Deciphering which companies have the best car insurance rates for retired military calls for more time in order to find coverage that fits your budget. Every car insurance company has a proprietary method for setting rates, so to begin we’ll rank the overall cheapest car insurance companies in Buffalo.
It’s a good idea to know that Buffalo, NY car insurance rates are impacted by many things which can substantially change the cost of a policy. Simply having a birthday, increasing liability limits, or having an at-fault accident may generate price changes that can cause some rates to be cheaper than competitors.
Cheapest Insurance Rates for Vets
| Rank | Company | Cost Per Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | USAA | $1,199 |
| 2 | Erie | $1,205 |
| 3 | Progressive | $1,496 |
| 4 | Travelers | $1,513 |
| 5 | Utica National | $1,534 |
| 6 | Allstate | $1,556 |
| 7 | MetLife | $1,572 |
| 8 | Amica | $1,580 |
| 9 | Preferred Mutual | $1,703 |
| 10 | Safeco | $1,888 |
| 11 | New York Central Mutual | $1,892 |
| 12 | State Farm | $1,924 |
| 13 | GEICO | $1,926 |
| 14 | Central Mutual | $2,028 |
| 15 | Liberty Mutual | $2,087 |
| 16 | Hanover | $2,299 |
| 17 | Encompass | $2,610 |
| 18 | Nationwide | $3,178 |
| 19 | Mercury | $3,926 |
| 20 | 21st Century | $4,455 |
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USAA generally has some of the best car insurance rates in Buffalo at around $1,199 per year. Erie, Progressive, Travelers, and Utica National also rank well as some of the best Buffalo, NY insurance companies.
In this example, if you are insured with Progressive and switched to USAA, you might realize a yearly savings of approximately $297. Insureds with Travelers may save as much as $314 a year, and Utica National customers might lower prices by up to $335 a year.
To find cheaper insurance rates for your vehicle, click here to begin a quote or visit any of the companies below.
Be aware that those premium estimates are averages for all insureds and vehicles and and are not figured with an exact zip code location for retired military. So the company that is most affordable for your situation may not even be in the top 20 companies in the list above. That affirms the importance of why you need to get rate quotes using your own driver data and vehicle information.
One of the more important factors that are used to help calculate the price you pay for insurance is where you normally keep your vehicle in Buffalo. Areas with more people or higher crime rates will most likely pay more, whereas areas that tend to be more rural have the luxury of lower rates.
The information below shows the highest-priced areas in New York for retired military to buy auto insurance in. Buffalo ranks #13 with the annual price of $1,488 for the average policy, which is about $124 monthly.
| Rank | City | Premium Per Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | $2,654 |
| 2 | Freeport | $2,235 |
| 3 | Hempstead | $2,211 |
| 4 | Levittown | $1,981 |
| 5 | Mount Vernon | $1,978 |
| 6 | West Babylon | $1,932 |
| 7 | Yonkers | $1,920 |
| 8 | Brentwood | $1,872 |
| 9 | Hicksville | $1,843 |
| 10 | Coram | $1,784 |
| 11 | New Rochelle | $1,676 |
| 12 | White Plains | $1,629 |
| 13 | Buffalo | $1,488 |
| 14 | Cheektowaga | $1,253 |
| 15 | West Seneca | $1,225 |
| 16 | Niagara Falls | $1,201 |
| 17 | Tonawanda | $1,201 |
| 18 | Utica | $1,125 |
| 19 | Syracuse | $1,097 |
| 20 | Schenectady | $1,062 |
| 21 | Albany | $1,056 |
| 22 | Troy | $1,053 |
| 23 | Rochester | $1,036 |
| 24 | Irondequoit | $1,021 |
| 25 | Binghamton | $922 |
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Annual rates are approximated as specific Buffalo garaging address can increase or decrease coverage prices greatly.
The type of vehicle requiring insurance is one of the largest considerations when quoting the most economical car insurance for retired military. Vehicles with reasonable performance levels, advanced safety features, or low incidents of liability claims will cost substantially less to insure than higher performance models.
The information below shows insurance rates for a handful of the most budget-friendly automobiles to buy coverage for.
| Vehicle Make and Model | Estimated Cost for Full Coverage |
|---|---|
| Honda CR-V EX-L 2WD | $2,069 |
| Toyota Prius | $2,237 |
| Ford F-150 STX Regular Cab 4WD | $2,269 |
| Chevrolet Silverado LS Extended Cab 4WD | $2,392 |
| Honda Accord EX 4-Dr Sedan | $2,479 |
| Toyota Tacoma X-Runner 2WD | $2,518 |
| Chevrolet Equinox LTZ AWD | $2,563 |
| Ford Escape Limited 4WD | $2,695 |
| Toyota Camry Hybrid | $2,734 |
| Toyota RAV4 Limited 2WD | $2,747 |
| Dodge Ram 3500 Crew Cab Laramie 2WD | $2,779 |
| Dodge Grand Caravan SXT | $2,798 |
| Honda Civic EX 4-Dr Sedan | $2,837 |
| Ford Edge SEL AWD | $2,879 |
| Toyota Corolla XLE | $2,889 |
| Hyundai Elantra GLS 4-Dr Sedan | $2,899 |
| Ford Fusion SE 4-Dr Sedan | $2,940 |
| GMC Sierra SL Crew Cab 2WD | $2,946 |
| Volkswagen Jetta SE 4-Dr Sedan | $2,940 |
| Chevrolet Malibu LTZ | $2,948 |
| Kia Optima LX | $2,944 |
| Ford Explorer Limited 4WD | $2,995 |
| Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD LT Crew Cab 4WD | $3,070 |
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Above prices assume single female driver age 30, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and New York minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, claim-free, multi-policy, homeowner, and multi-vehicle. Price estimates do not factor in your specific Buffalo, NY location which can influence auto insurance rates greatly.
Based upon the rates shown, we can tell that cars like the Honda CR-V, Toyota Prius, Ford F-150, and Chevrolet Silverado should be some of the cheaper vehicles to insure for veterans.
Rate difference between full and liability-only coverage
Finding the cheapest car insurance is important to the majority of drivers, and one of the easiest ways to lower the cost of insurance for retired military is to not pay for full coverage. The chart below illustrates the comparison of insurance premiums with full coverage and liability only. The premiums assume no claims or driving citations, $500 deductibles, single status, and no discounts are applied.
If we average all the age groups together, comp and collision coverage costs $1,671 per year more than carrying just liability coverage. Many people question if you should buy full coverage. There is no clear-cut formula of when to phase out physical damage coverage on your policy, but there is a general guideline you can use. If the annual cost of your full coverage insurance is more than about 10% of the replacement cost of your vehicle minus the policy deductible, then it’s probably a good time to buy liability coverage only.
There are some circumstances where buying only liability insurance is not recommended. If you haven’t paid off your loan, you have to maintain full coverage in order to satisfy the requirements of the loan. Also, if your savings is not enough to buy a different vehicle if your current one is totaled, you should not eliminate full coverage.
Picking the right auto insurance company can be challenging considering how many different companies insure vehicles in Buffalo. The company information displayed below could help you select which coverage providers you want to consider putting your business with.
These rankings only include large, nationwide insurance companies, so smaller companies that only insure vehicles in New York are not factored into these rankings. To get price quotes from these and other competitive companies, click here.
Top 10 Major Auto Insurance Providers in Buffalo Ranked by Value
- The General
- Erie Insurance
- The Hartford
- Mercury Insurance
- Farmers Insurance
- 21st Century
- Safeco Insurance
- AAA Insurance
- State Farm
- Travelers
Top 10 Major Auto Insurance Providers in Buffalo Ranked by Claims Service
- Progressive
- USAA
- Liberty Mutual
- State Farm
- GEICO
- Nationwide
- Allstate
- The General
- The Hartford
- 21st Century
The diagram below shows how choosing a deductible can impact annual premium costs when quoting cheap insurance for retired military. Data assumes a single male driver, full coverage, and no policy discounts are applied.
A 50-year-old driver could pocket $218 a year by switching from a $100 deductible to a $500 deductible, or save $328 by switching to a $1,000 deductible. Even younger drivers, like the Age 20 chart data, could drop their prices up to $714 every year by choosing a higher deductible. If you do decide to increase your deductibles, it is important to have additional funds in a savings account to offset the extra out-of-pocket expense. That is the one drawback of using higher deductibles.