You handle the Thunderbird. We got the car insurance.
Being an Airman or Airwoman isn’t all Thunderbirds and Hueys. There are times when you’ll be on base and in need of cheap car insurance. But your career does allow you have insurance benefits as well as some policy specifications to consider. Let’s get started.
While you might be contractually obligated to the Air Force, you’re not with your car insurance company. You’re free to leave your current insurance company if you find a better rate elsewhere. So, in order to see which company is actually the cheapest for car insurance, we created a user profile in which the insured individual was in the Air Force. Let’s see the results.
Cheap Car Insurance for the Air Force
| Company | 6 month Premium for the Air Force | 6 month Premium for Other Occupation |
|---|---|---|
| Allstate | $766 | $787 |
| GEICO | $681 | $710 |
| Farmers | $667 | $679 |
| Nationwide | $623 | $643 |
| Progressive | $701 | $728 |
| State Farm | $707 | $748 |
| USAA | $713 | $740 |
Being an Airman or Airwoman can save you $25 per six-month policy (the greatest discount available based solely on your occupation). Although a discount is always nice to have, it’s important to focus on the bigger picture. While Nationwide offers the smallest discount for Air Force personnel, the company's overall premium is the cheapest. While discounts are nice, be sure to look at the overall premium when shopping for Air Force car insurance.
Deployment can lead to some unique car insurance situations. If you’re living away from your vehicle and no one is using it, you may be tempted to cancel your car insurance policy. But it’s a little more complicated than that. Let’s break down your auto insurance and vehicle registration options.
Most states require two things when it comes to your vehicle: registration with the DMV and state-minimum car insurance coverage. While it makes sense to cancel your auto insurance when you won't be using your vehicle, you actually run the risk of having your registration suspended. This could result in a fine.
If you’re going to be deployed for a long period of time and want to cancel your auto insurance, you either need to cancel your registration or, if your state allows, “suspend” it. You can suspend coverage by submitting an Affidavit of Non-Use or a Planned Non-Operation (PNO) to your state’s department of motor vehicles. If you agree to an Affidavit of Non-Use, you’re basically agreeing that the vehicle won’t be driven on public roadways, and stating its insurance has been canceled. The latter means you will not be using your vehicle during the next renewal year. For more information on this, refer to your state's DMV.
If you don’t want to totally cancel your insurance coverage and registration, a second option is storage coverage.
If your insurance company allows it, you can change your insurance coverage to "storage." This will drop all your insurance coverage except for your comprehensive coverage, which protects you against damage caused by vandalism, theft, and weather-caused damage. Because it doesn’t offer any protection against collision claims, you’re going to want to store your vehicle in a secured location like an air force base or a garage.
Because this type of coverage may not comply with your state’s registration and insurance laws, be wary of registration-related deadlines. If your registration is up for renewal soon, you should wait until it passes to add this coverage. However, if your state actively monitors registration — looking at you, Texas — you might not be able to do this.
There are a lot of insurance companies that offer special accommodations for those in the Air Force. Some have programs built entirely around past and present military members, and others reward your service with discounted rates.
The most notable provider of car insurance for Air Force members is USAA. The insurance company's clientele consists exclusively of active or retired military members as well as adult children or surviving spouses of USAA members. USAA is ranked pretty high in customer satisfaction, earning second in the JP Power Insurance Shopping Rating Survey for 2017 overall satisfaction rate. Available nationwide, USAA offers a few additional discounts. If you garage your vehicle on a secured military base, USAA offers 15% off. If you’re deployed and storing your vehicle in a secured location, you can receive up to 90% off your rate.
Many insurance companies offer special accommodations for those in the Air Force. Some have programs built entirely around past and present military members, and others recognize your Air Force status and reward these customers with a discounted rate.
No matter what your job is, you’re probably paying more for auto insurance than you’d like. Below are some additional ways to save on auto insurance.
Double check for multi-policy: keep all your insurance policies within one insurance company can help reduce the number of insurance companies you have to do with as well as give you a discount. Consider this if you have a renters/homeowners/or life policy.
Get life insurance: Some auto insurers offer life insurance either through them or a subsidiary. If they do, this will usually give you multi-policy as well.
Shop around: The very best way to make sure you're getting the cheapest rate is to double check for these types of discounts, but also to shop around every six months. Only with us can you shop hundreds of companies at once to find the best rate and coverage for you.
Between September and December 2017, The Zebra conducted comprehensive auto insurance pricing analysis using its proprietary quote engine, comprising data from insurance rating platforms and public rate filings. The Zebra examined nearly 53 million rates to explore trends for specific auto insurance rating factors across all United States zip codes, averaged by state, including Washington, DC.
Analysis used a consistent base profile for the insured driver: a 30-year-old single male driving a 2013 Honda Accord EX with a good driving history and coverage limits of $50,000 bodily injury liability per person/$100,000 bodily injury liability per accident/$50,000 property damage liability per accident with a $500 deductible for comprehensive and collision. For coverage level data, optional coverage (that must be rejected in writing) is included where applicable, including uninsured motorist coverage and personal injury protection.
National property and casualty losses information is from the Insurance Information Institute and the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters report.
For vehicle make and model data, analysis referenced the most popular vehicles in the U.S. by 2016 year-end sales according to Goodcarbadcar.net’s automakers’ data.
Finally, some rate data may vary slightly throughout report based on rounding.
