Who Has the Cheapest Auto Insurance for Single Moms in Santa Ana?

See How Much You Could Save

This article would sure be shorter if we could just tell you the one best car insurance company that has the most affordable coverage in California. It's just not that simple, as there are a whole slew of unknown aspects such as the safety ratings of your vehicle, whether or not you own a home, what deductibles to use for physical damage coverage, and whether you just need liability insurance, that all impact the cost of your policy. We are going to cover the best ways to find cheap auto insurance and will hopefully give you some help in finding cheaper rates.

Establishing which company quotes the cheapest auto insurance rates for single moms may require a tad more effort than just comparing rates from one or two companies. Every auto insurer has their own guidelines to determine rates, so we will examine the auto insurance companies with the overall best prices in California.

It's a good idea to know that Santa Ana, CA auto insurance rates are impacted by many things that can increase the price of your policy. Simply having another birthday, buying a home instead of renting, or getting a DUI can trigger changes in premium that may make certain companies cheaper than others.

Cheap Insurance Rates for Single Moms

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Rankings for the cheapest California auto insurance companies
Rank Company Cost Per Year
1 USAA $1,121
2 Wawanesa $1,157
3 Century National $1,178
4 Nationwide $1,213
5 CSAA $1,222
6 21st Century $1,338
7 Grange $1,477
8 GEICO $1,529
9 Mercury $1,548
10 Allied $1,556
11 Progressive $1,558
12 Allstate $1,559
13 MetLife $1,606
14 The Hartford $1,623
15 Unitrin $1,733
16 State Farm $1,750
17 Esurance $1,756
18 Bristol West $1,777
19 Travelers $1,860
20 Farmers $1,966
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USAA generally has some of the most affordable car insurance rates in Santa Ana at around $1,121 a year. This is $530 less than the average price paid by California drivers of $1,651. Wawanesa, Century National, Nationwide, and CSAA also qualify as some of the more affordable Santa Ana, CA insurance companies.

In the above rates, if you currently have a policy with Nationwide and switched to USAA, you may see yearly savings of about $92. Insureds with CSAA might save as much as $101 a year, and 21st Century customers might reduce rates by $217 a year.

Bear in mind that those prices are averaged for all ages of drivers and types of vehicles and are not factoring in an exact zip code location for single moms. So the car insurance company that fits your needs best may not even be in the top 24 companies in the list above. That underscores the importance of why you need to quote rates from many companies using your own individual information.

The car, truck, or SUV needing coverage is one of the primary factors when shopping for affordable insurance for single moms. Vehicles with high performance engines, poor passenger safety features, or a history of substantial liability claims will cost substantially more to insure than safer, lower-performance models.

The information below estimates car insurance costs for the most cost-effective automobiles to buy coverage for.

Cheapest Vehicles to Insure in Santa Ana, CA
Make, Model, and Trim Level Estimated Cost for Full Coverage
Ford F-150 STX Super Cab 2WD $1,068
Ford Focus SE 4-Dr Sedan $1,128
Honda CR-V EX-L 2WD $1,140
Toyota RAV4 2WD $1,151
Dodge Grand Caravan SXT $1,173
Hyundai Elantra GLS Touring Station Wagon $1,193
Ford Escape XLS 2WD $1,203
Volkswagen Jetta S 2.5 Station Wagon $1,209
Honda Odyssey EX-L $1,211
Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 4WD $1,234
Ford Fusion Sport 4-Dr Sedan $1,240
Ford Explorer XLT 2WD $1,249
Ford Edge SEL 2WD $1,294
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Data based on single female driver age 50, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and California minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include homeowner, safe-driver, claim-free, multi-vehicle, and multi-policy. Price information does not factor in specific zip code location which can change rates considerably.

Based upon the table data, we can expect models like the Ford F-150, Ford Focus, Honda CR-V, and Toyota RAV4 are most likely going to be a few of the more affordable vehicles to insure for single parents.

Difference between liability only and full coverage rates

Reducing the cost of auto insurance should be important to the majority of vehicle owners, and one of the easiest ways to buy cheaper insurance for single moms is to buy liability only. The chart below illustrates the comparison of insurance costs with full coverage compared to only the California minimum liability coverage. The costs are based on no claims or driving violations, $500 deductibles, drivers are not married, and no other discounts are factored in.

If we average the cost for ages 20 through 70, comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy costs $2,772 per year over liability only. That is a big expense that brings up the question when is it a good idea to stop buying full coverage. There is no clear-cut rule of when to exclude physical damage coverage, but there is a general school of thought. If the annual cost of your full coverage insurance is more than around 10% of the replacement cost of your vehicle minus the policy deductible, then you may want to consider only buying liability coverage.

There are some scenarios where dropping physical damage coverage is not advised. If you still owe money on your vehicle, you must maintain physical damage coverage in order to keep the loan. Also, if you don't have enough money to buy a different vehicle if your current one is in an accident, you should keep full coverage.

Insurance rate increases from tickets or accidents

The easiest method to maintain cheap auto insurance prices in California for single parents is to drive safely and not have accidents or get tickets. The example below illustrates how speeding tickets and at-fault fender-benders influence insurance costs for different age groups. The premiums assume a married female driver, comp and collision included, $1,000 deductibles, and no policy discounts are applied.

In the previous example, the average cost of a car insurance policy per year with a clean driving record and no accidents is $1,418. Receive two speeding tickets and the average cost hikes up to $2,003, an increase of $585 each year. Then add two accidents along with the two speeding tickets and the yearly cost of auto insurance for single moms increases to an average of $4,452. That's an increase of $3,034, or $253 per month, just for a couple of infractions!

The example below demonstrates how deductible levels can influence insurance rates when researching cheap insurance for single moms. The premiums assume a married female driver, comp and collision included, and no discounts are taken into consideration.

In the chart above, a 50-year-old driver could save $300 a year by switching the physical damage coverage from a $100 deductible to a $500 deductible, or save $456 by choosing a $1,000 deductible. Youthful drivers, like the 20-year-old category, could shave as much as $750 annually just by using higher deductibles. If you make the decision to raise deductibles, it will now be necessary to have emergency funds available to cover the extra out-of-pocket expense, which is the main inconvenience of larger deductibles.

You are probably paying too much for car insurance

Santa Ana auto insurance rates are based on many factors that can increase the policy premium. Simply getting older, buying a new vehicle, or getting a DUI may cause policy rate changes resulting in some companies being affordable when they were higher priced. Additionally, companies change premium rates as often as every quarter to ensure their profitability. An unexpected high level of claims may cause rate increases, while less frequent claims can result in lower-priced Santa Ana car insurance rates.

To illustrate this point, the data below shows the cheapest car insurance in Santa Ana, CA for a 45-year-old female driver with no violations or accidents, and a high credit rating. If we estimate prices based on her current rating profile, USAA offers the cheapest car insurance rates in Santa Ana at $1,255 annually. This is $396 less than the average premium paid by California drivers of $1,651. Wawanesa, Century National, Nationwide, and CSAA round out the rest of the best Santa Ana, CA auto insurance companies.

The example below compares rates after we give the driver in the first chart a chargeable claim, a lower credit rating, and a blemish on her driving record. Due to the fact that every insurance company uses a different method for setting rates, comparing insurance quotes will most likely result in a different ranking of the cheapest companies as shown below.

Grange now has the lowest car insurance rate in Santa Ana with Mercury, Progressive, Allstate, and GEICO also having competitive pricing. This example proves why drivers need to perform an extensive rate comparison when trying to find affordable insurance quotes for single moms. Insurance rates are impacted by many risk factors and can increase or decrease at any time, so the best company a year ago may now be quite expensive.