Pennsylvania Auto Insurance (2022)

How to Get Cheap Auto Insurance in PA 

Car insurance companies don’t always have the best rates for every type of driver, even if they appear to have cheap rates at first. 

Therefore, to find cheap insurance in Pa., it’s necessary to look at companies’ rates based on different driving records and coverage options. Then, choose a few of the cheapest insurance companies to get quotes from.

Cheapest Companies for Minimum Liability Insurance in Pennsylvania 

In almost every U.S. state, drivers must carry their state’s minimum liability auto insurance to drive. Pennsylvania is no exception. 

On average, a minimum liability insurance policy in Pennsylvania costs $72 per month or $855 annually. If you cause an accident, liability insurance pays for the other driver’s medical and property damage bills.

Suppose your minimum liability insurance rates are more expensive. In that case, you can check different companies to see if there’s a cheaper rate elsewhere so you can abide by Pennsylvania’s requirements without breaking the bank.

Below are the average rates for a minimum liability insurance policy in Pennsylvania.

Some companies offering the cheapest car insurance in Pa. include State Farm, GEICO, and Travelers. More expensive options for car insurance include Allstate and Liberty Mutual. Choosing a company with a cheaper base rate for required minimum liability insurance in Pennsylvania can help you afford add-on coverages or higher liability limits. 

Cheapest Companies for Full Coverage Auto Insurance in Pennsylvania

While minimum liability insurance policies are the cheapest, they don’t provide nearly as much protection as a full coverage car insurance policy. A liability insurance policy protects you from paying for other drivers’ accident bills if you caused the accident, but it won’t pay for your own bills.

In contrast, a full coverage policy adds comprehensive and collision insurance to liability insurance. These coverages would pay for car repairs, even if you caused the accident.

Therefore, carrying a full coverage insurance policy is almost always worth the extra cost as it offers drivers more financial protection. In Pennsylvania, the average cost of a full coverage policy is $145 per month or $1740 annually. 

As you can see from the table below, rates vary among car insurance companies in Pennsylvania. 

Travelers, GEICO, State Farm, and a few of the other best auto insurance companies have comparable rates for drivers looking for cheaper full coverage insurance policies. More expensive companies are Liberty Mutual and Allstate.

However, the order of the least to most expensive companies can sometimes change based on different driving record factors, as you’ll see in the next few sections.

Cheapest Auto Insurance in Pennsylvania for Young Drivers

Young drivers often pay the highest rates for car insurance coverage. Statistics show that younger drivers are more likely to crash and file a claim due to their driving inexperience, so insurance companies charge more to counteract the financial risk of insuring young drivers.

We’ve compiled average rates below to give you an idea of how much insurance companies charge on average in Pennsylvania.

As you can see, some companies cost thousands of dollars more on average per year than the cheapest companies on the list. However, young drivers should look into GEICO and State Farm, as these insurance companies tend to offer cheaper rates for younger drivers.

We also want to note that the auto insurance rates we’ve shown are for young drivers purchasing their own policies. Usually, the most economical option is for young drivers to join their parent’s auto insurance policies.

Rates are much cheaper when adding a young driver to an existing auto insurance policy than purchasing an independent policy. If young drivers still live at home or don’t take a family car with them when they go away to school, they can join a parent’s auto insurance policy.

Some insurance companies also offer discounts for young drivers, such as a good student discount or student away discount.

Cheapest Auto Insurance in Pennsylvania for Traffic Tickets 

Any traffic ticket that involves a moving violation, such as failure to stop or speeding, will raise drivers’ auto insurance rates. So while a parking ticket won’t affect your rates, any traffic ticket is a red flag to your auto insurance company. Your rates can increase after just one traffic ticket in Pennsylvania, though some insurance companies charge less on average than others.

GEICO and State Farm have better car insurance rates for drivers with traffic tickets. However, if you have a traffic ticket or two, it’s helpful to get quotes from a few of the cheapest companies on our list to see if another offers a cheaper rate.

Cheapest Auto Insurance in Pennsylvania for Bad Credit 

If a driver has bad credit, they may see an increase in their auto insurance rates. Insurance companies see drivers with bad credit scores as more likely to miss payments, making them a higher risk to insure. 

Missed payments can also cause a driver’s insurance to get canceled by the company. Since driving without insurance is illegal, drivers will also face higher insurance rates when they sign up for a new policy, multiple fines, and possible loss of driving privileges.

However, it can be difficult to improve a credit score when a driver’s car insurance company charges higher rates. Below, you can see the cheapest companies in Pennsylvania for drivers with bad credit scores. 

Nationwide has some of the best car insurance rates for drivers with a bad credit score in Pennsylvania. More expensive companies are Progressive or Liberty Mutual. Avoiding companies that charge more for bad credit scores will help drivers get their scores back on track.

Cheapest Auto Insurance in Pennsylvania for At-Fault Accidents

If you cause an accident, car insurance companies will view you as more likely to cause another accident later compared to a driver with a clean driving record. Below, you can see how your car insurance rates might increase after an at-fault accident at different companies in Pennsylvania. 

Companies like State Farm have better rates for drivers with an at-fault accident, whereas companies like Progressive have some of the worst insurance rates. If you haven’t been in an at-fault accident yet, you may want to look into companies with accident forgiveness.

With accident forgiveness, your car insurance company won’t raise your rates after your first at-fault accident with the company. You may have to be with the company for a few years to qualify for this perk, or you may have to pay a small additional fee. Either way, an accident forgiveness program can save drivers hundreds of dollars after their first at-fault accident.

Cheapest Auto Insurance in Pennsylvania for a DUI

A DUI is one of the worst offenses a driver can have on their driving record, as DUIs tend to raise auto insurance rates the most at many auto insurance companies. 

Driving under the influence also puts everyone on the road at risk, not just the impaired driver, making drivers with DUIs much more risky to insure than drivers with a bad credit score or one traffic ticket.

Drivers with DUIs may see their rates at their insurance company go up hundreds of dollars, if not a thousand dollars or more. The table below shows how much auto insurance rates are for DUI drivers in Pennsylvania.

While Allstate is normally one of the most expensive auto insurance companies, it becomes one of the cheaper companies if a driver has a DUI. Likewise, cheaper car insurance companies such as GEICO can become some of the more expensive companies for insuring DUI drivers.

Since rates for DUI drivers vary by company, drivers with a DUI on their record should shop around to see if there are cheaper policies. 

Cheapest Cities in Pennsylvania for Auto Insurance 

Location impacts car insurance rates in Pa. Even if a driver moves just twenty minutes away from their old home, their new address may come with different rates.

Some of the factors car insurance companies look at to determine the insurance risk rating for different areas are

• Car crashes. If an area has a high number of claims, rates will be higher as there’s a higher likelihood of a driver crashing in that area.
• Local crime records. Insurance companies raise rates if an area is prone to crime, such as frequent carjackings or vandalism.
• Local traffic patterns. Areas with heavier traffic might also have higher insurance rates, as drivers are more likely to crash into other cars.
• Weather patterns. Areas with a history of natural disasters or weather making driving riskier, such as icy roads, will have higher insurance rates.

One of the more expensive cities in Pennsylvania for insurance is Philadelphia. Auto insurance rates in Philadelphia are nearly $500 more per month than in some of the cheaper cities like Erie.

If you’re moving to a more expensive city for car insurance, get plenty of quotes to determine if you can get a cheaper rate and if you should stay with your current company.

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Other Ways to Save on Car Insurance in Pennsylvania 

We’ve covered a lot of ground on the cheapest companies for various coverages and driver types. If you already chose one of the cheapest companies for you, you may want to know if there are other ways to save.

Below, we’ve outlined some other steps drivers can take to further save on auto insurance in Pennsylvania. 

• Check for additional discounts. Additional car insurance discounts aren’t always automatically applied to your rates because you need to apply for them, such as defensive driving or good student discounts.
• Choose usage-based insurance if you’re a low-mileage driver. Usage-based insurance plans charge a low daily rate for coverage and a per-mile fee. These plans can save drivers a lot of money if they drive less than 10,000 miles annually. 
• Choose a cheaper car to insure. Some vehicles are significantly cheaper to insure than others. Typically, you should look for vehicles with good safety ratings that do well in a crash and have easy-to-find inexpensive parts.
• Drop unnecessary coverages if possible. Older vehicles may be able to carry just minimum liability insurance without a financial loss to the driver, and drivers may want to get rid of extra add-ons like roadside assistance to reduce rates.
• Improve your credit score. As we’ve discussed, insurance companies raise rates for drivers with poor credit scores. Improving your credit score will help reduce your insurance rates at your next policy renewal.
• Keep a clean driving record. Driving safely can go a long way to keeping your insurance rates down, as it’ll prevent traffic tickets or an accident.
• Raise your insurance deductible. Your insurance rates decrease if you raise your insurance deductible, as you agree to pay more after an accident. We caution you not to raise the deductible to an amount you aren’t comfortable paying out of pocket.

Following the tips above can help you find savings on car insurance, regardless of your driving record.

Pennsylvania Auto Insurance Laws and DUIs 

Pennsylvania’s insurance and DUI laws affect how much drivers pay for auto insurance and what financial losses they face after a DUI. Below, we’ve outlined all the important insurance and DUI penalties drivers in Pennsylvania should know about.

Minimum Auto Insurance Coverage Required in Pennsylvania 

What is the minimum requirement for car insurance in Pennsylvania? Pennsylvania requires all drivers to carry bodily injury liability insurance, property damage liability insurance, personal injury protection, and limited or full tort insurance. The amounts required for each coverage are as follows:

• Bodily injury liability insurance: $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident
• Property damage liability insurance: $5,000 per accident
• Personal injury protection insurance: $5,000 per accident

These are the maximum amounts insurance will pay out for injuries and damages after an accident. You can always carry higher limits on these coverages than what Pennsylvania requires.

As for full and limited tort, these coverages don’t have limits. Full tort allows you to sue other drivers for injuries that cause lasting pain and suffering, whereas limited tort allows you to sue only for permanent disfigurement or death. 

Optional Auto Insurance Coverage in Pennsylvania 

There are no other required coverages in Pennsylvania besides the ones listed in the previous section. However, if you have a car loan or lease, your lender will likely require comprehensive or collision insurance to protect their assets.

Comprehensive coverage pays for any damages from animal collisions, vandalism, weather, and more, whereas collision insurance pays for any damages from collisions with another vehicle or object.

Both these coverages are useful, but you may also see other optional coverages listed at your insurance company from the ones we’ve listed below.

• Collision insurance 
• Comprehensive insurance 
• GAP insurance 
• Medical payments
• Modified car insurance 
• New car insurance 
• Rental reimbursement
• Roadside assistance
• Underinsured motorist insurance 
• Uninsured motorist insurance 
• Umbrella insurance 

Not all insurance companies offer all of the optional coverages you see above, but you should be able to find collision and comprehensive coverages with any insurer.

DUI Penalties in Pennsylvania 

In addition to the higher insurance rates we discussed earlier, DUIs can cause a host of other financial obligations, further straining drivers’ ability to pay for car insurance. 

In Pennsylvania, drivers may have to deal with some or all of the following penalties after a DUI conviction: 

• Drug and alcohol testing 
• Drug and alcohol treatment 
• Fines 
• Ignition interlock device
• Jail time
• Probation 
• Suspended license 
• Suspended registration 
• SR-22 certificates 

Financial costs can add up quickly. For example, drivers must pay to install and maintain ignition interlock devices on their vehicles. They’ll also have to pay fees to reinstate their licenses, take drug and alcohol classes, and more.

The penalties also increase in price and severity for subsequent DUIs, so a third DUI will be more costly than the first.

Pennsylvania SR-22 Insurance

Some high-risk drivers in Pennsylvania need an SR-22 certificate from their insurance company to drive legally. 

For example, a driver may need to show the DMV an SR-22 to reinstate their license after a DUI. An SR-22 certificate proves a high-risk driver carries minimum auto insurance. You might need to buy SR-22 insurance in Pennsylvania if you were

• Caught driving without insurance
• Caught driving with a revoked or suspended license
• Caught driving with an expired license
• Caught driving under the influence

You may also need SR-22 if you have too many points on your driving record. To get an SR-22 certificate, you’ll need to contact your insurance company. Your company may request a small fee to file the SR-22 certificate on your behalf.  

Remember that auto insurance companies may drop high-risk drivers as customers. However, they must give drivers plenty of notice so they can find a new company.

If you need to find a new insurance company, let the companies know you need an SR-22 certificate filed. Being dishonest about your insurance record and SR-22 requirements could result in rejection by the insurance company when they pull your driving record. You may also be charged with insurance fraud.

Finally, if you need an SR-22 certificate but don’t own a car, you must purchase a non-owner insurance policy first. Non-owner SR-22 insurance fulfills the Pennsylvania car insurance requirements, as it’s liability insurance for drivers who don’t own cars.

The Final Word on Cheap Auto Insurance in PA

If you’re paying high auto insurance rates in Pennsylvania, you should compare companies’ rates and get insurance quotes. For drivers that already chose a cheaper company, they may be able to find additional savings through car insurance discounts, raising their deductibles, and following other saving tactics. 

Using our free quote comparison tool, you can jump into shopping around at different Pennsylvania insurance companies to find a cheaper rate. It will help you find the best rates from companies in your area.

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