Who Has Affordable Madison Car Insurance for High Risk Drivers?

For high risk drivers, one of the big components that help determine the amount you pay each year for auto insurance is where you keep your vehicle. Areas with increased crime or more people tend to have higher auto insurance costs, whereas less populated areas have the luxury of lower rates.

The illustration below ranks the most expensive areas in Wisconsin for high risk drivers to buy auto insurance in. Madison is listed at #16 with a yearly premium of $1,030 for the average insurance policy, which is around $86 each month.

How much is auto insurance in Madison, WI?
Rank City Annual Rate
1 Milwaukee $1,396
2 Wauwatosa $1,319
3 West Allis $1,246
4 Racine $1,229
5 Greenfield $1,204
6 Oak Creek $1,202
7 Kenosha $1,182
8 Franklin $1,163
9 Beloit $1,118
10 Menomonee Falls $1,068
11 Janesville $1,053
12 Eau Claire $1,049
13 Wausau $1,037
14 Brookfield $1,035
15 La Crosse $1,033
16 Madison $1,030
17 New Berlin $1,029
18 Waukesha $1,023
19 Fond du Lac $985
20 West Bend $977
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Information shown are approximated as zip code location can modify coverage rates substantially.

The make and model of vehicle to be insured is one of the main factors that determines whether or not you can buy cheaper insurance for high risk drivers. Vehicles with lower performance, advanced safety features, or low incidents of liability claims will cost substantially less to insure than fast, unsafe models. The information below features insurance premiums for a number of the cheapest automobiles to buy insurance for.

Cheapest Vehicles to Insure in Madison, WI
Make and Model Estimated Cost for Full Coverage
Ford Escape XLT 4WD $3,660
Honda CR-V EX 4WD $3,670
Ford Edge SE 2WD $3,866
Ford F-150 XLT Crew Cab 2WD $3,906
Toyota Prius $3,998
Ford Focus SE 4-Dr Sedan $4,049
Chevrolet Equinox LS 2WD $4,089
Dodge Grand Caravan CV $4,098
Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 2WD $4,089
Toyota RAV4 2WD $4,097
Ford Explorer Limited AWD $4,129
Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4WD 2-Dr $4,182
Chevrolet Impala LTZ $4,273
Ford Fusion SE 4-Dr Sedan $4,314
GMC Sierra 2500HD SLE Regular Cab 4WD $4,324
Volkswagen Jetta SE 4-Dr Sedan $4,314
Toyota Tacoma 2WD $4,340
Hyundai Elantra Blue 4-Dr Sedan $4,436
Nissan Rogue SL 2WD $4,447
Toyota Corolla LE $4,478
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Prices above based on single female driver age 50, two speeding tickets, two at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and Wisconsin minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include homeowner, multi-policy, and multi-vehicle. Estimates do not factor in garaging location in Madison, WI which can lower or raise price quotes greatly.

Based upon the rates shown, you can see that models like the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, and Ford Edge are likely to be the cheaper vehicles to insure for high risk drivers. The cost of auto insurance will be more costly because of the fact that there is more liability risk for high risk drivers, but generally speaking those vehicles will most likely have the best rates compared to other types of vehicles.

How much more does full coverage cost?

Paying less for insurance is probably important to the majority of vehicle owners, and one common way to lower the cost of insurance for high risk drivers is to not pay for full coverage. The illustration below illustrates the comparison of premium costs with full coverage compared to only the Wisconsin minimum liability coverage. The data assumes no claims or driving citations, $1,000 deductibles, drivers are not married, and no discounts are applied.

As an overall average, physical damage insurance costs $1,296 per year more than buying just liability insurance. That is a large expense which might make you wonder if you should buy full coverage. There isn’t a steadfast formula of when to eliminate physical damage insurance, but there is a guideline you can consider. If the yearly cost of comp and collision coverage is more than about 10% of any settlement you would receive from your insurance company, the it may be a good time to stop paying for full coverage.

There are some cases where removing full coverage is not advised. If you haven’t paid off your loan, you must maintain physical damage coverage as part of the loan conditions. Also, if you don’t have enough money to buy a different vehicle in the even your car is totaled, you should not eliminate full coverage.

Choosing the right car insurance company can be rather challenging considering how many choices there are in Wisconsin. The ranking data in the next section may help you analyze which companies to look at when insurance shopping for high risk drivers. The rankings below are for the largest companies in the United States, so companies that may only write in Wisconsin are not taken into consideration for this list.

Best Ten Insurance Companies for High Risk Drivers in Wisconsin
Company Value Customer Service Claims Customer Satisfaction A.M Best Rating Overall Score
USAA 99 100 90 92% A++ 97.4
21st Century 89 86 100 88% A 92.7
GEICO 97 91 88 85% A++ 92.5
Nationwide 88 94 91 88% A+ 91.3
AAA Insurance 93 87 88 87% A 90.8
Liberty Mutual 91 91 92 87% A 90.7
Safeco Insurance 90 93 88 86% A 90.2
State Farm 91 94 80 88% A++ 90.2
Travelers 89 91 94 79% A++ 90.1
American Family 88 92 83 88% A 89.4
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Data Source: Insure.com Best Car Insurance Companies

Accidents and violations increase rates

The obvious way to get the best insurance rates in Madison for high risk drivers is to be an attentive driver and avoid accidents and violations. The diagram below shows how violations and at-fault collisions can raise auto insurance costs for different age groups. The costs are based on a married male driver, comprehensive and collision coverage, $1,000 deductibles, and no policy discounts are applied.

In the previous chart, the average cost of car insurance in Madison per year with no accidents and a clean driving record is $830. Get two speeding tickets and the average cost hikes up to $1,135, an increase of $304 each year. Now get two accidents along with the two speeding tickets and the yearly cost of insurance for high risk drivers increases to an average of $2,409. That’s an increase of $1,579, or $132 per month, just for being a little careless behind the wheel!

Are you paying too much for car insurance in Madison?

Madison insurance rates are impacted by many factors that may substantially change the price you have to pay. Simply having another birthday, increasing liability limits, or having an at-fault accident can trigger rate changes that can now make some companies much cheaper than others. In addition to those changes, insurers file new Wisconsin car insurance rates without warning in order to protect their financial rating. Higher than usual claims can result in additional premium costs, while a lower level of claims may result in more affordable Madison car insurance rates.

To help illustrate this point, the chart below shows the company with the cheapest car insurance in Madison, WI for a 40-year-old female driver with a clean driving record, no accidents, and a good credit rating. If we compare prices based on her current rating profile, USAA might quote the most affordable car insurance rates in Madison at $665 annually. This is $496 less than the average rate paid by Wisconsin drivers of $1,161. Partners Mutual, Erie, Rockford Mutual, and Nationwide are also on the list of the cheapest Madison, WI auto insurance companies.

The next chart shows rates after we give the driver in the first example some claims, a lower credit rating, and a traffic citation. Due to the fact that every auto insurer has a different process for determining rates, getting updated rate quotes may now present a different list of the cheapest car insurance companies in Madison as shown below.

Pekin Insurance now has the best price in Madison with Integrity Mutual, Western National, Travelers, and Partners Mutual now being in the top five. This example demonstrates why it is critical to perform a complete rate comparison to get the lowest auto insurance rates for high risk drivers. Insurance rates can be altered by many things and can increase or decrease at any time, so the most economical option three years ago may now be an over-priced policy.