Cheap Car Insurance Quotes: Charlotte, NC

In Charlotte, far and away the state's largest city, drivers pay notably more for insurance than the average North Carolina driver. Charlotte residents pay 19% more for full coverage, where the state average is $1,506, and 33% more for minimum coverage, for which the state average is $445.

Cheapest auto insurance in Charlotte: Geico

The cheapest options for minimum liability coverage in Charlotte are Geico, NC Farm Bureau and Erie. Each offered rates at least $132 less per year than the city's average rate.

Geico's annual rate of $408 was $183 less than the city average and the cheapest option available. At $34 a month for minimum coverage, it was slightly cheaper than NC Farm Bureau, at $36 per month, and Erie, at $38 per month.

If you only have minimum liability coverage, you could find yourself facing a considerable financial loss if you are in an accident. Although minimum coverage satisfies legal requirements, medical costs are regularly more expensive than state minimums, and damage to a vehicle can be as well.

Cheapest car insurance rates in Charlotte, NC

Cheapest full-coverage car insurance in Charlotte: Geico

Geico delivers the best deal for full-coverage car insurance in Charlotte, with considerably cheaper offerings than second-place Erie and third-place NC Farm Bureau.

The annual rate for Geico was $939, which was $389 less than Erie. NC Farm Bureau's rate was $1,377. Geico's rate was 48% cheaper than the city average, overall.

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Cheapest car insurance for drivers with prior incidents

Incidents such as a DUI, speeding ticket or accident raise insurance rates in almost any case, and the change can be steep for Charlotte drivers. The increase in price is often considerable, which means searching for lower rates is especially important.

Cheapest car insurance for drivers with a speeding ticket: NC Farm Bureau

The best car insurance rates in Charlotte for drivers with a speeding ticket were from NC Farm Bureau.The second- and third-best rates in the city came from Geico and Erie, respectively.

On average in Charlotte, a speeding ticket meant a 38% increase in insurance rates, or $685 total.

After a speeding ticket, the average annual rate for NC Farm Bureau was $1,853. Geico, at $1,870, and Erie, at $1,878, were close behind.

Cheapest car insurance in Charlotte after an accident: Erie

The lowest rates for drivers with an at-fault accident in Charlotte come from Erie, with an annual price of $1,395. That was cheaper than NC Farm Bureau, at $2,212, and Progressive, at $2,268.

On average, an accident in Charlotte raised rates 54%, an increase of $970. Erie had only a $67 increase annually for a driver with an accident, while no other company had an increase of less than $632.

In North Carolina, accidents raise rates more than 53% overall.

Cheapest car insurance for drivers with a DUI: NC Farm Bureau

A DUI on your record in Charlotte will cost an extra $5,495 per year for full-coverage car insurance, an increase of 305%. NC Farm Bureau delivered the best rates in the city, an average of $5,428, which was $80 less than Erie and $130 less than Geico.

NC Farm Bureau saw a DUI cause a jump in rates of $4,051, or 294%. Allstate had a particularly large bump, with the price jumping to $16,006 per year after a DUI.

Cheapest car insurance for drivers with poor credit: Geico

considerably, though not as much as a speeding ticket or accident. The best rates for drivers with poor credit in Charlotte are offered by Geico, with an average annual premium of $1,380.

Geico's rate is $31 less per year than Progressive. Erie came in third, at $1,417. On average, poor credit adds $322 to the average price of a policy in Charlotte.

Cheapest car insurance for young drivers: Geico

Young drivers in Charlotte can save the most with Geico, which offers rates of $2,357 per year. That rate for an 18-year-old is $477 cheaper than the next-best rate.

Insurance companies consider younger drivers much riskier on the road, which raises their rates.

Erie charged the second-least, at $2,834. NC Farm Bureau was third, at $2,882. On average, younger drivers paid $3,301, $1,504 more than their 30-year-old counterparts, an increase of 84%.

Options for young drivers looking to cut their insurance costs include:

Average car insurance costs in Charlotte by neighborhood

Charlotte is in the middle of a metro area of more than 2.6 million residents across two states. The city itself has around one-third of that population across 37 ZIP codes.

Charlotte's cheapest ZIP code for auto insurance is 28269, an area north of downtown near Huntersville. The city's most expensive ZIP code for insurance is 28212, a spot east of the center of the city that includes the North Sharon and Idlewild Farms neighborhoods.

Rates may vary significantly, with more than $500 separating the cheapest and most expensive ZIP codes in Charlotte.

Auto theft statistics in Charlotte

Charlotte and parts of Mecklenburg County rank 14th among the 15 largest cities in the state in terms of cars stolen per 100,000 residents. In 2019, that was 354 cars stolen per 100,000 inhabitants.

A total of 3,340 cars were stolen in Charlotte in 2019. Apex had the lowest rates of car theft among the 15 largest cities in the state.

Methodology

Data came from seven of North Carolina's largest insurance companies. Our rates were pulled using a profile of a 30-year-old man with a 2015 Honda Civic EX. Rates are for a full-coverage policy and average credit, unless otherwise stated.

Insurance rate data in this analysis came from Quadrant Information Services. Rates were publicly sourced from insurance company filings. These rates should be used for comparative purposes only.

Source: FBI North Carolina Crime Report [/list]