Having poor credit can be a difficult situation for anyone. There are many understandable reasons why you may have poor or no credit at all. New drivers and younger folks obviously haven't had the time to naturally build up their credit score. A sudden job loss or medical debt can also ruin someone's credit for years. On top of all of that money-related stress, drivers with poor credit can expect to pay more for car insurance too. A driver with bad credit pays an average of $2,909 or 26.69% more than the average driver with fair or good credit per year. These numbers vary greatly depending on where you live so read on to find the cheapest car insurance providers for people with poor credit or no credit in your area.
The cheapest car insurance providers for drivers with bad credit
Car insurance premiums vary so much by state largely due to the various regulations, limits and protections each stage government has in place. For example, in California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Michigan providers are not allowed to use your credit score to determine your coverage (note the N/A for those states in the table below). If you're from one of those states, this page is likely not useful to you. This doesn't necessarily mean your rates will be better in states that don't check your credit score, in fact it might mean your premiums are higher because car insurance companies have no assurance that you'll pay your bills and are forced to accept drivers who are less likely to do so. For example, in Michigan, where car insurance credit checks are forbidden, the premium for an average driver with fair credit is $2,292 per year, or $4,356 for full coverage which is 78.32% higher than the national average even for folks having poor credit.
So enter your city or zip code below to see more precise pricing on car insurance in your area:
State |
Average Yearly Premium for Driver with Bad Credit |
Best Car Insurance Company for Poor Credit Drivers |
Potential Switch Savings |
$2,754 |
$665 |
||
$1,983 |
$370 |
||
$3,977 |
$1,652 |
||
$2,492 |
$678 |
||
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
$3,501 |
$1,108 |
||
$3,482 |
$1,385 |
||
$3,497 |
$500 |
||
$4,532 |
$2,078 |
||
$2,420 |
$1,102 |
||
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
$2,032 |
N/A |
||
$2,589 |
$887 |
||
$2,102 |
$335 |
||
$2,551 |
$1,002 |
||
$2,748 |
$414 |
||
$3,914 |
$1,340 |
||
$4,081 |
$1,601 |
||
$1,760 |
$671 |
||
$3,318 |
$1,228 |
||
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
$3,014 |
N/A |
||
$2,701 |
$635 |
||
$3,351 |
$1,353 |
||
$2,967 |
$1,064 |
||
$3,017 |
$925 |
||
$3,624 |
$1,343 |
||
$3,081 |
$2,000 |
||
$3,565 |
$1,383 |
||
$2,437 |
$483 |
||
$4,448 |
$1,859 |
||
$1,775 |
$573 |
||
$3,024 |
$1,150 |
||
$2,121 |
$867 |
||
$2,679 |
$653 |
||
$2,762 |
$887 |
||
$2,607 |
$600 |
||
$4,535 |
$1,680 |
||
$2,826 |
$622 |
||
$3,298 |
$1,320 |
||
$1,875 |
$581 |
||
$3,323 |
$2,344 |
||
$2,957 |
$841 |
||
$2,201 |
$800 |
||
$1,974 |
$871 |
||
$2,156 |
$610 |
||
$2,714 |
$679 |
||
$2,284 |
$753 |
||
$2,348 |
$653 |
||
$3,311 |
$1,019 |
Car insurance for drivers with poor credit is most expensive in Nevada, Rhode Island and Kentucky while a low credit score in say, Vermont, Wisconsin or Maine won't cost you too much. Here's another example of how the price of car insurance can vary for those with credit issues: in Utah you'll pay an average of $2,957 per year for car insurance if you have poor credit while in the bordering state of Nevada, you'll pay $3,624 or 57.8% more.
We don't have a financial relationship with the car insurance providers listed above so we're in a unique position to help you save on car insurance by using our proprietary pricing data. Even with bad credit, you can see that we save the average West Virginian $679 per year by switching to another provider optimized for their specific situation. Nationwide, we're able to find cheap car insurance for people with bad credit and save them $1013 per year, on average. Click on your state above or enter your zip code to find out how much we can save you on car insurance, poor credit or not.
Car insurance companies that don't check your credit score
While several states noted above have decided not to allow a credit check for car insuring purposes, some companies have also decided skip it as well. State Farm, Geico, and Progressive do not check your credit score when applying for car insurance. Again, this does not mean your insurance will cost less but you won't have to worry about a low credit score (or a lack of credit entirely) affecting the price of your plan.
How and why is your credit score used for car insurance pricing?
There are so many factors that go into figuring out your car insurance premium (bad credit or not) that we've had to develop a proprietary AI system to help pinpoint prices. Insurance companies do the same with their vast data resources as well. Your credit score is just one of those factors but for the car insurance company, it can be one of the most important. All of the co-pays, deductibles and coverage nuances don't matter to a car insurance company that isn't being paid for their services.
The FTC has found that those with lower credit scores are more likely to file a claim. This fact has several contributing causes, one of which being that drivers of means who get in accidents sometimes prefer to pay for a minor repair out of pocket, to save on insurance costs and overall hassle. They're more likely to have multiple vehicles to use while their damaged car is being repaired, saving on rental costs themselves and the insurance provider. They're able to do this financially while folks at a lower household income level might not have this luxury and need to file a claim.
All of this isn't to say that we believe credit score should or should not be used to determine car insurance rates. It can be frustrating to both have poor access to credit while also getting charged considerably more for legally required car insurance. But we encourage you to enter your location above so that we can help you find the cheapest car insurance possible for people with damaged credit.