Idaho State Car Insurance Guide USA

Steve Oke Chapchap Market No Comments

Idaho Car Insurance Guide

There’s so much to love about living in Idaho. There’s wild scenery, world-class skiing, and even a hotel shaped like a beagle. Plus, Idaho car insurance is cheap. How cheap? Rates are the lowest in the nation, for the average driver. Pretty sweet!

However, just because the average driver sees low rates, you can’t count on your insurance company to give you the best deal. That’s why it pays to compare — we’ll show you how. Read this guide, or skip ahead and start getting quotes for cheap car insurance on Compare.com. You’ll be surprised by how much you can save. If you’re happy to keep reading, here are five of your questions answered about Idaho car insurance.

1. How Do I Find the Cheapest Auto Insurance in Idaho?
Of all the insurance companies in Idaho, which one offers the best car insurance quotes? Trick question! Because every insurer calculates premiums differently, there’s no single company that gives everyone the lowest rates. Your personal rates may depend on your age, your driving history, the car you drive, your address, your employment, your credit, and other factors. That’s why you have to compare personalized auto insurance quotes for Idaho side by side if you want to get the best deal.

Get started here. It only takes a few minutes to enter some basic info, then select the level of insurance you want. If you want the absolute cheapest Idaho car insurance, pick state minimum coverage, then compare quotes.

2. What Are Idaho’s Minimum Auto Insurance Requirements?
By law, you must carry 25/50/15 liability insurance that pays for other people’s damages in an accident you’re responsible for. What does that mean?

$25,000 for injury or death of one person in an accident
$50,000 for bodily injury or death per accident
$15,000 for property damage in an accident
Idaho also requires you to have uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury coverage in the amount of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. It’s possible to opt out of this coverage if you do it in writing, but it’s a good idea to keep it. UM/UIM coverage can protect you and your passengers if you’re hurt in an accident caused by a driver who has no insurance or not enough insurance.

3. Do I Need to Have More Than Idaho State Minimum Insurance?
That depends on your answers to these questions:

How old is your car? If you drive a beater, you may be OK with the minimum insurance. But if you own a newer car, or one with a loan, you’ll need to add comprehensive and collision coverage.

What’s your financial situation? If you’re pretty broke, that means you don’t have much to lose in the event that someone sues you for damages after a car accident. But if you own a house, or you have some savings, it’s smart to carry enough insurance to protect those assets from a lawsuit.

What’s your risk tolerance? Most car accidents are pretty minor. The average auto liability claim for property damage is $3,683, and the average auto liability claim for bodily injury is $16,110 — well within the limits of the minimum Idaho auto insurance. However, if the thought of causing a big accident and getting sued freaks you out, then you should buy more insurance.

4. OK, so How Can I Find Cheap Idaho Car Insurance that Gives me Enough Protection?
Because Idaho car insurance rates are so cheap, it’s easy to find solid coverage you can easily afford. Here’s how to do it: Use your quotes for Idaho state minimum insurance as a baseline, then check quotes for better coverage to see how much more you’d pay.

As an example, we’ll look at a 27-year-old driver who’s searching for car insurance in Boise. She has a good driving record, and she drives a five-year-old Honda CR-V. Her quotes for 25/50/15 state minimum insurance range from $57 to $66 per month, paid up front. (If she opts to pay month to month, she’ll end up paying a little more.)

That’s pretty cheap! But because she drives a newer car, our Boise driver decides to upgrade to Basic coverage, which adds comprehensive and collision. Her insurance quotes now range from $71 to $136 per month. See how comparing could save her $65 per month?

What if our driver also owns a house in Boise? To get more insurance to protect her assets, she might consider upgrading to the Plus level of insurance. In Idaho, Plus coverage raises bodily injury and property damage liability to 50/100/50 (with the same limits for uninsured motorist coverage). It also adds $2,000 in medical payments, which can pay medical bills for the driver, her family and her passengers after an accident.

Plus also drops the comprehensive/collision deductible to $500, and adds towing/rental car coverage. Our Boise driver’s quotes for Plus coverage range from $89 to $166 per month. That’s pretty awesome – looking at the lowest quotes, she can get more than double the coverage of Basic for just $18 more per month.

This is just an example, of course. Your quotes will be different, and insurance rates change day to day. So when you find a good quote, don’t hesitate — buy it.

5. I Can’t Afford Idaho Car Insurance. What Happens if I Drive Without Insurance?
In Idaho, the penalties for driving uninsured aren’t too severe — a $75 fine for a first offense. However, you may also have to carry SR-22 insurance, which gets expensive. And if you’re caught driving without insurance a second time, you could get hit with a fine of up to $1,000 and up to 6 months in jail. That’s no joke.

Don’t drive uninsured! To find a policy you can afford, all you have to do is compare ID car insurance quotes and pick the cheapest. Start here!