Cheap Auto Insurance in Darlington, South Carolina
Cheap Auto Insurance in Darlington, South Carolina
Find Cheap Auto Insurance Quotes in Darlington, SC
The best minimum coverage rates in Darlington, South Carolina, come from Geico, which offers rates 42% cheaper than the city average.
Minimum coverage auto insurance costs, on average, $1,013 per year in Darlington. Geico, however, charges only $587 for an annual policy, a ValuePenguin study found. The city's overall rate for minimum coverage is 8% more expensive than the average rate in South Carolina.
Darlington is a small city just outside of Florence and is next to the Darlington Raceway NASCAR track. The best way to find savings in a state that has higher insurance rates, such as South Carolina, is to shop around and see how factors in your driving history impact your price.
Depending on the insurer, average full coverage rates could differ by up to $1,625. Minimum coverage rates could nearly triple, depending on your company.
Cheapest auto insurance in Darlington: Geico
Geico offers the cheapest widely available auto insurance quotes in Darlington, at $587 per year, narrowly edging out State Farm at $591. Both rates are at least 42% cheaper than the city average for minimum coverage.
Allstate and Progressive are the next-best options at $869 and $908, respectively.
Darlington's cheapest rates overall are offered by USAA, with an average rate of $535 per year for minimum coverage. However, only current and former military members as well as some of their family members can get policies.
Find Cheap Auto Insurance Quotes in Darlington
A minimum liability policy will save you money in the short term, but it will not provide any protection for your vehicle. This means you will have to pay for damage if you are at fault in an accident or for theft or vandalism.
We recommend drivers with newer or more expensive vehicles invest in more protection or a full coverage policy.
Rank | Company | Average annual rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geico | $587 |
| 2 | State Farm | $591 |
| 3 | Allstate | $869 |
| 4 | Progressive | $908 |
| 5 | Farm Bureau | $944 |
| 6 | Auto-Owners | $1,397 |
| 7 | Nationwide | $1,585 |
| 8 | Travelers | $1,706 |
| N/A | USAA* | $535 |
*USAA is not ranked because only military members (current and former) and their families are eligible.
Cheapest full coverage car insurance in Darlington: Geico
Darlington's top options for full coverage insurance are Geico, State Farm and Auto-Owners. All have annual rates of $2,035 or less per year.
Geico's rate is the lowest at $1,460 for an annual policy — $197 less than State Farm's. Auto-Owners Insurance has the smallest cost increase from minimum coverage to full coverage, a difference of $638.
Rank | Company | Average annual rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geico | $1,460 |
| 2 | State Farm | $1,657 |
| 3 | Auto-Owners | $2,035 |
| 4 | Farm Bureau | $2,130 |
| 5 | Nationwide | $2,306 |
| 6 | Progressive | $2,552 |
| 7 | Allstate | $2,936 |
| 8 | Travelers | $3,085 |
| N/A | USAA* | $1,413 |
*USAA is only available to current and former military members and their families.
Full coverage includes higher liability limits than the state-mandated minimums, plus comprehensive and collision coverages. Switching to full coverage can increase rates between 45% and 238%.
Comprehensive
Protects against damage caused by circumstances out of your control, such as "acts of God," theft and vandalism.
Collision
Covers damage in situations where you are at fault in an accident, hit another object or your car flips over or is driven into a ditch.
We recommend that you get a full coverage policy if your car is worth more than $3,000 or less than 10 years old. Collision coverage covers some of the most common ways your car can be damaged, while comprehensive provides coverage in situations that are unpredictable and out of your control.
Cheap car insurance for drivers with prior incidents
The quickest way to raise your rates is to have incidents such as a speeding ticket, DUI or accident on your record. In Darlington or anywhere else, this means shopping around can be more crucial in helping you save money.
We found the cheapest car insurance for Darlington drivers who have:
Cheapest car insurance in Darlington after an accident: State Farm
Darlington's top option for for full coverage rates after an at-fault accident is State Farm, which is $144 per year cheaper than Geico and is even $40 per year cheaper than USAA.
State Farm offers a rate of $1,992 per year after an accident, which is only $335 more than with a clean record. An accident raises rates 46%, on average, in Darlington.
Rank | Company | Rate before accident | Rate after accident | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | State Farm | $1,657 | $1,992 | $335 |
| 2 | Geico | $1,460 | $2,136 | $676 |
| 3 | Farm Bureau | $2,130 | $2,716 | $586 |
| 4 | Auto-Owners | $2,035 | $3,044 | $1,009 |
| 5 | Nationwide | $2,306 | $3,430 | $1,124 |
| 6 | Travelers | $3,085 | $3,751 | $666 |
| 7 | Progressive | $2,552 | $3,983 | $1,431 |
| 8 | Allstate | $2,936 | $5,504 | $2,568 |
| N/A | USAA* | $1,413 | $2,032 | $619 |
*USAA is not ranked because only military members (current and former) and their families are eligible.
Darlington's average increase for rates after an accident is in line with the state average of 46%.
Cheapest car insurance for drivers with a speeding ticket: Geico
Geico's rate is 54% less than the city average of $2,619. State Farm has the second-lowest rate at $1,791 per year on average, with Auto-Owners in third at $2,416.
Speeding tickets raise the average premium by 20% in Darlington, an increase of $444 to a total average rate of $2,619 per year.
Rank | Company | Average annual rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geico | $1,460 |
| 2 | State Farm | $1,791 |
| 3 | Auto-Owners | $2,416 |
| 4 | Farm Bureau | $2,511 |
| 5 | Nationwide | $2,771 |
| 6 | Progressive | $3,219 |
| 7 | Travelers | $3,385 |
| 8 | Allstate | $4,264 |
| N/A | USAA* | $1,751 |
*USAA is not ranked because only military members (current and former) and their families are eligible.
Cheapest car insurance for drivers with a DUI: State Farm
State Farm raises rates by only 8% after a DUI, which leads to a rate $720 cheaper per year than the next-best option, Farm Bureau.
Rank | Company | Average annual rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | State Farm | $1,791 |
| 2 | Farm Bureau | $2,511 |
| 3 | Progressive | $3,118 |
| 4 | Geico | $3,566 |
| 5 | Travelers | $4,005 |
| 6 | Nationwide | $4,302 |
| 7 | Auto-Owners | $4,481 |
| 8 | Allstate | $4,499 |
| N/A | USAA* | $2,629 |
*USAA is not ranked because only military members (current and former) and their families are eligible.
Cheapest car insurance for drivers with poor credit: Geico
Poor credit increases rates by 60% in Darlington on average. The lowest increase in rates is from Nationwide, which raises prices 26%.
Only State Farm and Geico have cheaper-than-average rates. The city average overall is $2,936, with Progressive and Auto-Owners as the most expensive options.
In Darlington, bad credit raises rates for a driver more than a DUI, accident or speeding ticket. Being a younger driver will raise your rates more.
Rank | Company | Average annual rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geico | $2,166 |
| 2 | State Farm | $2,509 |
| 3 | Allstate | $2,936 |
| 4 | Travelers | $3,007 |
| 5 | Farm Bureau | $3,104 |
| 6 | Nationwide | $3,189 |
| 7 | Auto-Owners | $3,388 |
| 8 | Progressive | $3,790 |
| N/A | USAA* | $2,657 |
*USAA is not ranked because only military members (current and former) and their families are eligible.
Cheapest car insurance for young drivers: Farm Bureau
One factor that can raise insurance rates is a younger driver being the primary name on the policy. Insurers consider teens and young adults riskier because they are more likely to drive carelessly and get in accidents because of inexperience.
The most affordable insurance companies for the average 18-year-old driver in Darlington are Farm Bureau and Geico, which both have rates of less than $4,000 per year for full coverage.
The city average is $6,741, but the rate from Farm Bureau is $3,968 per year. Geico is a few dollars more expensive at $3,973 per year, but that is still $822 less than the next-cheapest widely available option.
If you're looking for insurance for young drivers, you should get quotes from multiple insurers. The baseline rates are going to be higher, which means the savings between companies could be larger.
Rank | Insurer | Average annual rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Farm Bureau | $3,968 |
| 2 | Geico | $3,973 |
| 3 | State Farm | $4,795 |
| 4 | Allstate | $6,660 |
| 5 | Auto-Owners | $8,219 |
| 6 | Nationwide | $8,458 |
| 7 | Travelers | $8,470 |
| 8 | Progressive | $10,714 |
| N/A | USAA* | $5,416 |
*USAA is not ranked because only military members (current and former) and their families are eligible.
You can also keep costs down with these two options:
- Asking about discounts.
- Talking to your parents or family about joining their policy.
Staying on a combined policy is almost always considerably cheaper than separate ones. Many insurance companies offer discounts, such as good student discounts, targeted at younger drivers.
Car insurance companies with the best customer service in South Carolina
Quality customer service is a major part of what makes a top insurer, alongside good prices. That service can include fast processing times for claims and 24/7 customer support. According to a survey conducted by ValuePenguin, the insurers with the best customer service in South Carolina are:
USAA is only available to members of the military, veterans and certain family members. See our page on South Carolina car insurance for our full analysis of the top-rated South Carolina auto insurers.
Overall rank* | Insurer | Respondents overall extremely satisfied with most recent claim | Respondents who rated customer service as "excellent" |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auto-Owners | 100% | 67% |
| 2 | USAA | 78% | 62% |
| 3 | Nationwide | 78% | 53% |
| 4 | State Farm | 73% | 46% |
| 5 | Allstate | 72% | 47% |
| 6 | Progressive | 74% | 34% |
| 7 | Geico | 64% | 42% |
| 8 | Travelers | 63% | 33% |
*Overall rank takes both overall satisfaction and customer service rankings into account.
Auto theft statistics in Darlington
Darlington is a smaller city in South Carolina and had a lower rate of car thefts per 1,000 residents in 2019 than most of the 10 largest cities in the Palmetto State. Of the group, only Mount Pleasant, Summerville and Rock Hill had lower rates of car theft than Darlington.
North Charleston had the highest rate of thefts and the most total, at 965, followed by South Carolina’s capital, Columbia. Darlington had 16 car thefts overall in 2019.
Rank | City | Population | Car thefts | Thefts per 10,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mount Pleasant | 92,448 | 102 | 1.1 |
| 2 | Summerville | 52,886 | 105 | 2.0 |
| 3 | Rock Hill | 75,342 | 186 | 2.5 |
| N/A | Darlington | 5,886 | 16 | 2.7 |
| 4 | Sumter | 39,546 | 108 | 2.7 |
Motor vehicle theft data was pulled from the FBI 2019 South Carolina crime report.
Average car insurance cost in Darlington, by neighborhood
Only two ZIP codes make up the city of Darlington, and the price difference between them is modest: $59 per year for full coverage and $34 for minimum coverage.
Residents of 29532, which includes most of the town and the raceway, will pay higher rates. Those in 29540, which covers only a small sliver of land in Darlington itself, will pay less.
ZIP code | Full coverage | Minimum coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 29532 | $5,150 | $2,670 |
| 29540 | $5,091 | $2,636 |
Methodology
We collected insurance quotes from nine of South Carolina's largest insurers. The sample driver is a 30-year-old man with average credit, who drives a 2015 Honda Civic EX. Unless otherwise noted, rates are for a full coverage policy.
Rate data was collected with Quadrant Information Services and sourced from public insurer filings. This article should be used for comparative purposes only, as your rates will likely differ.
Editorial Note: The content of this article is based on the author’s opinions and recommendations alone. It has not been previewed, commissioned or otherwise endorsed by any of our network partners.