Here’s the latest available information regarding rates, rules and quotes for car insurance in the state of Connecticut. Learn how to evaluate different auto insurance plans to find the lowest possible rates. In Connecticut, as in most U.S. states, car insurance is not an option, but a requirement.

Connecticut Minimum Liability Coverage

For basic auto insurance, the state of Connecticut requires minimum coverage of 20/40/10. The first number refers to the amount of coverage, in thousands, to pay costs associated with personal bodily injury. Drivers in Connecticut must purchase no less than $20,000 in Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage. The second number signifies the amount of insurance needed to cover injuries to other people. This amount is set at $40,000 in Connecticut. The third number represents the state’s minimum required coverage for property damage. Deductibles may apply.

Uninsured motorist insurance (UMI) is also required as part of a basic auto insurance policy in Connecticut. According to the Insurance Information Institute, drivers nationwide really need at least $100,000 in personal injury coverage and $300,000 in multiple injury coverage per vehicle in order to cover the actual cost of an accident.

Penalties for Driving Without Insurance in Connecticut

Uninsured drivers in Connecticut face a stiff fine of $500 for the car owner, and up to $1,000 for the driver, as well as license and registration suspensions. As you might guess, subsequent offenses are met with increasingly serious legal consequences.

Auto Insurance Rates in Connecticut

As of 2016, the average annual premium for car insurance in Connecticut was $1,367, not too much higher than the national average annual premium, which was $1,347 at the time.

Factors affecting the rising and falling of car insurance premiums include site-specific elements like weather conditions, local economy, crime statistics, percentage of uninsured drivers, availability of insurance carriers and population density, for instance.

Other influences on annual premiums are driver demographics like age, gender, marital status, driving history, annual mileage and car model owned, among other things. Speeding is a one-point offense on your Connecticut motor vehicle record, but driving too slowly, which impedes traffic, is two points. Moving violations such as these also can affect your auto insurance rates.

Low Cost Car Insurance Programs in Connecticut

Connecticut drivers seem to favor Erie Car Insurance, which offers all kinds of driver discounts. For example, the Anti-Theft Device Discount applies to vehicles with permanently installed anti-theft devices. Eligible devices include car alarms and wheel locks. The Defensive Driving Course Discount is offered to people 55 and older who take the required course. The Good Driving Discount is for drivers with no moving violations or at-fault accidents over a three year period. The Good Student Discount rewards high academic standing. Other available discounts include the Multiple Line Discount for purchasing more than one policy, the Passive Restraint Discount for installed airbags, and the Vehicle Safety Discount for owning certain types of cars. Ask your local agent about your eligibility for discounts on Connecticut car insurance. Do a cost comparison.

Insurance Quotes in Connecticut

Among car owners who post online reviews, the nation’s most popular auto insurance providers include Allstate, Auto Owners Insurance, The Hartford, State Farm and 21^st Century Insurance. Many Connecticut drivers choose big name carriers such as these. Others prefer local auto insurance companies like Erie. No matter which route you take to get a good deal on car insurance, the Connecticut has many providers of auto insurance at various competitive rates. Call any local agent for a quote, or obtain many free quotes online and compare them. Don’t forget to ask about the discounts.

Connecticut Car Insurance

This page tells you all you need to know about Connecticut car insurance. Connecticut drivers who study this data can likely cut costs on auto insurance premium rates within their Connecticut zip codes.

A 2015 estimate puts the population of the state of Connecticut at 3,590,886, making Connecticut the 29^th most populous state in the United States, despite being ranked only 48^th in square miles (the land area of Connecticut is bigger than only New Jersey and Rhode Island).

Approximately 10.5 percent of the people who live in Connecticut have incomes at or below the poverty level. This is a comfortable margin below the overall average poverty rate in America of 13.5 percent. Likewise, the unemployment rate in Connecticut is 3.3 percent, comfortably below the United States average of 4.4 percent. The rate of uninsured drivers in the state of Connecticut is an agreeable 8 percent. The resident median age in Connecticut is about 40.6 years.

Drivers in Connecticut sometimes think that knowing the statewide average annual premium for Connecticut car insurance will help them somehow. Unfortunately, statewide averages are not much use to drivers in terms of actual car insurance premium rates, as there are some tremendous differences in auto insurance premium rates between zip codes within the same state. Another fact is that statewide averages tend to be based on the demographics of an imaginary “average” driver, who drives a very particular type of vehicle.

A statewide average in Connecticut can only help if you are, let’s just say, a 35 year old married female driver with a clean driving record, clean credit, a full time job, and a 2015 Ford Focus with 4-wheel drive and factory installed safety features, which you drive between 15,000 and 25,000 miles annually. Even if you do just happen to fit this description, your premium rate will still be somewhat determined by your zip code.

However, since you are so curious, the statewide “average” premium on a Connecticut car insurance policy was about $1,367 last year, according to data derived from insure.com. This figure is not too far afield from the national “average” annual auto insurance premium at the time, which was about $1,325.

Drivers in Connecticut are advised to get some online quotes for Connecticut car insurance, by visiting different insurance company websites, and by comparing zip codes within the state of Connecticut. Get free online quotes from half a dozen car insurance carriers, and also for different zip codes in your area. This will give drivers in Connecticut a more accurate take on the auto insurance choices available in their zip codes.

Read further for more important details about Connecticut auto insurance. Scan a list of the least expensive and the most expensive zip codes in the state of Connecticut to buy auto insurance. Also see a list of the largest car insurance carriers in Connecticut, the types of auto insurance and amounts of coverage Connecticut drivers need, some seriously outdated Connecticut state traffic laws, and other dishy details about Connecticut car insurance.

Best Car Insurance Companies in Connecticut

Recently, a group of research scientists determined the top ten auto insurance companies in the USA, in terms of revenue. America’s top 10 car insurance carriers are Allstate Insurance, State Farm Insurance, Geico, Progressive Insurance, Nationwide Group, AAA, Liberty Mutual Insurance, 21^st Century Insurance, GMAC, and AIG, in that order. In this study, auto insurers were ranked by the total annual dollar value in written premiums, from which it is possible to calculate their market share.

Here is a list of the top ten car insurance companies in the state of Connecticut, based on their total market share:

What Types Of Car Insurance Do Connecticut Drivers Need?

For Connecticut, the minimum liability coverage required by state law is $20,000 in personal injury protection (PIP), $40,000 in bodily injury liability, $10,000 in property damage liability, and $40,000 in uninsured motorist protection (UMI) for each vehicle you own. These state minimums, like most others, are not really enough to cover the cost of real traffic accidents.

That’s why insurance experts throughout the United States recommend that drivers in Connecticut (not to mention every other U.S. state) purchase more than the minimum car insurance coverage required by state law. The typically suggested coverage amounts for all drivers in America are $100,000 for personal injury protection, $300,000 in liability protection for injury to others, and no less than $50,000 insurance to cover property damage.

For the ultimate vehicle protection, Connecticut drivers might also consider buying Comprehensive and Collision coverage. These insurance types financially protect drivers from collisions, hail storms, falling objects, fires, floods, vandalism, car theft, and quite a few other unfortunate events that can happen to a vehicle.

Weird Connecticut State Laws

• In Farmington, drivers are required to share the road with herds of cattle. Cows have the same road rights as motorists do.
• In Hartford, it is illegal to educate (in other words, train) a dog.
• In the state of Connecticut, a pickle must “bounce” in order to be called a pickle. If it doesn’t bounce, you have to call it something else.
• It is illegal to walk across the street on your hands in the state of Connecticut. You have to cross the state border to enjoy your upside-down time.

Best And Worst Zip Codes For Connecticut Car Insurance

The premium rates for Connecticut car insurance policies are influenced by demographic factors such as population density, income levels, resident median age, and crime rates in your particular zip code, among other things.

Here is a list of four of the most expensive zip codes in the state of Connecticut to buy car insurance.

Woodbridge, Connecticut is located about five miles northwest of Yale University in New Haven. The median resident age is a relatively high 48.9 years. Unemployment is above the state average, but still below the national average. The poverty rate in this neighborhood is less than one third the state average of 10.5 percent. The relatively high cost of car insurance in this zip code may have something to do with its close proximity to Yale in New Haven. However, rates are lower in New Haven, because New Haven is a college town with a very high walk score.

Hartford is the capital of Connecticut, and is situated in the center of the state, about 50 miles north of New Haven. This zip code suffers from the Grand Slam of high premiums on Connecticut car insurance. The neighborhood is cursed with a heavy population density, an unemployment rate nearly four times the state average, and a poverty rate approaching three times the state average. Premiums will understandably soar in this town.

This neighborhood is a suburban area of about 63,000 people. It has a poverty rate closer to the state average than in the city of Hartford, but the unemployment rate is still high here. This zip code, being only about five miles west of downtown Hartford, is close enough to Hartford to drive up your Connecticut car insurance premium rates. In fact, the rates are the same, on average, in these two zip codes.

With unemployment only slightly high and a poverty rate less than half the state average, it is slightly surprising that this zip code is one of the four most expensive to buy Connecticut car insurance. However, Wethersfield is situated immediately south of Hartford, and so it has the same average auto insurance rates as Hartford does.

The least expensive zip codes for Connecticut car insurance are shown here. Annual premium rates can be as low as around $900, or as high as more than $1,800, according to comparisons of Connecticut zip codes. Here is a list of some of the least expensive zip codes to purchase car insurance in the state of Connecticut.

Deep River is a small Connecticut community located about 20 miles northeast of New Haven. Population density and the poverty rate in this zip code are very low, and the unemployment rate is not too far above the state average. It is easy enough to believe that the premium rates are low here.

Westbrook is a town of about 7,000 people, located near Connecticut’s southern shore, roughly 30 miles east of New Haven. Population density is quite low in this neighborhood, and the poverty rate is below the state average. The median resident age in this zip code is a relatively high 50.1 years.

Old Saybrook is a resort town bordered on the south by the Atlantic Ocean, and bordered on the east by the Connecticut River. This zip code also has a median resident age of about 50, which is roughly a decade higher than the state average. The population density is low in this neighborhood, and the poverty rate is about half of the state average.

Ivoryton is a village whose historic district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This zip code features a light population density, and a poverty rate at less than half the state average, although unemployment hovers at around twice the state average. Car insurance average rates in this neighborhood are about the same as they are in old Saybrook.

All in all, the state of Connecticut is home to 427 zip codes in 269 cities spread out over 8 counties, from Bridgeport to West haven and everywhere in between. Yearly rates on Connecticut car insurance range from as low as $500 to as high as $5,000 or more between the cheapest zip code and the priciest zip code in the state of Connecticut.

Hopefully, this info will give drivers in Connecticut some idea of the price of car insurance in their zip codes. To learn more about your own personal Connecticut car insurance possibilities, enter your demographic information as prompted, and start comparing online quotes.

Let’s see how much YOU can save on Connecticut car insurance!

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