How Much Does Auto Insurance Cost for College Students in Arkansas?

The words “low-priced” and “auto insurance” probably shouldn’t be used together, especially when you are shopping around for the best insurance rates for college students. Let’s start the ball rolling by going over a few of the things that significantly impact insurance rates, and find a way to cut the cost of the next policy you buy.

When shopping for cheaper auto insurance for students in college, one of the many components that auto insurance companies use when figuring the amount you pay for auto insurance is where your home is located. Cities with larger populations or higher claims like El Dorado, Little Rock, and Benton tend to have higher rates, whereas areas with less people or fewer weather incidents benefit from lower rates.

The next table lists the highest-priced places in Arkansas for college students to purchase a policy in.

Rate quotes are comparative as specific Arkansas zip code can increase or decrease coverage rates noticeably.

Determining which companies offer the best auto insurance rates for college students calls for a little more sweat than just comparing rates from one or two companies. Each insurance company has their own guidelines to set their prices, so let’s look at the rankings for the auto insurance companies with the overall cheapest rates in Arkansas.

Cheapest Insurance Rates for College Students

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USAA offers some of the cheapest car insurance rates in Arkansas at around $1,021 per year. Auto Club, Travelers, Southern Farm Bureau, and State Farm would also make the list of some of the cheaper Arkansas car insurance companies.

As shown above, if you are a customer of Travelers and switched to USAA, you might achieve a yearly savings of in the vicinity of $105. Arkansas drivers with Southern Farm Bureau may save as much as $156 a year, and State Farm insureds might realize rate reductions of up to $227 a year.

Remember that these premiums are averaged for all insureds and vehicles and and are not calculated with a rate increase for college students. So the insurer that can offer the best rates for your situation may not even be shown in the company chart above. That’s why you need to get quotes using your own driver information and specific vehicle type.

The make and model of vehicle that is being insured is a large consideration that determines if you can find cheap car insurance for college students in Arkansas. Vehicles with economical engines, excellent safety ratings, or a positive history of liability claims will cost quite a bit less to insure than high performance models. The tables below outlines car insurance costs for a handful of the most cost-effective automobiles to buy insurance for.

Above prices assume single male driver age 20, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $500 deductibles, and Arkansas minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, and claim-free. Premium amounts do not factor in specific zip code location which can impact premiums substantially.

Table data assumes single male driver age 20, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $500 deductibles, and Arkansas minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, and claim-free. Premium amounts do not factor in specific Arkansas garaging location which can change premium rates noticeably.

Premium data assumes single male driver age 20, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $500 deductibles, and Arkansas minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, and claim-free. Rates do not factor in garaging location in Arkansas which can modify insurance rates noticeably.

Auto insurance rates are higher with tickets and accidents

The easiest way to earn cheap auto insurance rates in Arkansas for students in college is to drive safely and avoid getting tickets or having accidents. The chart below illustrates how speeding tickets and accidents can raise insurance costs for different age groups of insureds. The premiums are based on a married male driver, comprehensive and collision coverage, $500 deductibles, and no other discounts are factored in.

In the previous example, the average cost of auto insurance in Arkansas per year with no accidents or violations is $1,814. Add in one speeding ticket and the average cost increases to $2,089, an increase of $275 each year. Next add two accidents along with the one speeding ticket and the 12-month cost of auto insurance for college students increases to an average of $4,554. That’s an increase of $2,740, or $228 per month, just for being a less-than-perfect driver!

Types of discounts on Arkansas auto insurance

Insurers that offer cheap car insurance for college students in Arkansas may provide special discounts that may potentially lower prices by 25% or more if you are eligible for them. Popular auto insurance companies and a selection of discounts are included below.

The diagram below illustrates the comparison of insurance costs with and without discounts. The premiums are based on a male driver, no violations or accidents, Arkansas state minimum liability limits, comprehensive and collision coverage, and $100 deductibles.

The first bar for each age group shows insurance cost with no discounts. The lower bar shows the rates with vehicle safety, continuous coverage, paperless filing, good student, paid-in-full, and anti-theft discounts applied. When these discounts are applied to the policy premium, the the amount saved on auto insurance for college students is 34% or $560.

How to find budget-friendly car insurance for college students

Here are some of the recommended money-saving suggestions that can help you get low-cost coverage.

• Choose a safer vehicle and pay lower rates
• Do not get into accidents that are your fault
• Save money by observing traffic laws and speed limits
• Earn discounts for being claim-free
• Increase your credit score
• Compare price quotes at least once a year

That last idea is certainly vital, as we noted in the prior information. Insurance rates change constantly, so drivers shouldn’t be resistant to buy from a different company if you can save money. Brand loyalty is great, but is isn’t recommended if your bullheadedness ends up costing you a small fortune year after year. If you have a few minutes, compare rates and find cheaper insurance for college students.

Cheap insurance quotes for students in college

You have a lot of ways to comparison shop for auto insurance in Arkansas, but the most common are through an exclusive insurance agency like Liberty Mutual or Allstate, an independent or non-exclusive agent, or buying direct from a company like Progressive or Geico.

All three ways are similar, but buyers need to know the differences in how they provide rate quotes.

Independent agents write business for many companies and can do rate comparisons with all of them. These types of agents have the freedom to give you a larger rate selection, which may give you a better chance of finding cheaper coverage. If a cheaper price is found, they can switch companies in-house which is easy for the insured.

An exclusive agent is only able to place business with just one company, examples being a Farmers or Allstate agent. These agents normally cannot place coverage with different providers, so if their prices are high, they cannot shop around.

If you buy direct, you forego a local agent and instead shop direct online or over the phone from a company like Geico or Esurance. Shopping direct may be preferred by consumers who do not have a complex risk profile and have some degree of understanding of the exclusions of a policy.

So which way is best to buy cheap car insurance for college students in Arkansas? Most drivers assume that buying from a direct company saves money because there is no agent taking a commission, but unfortunately, that is not always true. An argument could also be made that going through an independent agent saves the most money due to having more companies to select from, but that assumption is also not necessarily accurate. In the right set of circumstances, the exclusive agents may have very competitive prices that cannot be beaten by either independent or direct companies.

Since auto insurance prices vary so much, the best way to make sure you’re not overpaying for auto insurance is to get quotes and compare the rates. Smart shoppers will get quotes from all three in order to have the best selection to choose from. For a list of companies with some of the cheapest Arkansas auto insurance rates, click here to view.