Tennessee Car Insurance

This page features all the most recent details about Tennessee car insurance. Look here for stats on the state of Tennessee, and find out how Tennessee drivers can cut their auto insurance premium rates. Learn how to compare auto insurance quotes from one Tennessee zip code to another, while grabbing all the discounts available to you.

Here’s where Tennessee drivers can learn all they need to know about auto insurance in the state of Tennessee. Review a list of the largest car insurance companies in Tennessee, as well as the types and amounts of coverage that Tennessee drivers need, along with Tennessee zip code data, Tennessee income stats, and (just for laughs) a collection of outdated Tennessee state traffic laws.

This text also provides descriptions of the four most expensive and the four least expensive (on average) zip codes in Tennessee to buy car insurance.

Scan this page and learn all about Tennessee car insurance.

Tennessee Car Insurance Statistics

As of 2016, the resident population of the state of Tennessee was approaching 6.7 million. Although Tennessee ranks only 36^th among states in terms of land area in square miles, the state ranks 17^th in total population, and 20^th in population density. The median resident age of those who live in Tennessee is about 38.7 years.

The overall poverty rate in the state of Tennessee is about 16.7 percent. This is a bit above the national average poverty rate of 13.5 percent. Likewise, the unemployment rate in the state of Tennessee is 5.1 percent, which is somewhat higher than the United States average unemployment rate of 4.4 percent. Based on a study conducted by the Insurance Research Council, about 20.1 percent of drivers in Tennessee are operating uninsured vehicles. That means more than one out of every five vehicles on Tennessee roads is uninsured. In fact, Tennessee has the 6^th highest rate of uninsured vehicles in all 50 states and Washington DC.

Tennessee drivers frequently ask about the statewide “average” annual premium rate for Tennessee car insurance. But statewide averages tell us nothing about the premium rates on our personal car insurance policies. Statewide averages are based on imaginary demographics, such as a 26 year old single female driver in Tennessee, with a clean driving record, a full time job, and a 2013 Volkswagen Jetta with dual airbags and a 4-cylinder engine, which she drives less than 15,000 miles a year. In other words, you’ll find no use for a statewide averages. Even if you are this person, your rates on auto insurance will still depend on your particular Tennessee zip code.

So it seems that statewide averages do not adequately reflect your personal Tennessee car insurance premium rates. For those who are interested, the statewide “average” annual premium rate for a car insurance policy in the state of Tennessee was about $1,230 last year. This figure was not far from the national “average,” which was about $1,224 at that time. Tennessee is neither the most expensive nor the least expensive state to buy car insurance.

Whatever the average quotes may be, drivers in the state of Tennessee can cut the rates of car insurance by obtaining several online quotes for Tennessee car insurance, from the websites of at least half a dozen major auto insurance companies. Get quotes for several Tennessee zip codes near where you live or work, using your own personal demographic details. Doing your research can possibly save you hundreds of dollars a year on Tennessee car insurance.

The Largest Car Insurance Companies In Tennessee

A while ago, a group of researchers conducted a statistical study and compiled a report of the top ten car insurance companies in the United States, based on each company’s total annual revenue. The study determined that the top ten car insurance carriers in America 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. Auto insurance companies were ranked by the dollar amount of premiums written each year, which provided a percentage of each company’s total market share.

Shown below is a list of the top ten Tennessee car insurance companies, based on each company’s total market share in the state of Tennessee.

What Types Of Car Insurance Do Tennessee Drivers Need?

The minimum auto liability insurance coverage required by Tennessee state law is $25,000 for each person injured, and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury liability, plus $15,000 insurance coverage against property damage. However, these amounts are swiftly drained by most traffic accidents.

American insurance experts recommend that Tennessee drivers (and, in fact, all drivers) should buy more than the lowest possible amount of car insurance coverage required by state law. Insurance analysts suggest coverage in the amounts of $100,000 for personal injury liability protection, $300,000 in per accident liability protection, and at least $50,000 to cover the cost of property damage.

Also extremely recommended for drivers in the state of Tennessee is uninsured and underinsured motorist insurance (UMI). After all, more than one in five drivers on Tennessee roads is uninsured. What’s worse, most of the rest are underinsured due to the low minimum liability requirements in the state of Tennessee.

Tennessee drivers who really worry about their vehicles have the option of purchasing comprehensive and collision coverage. These types of auto insurance will shell out the cost of repair for vehicle damage caused by head-on collisions, fires, floods, flying objects, vandalism, and car theft, among other unlucky events.

Outdated Tennessee Traffic Laws

• In the state of Tennessee, it is illegal for Christian parents to make their children pick up trash from the highway on Easter Sunday.
• It is illegal in the state of Tennessee to shoot game from a moving automobile, except for whales. (We’re not making this up.)
• In Tennessee, it is illegal to put tacks on the highway. (Why would that be legal anywhere else?)
• In Fayette County, it is illegal to have more than five broken down cars on a single piece of property.
• In Knoxville, all businesses are required to have a “hitching post” in front of their buildings. (These days, we just call it a parking lot.)
• In Lenoir County, when you stop your car at a stop sign, you must fire a gun out the window to warn horses and carriage riders of your arrival.
• In Nashville, it is illegal for roller skaters to tie themselves to moving vehicles on the highway. (But it might make someone eligible for a Darwin Award.)

Best And Worst Zip Codes For Tennessee Car Insurance

As mentioned, auto insurance premium rates will vary across Tennessee zip codes. Rates are affected by things like population density, median annual income, median resident age, and neighborhood crime statistics, among other factors that tend to change between zip codes.

A research team doing a comparison study of Tennessee zip codes has come up with the four most expensive zip codes (on average) to buy car insurance in the state of Tennessee. The four priciest zip codes in Tennessee are all located in Memphis, a poorer city in southwestern Tennessee, located along the banks of the Mississippi River. Memphis is home to nearly 657,000 people, making it the largest city in the state of Tennessee. Annual premium rates in the priciest Memphis zip codes can be as low as around $1,220, or as high as more than $2,460.

The poverty rate in this neighborhood is almost double the state average of 16.7 percent. What’s more, the unemployment rate is more than three times the state average. Population density is relatively high here. Roughly one in three people in this zip code live at or below the poverty line.

For real, almost no one lives here. The population was last measured at 135. Why are car insurance premium rates so high? Probably because of the nearness of this neighborhood to poverty-stricken areas.

The median resident age in this Tennessee zip code is only 26 years, as compared to the state average of 38.7 years. This can raise car insurance premium rates, as well as the fact that more than half of the people in this neighborhood live at or below the poverty line. Unemployment is about six times the state average. Almost one out of three adults in this zip code is unemployed.

Unemployment and poverty are rather bad here too, even if not as bad as in the previous zip code.

Compare the above data to the list shown below of the four least expensive zip codes (on average) in the state of Tennessee to buy car insurance. Annual premium rates can range from around $800 to about $1,435.

In location, Shady Valley is the opposite of Memphis. It is located way up in the northeast corner of the state. This zip code is home to less than 900 people. The median resident age in this neighborhood is 59.2 years. Unemployment is about four times the state average, but poverty falls below the state average.

This Johnson County zip code in northeastern Tennessee is home to only about 700 people. Poverty and unemployment are way high in this neighborhood. But population density is way low.

Unicoi is another town in northeastern Tennessee. The population density is hardly worth mentioning here. The unemployment rate is right around the state average. The poverty rate is just above the state average.

In this northeastern Tennessee zip code, population density is a breeze and the unemployment rate is only a tad high. However, the poverty rate far exceeds the state average.

Overall, the state of Tennessee is home to 785 zip codes throughout 95 counties encompassing 548 cities, from Adams to Yorkville and back. There’s a definite gap in rates between the cheapest zip codes and the most expensive zip codes to buy Tennessee car insurance.

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