It’s that time of the year again where your car insurance is up for renewal and you get that lovely updated premium, which, let’s face it, typically means more money out of your pocket.
You aren’t the only one this is happening to. In the last 10 years, some people have had as high as a 94% increase in full coverage policy premium and since 1982, and some insurance premiums have outpaced inflation by 2.7 times.
If you are anything like me, you begin asking yourself whether it is time to shop around for quotes, because “there has to be a better price”, right?
This article will walk you through how often to shop for car insurance, whether it is a good idea, and what’s the best way to do it, coming from someone who asked themselves this same question a couple years ago.
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How Often Should You Shop?
The typical advice is once a year, although there’s varying opinions, from every few years to as often as every six months.
My advice is to shop either when your policy is up for renewal or/and any time something meaningful changes in your life (more on that in the next section). This means you will land anywhere between 6 months to a year, depending on the provider.
I recommend you start shopping 30 to 45 days before your current insurance policy renews. This will give you ample time to compare and could potentially even give you early shopper discounts from some providers.
Why Shopping Carrier by Carrier Is a Headache (and What to Use Instead)
When I first started looking at shopping around, I was going company by company. I started with Progressive and worked my way through the big providers.
Through this process, I actually found myself questioning whether the time investment and hassle of switching and shopping through different insurance companies was worth it. Eventually, I figured out I could use a comparison platform.
This made things so much easier, because it lets you compare quotes from multiple carriers in one place. Not only that, you can filter by coverage type and your specific situation.
Life Events That Can Impact Your Rate
Your car insurance premium isn’t static and changes depending on a variety of different factors.
Insurance companies use sophisticated models which assign a level of risk to each person they insure, leveraging centuries of data and statistics. That’s because, after all, insurance companies are in it to make money.
The only way to do so is to have less costs due to accident payouts than the premiums you are paying. For example, if you pay $300 a month on car insurance, and you get into an accident that costs the insurer $5K, they will need you to pay for over a year to get their money back.
Of course, it’s really more about volume. They insure millions of people, of which only some will get into accidents, while the rest will pay hundreds of dollars a month but never get that money back.
At the end of the day, it’s all a mathematical equation for Insurance companies, so here are a few things that will impact how your premium is calculated:
Moving to a New Address
Your ZIP code greatly impacts the premium you pay. That’s because a person living in a highly populated city with historically high accident rates won’t pay the same as someone in a low crime and low accident location.
Whether it’s theft, accidents, or weather events in the area, all of those statistics are put into their model when figuring out your premium. That means that if you move to a lower claim ZIP code, you could definitely see a reduction.
Your current carrier might adjust your rate, but a different carrier might price your new location even more favorably. Don’t assume your current insurer is still the best fit after a move.
Getting Married
This one surprised me, since I recently got married, but married drivers pay an average of 8% less per year than single drivers, according to Zebra. And the savings can be much bigger if you combine policies.
A MoneyGeek analysis found married couples save anywhere from $190 to $3,727 per year compared to two separate single-driver policies, depending on the state and insurer. The main reason is insurers see married drivers as more likely to be financially stable and statistically less likely to file claims than single individuals.
If you recently got married (congrats!), you might want to consider shopping around. That’s unless your spouse has bad credit or a poor driving record or low credit. In that case, it might be better to keep separate policies and shop around individually.
Buying or Changing Your Car
The type and age of car you drive can affect what you pay. Newer vehicles with advanced safety features like automatic emergency braking or lane departure warnings can qualify for discounts.
At the same time, those same vehicles are also more expensive to repair because of all those sensors and cameras, which can push premiums up.
If you recently bought a new car, or if your current car is getting older and has depreciated significantly, it’s worth re-shopping.
Your Credit Score Changed
Whether it’s taking out a loan or applying for a credit card, your credit score really matters in this country. In the majority of U.S. states, insurers use a credit-based insurance score when setting your premium.
GEICO reports that around 95% of auto insurers now use credit-based insurance scores in states where it’s allowed. Separately, a 2026 NerdWallet analysis found that drivers with poor credit pay an average of 69% more than drivers with good credit, with MarketWatch putting it as high as 90% for minimum coverage.
This means that if you’ve recently paid down that debt that’s been haunting you, corrected errors on your credit report, or improved your credit in any way over the past year, don’t wait for your carrier to re-pull your score at renewal. Do yourself a favor and shop around. A different insurer might weigh your improved credit more favorably.
Note that some states (Hawaii, California, Massachusetts, and Michigan) have banned credit-based insurance scoring entirely, with four more (Iowa, New York, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania) having active legislation in 2026 to do the same.
If you live in a state where credit is used, this is one of the most impactful triggers to shop on.
Turning 25 (or Other Age Milestones)
As someone in their 20s, I can say from personal experience that turning 25 is an interesting feeling. At 21, you’ve basically reached all the major milestones, 16 (drivers license), 18 (legal adult), 21 (alcohol), and you are asking yourself what’s next.
Well the next milestone is turning 25, where you’ll hopefully save some money on car expenses.
If you’ve ever rented a car before 25, you probably have witnessed the annoying underage upcharge. You might also notice your car insurance is higher than your older friends and family, especially if you’re male.
Luckily this all goes away as insurers generally stop classifying you as a “youthful operator” at 25, and rates typically drop 7% to 18% in aggregate for drivers with clean records by that point.
On the other end, rates tend to stay flat between 30 and 60, then start creeping up again after 65 as health-related risk factors come into play. If you’re approaching any of these milestones, shop your policy.
Don’t wait for your current insurer to lower your rate automatically. They might, but they might not lower it as much as a competitor would.
An Accident or Ticket Falling Off Your Record
At-fault accidents typically stay on your insurance record for three to five years, depending on your state and insurer.
During that window, you’re paying a surcharge, as insurance companies try to recoup their money from you. In my personal experience, I saw an increase of about 30% in my premium when I got in my first and only accident.
An at-fault collision can raise your rates by up to 50% on average, per The Zebra’s data. That’s thousands of dollars over those three to five years.
The most important thing with accidents is that once the three to five years have passed and that accident falls off your record, your current insurer might reduce your rate, but they probably won’t reduce it back to what a clean-record customer would pay elsewhere. This is hands down, one of the best times to shop.
A new carrier will quote you based on your current clean record, without the baggage of the surcharge history your existing insurer has been building on (and trying to recuperate their money on).
Fun fact: your claims history actually sits in a database called CLUE for up to seven years, even though most insurers stop surcharging after three to five. So once that window closes, that’s your cue (or CLUE, wink wink) to start shopping.
How to Best Compare Quotes When Providers Structure Coverage Differently
When I first started shopping around, this was where I sourced the majority of my frustration. Given I went company by company, I ended up pulling different quotes that, at first glance, seemed easily comparable by looking at the premium per month.
Unfortunately, it’s not so straightforward, simply because providers might have different coverage limits, deductibles, and add-ons like roadside assistance. This makes it difficult to truly compare apples to apples.
Here’s how to level the playing field:
Use a Comparison Site
Use a site like BestMoney to quickly compare different quotes from a variety of providers, inputting your specific circumstance.
These sites are a fast way to compare a bunch of options at once and ensure you are getting a feel for what the market has to offer. It’s free and definitely beats going company by company.
Note: BestMoney is free and ad-supported. The insurers you see may be partners, and that relationship can influence placement. They disclose this, which is standard across comparison platforms.
Lock in the Same Coverage Limits
When requesting quotes, use the same liability limits across every carrier. A common benchmark is 100/300/100 ($100K per person bodily injury, $300K per accident, $100K property damage).
If one quote uses state minimum limits and another uses 100/300/100, the prices are not comparable. State minimums are often dangerously low anyway. In a serious accident, minimum liability can leave you personally responsible for tens of thousands in damages.
Also, you’ll want to pay attention to the type of vehicle you have. If it’s a lease, the leasing company might require a certain level of coverage. If the car is older and less expensive, it might make sense to have lower comprehensive and collision coverage.
Match Your Deductibles
A $500 deductible on comprehensive and collision will produce a higher premium than a $1,000 deductible on the same coverage. Make sure every quote uses the same deductible amount, or you’re comparing different risk levels.
One quick tip I’ve noticed in my own experience: pay attention to the deductible you select and what it does to your premium. I noticed that typically providers charge very little more to have a much smaller deductible.
In my case, I calculated that for the increase in my premium for a lower deductible to be a waste, I would need to not get in an accident for 5 years. After that, I opted for a reduced deductible.
The calculation is simple: if your premium is $200 a month for a $1K deductible and the provider charges you just $10 more a month to have a $500 deductible, you’d need to get in an accident once in the next 50 months or about 4 years for it to have been worth it.
Check What’s Included vs. What’s Add-On
Depending on the carrier, you might have some that bundle specific features like roadside assistance and rental car reimbursement into the standard quote you get when applying. Others might list them as optional add-ons that cost extra.
If you initially see a lower price, make sure to pay attention to what is really being included vs not. The best way to do this is to skim the declarations page (the summary of what’s covered), to ensure you have the full picture.
Where to Start
If you haven’t shopped your car insurance recently, here’s what I’d do: find your current declarations page so you know exactly what coverage and limits you have.
Then head to BestMoney or a similar comparison platform and run quotes with those same coverage levels. Compare a few different carriers and pay attention to the coverage details to ensure you have the whole story.
Next, set a recurring reminder on your phone for 30 to 45 days before every renewal. Otherwise you’ll likely forget, I know I would. And any time something in your life changes (new car, new address, credit improvement, an accident aging off your record, a marriage), remember to shop. You don’t need to switch every time, but it doesn’t hurt to check.
If that doesn’t convince you, let me give you one more stat: the average driver who actually switches carriers saves about $460 a year according to Consumer Reports. That’s a good chunk of money for what amounts to maybe an hour of comparison shopping.
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