The words “cheap” and “auto insurance” probably shouldn’t be used together, specifically when you are shopping around for the best price on coverage for homeowners. Because it’s so expensive, let’s take a look at a few of the things that significantly impact insurance premiums, and see if we can help you take the sting out of your next policy.
For people who own their homes, one of the more important things that are looked at to determine the amount you pay for auto insurance is the neighborhood you call home in Boston. Areas with more people or even just a higher incidence of claims tend to have more expensive auto insurance rates, whereas areas with less crime or weather claims have the benefit of cheaper auto insurance prices.
The table below shows the most expensive places in Massachusetts for homeowners to purchase auto insurance in. Boston makes the list at #7 with a yearly premium of $1,805 for car insurance, which is around $150 monthly.
Rank | City | Average Per Year |
---|---|---|
1 | Revere | $2,148 |
2 | Brockton | $2,080 |
3 | Lynn | $1,979 |
4 | Malden | $1,917 |
5 | Springfield | $1,908 |
6 | Lawrence | $1,839 |
7 | Boston | $1,805 |
8 | New Bedford | $1,750 |
9 | Worcester | $1,729 |
10 | Fall River | $1,666 |
11 | Medford | $1,638 |
12 | Somerville | $1,616 |
13 | Quincy | $1,596 |
14 | Lowell | $1,557 |
15 | Cambridge | $1,506 |
16 | Haverhill | $1,482 |
17 | Chicopee | $1,470 |
18 | Taunton | $1,455 |
19 | Weymouth | $1,446 |
20 | Brookline | $1,442 |
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Rates are estimated as vehicle location can alter premium rates noticeably.
Locating cheap auto insurance is not always easy, and determining which company quotes the cheapest insurance rates for homeowners may require a bit more work.
Every car insurance company has a different process to set policy rates, so first let’s look at the rankings for the most affordable insurance companies in Boston, MA. It’s a good idea to know that Boston insurance rates are influenced by many factors which can substantially decrease or increase the price you have to pay for coverage. Improving your credit rating, increasing liability limits, or getting a couple of tickets may prompt premium changes that may make certain companies higher-priced than before.
Best Cheap Insurance Rates for Homeowners
Rank | Company | Cost Per Year |
---|---|---|
1 | State Farm | $733 |
2 | National Grange Mutual | $807 |
3 | GEICO | $868 |
4 | Commerce Group | $884 |
5 | OneBeacon | $912 |
6 | Progressive | $1,019 |
7 | USAA | $1,034 |
8 | Arbella | $1,040 |
9 | Norfolk and Dedham | $1,078 |
10 | Amica | $1,098 |
11 | Quincy Mutual | $1,281 |
12 | Safety Group | $1,312 |
13 | Travelers | $1,336 |
14 | Vermont Mutual | $1,336 |
15 | MetLife | $1,397 |
16 | Hanover | $1,399 |
17 | Peerless | $1,442 |
18 | Plymouth Rock | $1,588 |
19 | Allstate | $1,755 |
20 | Liberty Mutual | $1,806 |
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State Farm quotes some of the best car insurance rates in Boston at around $733 a year. National Grange Mutual, GEICO, Commerce Group, and OneBeacon also rank well as some of the more affordable Boston, MA car insurance companies.
As depicted above, if you are a customer of Commerce Group and switched to State Farm, you could see a yearly price reduction of approximately $151. Policyholders with OneBeacon could save as much as $179 a year, and Progressive insureds might reduce prices by as much as $286 a year.
If you would like to find cheaper car insurance rates, click here or feel free to get quotes from the companies below.
Remember that these prices are averaged for all insureds and vehicles and do not take into consideration a specific location for homeowners. So the car insurance company that is most affordable for your situation may not even be in the top 21 companies in the list above. That points out the importance of why you need to compare as many prices as possible using your own specific driver and vehicle information.
The make and model of vehicle that is being insured is probably the largest consideration when trying to find cheap coverage for homeowners. Vehicles with high performance engines, a lack of safety features, or high incidents of liability claims will cost substantially more to insure than more economical and safe models. The next table features auto insurance premiums for a selection of the cheapest vehicles to insure.
Vehicle | Estimated Cost for Full Coverage |
---|---|
Honda CR-V EX 2WD | $1,426 |
Honda Odyssey LX | $1,431 |
Ford Escape XLT 2WD | $1,475 |
Honda Accord LX-P 4-Dr Sedan | $1,480 |
Toyota Tacoma 2WD | $1,514 |
Honda Civic EX 4-Dr Sedan | $1,599 |
Chevrolet Impala LTZ | $1,627 |
Toyota Prius | $1,632 |
Chevrolet Silverado LS Crew Cab 4WD | $1,658 |
Ford Fusion Sport 4-Dr Sedan | $1,665 |
Ford Focus SE 4-Dr Sedan | $1,658 |
Dodge Grand Caravan SE | $1,660 |
Toyota RAV4 Limited 4WD | $1,691 |
Nissan Altima 2.5 4-Dr Sedan | $1,698 |
Toyota Camry LE | $1,691 |
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Data rating is based on single male driver age 50, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and Massachusetts minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include homeowner, claim-free, multi-policy, safe-driver, and multi-vehicle. Table data does not factor in Boston, MA location which can modify auto insurance rates significantly.
By looking at the data, you can see that cars like the Honda CR-V, Honda Odyssey, and Ford Escape will be the cheaper vehicles to insure for people who own their homes.
Cost comparison with and without full coverage
Buying cheaper insurance is probably important to the majority of people, and a good way to buy cheap insurance for homeowners is to only pay for liability coverage. The example below visualizes the comparison of annual premium costs with full coverage and liability only. The data assumes no accidents, no driving violations, $250 deductibles, single status, and no policy discounts are applied.
If we average the cost for all age groups, comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy costs $2,346 per year over and above liability only. That is a large expense which might make you wonder if buying full coverage is a good investment. There is no written rule that works best for making the decision to drop comp and collision coverage, but there is a general guideline. If the yearly cost of comp and collision coverage is 10% or more of any settlement you would receive from your insurance company, then you might consider buying liability only.
There are a few cases where eliminating full coverage is not a good idea. If you still owe a portion of the original loan, you have to keep full coverage in order to prevent the bank from purchasing higher-priced coverage. Also, if your emergency fund is not enough to purchase a different vehicle in the even your car is totaled, you should not buy liability only.
Types of discounts on Boston car insurance rates
Insurance companies that provide coverage for homeowners may additionally offer price discounts that could reduce prices by as much as 25% or more if you qualify for them. A list of insurance companies and a summarized list of policyholder discounts are:
- Farmers Insurance policyholders can earn discounts including switch companies, business and professional, alternative fuel, multi-car, teen driver, electronic funds transfer, and mature driver.
- State Farm has discounts for accident-free, multiple policy, driver’s education, good driver, passive restraint, and Steer Clear safe driver discount.
- Liberty Mutual may offer discounts for preferred payment discount, multi-policy, newly retired, new move discount, and new graduate.
- MetLife offers discounts for accident-free, good student, good driver, multi-policy, claim-free, defensive driver
- Progressive offers premium reductions for online signing, continuous coverage, homeowner, multi-policy, and multi-vehicle.
The illustration below compares car insurance rates with and without discounts applied. The rate quotes are based on a male driver, no violations or claims, Massachusetts state minimum liability limits, full physical damage coverage, and $250 deductibles. The first bar for each age group shows the price with no discounts. The second bar shows the rates with claim-free, accident-free, multiple vehicle, safe-driver, homeowner, and anti-theft discounts applied. In this example, the average amount saved each year on insurance for homeowners is 28% or $653.
Selecting the top car insurance company can be difficult considering how many choices drivers have in Massachusetts. The ranking information in the lists below can help you select which companies you want to consider shopping prices with. These rankings are for large, nationwide insurance companies, so companies that may only write in Massachusetts are not taken into consideration for these rankings.
Company | Value | Customer Service | Claims | Customer Satisfaction | A.M Best Rating | Overall Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Hartford | 88 | 96 | 91 | 93% | A+ | 92.6 |
Progressive | 84 | 94 | 99 | 90% | A+ | 92.4 |
Travelers | 84 | 93 | 100 | 87% | A++ | 92.3 |
State Farm | 84 | 93 | 95 | 87% | A++ | 91 |
Farmers Insurance | 87 | 92 | 90 | 85% | A | 90.6 |
Safeco Insurance | 85 | 91 | 87 | 86% | A | 88.4 |
USAA | 71 | 93 | 98 | 87% | A++ | 88 |
GEICO | 73 | 93 | 95 | 85% | A++ | 87.1 |
Liberty Mutual | 72 | 91 | 97 | 83% | A | 86.4 |
AAA Insurance | 85 | 85 | 88 | 86% | A | 85.8 |
Allstate | 69 | 92 | 92 | 83% | A+ | 84.4 |
American Family | 77 | 96 | 80 | 85% | A | 83.8 |
Esurance | 70 | 80 | 89 | 77% | A+ | 79.2 |
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Data Source: Insure.com Best Car Insurance Companies
Why are you paying too much for car insurance?
Boston insurance rates are impacted by many factors which can significantly increase or decrease the price of your policy. Simply having a birthday, having a claim, or getting a couple of tickets can trigger price changes that can now make some companies cheaper than competitors. In addition, companies file new Massachusetts car insurance rates every year or even multiple times each year to adjust for gains or losses. Heavy losses may cause high rates, while a better claims history may cause cheaper Boston car insurance rates.
To help illustrate this point, the bar chart below shows rates for the cheapest car insurance in Boston, MA for a 40-year-old male driver with no prior accidents, a clean driving record, and a high credit rating. When comparing rates based on his current risk factors, State Farm has the lowest car insurance rates in Boston at $925 a year. This is $310 less than the average premium paid by Massachusetts drivers of $1,235. National Grange Mutual, Commerce Group, OneBeacon, and GEICO are also on the list of the top five cheapest Boston, MA auto insurance companies.
Now let’s give the driver in the first chart an accident surcharge, a little lower credit rating, and a few traffic violations. Because each company has a different process for filing rates in each state, comparing prices may now show a different list of the cheapest companies as shown below.
Norfolk and Dedham now has the cheapest auto insurance in Boston, MA with Arbella, USAA, National Grange Mutual, and Amica also having competitive pricing. This example illustrates why it is critical to spend some time comparing rates to get the most budget-friendly auto insurance rates for homeowners.
Car insurance prices are calculated by many risk factors and can change without notice, so the cheapest company the last time you checked may now be priced much higher than other options.
The insurance agencies below are a good start to help you decide which policy fits your needs best, since some drivers have questions and prefer to get some professional input when shopping around for cheaper insurance for people who own their homes. It can be difficult to find coverage yourself, and a licensed agent can give satisfaction knowing your policy gives you suitable coverage if you ever need to use it.
To find an agent in your neighborhood, click the link after the list or click here to compare rates now.
Paul Lymneos Insurance Agency
4258 Washington St Suite 8 – Roslindale, MA 02131 – (617) 327-3870
Ironside Insurance Group, LLC
112 Water St #401 – Boston, MA 02109 – (617) 227-2400
A-Affordable Insurance Agency, Inc.
55 Union St – Boston, MA 02108 – (617) 924-4915