Car Insurance Discounts Guide 2024 – Forbes Advisor

Car insurance discounts are one way to save without sacrificing coverage.

There are more than a dozen common car insurance discounts that can help offset rising insurance, fuel and vehicle repair costs. You may want to ask your auto insurance agent for a review of discounts to make sure you’re getting all the savings for which you qualify.

Types of Car Insurance Discounts

We looked at discount percentages when they were available from 11 of the nation’s largest auto insurance companies to find typical ranges. You may find higher or lower discounts from your own insurance company.

Multi-Policy Discount

A multi-policy discount often applies when you buy car insurance plus other policies from the same company. It’s also called a “multi-line discount” and commonly referred to as “bundling.” Bundling car insurance and home insurance is usually one of the biggest discounts you can score, often between 5% to 25% off. But if you’re not a homeowner, don’t worry, you can typically bundle car insurance with other insurance such as a condo, renters, motorcycles, boat, RV, and life insurance.

State Farm offers the best bundling auto and home insurance discounts with an average 23% discount for multi policies. American Family and Farmers each have an average 18% multi-policy discount. The overall bundling discount is 14%.

Multi-Policy Insurance Discounts by Company

Keep in mind this is the auto policy portion of the discount. Depending on the company, you may also get a bundling discount on your other policy (home, condo or renters).

Multi-Car Discounts

You can usually grab this multi-car insurance discount if you are sure of more than one car with the same insurance company. Typical discounts advertised are up to 8% to 25%.

Vehicle Safety Discounts

If your car has safety equipment like anti-lock brakes, airbags, and daytime running lights, you may get a discount. Daytime running lights are typically very small discounts, but airbag discounts for full-front seat airbags can be as much as 40% applied to your medical payments or personal injury protection coverage.

New Car Discount

Cars that are less than three years old can often qualify for a new car discount, often between 10% to 15%.

Related: Buying a New Car Insurance

Anti-Theft Device Discounts

If your car has anti-theft features, you can typically get a discount of up to 5% to 25% off your comprehensive coverage. Depending on the insurance company, you may be able to get anti-theft discounts for both factory-installed and after-market-installed devices.

About 41% of stolen vehicles are never recovered, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Here are a few types of anti-theft devices that can help you recover a stolen car and potentially get you a discount:

• GPS-based systems: Some cars are equipped with services like OnStar or Toyota’s Safety Connect, which utilize GPS to help locate the stolen vehicle. Some systems, like the OnStar “Remote Ignition Block,” can stop a car thief from restarting your vehicle.
• Stolen vehicle recovery systems: These types of systems, like LoJack, help law enforcement track and recover your stolen car by sending a silent radio signal to a transceiver installed in the car. Your car insurance company may offer a discount, but you’ll need to provide proof of installation.
• VIN etching: This is a permanent engraving of the vehicle identification number (VIN) on a car’s windshield and windows. It’s used as a deterrent against car thieves who would have to remove and replace VIN-etched glass before selling your car. Some car insurance companies not only offer a discount for VIN etching but can also waive your comprehensive coverage deductible if your car is stolen.

Good Driver Discounts

Car insurance companies love good drivers and often reward them with savings. A car insurance company will typically require you to be incident-free for a certain amount of time. For example, if you haven’t had any accidents in five years, Geico car insurance has up to 26% in potential savings. If you haven’t had any accidents, car insurance claims or traffic violations, you can qualify for a discount. Good driver discounts often range between 10% to 40%.

Defensive Driver Discounts

Some insurance companies will give you a discount if you’re willing to take an approved defensive driving course. But keep in mind, this discount may only apply to qualified drivers of a certain age, typically 50 or older. Defensive driver discounts typically range between 5% to 10%. Some states mandate this discount for mature drivers.

Good Student Discount

If you or your student driver is enrolled full-time at a high school or college and meets certain requirements, you can qualify for a discount. Car insurance companies typically require the student to maintain at least a B average and be age 16 to 25. We found good student discounts ranging between 8% to 25%.

Student Away at School Discount

If your student is away at school and without a car, you may be able to get a discount. Requirements vary among car insurance companies, but the student typically has to be under age 25, more than 100 miles from home and with access to your car only while home during school vacations and holidays.

Pay In Full Discount

If you pay your full policy term up front, car insurance companies typically offer a discount.

Top companies show a discount range of 6% to 14% if you pay in full instead of breaking your insurance bill into monthly payments. Besides this discount, you will also save yourself from paying a monthly finance or service fee that some companies charge if you spread out the payments.

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Discount

If you pay in installments, you may be able to get a small discount for using automatic withdrawals. The EFT discount can range from 3% to 6%.

Paperless Discount

If you’re willing to go paperless, you’ll get your policy documents and billing electronically. The insurance company may offer a small discount. This discount isn’t as popular as it once was, now that people tend to prefer paperless systems anyway. We found the average discount is 3% but ranges from 6% with Farmers to 1% with Progressive.

Online Quote Discount

Some car insurance companies will offer a discount if you get an online quote and sign up for a policy. This can range from 4% to 12%.

Early Bird Discounts

Shopping around and purchasing a policy in advance of your current one expiring can bring about a discount. Companies vary on how many days in advance you need to buy to get a discount, but around seven to 14 days tends to be the sweet spot. The discount typically ranges between 2% to 15%.

We found that purchasing 10 days in advance from top companies resulted in discounts as high as 10% with Allstate and as low as 3% with Nationwide.

Occupational Discounts

Depending on your occupation, you might qualify for discounts. For example, Liberty Mutual offers educators special policy features and Geico offers up to 15% off for military personnel. It’s a good idea to ask your insurance agent if your occupation qualifies for a discount.

Alumni Associations and Professional Organizations

This might include college alumni associations, fraternities, and sororities, and professional organizations (like your state’s bar association or a union).

Usage-based insurance discount program

Your insurance company might offer usage-based insurance (UBI), which adjusts insurance rates based on how often and how well you drive. Data is typically collected using a device installed using your car’s ODB-II port or collected from a smartphone app. Most UBI programs offer a discount for enrolling (between 5% to 10%) and then a discount based on your actual driving habits. The discount is typically applied at policy renewal time. If you’re a good driver, a typical UBI discount could be anywhere between 5% to 40%.

Note that a UBI discount may not apply to your entire policy.

Examples of Usage-Based Insurance Discounts

Car Insurance Discounts Tips

Cheap car insurance is always good, but car insurance discounts aren’t always what they seem. For example, you might think, “Big savings!” when you see a discount advertised with “up to 40%” off, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to get 40% off your entire car insurance bill.

Here are some discount car insurance tips.

Be aware of the “up to”

You’ll usually see that discounts are listed as “up to” a certain percent. You might not get that percent. The highest discount may be offered only to certain classes of drivers, for example.

Some Auto Insurance Discounts Don’t Apply to Your Entire Bill

For example, seat belt discounts might be applied only to medical payments coverage or personal injury protection, because those types pay for passenger injuries. Anti-theft device discounts might apply only to comprehensive coverage because that’s the coverage that pays for car theft.

Some Car Insurance Discounts Are Required by State Law

You’ll get state-mandated discounts from any insurance company. For example, New York mandates a 10% discount off of liability and collision coverage for three years for drivers who take a defensive driving course and send a certificate of completion to the insurance company.

Discounts Can Be Capped

You might qualify for multiple discounts, but the insurance company usually limits the total possible discount percentage. For example, you might add up discounts that look like 75% off your auto insurance (hello new espresso machine!), but the total might be capped at 20%.

Not all discounts are automatic

You might have to ask for them, especially if you’ve had the same policy for a few years. Your insurance company won’t know that you have an anti-theft device installed in your car, or that your student driver has excellent grades. The best way to save money on discounts is to ask your insurance agent on a regular basis to review the available discounts.

Car Insurance Discounts Vary by State

A discount you see mentioned on an insurance company website might not actually be available in your state.

Methodology

We used data from Quadrant Information Services to find average rates and discounts nationwide from each company for a 30-year-old good driver purchasing coverage for liability, uninsured motorists, collision and comprehensive.

Car Insurance Discounts FAQ