Finding dependable, affordable car insurance is hard enough, and deciding which company offers the best car insurance rates for college graduates will take even more rate comparisons.
Each auto insurer uses their own calculation to set premium rates, so first we will examine the car insurance companies with the overall best prices in North Carolina.
Find Cheaper Car Insurance for Grads
| Rank | Company | Cost Per Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Progressive | $639 |
| 2 | Utica National | $662 |
| 3 | NC Farm Bureau | $709 |
| 4 | GEICO | $720 |
| 5 | Liberty Mutual | $728 |
| 6 | Penn National | $747 |
| 7 | Titan | $751 |
| 8 | State Farm | $772 |
| 9 | Auto-Owners | $844 |
| 10 | Travelers | $900 |
| 11 | Erie | $904 |
| 12 | National General | $917 |
| 13 | Allied | $928 |
| 14 | Peerless | $962 |
| 15 | Encompass | $1,031 |
| 16 | Unitrin | $1,032 |
| 17 | MetLife | $1,038 |
| 18 | Nationwide | $1,041 |
| 19 | Allstate | $1,064 |
| 20 | Safeco | $1,066 |
| Find Cheaper Rates Go | ||
Progressive generally has some of the most affordable car insurance rates in Durham at around $639 each year. Utica National, NC Farm Bureau, GEICO, and Liberty Mutual also rank well as some of the more affordable Durham, NC car insurance companies.
As shown in the table above, if you are insured with Utica National and switched to Progressive, you could realize yearly savings of approximately $23. Drivers with NC Farm Bureau might save as much as $70 a year, and GEICO customers might realize rate reductions of up to $81 a year.
To find cheaper insurance rates for your vehicle, click here to get quotes or feel free to get quotes from the companies below.
It’s important to note that these premium estimates are averages across all drivers and vehicles in North Carolina and do not factor in an exact vehicle garaging location for college graduates. So the auto insurance company that fits you best may not even be in the top 20 companies in the list above. That underscores the importance of why you need to get rate quotes from many companies using your own driver and vehicle profiles.
For college grads, one of the largest factors that aid in calculating the cost of insurance is where you choose to live. Areas with more people or higher crime rates will most likely have higher rates, whereas areas with less crime or weather claims have the benefit of cheaper car insurance.
The following table shows the priciest cities in North Carolina for college graduates to purchase a policy in. Durham is listed at #5 costing $789 for the average insurance policy, which is approximately $66 monthly.
| Rank | City | Premium Per Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fayetteville | $905 |
| 2 | Jacksonville | $864 |
| 3 | Charlotte | $816 |
| 4 | Gastonia | $803 |
| 5 | Durham | $789 |
| 6 | Wilmington | $765 |
| 7 | Goldsboro | $765 |
| 8 | Huntersville | $764 |
| 9 | Greensboro | $763 |
| 10 | Cary | $749 |
| 11 | Wilson | $746 |
| 12 | Indian Trail | $745 |
| 13 | Raleigh | $737 |
| 14 | Hickory | $732 |
| 15 | Greenville | $730 |
| 16 | Rocky Mount | $726 |
| 17 | Apex | $725 |
| 18 | High Point | $723 |
| 19 | Winston Salem | $716 |
| 20 | Salisbury | $712 |
| Compare Prices Now Go | ||
Rates are estimated as the garaging address in Durham can alter auto insurance rates considerably.
Insuring your vehicle with a high-quality insurance provider can be a challenge considering how many different companies sell coverage in North Carolina. The ranking information in the lists below may help you choose which car insurance providers you want to consider when comparing insurance rates for college graduates. The ratings below are for the largest companies in the United States, so companies that focus mainly on North Carolina business will not be included in the list.
| Company | Value | Customer Service | Claims | Customer Satisfaction | A.M Best Rating | Overall Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travelers | 93 | 98 | 99 | 88% | A++ | 95.1 |
| USAA | 83 | 99 | 100 | 91% | A++ | 94.1 |
| AAA Insurance | 91 | 95 | 92 | 90% | A | 93.3 |
| Nationwide | 85 | 95 | 97 | 89% | A+ | 92.4 |
| Allstate | 77 | 100 | 97 | 88% | A+ | 90.7 |
| State Farm | 80 | 94 | 96 | 88% | A++ | 90.6 |
| The Hartford | 88 | 93 | 91 | 87% | A+ | 90.4 |
| Safeco Insurance | 91 | 95 | 85 | 88% | A | 90.2 |
| Progressive | 88 | 94 | 83 | 88% | A+ | 90.1 |
| American Family | 91 | 86 | 95 | 83% | A | 89.7 |
| Esurance | 86 | 90 | 94 | 90% | A+ | 89.5 |
| The General | 86 | 93 | 89 | 84% | A- | 88.2 |
| GEICO | 79 | 89 | 95 | 87% | A++ | 87.8 |
| Titan Insurance | 86 | 82 | 92 | 86% | A+ | 86.5 |
| 21st Century | 86 | 82 | 90 | 84% | A | 86.4 |
| Liberty Mutual | 79 | 87 | 95 | 78% | A | 85.3 |
| Farmers Insurance | 77 | 80 | 80 | 84% | A | 80.3 |
| Compare Rates Now Go | ||||||
Data Source: Insure.com Best Car Insurance Companies
Impact of citations and accidents on Durham insurance rates
The common sense way to enjoy good car insurance prices for college grads is to be a safe driver and avoid accidents and violations. The chart below demonstrates how speeding tickets and at-fault fender-benders can increase auto insurance costs for each age group. The premium estimates are based on a married male driver, comp and collision included, $100 deductibles, and no discounts are applied to the premium.
The data in the chart shows the average cost of a car insurance policy in Durham per year with no accidents or violations is $1,227. Receive two speeding tickets and the average cost increases to $1,694, an increase of $467 each year. Then throw in two accidents along with the two speeding tickets and the yearly cost of car insurance for college graduates jumps again to an average of $3,350. That’s an increase of $2,123, or $177 per month, just for being a careless driver!
Rate comparison of full coverage and liability-only
Saving money when shopping for car insurance should be important to most drivers, and an easy way to reduce the cost of insurance for college graduates is to only buy liability coverage. The information below illustrates the difference between yearly insurance costs with full coverage compared to only the North Carolina minimum liability coverage. Data assumes no driving violations, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, marital status is single, and no discounts are factored in.
As an overall average, physical damage insurance costs $1,401 per year over having just liability coverage. That is a large expense which might make you wonder if full coverage is worth the money. There is no set guideline of when to drop physical damage insurance, but there is a general guideline you can use. If the annual cost of comprehensive and collision coverage is more than 10% of the replacement cost minus the deductible, then you may want to consider only buying liability coverage.
For example, let’s assume your vehicle’s replacement cost is $4,500 and you have $1,000 physical damage deductibles. If your vehicle is severely damaged, the most your company will settle for is $3,500 after the policy deductible has been paid. If it’s costing you more than $350 a year to have full coverage, then you may need to consider dropping full coverage.