Updated: October 12, 2026
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Cheapest Car Insurance Companies and Rates in Illinois:
GEICO has the cheapest minimum coverage in Illinois at $32 a month, $6 less than Auto-Owners at $38. Both GEICO and Auto-Owners have easy-to-use apps that let you make policy adjustments, pay bills and file claims. Auto-Owners does have the stronger customer experience score, but with a minimum coverage policy, you likely won't notice a difference.
GEICO also has the cheapest full coverage at $72 per month, $13 below AAA at $85 per month. Auto-Owners costs $17 more a month then GEICO ($204 more per year), but that cost difference buys a 5/5 customer experience score against GEICO’s 4.39, which on full coverage means faster claims resolution and fewer disputes on your own collision and comprehensive claims.
GEICO | $32 | $72 |
AAA | $49 | $85 |
Travelers | $48 | $87 |
Auto-Owners | $38 | $89 |
Erie Insurance | $39 | $115 |
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Illinois requires a minimum of 25/50/20 liability coverage ($25,000 for one person’s injuries, $50,000 per accident and $20,000 for property damage) to legally drive in the state. A minimum coverage policy in Illinois includes uninsured motorist (UM) coverage (25/50 limits) which pays for your own bodily injuries when an uninsured or hit-and-run driver hits you. Minimum coverage does not pay for damages to your car. Illinois is an at-fault state, so if you cause a crash that costs more than those limits, the difference comes out of your pocket.
If you're trying to decide between minimum and full coverage in Illinois, you should weigh the actual cash value (ACV) of your car against the annual cost of adding full coverage. GEICO’s full coverage costs $40 more per month than its minimum coverage ($480 a year). That $40 buys liability limits four to six times higher, plus collision and comprehensive coverage on your own car. But if your car is fully paid off and worth less than $4,800, you're better off with liability-only and an emergency fund in case of an accident. A financed or leased car usually has to carry full coverage regardless.
Auto-Owners is initially cheapest for teen drivers in Illinois — costing $319 a month to add a 16-year-old female driver onto a family policy with full coverage, and $324 for males — but Travelers takes over as cheapest starting at 17 for females and 18 for males, and stays cheapest through age 24. Travelers' customer experience rating is close to Auto-Owners,’ so there's no major quality tradeoff if you're thinking of making the switch.
The biggest one-year drop is $39 a month for female drivers at 18 ($468 a year) and $32 for males at 19 ($384 a year), so re-quote at 17 (females), 18 (males) and 25.
16 | Auto-Owners | $319 | Auto-Owners | $324 |
17 | Travelers | $290 | Auto-Owners | $297 |
18 | Travelers | $251 | Travelers | $276 |
19 | Travelers | $230 | Travelers | $244 |
20 | Travelers | $212 | Travelers | $223 |
21 | Travelers | $197 | Travelers | $206 |
22 | Travelers | $184 | Travelers | $191 |
23 | Travelers | $174 | Travelers | $179 |
24 | Travelers | $165 | Travelers | $169 |
25 | Auto-Owners | $147 | Auto-Owners | $147 |
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GEICO is the cheapest for seniors in Illinois at $78 per month. Auto-Owners is second-cheapest at $96 per month. For just $18 more per month than GEICO, Auto-Owners buys the state’s top customer experience score. Since seniors file claims more often than a 40-year-old driver, that score is worth paying for if you expect to file.
GEICO adds only $6 to its adult rate of $72, while Erie adds $32 ($115 to $147), so a senior who has not re-quoted and sits at Erie overpays by $69 each month, or $828 a year.
Illinois law requires every auto liability insurer to include a rate reduction for an insured over 55 who completes a defensive driving course or another approved course, including eLearning courses. Each insurer sets the amount, and the reduction lasts three years. GEICO’s Illinois course discount has a maximum of 5% for eligible drivers 50 and older. At the full 5%, $78 drops to $74.10, a saving of $3.90 a month ($47 a year).
GEICO | $78 |
Auto-Owners | $96 |
Travelers | $100 |
Farmers | $103 |
Erie Insurance | $147 |
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GEICO is cheapest in both the least and most expensive of Illinois’s 20 largest cities for minimum coverage, at $26 a month in Champaign and $45 in Chicago. Auto-Owners is cheapest in 11 of the 20 cities, including Aurora and Naperville at $38. GEICO leads Champaign, Peoria, Decatur, Rockford, Skokie and Chicago, and Erie leads Springfield, Waukegan and Cicero.
In 17 of 20 cities the winner is Auto-Owners or GEICO, so quote both first. GEICO’s customer experience score (4.39/5, sixth in the state) trails Auto-Owners’ 5/5 (first), which matters especially to full coverage buyers if they're involved in a crash.
Arlington Heights | Auto-Owners | $33 | $395 |
Aurora | Auto-Owners | $38 | $451 |
Bloomington | Auto-Owners | $27 | $325 |
Bolingbrook | Auto-Owners | $32 | $386 |
Champaign | GEICO | $26 | $316 |
Chicago | GEICO | $45 | $536 |
Cicero | Erie Insurance | $43 | $521 |
Decatur | GEICO | $31 | $370 |
Des Plaines | Auto-Owners | $36 | $431 |
Elgin | Auto-Owners | $39 | $469 |
Evanston | Auto-Owners | $36 | $432 |
Joliet | Auto-Owners | $37 | $449 |
Naperville | Auto-Owners | $38 | $449 |
Palatine | Auto-Owners | $33 | $391 |
Peoria | GEICO | $30 | $356 |
Rockford | GEICO | $32 | $386 |
Schaumburg | Auto-Owners | $34 | $403 |
Skokie | GEICO | $40 | $478 |
Springfield | Erie Insurance | $32 | $388 |
Waukegan | Erie Insurance | $34 | $406 |
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A DUI is where carrier choice matters most: Travelers charges $127 a month for minimum coverage after a DUI conviction, while Farmers charges $349, a $222 difference ($2,664 a year). Here are the cheapest Illinois carriers and minimum coverage rates by risk profile:
Speeding Ticket | Auto-Owners | $93 |
At-Fault Accident | GEICO | $113 |
DUI | Travelers | $127 |
Texting While Driving | Auto-Owners | $84 |
Bad Credit | COUNTRY Financial | $195 |
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An adult driver with a clean record who picks GEICO ($72/month) over Erie ($115/month) saves $516 a year on full coverage, and the first step starts there. The largest single difference belongs to drivers with poor credit: GEICO charges $205 for poor credit and $72 for good, $1,596 a year.
GEICO ($72/month) and Erie ($115/month) are $43 apart for identical 100/300/100 full coverage. Use the same limits and deductible on every quote and include Auto-Owners ($89/month), which has the state’s top customer experience score. Shopping around is especially important after a DUI: a Farmers driver with a DUI pays $349, $222 more than Travelers’ $127.
Full coverage costs $40 more than minimum at GEICO ($72 against $32), or $480 a year. On a $5,000 car, the most a total loss pays is $4,000 after the $1,000 deductible, which equals more than eight years of that $480 difference. A financed or leased car usually has to keep full coverage.
Allstate has Illinois’s cheapest home and auto bundle at $2,677 a year, with a 12% discount worth $350. Farmers has the largest discount at 17%, worth $851 a year, but its bundled price of $4,135 is $1,458 more than Allstate’s. Neither is in the rate tables above, so compare the bundled total against your standalone GEICO or Auto-Owners rate plus a home quote.
At GEICO’s 5% maximum, $78 drops to $74.10 for three years. Other insurers may discount at a higher rate for competing an approved course. Ask every insurer you quote with to see if you qualify and how much they'll discount you.
A GEICO driver clearing a speeding ticket drops from $96 to $72 ($24 a month, $288 a year). An at-fault accident drops from $113 to $72 ($41), and a DUI from $152 to $72 ($80, $960 a year). Request quotes 30 days before the three-year mark.
GEICO charges $205 per month to drivers with poor credit, $1,596 per year more than a driver with good credit for the same coverage. The rate doesn't fall on its own, so request a new quote at renewal after your score improves.
GEICO has the cheapest car insurance in Illinois at $32 a month for minimum coverage and $72 for full coverage. Auto-Owners is the closest alternative at $38 and $89, and it has the state’s top customer experience score.
Among the five cheapest insurance companies, full coverage runs from $72 a month at GEICO to $115 at Erie, and minimum coverage runs from $32 at GEICO to $49 at AAA. Choosing GEICO over Erie saves $516 a year on full coverage.
Yes, after offenses such as a DUI or driving without insurance, Illinois requires an SR-22 filing for three years. Travelers is cheapest after a DUI at $127 a month. Your insurer files the form on your behalf, and a lapse restarts the three year period.
Yes, uninsured motorist coverage at $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident is included in a minimum coverage policy in Illinois, alongside 25/50/20 minimum liability limits. UM coverage pays your injuries when an uninsured driver hits you.
A DUI adds $40 a month at Travelers ($87 to $127) and $98 at AAA ($85 to $183). Travelers is cheapest after a DUI at $127, so a Farmers driver at $349 saves $222 a month by switching.
MoneyGeek analyzed rates from Quadrant Information Services, which collects ZIP-code-level premiums from major insurers. The analysis covers 10 insurance companies.
Baseline driver profile: 40-year-old male, 2012 Toyota Camry LE, clean driving record, good credit, 12,000 miles annually. Full coverage uses 100/300/100 liability limits with a $1,000 deductible. Minimum coverage uses Illinois’s 25/50/20 state minimum plus the required uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage at 25/50.
Profile variations:
USAA: excluded from all tables. It is available only to military members, veterans and their immediate families, who should include it in any comparison.
Mark Fitzpatrick is a licensed Property and Casualty (P&C) Insurance Producer and MoneyGeek's resident expert in insurance and economics. In nearly a decade covering the insurance market at LendingTree and MoneyGeek, he's analyzed hundreds of carriers and millions of rates across auto, home, renters, health and life insurance.
His work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times and NPR. He draws on independent cost and consumer experience data, and no insurance company partnerships affect his recommendations.
Mark studied at Boston College and later earned a master's in economics and international relations from Johns Hopkins University. He worked in financial risk management at State Street before joining MoneyGeek. He's also a five-time “Jeopardy!” champion.
