Car insurance after bankruptcy is available in every state. No insurer can deny you coverage solely because you filed. California, Hawaii and Massachusetts ban credit-based insurance pricing entirely, so bankruptcy has no effect on your premium in those states. Michigan passed legislation banning insurers from using credit scores in auto insurance pricing, effective July 2020. Companies can't use credit information to deny, cancel, non-renew or price personal insurance policies. In all other states, expect poor-credit pricing immediately after filing.
How to Get Car Insurance After Bankruptcy
Updated: June 21, 2026
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Key Takeaways
No insurer can deny you coverage solely because of bankruptcy. In California, Hawaii or Massachusetts, bankruptcy won't raise your rate.
In all other states, poor credit from bankruptcy increases full coverage to $212 per month at GEICO and as high as $590 at State Farm.
Bankruptcy stays on your report for seven to ten years, but rates can drop within two to three years if you re-shop at every renewal.
How to Get Car Insurance After Bankruptcy
- 1
Pull your credit reports from all three bureaus before requesting any quotes
Credit reports pulled after bankruptcy contain more errors than standard reports. Fixing those errors before an insurer checks your credit can move you into a lower-cost tier before your first bill. The insurer prices from the corrected report, not the one with the error. Get all three bureau reports at AnnualCreditReport.com before requesting quotes from any insurer.
- 2
Start with GEICO or Progressive if your driving record is clean
For drivers with no violations, GEICO prices full coverage at $212 per month for poor-credit drivers. Progressive charges poor-credit drivers $284 per month for full coverage. Post-bankruptcy drivers should skip State Farm ($590/month) and AAA ($866/month). Those rates are $378 and $654 per month higher than GEICO for the same driver. If you have a prior DUI or at-fault accident, start with The General and Dairyland as both focus on your driving record rather than your credit score when setting your rate.
- 3
Ask each insurer how it re-rates credit at renewal
Ask each insurer whether it re-evaluates credit at every six-month renewal or once per policy year. How often an insurer checks your credit determines how fast a better score lowers your bill. Quotes use a soft credit pull and won't affect your score.
- 4
Set a calendar reminder to re-shop at every renewal for three years
Rate reductions as your credit improves are never automatic. Insurers update your tier at renewal, but you'll only see the lower rate if you've gone back out to shop. A driver who qualifies for GEICO's $98 good-credit rate but never re-shops stays on the $212 poor-credit rate, which is $114 a month more than they need to pay.
Can You Get Car Insurance After Bankruptcy?
Bankruptcy won't get you denied for car insurance anywhere in the country, but in 46 states it will raise your rate immediately. At GEICO, poor credit from bankruptcy raises full coverage. Insurers re-check credit scores at each six-month renewal, so rate recovery begins when your score improves, not when bankruptcy drops off your report.
What You'll Need to Apply for Car Insurance
To get a quote after bankruptcy, you'll need your bankruptcy discharge or case number, driving record, vehicle information, prior policy details and credit report.
Bankruptcy Discharge or Case Number
Insurers won't ask for your bankruptcy discharge date directly, but it marks when your credit score begins recovering. Your discharge date marks when insurers can first re-check your credit and give you a lower rate.
Motor Vehicle Report
Your driving record determines which insurers will quote you competitively after bankruptcy. A clean record combined with poor credit qualifies for standard market pricing at GEICO ($212/month) or Progressive ($284/month). A prior DUI or at-fault accident added to poor credit pushes most standard carriers to their highest rate tier or to a decline. Check your record before you call so you're targeting the right company from the first quote.
Vehicle Information
The year, make and model plus VIN for every vehicle you're insuring. Insurers require the VIN for full coverage policies to calculate what your car is worth. If your car isn't worth much, full coverage may cost more than a claim would ever pay out.
Prior Policy Information
Your most recent insurer's name and your prior coverage limits. If you pay your premium automatically from a bank account that's part of your bankruptcy filing, that payment will stop as soon as you file. A lapse in coverage can add a second rate penalty on top of the credit damage from bankruptcy. Confirm your payment method and switch to a payment source not tied to the proceeding the day you file.
Credit Report
Get all three bureau reports at AnnualCreditReport.com before requesting any quotes, not after. Post-bankruptcy credit reports carry disputable errors at a higher rate than standard reports, and insurers price from the report they pull during underwriting. A corrected report submitted after the fact won't change the rate you were already quoted.
What to Expect After Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy can lower your credit score by up to 200 points, per Experian. In states that price insurance on credit, that drop puts most drivers into the highest-cost rate tier. Chapter 7 stays on your credit report for ten years while Chapter 13 stays on your credit report for seven years. Your insurer prices from your current credit score, not your bankruptcy filing date. Your car insurance rate can start dropping as soon as your credit improves at renewal. It doesn't have to wait until bankruptcy comes off your report.
Insurers re-check your credit score at each renewal, and drivers who actively rebuild credit can qualify for a lower rate tier within two to three years of discharge. That rate tier improvement won't apply to your existing policy automatically. Re-shopping at each renewal is how you get the lower rate your improved credit score now earns. Your current insurer uses your old rate tier at renewal, not the better one your score may now earn.
Credit score impact | Bankruptcy can drop your score by up to 200 points, depending on your starting score |
Pricing effect | Most drivers move into higher-rate poor-credit tiers in states that allow credit pricing |
Chapter 7 | Discharged in four to six months; stays on credit report for ten years |
Chapter 13 | Three-to-five-year repayment plan; stays on credit report for seven years |
Rate differences | Poor-credit full coverage ranges from $2,544/year at GEICO to $7,080/year at State Farm for the same driver |
Renewal timing | Most insurers re-check credit at renewal, so rates can improve before bankruptcy drops off your report |
HOW RECOVERY CAN LOWER RATES
Insurers review your credit score at each renewal, not at the date bankruptcy drops off your report. Drivers who open a secured credit card and make on-time payments can qualify for a better rate tier within 12 to 18 months of discharge, per FindLaw. Moving from a poor-credit tier to a good-credit tier at State Farm saves $378 per month, or $4,536 per year.
Alternatives for Drivers With Poor Credit After Bankruptcy
Drivers with poor credit after bankruptcy still have options beyond standard insurers.
Telematics Programs
State Farm Drive Safe & Save and Progressive Snapshot each offer driving-behavior discounts of up to 30%, per insurer disclosures. GEICO DriveEasy caps at up to 15%, per ValuePenguin. For a poor-credit driver paying $590 per month at State Farm, a 15% Snapshot discount brings that rate to $502. That's still $290 per month more than GEICO's poor-credit rate without any telematics enrollment. Telematics discounts don't change your credit tier or replace the rate advantage of switching to GEICO.
Nonstandard Insurers
The General and Dairyland focus on your driving record rather than your credit score when setting rates for post-bankruptcy drivers. This can mean a lower rate than you'd get from State Farm or AAA. Start with GEICO at $212 per month or Progressive at $284 per month first. If both decline or quote above $212 per month for your profile, The General and Dairyland are the appropriate next step.
Car Insurance After Bankruptcy: FAQs
Can I get car insurance in every state after bankruptcy?
Yes. No state allows an insurer to deny you coverage solely because of bankruptcy. In the 46 states that allow credit-based insurance pricing, bankruptcy raises car insurance rates immediately. At GEICO, poor credit pushes full coverage to $212 per month versus $98 per month for a driver with good credit.
Which insurers are best after bankruptcy?
GEICO offers the lowest full coverage rate for poor-credit drivers among major insurers and is cheaper than Progressive, which charges poor-credit drivers $284 per month for full coverage. State Farm's poor-credit rate of $590 per month and AAA's $866 per month are $378 and $654 higher than GEICO's rate for the same driver. Skip both until your credit recovers. If you have a prior DUI or at-fault accident, start with The General or Dairyland instead. All figures reflect a 40-year-old male driver with a clean record and 100/300/100 full coverage with a $1,000 deductible.
How much more will I pay?
Poor credit from bankruptcy pushes full coverage to $212 per month at GEICO and $284 per month at Progressive, per MoneyGeek's 2026 rate analysis. A driver with good credit pays $98 per month at GEICO and $125 per month at Progressive for the same policy. The credit penalty at GEICO is $114 per month and at Progressive is $159 per month. At State Farm, the same poor-credit driver pays $590 per month, a $378-per-month difference compared to GEICO for identical coverage. The insurer a post-bankruptcy driver starts with determines the size of the monthly credit penalty.
Does bankruptcy affect my current policy?
Filing for bankruptcy doesn't cancel your existing policy. If you miss a payment during the process and your policy lapses, getting reinstated or finding new coverage will cost more on top of the credit damage. Keep paying your premium throughout the filing. Confirm that auto-pay tied to any affected bank account is still active.
How quickly can I get back to standard rates?
Most insurers re-check credit scores at each six-month renewal. Rate recovery can begin well before bankruptcy drops off your credit report. Drivers who open a secured credit card and pay on time can qualify for a better rate tier within two to three years of discharge. Keeping balances low accelerates that recovery. A rate tier improvement won't show up on your renewal bill automatically. You have to re-shop at each renewal to get the rate you now qualify for.
Are there insurers that don't use credit at all?
In California, Hawaii and Massachusetts, every insurer is prohibited from using credit scores in pricing. Drivers in those three states pay the same car insurance rate after bankruptcy as before it. In all other states, most major insurers use credit-based scoring. The General and Dairyland weight driving record more heavily than credit score. For post-bankruptcy drivers with clean records, both carriers can price competitively. CURE Auto Insurance operates in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan and sets rates based on your driving record, not your credit score, per cure.com.
MoneyGeek analyzed car insurance rates for drivers with poor credit across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. to identify which insurers and states are most and least affected by bankruptcy-related credit damage.
How We Evaluated Insurers for Post-Bankruptcy Drivers
Rate Analysis: Compared full coverage rates for poor-credit drivers versus good-credit drivers at major insurers across all states.
State Credit Rules: Identified which states prohibit or restrict credit-based insurance pricing.
Insurer Availability: Confirmed which major and nonstandard market insurers write policies for post-bankruptcy drivers.
Recovery Timeline: Analyzed how quickly rate improvements occur as credit scores recover after discharge.
Rate figures reflect a 40-year-old male driver with a clean driving record and 100/300/100 full coverage with a $1,000 deductible. Poor-credit rates reflect a driver whose credit score falls below 580. See our full auto methodology.
About Mark Fitzpatrick
Mark Fitzpatrick, a Licensed Property and Casualty (P&C) Insurance Producer in Connecticut, is MoneyGeek's resident insurance expert. He has spent nearly a decade analyzing the market, first at LendingTree and now at MoneyGeek, where he produces original research on hundreds of carriers and millions of rates across auto, home, renters, health and life insurance.
He covers economics and insurance at MoneyGeek, and his work has been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times and NPR, among other outlets.
Like all MoneyGeek analysts, he draws on independent cost and consumer experience data. No insurance company partnership influences his recommendations.
Fitzpatrick earned his degrees from Johns Hopkins University (M.A. Economics and International Relations) and Boston College (B.A.). His career began in financial risk management at State Street. He's also a five-time “Jeopardy!” champion.