Best Car Insurance for the Air Force

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 companies. 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.

Being an Airman or Airwoman can save you $50 annually (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 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.

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.