Cheapest Car Insurance Companies in Chicago, IL (2024 Rates)

The cheapest car insurance depends on your driving profile. American Family is the cheapest for full coverage car insurance, drivers with accidents and DUIs, military drivers, young adults and sports car owners. Auto-Owners is cheapest for those with speeding violations, while Progressive is cheapest for teens and families. Country Financial is best for seniors and those with poor credit.

MoneyGeek also analyzed the best auto insurance providers in Chicago for both cost and service.

MoneyGeek found that the following Chicago auto insurance providers offer the most affordable minimum coverage policies:

• Mercury: $293 per year
• Country Financial: $368 per year

The most expensive provider in our analysis is Grange, which offers minimum coverage insurance for $840 a year. At $241 a year, Mercury also offers the cheapest auto insurance in Illinois as of October 2022, which is only slightly cheaper than the company's rate in Chicago.

The minimum liability requirements for car insurance policies in Illinois are as follows:

• $25,000 bodily injury liability per person
• $50,000 bodily injury liability per accident
• $20,000 property damage liability per accident
• $25,000 uninsured motorist coverage per person
• $50,000 uninsured motorist coverage per accident

If you have minimum coverage and are at fault in an accident, your insurance will only pay for up to $50,000 in medical expenses for the other driver and passengers, with a per person maximum of $25,000 — regardless of how many people were injured. Any remaining medical expenses, as well as damage to your vehicle, will be your responsibility.

The following companies offer full coverage auto insurance at the lowest rates in Chicago:

• American Family: $888 per year
• Country Financial: $890 per year

Grange is the most expensive insurer in Chicago for full coverage, costing an average of $1,823 per year. American Family is also your best choice for the cheapest full coverage auto insurance in Illinois, with rates averaging $696 per year — $192 less than its rates in Chicago.

A full coverage policy includes comprehensive and collision insurance in addition to liability coverage.

• Collision insurance: Pays for damage to your car caused by an at-fault collision with another vehicle or object, such as a tree or light pole. Collision also covers rollover accidents and pothole damage.
• Comprehensive insurance: Pays for damage to your car caused by events other than collisions, such as theft, vandalism, fire and weather hazards.

A full coverage auto insurance policy provides you with additional financial protection. However, If you have an older car with low value, the added expense might not be worth it.

The following companies offer the cheapest car insurance in Chicago for drivers with violations:

• Speeding ticket: Auto-Owners ($1,064 per year)
• At-fault accident: American Family ($1,073 per year)
• DUI: American Family ($1,095 per year)

Hanover has the highest rates for drivers with an at-fault accident on their record at $2,818 per year, and Grange is the most expensive company for those with speeding tickets ($2,759) and DUIs ($3,147).

Driving violations can greatly impact auto insurance rates — even the cheapest rates for those with poor driving records will still be considerably higher than rates for those with safe records.

Car insurance rates typically increase based on the severity of the violation. For instance, drivers with a speeding ticket in Chicago pay an average of $314 more each year for car insurance, while those with a DUI pay $811 more. Even if you have a violation, it's still possible to get cheap car insurance rates with a poor record.

The following providers in Chicago provide the cheapest rates for young drivers on a family policy:

• State Farm: $2,532 per year for female teens; Progressive: $2,782 per year for male teens;
• Progressive: $2,552 per year for female teens; Auto-Owners: $2,910 per year for male teens;

Insuring teens on a family plan is the most expensive with GEICO, with average rates of $4,335 per year for female teens and $4,758 per year for male teens.

Because female teenagers tend to drive more safely, insurance is typically less expensive for them. In Chicago, for example, Progressive charges $230 more for male teens than for female teens. However, this cost difference tends to disappear in early adulthood.

Teenagers looking for cheap auto insurance can save a lot of money by signing up for a family policy rather than buying one separately. Plus, it is illegal for a minor teen to purchase an individual car insurance policy without the written consent of a parent or guardian. In Chicago, an individual teen policy costs around $2,566 more per year than a family policy.

The cheapest full coverage providers in Chicago for those with a military background are:

• American Family: $888 per year
• Country Financial: $890 per year

USAA is also a good option as it caters specifically to military personnel. Its average annual rate in Chicago is $1,031.

For minimum coverage, Mercury offers the cheapest auto insurance rates for military drivers, with an average annual premium of $293. Country Financial is in second place again, with an annual premium of $368.

It can take over 15 minutes to get a car insurance quote online from a single company in Chicago, and the process involves submitting a lot of personal information.

MoneyGeek's auto insurance calculator can provide a quick estimate so you can get an idea of your costs, and all it requires is your age, driving history, car model and desired coverage levels.

The following companies offer the cheapest full coverage auto insurance for young adults in Chicago:

• American Family: $954 per year
• Country Financial: $1,163 per year

Hanover is the most expensive option, with an average yearly premium of $2,347 for a full coverage policy. Young adults pay less for auto insurance than teenagers do, but they generally still pay more than 40-year-olds since they're less experienced. In Chicago, rates for young adults are $304 more on average than rates for drivers in their 40s.

The following providers offer the cheapest auto insurance for seniors in Chicago:

• Country Financial: $837 per year
• American Family: $869 per year

The most expensive company for seniors is Grange, which charges $1,799 annually for a full coverage policy. In Chicago, MoneyGeek found that the average car insurance rates for seniors are slightly lower (about $50) than rates for 40-year-olds.

These Chicago companies offer the cheapest full coverage auto insurance for drivers with bad credit:

• Country Financial: $1,311 per year
• Mercury: $1,466 per year

At an annual cost of $2,810, Auto-Owners is the most expensive provider for drivers with a poor credit record. Chicago drivers with poor credit pay $867, or around 70%, more annually for auto insurance than those with good credit. Finding affordable auto insurance with bad credit is still possible, even though prices are often higher.

Car insurance companies tend to believe that drivers with a bad credit-based insurance score are more likely to make claims, which results in higher premiums. However, there are several methods to lower the cost of insurance if you have a bad credit history, including finding discounts, bundling your policies and comparing rates from different companies. You'll also be able to get lower rates over time if you raise your credit score.

The following companies offer the cheapest auto insurance for drivers with sports cars in Chicago:

• American Family: $828 per year
• Auto-Owners: $966 per year

Progressive charges the highest rate in the city at $1,697. For full coverage auto insurance, Chicago drivers with standard cars typically pay $1,234 annually, while those with sports cars spend around $1,270 — a relatively minor difference of $36, or 3%, per year.

In this analysis, MoneyGeek used a Ford Mustang to represent sports car pricing, but rates can vary by model. In general, sports, electric and luxury cars tend to have higher insurance rates.

In Chicago, the average annual cost of auto insurance is $1,136. This is for full coverage insurance with $100,000 in bodily injury liability per person, $300,000 in bodily injury liability per accident and $100,000 in property damage liability per accident.

Location is one of many variables that affect auto insurance premiums. The average cost of auto insurance in Illinois is $894 per year, which is $242 lower than in Chicago. Illinois's largest city is also more expensive for car insurance than other cities in the state, including Springfield, Joliet and Aurora. That's because Chicago has congested highways, high accident frequency, more vehicle theft and vandalism and higher repair costs.

However, rates in Chicago are slightly lower than the national average cost of auto insurance of $1,265 per year.