Who Has the Cheapest Auto Insurance Quotes in Alabama?

Our team analyzed auto insurance quotes for four types of drivers across multiple companies in Alabama to find who had the best rates by insurer and city. Rates varied from city to city, but the greatest gap came from what insurers quoted. The most expensive carrier charged as much as 2.5x the cheapest auto insurance company in Alabama. This is why motorists in the Heart of Dixie should compare several quotes if they're looking for good rates. Enter your zip code above to start shopping among top insurers in your area for great car insurance rates.

• Cheapest Auto Insurance Companies in Alabama
• Best Car Insurance Rates by City
• Average Cost of Car Insurance by City
• Best Car Insurance Companies in AL

Cheapest Auto Insurance in Alabama

Rates were obtained for 16 underwriters for a single 30 year old man. The driver is a typical 30 year old motorist in Alabama with a good driving record. Based on these results, we found the cheapest auto insurance rates in Alabama at: Progressive, United Services, ACCC, National General and Infinity. 

Rates from the top three lowest cost companies averaged $800, which came out to about 36% cheaper than what the typical company charged for basic liability coverage in the state. Below is a table ranking the carrier groups with the best car insurance rates in Alabama to the most expensive.

Rank	Auto Insurance Company	Avg Annual Rates
1	Progressive	$673
2	United Services	$863
3	ACCC	$865
4	National General	$887
5	Infinity	$948
6	Integon National	$1,012
7	Guideone Speciality	$1,128
8	Allstate	$1,160
9	Integon General	$1,181
10	Standard Fire	$1,194

Your actual rates are dictated by your record and history as a driver, and we always recommend consumers to compare across at least three insurers to find the best match. Here is a list of nine Alabama auto insurance companies included in our study, as well as the average cost of coverage for a year based on our sample driver profiles.

Cheap Car Insurance in Alabama: by City

The table below lists the companies with the cheapest auto insurance rates in each Alabama city in our study. Note that these annual premiums are composite rates based on a typical 30 year old male driver types of driver in the Yellowhammer State. Your actual quotes will be different and tailored to your individual circumstances. This merely shows who tends to offer the best rates, and in which cities. 

Birmingham, AL

Despite having the largest urban population in the state of Alabama, Birmingham has the 10th least expensive rates in the state. Car collectors are in great company in Birmingham, with the largest collection in the world of both vintage and modern motorcycles and racecars at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. It's currently the only city in the Deep South to host the Honda Indy Grand Prix on the North American circuit. Last but not least, Birmingham is home base for the Porsche Sport Driving School as well. Residents here pay on average $1,226 to insure their cars each year.

Drivers looking for the cheap auto insurance in Birmingham should include Progressive, Infinity, and National General when shopping for cheap quotes. Our analysis shows that these three companies had the cheapest auto insurance rates, averaging about $762 for our sample driver, which is 61%  lower than what the average company in Birmingham was quoting. 

Montgomery, AL

Montgomery is the second largest city in Alabama and home to 206,000 residents. $1,268 was the average cost for our resident driver, about $20 more in the state capital to buy car insurance compared to the rest of the state. We suggest adding Progressive, National General and United Services when looking for great auto quotes in Montgomery. Rates at these three insurers go for about $794 a year, which saves drivers 60% compared to the average insurer's quotes in Montgomery.

Mobile, AL

In addition to being the birthplace of Mardi Gras in the United States and the only saltwater seaport in Alabama, Mobile ranks as the most expensive city for car insurance. $1,368 is the mean annual premium for in Mobile, AL based on quote data for our example driver. Quotes from Progressive, National General and United Services were the most affordable in Mobile. On average, rates from these three cheap car insurance companies in Mobile were $832 a year and about 64%  lower than the citywide cost. 

Huntsville, AL

Alabama's third cheapest city is situated in the Tennessee Valley. Named to the National Trust for Historic Preservation's "America's Dozen Distinctive Destinations for 2010", Huntsville, AL is the fourth largest city in the state. The average cost of insuring a vehicle in Huntsville is $1,168 for our sample, about $80 less than what other state residents may pay. Rates here are already low, but if you're looking to go lower, start at Progressive, National General and United Services, the cheapest three auto insurers in Huntsville. Going with these three could save you $439; that's 60% lower than the citywide average in Huntsville. 

Tuscaloosa, AL

Rounding out our top five list of cheapest cities for car insurance in Alabama is Tuscaloosa, also the fifth largest city in the state with 90,000 residents. Home to the University of Alabama system and the Mercedes-Benz assembly plant, a 30 year old driver living in Tuscaloosa will pay on average $1,220 for full coverage car insurance. That's just a tad less than the overall state mean. Based on the annual premiums we found the lowest auto insurance quotes at Progressive, National General and United Services for our 30 year old driver. Going with one of these three companies meant a premium that was lower than the city average by $430, which shaved about 55% off of what the typical insurer would charge here.

Average Cost of Car Insurance in Alabama: by City

The mean cost of insurance in Alabama was $1,249 as measured for our 30 year old male driver. Generally speaking, the cost of insurance did not vary much depending on location. In fact, the difference between the cities with the most expensive rates (Mobile, AL) and the cheapest car insurance (Dothan, AL) was just about 20% - less than other states in our other auto insurance studies. 

Rank	City	Avg Annual Rate
1	Florence	$1,132
2	Ozark	$1,166
3	Huntsville	$1,169
4	Dothan	$1,176
5	Foley	$1,198
6	Decatur	$1,202
7	Auburn	$1,209
8	Gulf Shores	$1,218
9	Tuscaloosa	$1,220
10	Birmingham	$1,226
11	Andalusia	$1,227
12	Anniston	$1,235
13	Boaz	$1,235
14	Alexander City	$1,244
15	Russellville	$1,245
16	Bay Minette	$1,248
	State Average	$1,249
17	Ft Payne	$1,251
18	Cullman	$1,255
19	Daphne	$1,257
20	Clanton	$1,266
21	Montgomery	$1,268
22	Troy	$1,284
23	Jasper	$1,333
24	Eufaula	$1,354
25	Citronelle	$1,361
26	Grove Hill	$1,368
27	Mobile	$1,368

Best Car Insurance Companies in Alabama

One way we've thought of addressing the question of who the best auto insurers in Alabama are is to figure out which received the least complaints relative to the amount of business the conduct. We researched the amount of business and complaints for the ten biggest carriers in the state, and calculated each carrier's complaint ratio. To compute this ratio, we took a company’s complaints and divided it per $1 million premiums of the company. This ratio allows us to compare across the major carriers, and shows how dissatisfied consumers are with their provider. The table below ranks the largest companies from the lowest ratio (least dissatisfied and happiest) to largest ratio (most dissatisfied and least happy). Progressive, Allstate, and Alfa rank as the three best rated car insurance companies in Alabama based on this metric.

Company	Direct Premiums	# of Complaints	Complaint Ratio
Progressive	$171,360,000	3	0.02
Allstate	270,293,000	7	0.03
Alfa Mutual Group	390,185,000	12	0.03
GEICO	228,534,000	9	0.04
State Farm	604,955,000	29	0.05
USAA	151,411,000	8	0.05
Nationwide	97,039,000	6	0.06
Farmers	85,110,000	7	0.08
Liberty Mutual	62,525,000	10	0.16
Travelers	55,880,000	12	0.21

Auto Insurance Rate Changes in Alabama

If car insurance companies want to raise their rates they must file with each individual state. It's not different in Alabama. Each year these insurers like to make adjustments (usually up!) to their premiums for drivers in the state. To give you an idea of how much these companies have changed their rates in the last year we've looked at eight top companies in Alabama:

Auto Insurer	Rate Change	Date
Travelers Insurance	+8.4%	October 2013
Esurance	+6.3%	February 2014
GEICO	+5.8%	June 2013
Hartford Insurance	+5.1%	July 2013
Progressive	+3.7%	February 2014
USAA	+1.5%	July 2013
State Farm	+1.4%	February 2014
Allstate	No Change	March 2014

How We Conducted This Study

We collected quotes from a variety of insurance companies across 27 towns and cities in Alabama. Our sample driver was a 30 year old male who drove a Toyota Camry. To obtain quotes, we kept parameters for getting coverage the same, such as that he was single, had a good credit score and a clean driving record. The only parameter that changed was the zip code where he lived. The amount of coverage we opted for gave our driver bit more than what is required of state minimums. Below you can see the state required limits as well as the coverage used in our study.

Coverage Type	Alabama Minimum	Study Limits
Bodily Liability	$25,000 per person / $50,000 per accident	$50,000 per person/ $100,000 per accident
Property Damage	$25,000 per accident	$50,000 per accident
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist BI	None	$50,000 per person/ $100,000 per accident
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Property	None	None
Personal Injury Protection (PIP)	None	None
Comprehensive & Collision	None	$500 Deductible