How to Get Car Insurance With No Credit History
Drivers with no credit history tend to pay more for insurance. But using telematics programs, usage-based insurance, and comparison shopping can save you money.
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Written byElizabeth Rivelli
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Elizabeth Rivelli
5+ years writing insurance and personal finance topics
Auto, home, health, and life insurance expertise
Elizabeth has extensive insurance industry experience, having written for Insureon, Rate Retriever, and Insurify. She’s also finance and insurance editor for Car and Driver.
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Edited bySara Getman
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Sara Getman is an Associate Editor at Insurify and has been with the company since 2022. Prior to joining Insurify, Sara completed her undergraduate degree in English Literature at Simmons University in Boston. At Simmons, she was the Editor-in-Chief for Sidelines Magazine (a literary and art publication), and wrote creative non-fiction.
Outside of work, Sara is an avid reader, and loves rock climbing, yoga and crocheting.
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Reviewed byDaniel Roccato
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30+ years in financial services
Clinical Professor of Finance, University of San Diego
Dan is a well-recognized and widely quoted financial services expert, regularly appearing in a variety of national and local media as a subject matter expert.
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Data reviewed byKonstantin Halachev
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7+ years experience in data analysis
Ph.D. in Computational Biology
Konstantin has led data teams across multiple industries, including insurance, travel, and biology. He’s led Insurify’s engineering team for more than three years.
Updated November 21, 2024
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Table of contents
If you don’t have a credit history, it can be difficult to find affordable premiums. States can use your credit history to determine your rates, except for California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Washington.
Insurers believe that credit history indicates how likely you are to file a claim. Drivers with excellent credit are less likely to file claims than drivers with poor credit.
Here’s what you should know about how credit can affect insurance rates and how comparing quotes can help you find cheap coverage.
Quick Facts
Insurance companies use your credit history to generate a credit-based insurance score.
Drivers with poor credit history or no credit history can find the cheapest rates from COUNTRY Financial, NJM, and Auto-Owners.
Usage-based and telematics car insurance policies may not require a credit check.
Cheapest car insurance for drivers without credit history
It’s not just poor credit that can affect your car insurance rate. Having no credit history can also increase your premium. Based on Insurify’s rate data, COUNTRY Financial is the cheapest insurer for drivers with no credit history, with an average premium of $19 per month for liability-only car insurance. NJM and Auto-Owners also offer some of the lowest rates for drivers with no credit, according to recent premium data.
The table below outlines the average monthly quotes from some insurance companies that offer policies to drivers with no credit history:
The below rates are estimated rates current as of: Friday, November 1 at 12:00 PM PDT.
Data reviewed by Konstantin Halachev
7+ years experience in data analysis
Ph.D. in Computational Biology
Konstantin has led data teams across multiple industries, including insurance, travel, and biology. He’s led Insurify’s engineering team for more than three years.
Insurance Company ▲▼ | Full Coverage ▲▼ | Liability Only ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
| COUNTRY Financial | $46 | $19 |
| NJM | $68 | $37 |
| Mile Auto | $114 | $67 |
| USAA | $118 | $54 |
| Auto-Owners | $118 | $55 |
| Root | $124 | $72 |
| GEICO | $135 | $61 |
| Metromile | $136 | $76 |
| CSAA | $142 | $93 |
| Erie | $149 | $80 |
| Allstate | $160 | $73 |
| Safeco | $172 | $99 |
| American Family | $179 | $81 |
| State Farm | $180 | $82 |
| Progressive | $183 | $118 |
| Mercury | $195 | $99 |
| National General | $206 | $104 |
| The Hartford | $210 | $117 |
| Nationwide | $219 | $100 |
| Clearcover | $220 | $123 |
| Direct Auto | $225 | $117 |
| Travelers | $230 | $107 |
| Elephant | $241 | $149 |
| State Auto | $248 | $117 |
| Shelter | $253 | $134 |
| The General | $278 | $135 |
| Dairyland | $284 | $110 |
| Liberty Mutual | $285 | $176 |
| 21st Century | $287 | $135 |
| Farmers | $290 | $132 |
| Bristol West | $307 | $142 |
| Infinity | $307 | $218 |
| Foremost | $320 | $141 |
| AssuranceAmerica | $326 | $196 |
| GAINSCO | $336 | $150 |
| Amica | $336 | $182 |
| Commonwealth Casualty | $353 | $132 |
| Chubb | $430 | $204 |
Disclaimer: Table data sourced from real-time quotes from Insurify's 50-plus partner insurance providers and quote estimates from Quadrant Information Services. Actual quotes may vary based on the policy buyer's unique driver profile.
How to get no-credit-check auto insurance
It’s possible to get approved for car insurance with no credit check. For example, if you live in a state with laws that don’t allow insurers to run a credit report, you can avoid a credit check. Even if you have a poor credit score, it shouldn’t affect your rate if you live in one of these states.
While you’re shopping, it’s important to consider how credit history affects rates and what other insurance products don’t use credit history.
Usage-based insurance
While most car insurance policies require a credit check, certain types of insurance don’t, including usage-based insurance.
With a usage-based car insurance policy, your premium is based on the number of miles you drive each month. You pay a small monthly fee plus an additional rate for every mile you drive. It can be a good option if you drive infrequently, but this type of policy could be more expensive if you drive a normal amount (around 10,000 miles or more per year).
Nationwide SmartMiles, Allstate DriveWise, Hugo, and Metromile are popular usage-based insurance programs and companies.
Telematics
Telematics programs are another coverage type that typically doesn’t require a credit check.
A telematics car insurance policy uses a device in your vehicle to track your mileage and driving habits, like acceleration, brake force, and when you drive (at night versus during the day). If you practice safe driving habits consistently, insurers may reward you with a lower rate.
Many major insurance companies offer telematics insurance programs, including Progressive Snapshot, State Farm Drive Safe & Save, USAA SafePilot, and GEICO DriveEasy.
How your credit score affects car insurance rates
Credit scores affect car insurance rates because they indicate how likely a driver may be to file insurance claims.
“There is a strong correlation between drivers with bad credit and higher-than-usual insurance claims,” says Nick Schrader, an insurance agent with Texas General Insurance. “Drivers with poor credit may also be more likely to miss payments or have their insurance lapse.”
When drivers fail to pay their insurance premiums or file an insurance claim, their insurance company loses money. To offset these potential risks, most car insurance companies charge higher rates for drivers with poor credit and lower rates for drivers with good credit.[3]
To help you understand how much you might pay for car insurance based on your credit score, here are the average liability-only car insurance premiums for drivers with excellent, good, average, and poor credit:
Credit Rating ▲▼ | Full Coverage ▲▼ | Liability Only ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
| Excellent | $178 | $86 |
| Good | $198 | $97 |
| Average | $215 | $104 |
| Poor | $260 | $126 |
Cheap auto insurance for drivers with bad credit
Based on Insurify’s analysis of recent rate data, the cheapest auto insurance companies for drivers with bad credit scores are COUNTRY Financial, NJM, and Auto-Owners. These companies may require a credit check, but if you have poor credit or no credit, you can still get an affordable rate.
In the table below, you can see the cheapest insurers for drivers with a low credit score and the average monthly premium for full and liability-only coverage:
The below rates are estimated rates current as of: Friday, November 1 at 12:00 PM PDT.
Data reviewed by Konstantin Halachev
7+ years experience in data analysis
Ph.D. in Computational Biology
Konstantin has led data teams across multiple industries, including insurance, travel, and biology. He’s led Insurify’s engineering team for more than three years.
Insurance Company ▲▼ | Full Coverage ▲▼ | Liability Only ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
| COUNTRY Financial | $46 | $19 |
| NJM | $68 | $37 |
| Mile Auto | $114 | $67 |
| USAA | $118 | $54 |
| Auto-Owners | $118 | $55 |
| Root | $124 | $72 |
| GEICO | $135 | $61 |
| Metromile | $136 | $76 |
| CSAA | $142 | $93 |
| Erie | $149 | $80 |
| Allstate | $160 | $73 |
| Safeco | $172 | $99 |
| American Family | $179 | $81 |
| State Farm | $180 | $82 |
| Progressive | $183 | $118 |
| Mercury | $195 | $99 |
| National General | $206 | $104 |
| The Hartford | $210 | $117 |
| Nationwide | $219 | $100 |
| Clearcover | $220 | $123 |
| Direct Auto | $225 | $117 |
| Travelers | $230 | $107 |
| Elephant | $241 | $149 |
| State Auto | $248 | $117 |
| Shelter | $253 | $134 |
| The General | $278 | $135 |
| Dairyland | $284 | $110 |
| Liberty Mutual | $285 | $176 |
| 21st Century | $287 | $135 |
| Farmers | $290 | $132 |
| Bristol West | $307 | $142 |
| Infinity | $307 | $218 |
| Foremost | $320 | $141 |
| AssuranceAmerica | $326 | $196 |
| GAINSCO | $336 | $150 |
| Amica | $336 | $182 |
| Commonwealth Casualty | $353 | $132 |
| Chubb | $430 | $204 |
Disclaimer: Table data sourced from real-time quotes from Insurify's 50-plus partner insurance providers and quote estimates from Quadrant Information Services. Actual quotes may vary based on the policy buyer's unique driver profile.
Additional insurance cost-rating factors to consider
Your credit history isn’t the only factor that can affect your car insurance premium. Here are some other criteria that insurance companies consider when calculating your rate:
Location
Your state and ZIP code have a big effect on the cost of your car insurance. For example, if you live in an area with a higher risk of severe weather or a high rate of vehicle theft, you may pay more for insurance.
Age
Young drivers who are newly licensed have an increased risk of accidents, and, therefore, pay the highest rates.[1] Car insurance premiums start to drop as drivers gain more experience behind the wheel.
Driving record
If you have a clean driving record with no recent accidents or traffic violations, you’ll pay less for car insurance than drivers with one or more infractions on their record. Drivers with at-fault accidents, speeding tickets, DUIs, and other moving violations typically see higher car insurance premiums. Some violations, like a DUI, will increase your premium significantly.
Gender
Statistically, men are more likely to get into accidents than women. As a result, males usually pay higher auto insurance rates than females.[2]
Which states don’t allow credit score checks?
Not every state allows insurance companies to use a credit-based insurance score. The following states currently prohibit insurance companies from using credit as a rating factor:[1]
These states prohibit the use of credit checks for a few reasons. First, many people are unaware that insurance companies check credit scores when they apply for car insurance. Additionally, many people don’t understand how or why their credit score affects their premium.
Advocacy groups have also argued that using a credit-based insurance score targets low-income individuals and minorities and isn’t necessarily an indicator of someone’s likelihood to experience insurance losses.
How to get car insurance with bad credit
It can be difficult to find affordable car insurance with bad credit. Here are some tips on how to secure the cheapest rates.
Comparison shop. Using a comparison tool allows you to see multiple quotes from different insurers all at once and helps you secure the best rate.
Look for discounts. Take advantage of discounts, such as bundling, safe driving, multi-car, or anti-theft device discounts.
Increase your deductible. Increasing your deductible can save you money on your monthly premiums. But be aware that you’ll have to pay more out of pocket before your insurance kicks in after an accident.
Cheapest recent rates for drivers with poor credit
Drivers using Insurify have found quotes as cheap as $43/mo for liability only and $56/mo for full coverage.
*Quotes generated for Insurify users within the last 10 days. Last updated on November 21, 2024
Rates shown are real-time Insurify user quotes from 100+ insurance companies and Quadrant Information Services data. Insurify’s algorithm excludes anomalous quotes and anonymizes personal details, then displays refined quotes by price, date, and insurer popularity up to 10 days ago from November 21, 2024. Actual quotes may vary based on the policy buyer’s unique driver profile.
*Quotes generated for Insurify users within the last 10 days. Last updated on November 21, 2024
Rates shown are real-time Insurify user quotes from 100+ insurance companies and Quadrant Information Services data. Insurify’s algorithm excludes anomalous quotes and anonymizes personal details, then displays refined quotes by price, date, and insurer popularity up to 10 days ago from November 21, 2024. Actual quotes may vary based on the policy buyer’s unique driver profile.
Tips for raising your credit score
If you have poor credit, raising your score can help you get a lower car insurance rate. Here are a few tips for improving your credit score:
Make on-time payments. Paying your bills on time is important, especially if you want to improve your credit score. If you have trouble remembering due dates, consider enrolling your accounts in automatic payments so you never risk missing a payment.
Pay down your balances. If you have debt, whether it’s loan debt or credit card debt, work on paying down your balances. Also, keep an eye on your credit utilization (how much of your available credit you’re using compared to your total available credit). The lower your credit utilization is, the better your credit score will be.
Limit new accounts. Avoid opening new credit cards or taking out new loans frequently. This can cause your credit score to drop. Only open new accounts when you really need them, and make sure you can afford the monthly payments beforehand.
No-credit-check car insurance FAQs
Here are answers to some commonly asked questions about getting car insurance with no credit check.
Can you get car insurance without a credit check?
Yes, you can get car insurance with no credit check. But you may be limited to certain types of car insurance, like usage-based auto insurance and telematics auto insurance.
Why do insurance companies check your credit score?
Car insurance companies look at your credit history, not your credit score. They use your credit history to generate a credit-based insurance score that indicates how likely you are to have insurance losses. In general, drivers with excellent credit pay the lowest rates, whereas drivers with bad credit or no credit pay the highest rates.
How can you get cheap car insurance with a bad credit score?
One of the best ways to get cheap car insurance with bad credit is to use an online quote-comparison platform. With a single application, you can see which insurers can offer you the lowest rates based on your credit score and the type and amount of coverage you want.
Can you get car insurance without a credit history?
Yes, you can get car insurance without a credit history, but you’ll probably pay a higher premium. If you have no credit, consider applying for usage-based or telematics car insurance policies, which may not require a credit check.
Methodology
Insurify data scientists analyzed more than 90 million quotes served to car insurance applicants in Insurify’s proprietary database to calculate the premium averages displayed on this page. These premiums are real quotes that come directly from Insurify’s 50+ partner insurance companies in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Quote averages represent the median price for a quote across the given coverage level, driver subset, and geographic area.
Unless otherwise specified, quoted rates reflect the average cost for drivers between 20 and 70 years old with a clean driving record and average or better credit (a credit score of 600 or higher).
Liability-only premium averages correspond to policies with the following coverage limits:
- Bodily injury limits between state-minimum rates and $50,000 per person, $100,000 per accident
- Property damage limits between $10,000 and $50,000
- No additional coverage
- Comprehensive coverage with a $1,000 deductible
- Collision coverage with a $1,000 deductible
Quotes for Allstate, Farmers, GEICO, State Farm, and USAA are estimates based on Quadrant Information Services’ database of auto insurance rates.
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Sources
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Teen Driver and Passenger Safety."
- Insurance Information Institute. "What determines the price of an auto insurance policy?."
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Elizabeth Rivelli
Elizabeth Rivelli is a freelance writer covering insurance and personal finance. She has extensive knowledge of various insurance lines, including property and casualty, health, and life insurance. Her byline has been featured in dozens of publications, including Investopedia, Forbes, Bankrate, NextAdvisor, and Insurance.com.
Sara Getman is an Associate Editor at Insurify and has been with the company since 2022. Prior to joining Insurify, Sara completed her undergraduate degree in English Literature at Simmons University in Boston. At Simmons, she was the Editor-in-Chief for Sidelines Magazine (a literary and art publication), and wrote creative non-fiction.
Outside of work, Sara is an avid reader, and loves rock climbing, yoga and crocheting.
30+ years in financial services
Clinical Professor of Finance, University of San Diego
Dan is a well-recognized and widely quoted financial services expert, regularly appearing in a variety of national and local media as a subject matter expert.
7+ years experience in data analysis
Ph.D. in Computational Biology
Konstantin has led data teams across multiple industries, including insurance, travel, and biology. He’s led Insurify’s engineering team for more than three years.
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