos along with vehicles.
• Renters: State Farm offers low-cost renters insurance and says customers may save over $700 when they combine renters and auto insurance policies.
• Life: Customers can save up to 17 percent by adding life insurance policies to their auto insurance policies.

Allstate is an especially good choice for drivers who are high-risk due to their young ages.

Pay-Per-Mile Option

Even if you drive your car infrequently, you need auto insurance. If you’re a high-risk driver, you might not want to pay higher rates just to get groceries or run an occasional errand.

Low-mileage drivers can save by enrolling in Allstate’s pay-per-mile insurance option, Milewise. Instead of paying a monthly premium, they’ll pay a daily and per-mile rate. Here’s an example:

This is a good option for many drivers, including high-risk ones. Examples of high-risk drivers include the following:

• New drivers who prefer public transportation when available
• College students who mainly drive to and from class
• DUI offenders who are staying off the road
• Stay-at-home parents, remote workers, and people with short commutes

Flexible Student Discount

Insurance companies consider young drivers high-risk for several reasons:

• They are inexperienced behind the wheel.
• They may have little or no driving history.
• Statistically, they’re more likely to get into accidents.²

As a result, the cost of auto insurance for teens and other young drivers is higher than for older drivers.

Allstate offers several ways for young drivers to earn its student discount even if they’re not in school full time. Drivers who are under 25 and unmarried can qualify for Allstate’s student discount as long as they meet one of the following criteria:

• They are a full-time student with a minimum of a B- average or a 2.7 GPA.
• They complete the teenSMART driver education program.
• They attend school at least 100 miles away from where their family garages the car

Accident Forgiveness

Causing an accident will often increase your insurance costs by 50 percent or more. If you already have an at-fault accident on your record or you’re designated high-risk for another reason, you’ll want to avoid any further increases in your premiums.

Many insurance providers require you to have a clean record to qualify for accident forgiveness, but Allstate offers this coverage option to all of its customers.

If you purchase accident forgiveness coverage, your premiums won’t increase if you’re at fault for an accident. Depending on the coverage you choose, you can have one accident forgiven every three years or pay more for an unlimited number of accidents. Keep in mind that even if you purchase accident forgiveness, Allstate can drop your coverage if it determines your driving habits are reckless.

Unlike State Farm and Allstate, Direct Auto specializes in insurance policies for high-risk drivers. Because Direct Auto is unlikely to turn you away from coverage, it’s a good choice for high-risk drivers — in particular, those who need non-owner insurance.

Non-Owner Insurance

Non-owner insurance is for people who don’t own cars but still need auto insurance. The high-risk and non-owner categories often overlap for a number of reasons. Here are some examples:

• New drivers who got their licenses to drive rental cars or Zipcars, or to establish in-state residencies.
• People who received DUIs or moving violations, or caused accidents in borrowed cars.
• Drivers who sold their cars after incidents and need SR-22s.

High-risk drivers can purchase non-owner insurance from Direct Auto and the company will handle filing SR-22s if you need them. The following coverages are available to non-owners:

• Bodily injury liability
• Property damage liability
• Medical payments
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist

Note that non-owners cannot purchase comprehensive or collision coverage because they do not own cars that would need repair. If they get into an accident in a borrowed vehicle, the owner’s insurance will kick in first (including comprehensive and collision coverage). If the limits of the owner’s policy are reached (or the non-owner is explicitly excluded from their policy), the non-owner policy would kick in next.

Many Discounts

The reason for your high-risk designation will determine how much more you pay for auto insurance compared to drivers with clean records. For example, a 30-day lapse in coverage may only raise your monthly premiums by $7 or $8, while a DUI could cost you hundreds of dollars per month in added premiums.

Whatever your circumstances, Direct Auto can help you save. The company offers an array of discounts so even if you don’t qualify for some due to your driving history or high-risk designation, you’ll qualify for others.

Emergency Protection Plan

Direct Auto offers a comprehensive emergency protection plan that helps you financially in the event of an accident. The plan helps to pay for unexpected costs which may be useful if you had to dip into your savings to pay for a DUI or at-fault accident. It includes the following benefits:

• Hospital stay benefit: This is in the form of direct cash payments, which you can use however you like for each day of a hospital stay after an accident.
• Accident medical expense reimbursement: The plan offers reimbursement up to $1,000 for out-of-pocket medical expenses, including deductibles, after an accident.
• Accidental death and dismemberment: You’ll get up to $10,000 to ease the financial burden to yourself or your family if you sustain an injury or die in an accident.
• Ambulance assistance: The plan includes up to $100 toward an ambulance ride after an accident.
• Mechanical first aid: This covers up to $25 for a service call in the event of a mechanical breakdown (e.g., a battery jump).
• Auto rental reimbursement and lost personal effects coverage: This includes funds to pay for a rental car (even if you also have rental coverage) and up to $300 for items damaged or stolen from a rental vehicle.

Like Direct Auto, National General (or NatGen) specializes in selling policies to high-risk individuals. The company has a special offering for first-time DUI offenders, one of the highest risk designations.

Second Chances for a First DUI

A DUI will classify you as a high-risk driver. Your rates will increase and standard insurers may turn you down or drop your policy.

In contrast, National General offers special DUI insurance for first-time offenders who complete safe driving and substance abuse therapy programs. Qualifying individuals will receive discounted rates and a National General expert will handle filing the SR-22s. The company claims that first-time offenders who switch to NatGen can save nearly $450 a year.

Valet Rental

Most auto insurance providers offer some form of rental coverage, but National General’s offers the extra perk of valet service. If your car needs repair, someone from National General will bring you a rental car and drop your vehicle off at the shop. When repairs are complete, someone will bring you your car and return the rental.

Keep in mind that some high-risk designations can make it more difficult to rent a car. For example, many rental agencies do not rent vehicles to people who have had DUI convictions in the past two to three years. Some agencies may turn down customers for having low credit scores, though rental companies tend to be more concerned with account histories (e.g., late payments or delinquent accounts) than credit scores themselves.³

The good news is that other high-risk designations don’t make it harder to rent a car. For example, senior drivers and new drivers over the age of 25 shouldn’t have a problem. And many companies will even allow you to rent a vehicle if you’re over age 20 or 21, as long as you pay an underage fee (usually around $20 to $40 daily).

Commercial Auto Insurance

If you use a vehicle for business purposes, you likely need a commercial auto insurance  policy. Some examples are listed below:

• If you use your vehicle to transport tools or equipment to a worksite
• If you deliver goods in your vehicle
• If you operate a company-owned vehicle

If you’re a high-risk driver, you may find it difficult to find a provider willing to sell you a commercial policy. National General offers commercial policies to high-risk drivers, with coverages designed for small businesses that include the following:

• Tools coverage
• Non-owned auto coverage
• Contractual liability for additional insureds
• Pollution liability
• Accidental death and dismemberment

Even as a high-risk driver, you can save on National General’s commercial auto insurance with the following discounts:

• Bundling multiple policies
• Paying your bill in full
• Setting up automatic payments
• Tracking your driving with the DynamicDrive app
• Being a member of a trade association

Founded in 1979, Acceptance is another provider that specializes in selling high-risk insurance. It works with many different types of high-risk drivers and turns few people away. Acceptance has all the standard coverage options, as well as a couple of less common offerings like traffic ticket reimbursement.

Plans for People with Low Credit

Statistically, people with low credit are more likely to file claims, which is why low credit is a high-risk designation. In some cases, an insurance provider might deny your coverage based on your credit score.

In every state except California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Michigan, insurance companies can use your credit report as a factor to determine your premiums. People with low credit scores may pay 60 percent more for insurance than people with average scores (on the flip side, a high score can save you around 20 percent).

Acceptance has discounts that can help you save on premiums, even if you have low credit:

• Multipolicy: Bundle your auto insurance policy with another policy type, like homeowners, renters, commercial, pet, or life insurance to save money.
• Drive safely: Like most other providers, Acceptance will lower your bills if you allow it to track your driving behavior and display good habits (e.g., following speed limits).
• Paperless: Knock a few dollars off your premiums by opting to receive your bills electronically rather than by mail.
• Loyalty: If you renew your policy with Acceptance, you’ll receive a discount.

Unique Roadside Assistance

Like most auto insurance providers, Acceptance offers the option to purchase roadside assistance. And because Acceptance’s offering comes in the form of a membership plan, you won’t pay extra for it even if you’re in a high-risk category.

If your car breaks down or experiences mechanical issues, you can call Acceptance’s roadside services for the following:

• Jumpstarts
• Tows (up to 25 miles)
• Lockouts (no cost limit)
• Tire change (must have spare)
• Gas, oil, and coolant delivery (materials at your expense)

Acceptance offers two plans: Towbusters and Towbusters Plus. Unlike most other insurer’s plans, Towbusters Plus includes reimbursement for traffic tickets.

Keep in mind that if you receive a serious moving violation, your premiums can still rise even if Acceptance reimburses the ticket.

Hospital Indemnity Plan

Depending on your high-risk designation and your circumstances, you might already be stretching your budget to pay for car insurance. And even if you have auto and health insurance, a car accident can burden you with medical bills.

Deductibles, copays, and ambulance rides are out-of-pocket expenses that add up. The average ambulance ride costs nearly $1,300, and that number can skyrocket depending on the ambulance service.⁴ On average, an emergency room visit after an accident is $3,300, and if you’re admitted, the average in-patient hospitalization costs over $55,000.⁵

Acceptance offers hospital indemnity protection, which it calls a “help in case” plan. While the plan is not a form of insurance, it can reduce injury costs if you or a family member is in an accident. It pays for bills that medical payments coverage and health insurance don’t always cover completely, including the following:

• Copays and deductibles
• Hospital stays
• Nurses
• Ambulances
• Lost wages

The plan costs $8 per month or $96 per year. It includes the following perks:

• Prescription savings card
• Discounts on rental cars, hotels, and attractions
• Special deals on computers, clothes, and other retail products