Despite its remote location, Alaska provides plenty of car insurance options, both big and small, from well-established companies such as Allstate, The Hartford and Safeco to smaller players. And since auto insurance prices can rise or fall by hundreds of dollars depending on the company, exploring all of the options at your disposal is the best way to score low rates.
To help, NerdWallet has ranked car insurance prices from four large companies: Geico, Progressive, State Farm and USAA. Below you’ll find the insurers’ average rates for these common driver types:
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Cheapest for good drivers
For drivers with no DUIs, at-fault crashes or moving violations; range of average prices from the four largest insurers: $797 to $1,773 per year.
Price
- $797/year
Price
- $911/year
Price
- $1,021/year
Price
- $1,773/year
The overall average price for good drivers was $1,126 per year. USAA, which is open only to military members and their families, had the cheapest annual rate at just $797. Geico was the next-cheapest option, followed by State Farm and Progressive.
Many insurers offer discounts to help safe drivers lower their rates if they’ve avoided accidents and claims. With USAA and Geico, for instance, you can save if you’ve gone five years without a crash; with State Farm, it’s only three years.
Cheapest for young drivers
For drivers in their early 20s; range of average prices from the four largest insurers: $327 to $1,114 per year.
Price
- $327/year
Price
- $477/year
Price
- $582/year
Price
- $1,114/year
Drivers in their early 20s can often select less coverage than older motorists since they generally don’t have as much savings at risk should they cause a large accident. We reflected this lower coverage in our test and found fairly affordable rates as a result.
USAA led the field with an average price of $327 per year, which translates to roughly $27 per month. For drivers without a military connection, Geico notched the lowest quote at $477 a year.
Cheapest for drivers with one at-fault crash
Range of average prices from the four largest insurers: $982 to $2,532 per year.
Price
- $982/year
Price
- $1,197/year
Price
- $1,340/year
Price
- $2,532/year
While causing a crash usually results in higher car insurance costs, the amount of the rate hike depends on the company. USAA, for instance, returned an average quote for this group that was $185 higher than its rate for drivers with no crashes. By comparison, Geico’s rates went up by $429 on average.
When shopping, it may help to look for companies that offer accident forgiveness. This perk, which costs extra, can keep your rates from skyrocketing after your first at-fault crash with an insurer, or your first in a while.
Cheapest for drivers with poor credit
For drivers placed in the “Poor Credit” tier using Quadrant Information Services data; range of average prices from the four largest insurers: $797 to $2,612 per year.
Price
- $797/year
Price
- $1,239/year
Price
- $1,539/year
Price
- $2,612/year
Insurers in many states, including Alaska, use applicants’ credit-based insurance score to help determine the likelihood of future crashes and claims, and tend to charge higher rates for drivers with poor credit.
That said, USAA — which had the cheapest cost at $797 per year — did not raise its average rate for this group; the company returned the same quote as it did for our sample good drivers, who have no credit issues. However, this wasn’t the case with the other insurers we tested. Geico’s rate of $1,239 per year, for instance, was $328 higher than its price for drivers with good credit.
Cheapest for retired drivers
For drivers in their mid- to late 60s who no longer use their car for commuting; range of average prices from the four largest insurers: $669 to $1,659 per year.
Price
- $669/year
Price
- $799/year
Price
- $809/year
Price
- $1,659/year
Retirees can often reap savings on car insurance simply due to cutting out the commute and driving less than other motorists. To reflect this, we tested rates for older drivers who traveled half as many annual miles as the other groups.
For nonmilitary drivers, Geico fetched the cheapest average cost at $799 per year, which comes to about $11 a month more than USAA.
Minimum car insurance requirements in Alaska
Depending on where you live in Alaska, you may be required to carry liability insurance.
Here’s how much you must select if liability is required:
- $50,000 bodily injury liability per person.
- $100,000 bodily injury liability per crash.
- $25,000 property damage liability per crash.
If you live in an area where vehicle registrations aren’t required, car insurance is optional. You can find a list of those areas here.
Even if car insurance isn’t required for you, it’s usually a wise purchase. After all, if you cause a crash and don’t have coverage, you could end up having to pay for others’ injury treatment and property damage out of pocket. But with liability insurance, your finances would be safe, up to your coverage limit.
You may also want to consider adding other common options for increased financial protection, such as collision and comprehensive coverage and uninsured motorists coverage.
For more details on how these and other coverages work and how to select your limits, see NerdWallet’s guide to minimum car insurance requirements by state.
Alternative car insurance for high-risk drivers
If you’re denied car insurance on the voluntary market — because of past crashes or violations, a gap in your insurance or for other reasons — you can apply for a policy through the Alaska Automobile Insurance Plan.
For more help getting the inside track to cheap car insurance quotes in your area, try NerdWallet’s comparison tool.
Alex Glenn is a staff writer for NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: aglenn@nerdwallet.com.
This article was updated on May 30, 2016. It originally published in March 2014.
METHODOLOGY
For most categories, NerdWallet averaged rates from the largest insurers for 30-year-old men and women in 10 ZIP codes and with 100/300/50 liability insurance limits, 100/300 uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage, and collision and comprehensive with a $1,000 deductible. We used a 2012 Toyota Camry in all cases.
Our sample retired driver was age 67 and drove 5,000 annual miles; all other groups drove 10,000 annual miles. Our sample young driver was age 22 and carried the minimum required coverage. These are sample rates generated through Quadrant Information Services. Your own rates will be different.
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