Best Charleston, WV Auto Insurance in 2024

Free Auto Insurance Comparison

Enter your ZIP code below to compare auto insurance rates.

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption

Tonya Sisler

Insurance Content Team Lead

Tonya Sisler has been a technical insurance writer for over five years. She uses her extensive insurance and finance knowledge to write informative articles that answer readers' top questions. Her mission is to provide readers with timely, accurate information that allows them to determine their insurance needs and choose the best coverage.  Tonya currently leads a team of 10 insurance copywri...

Insurance Content Team Lead

Justin Wright

Licensed Insurance Agent

Justin Wright has been a licensed insurance broker for over 9 years. After graduating from Southeastern Seminary with a Masters in Philosophy, Justin started his career as a professor, teaching Philosophy and Ethics. Later, Justin obtained both his Property & Casualty license and his Life and Health license and began working for State Farm and Allstate. In 2020, Justin began working as an i...

Licensed Insurance Agent

UPDATED: Nov 18, 2024

Advertiser Disclosure

It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right coverage choices.

Advertiser Disclosure: We strive to help you make confident insurance decisions. Comparison shopping should be easy. We partner with top insurance providers. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.

Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about auto insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything auto insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by auto insurance experts.

Looking for cheap auto insurance in Charleston, WV? At AutoInsuranceEZ.com, you will find the lowest cost insurance policy where you live. To get free car insurance rates from the best providers today, input your local zip code in the quote box here.

Charleston isn’t just West Virginia’s largest city and state capital; it also serves as the region’s main hub for transportation, commerce, financial services, retail, and health care. And on top of that, Charleston has a thriving recreation and arts industry. The city is also well-known for its classic architecture, the best of which is easily found in the Village District.

  • Fun fact: To grandmother’s house we go…did you know that Charleston is #27 on the list of “Top 100 cities with oldest residents (pop. 50,000+)”? Interested in getting to know more about Charleston? Click here!

Auto Insurance Coverage Requirements in West Virginia

Driving legally in Charleston requires:

Coverage Requirements Most Common
Bodily Injury Liability 20,000/40,000 100,000/300,000
Property Damage Liability 10,000 50,000
Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury 20,000/40,000 20,000/40,000
Medical Payments Not required 5,000
Collision Not required 500 deductible
Comprehensive Not required 0 deductible

Are you worried about getting into an accident with an uninsured motorist? Or perhaps being financially responsible for an accident which is your fault? Then you can sleep a little easier at night, because the legal minimum insurance requirements in West Virginia will cover all of these fears. But there are still many things such bare-bones coverage won’t protect you from, like theft.

The majority of drivers are paying more than $210 each month just on their West Virginia Auto Insurance bill. But if you live in Charleston, you could knock that down to $44/mo* or less! There are special deals available in your area right now that can help you get great discounts.

 

 

Average Monthly Auto Insurance Premiums

 

 

Legend:

Charleston

 

Erie

State Farm

Nationwide

Allstate

Sentry

 

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

 

 

 

$25

 

$39

 

$46

 

$48

 

$61

 

 

 

Are you getting your insurance coverage from Erie right now? Or State Farm? Then you may already be getting the best rates. But switching providers might not be worth the rate decrease if you are happy with your current provider’s customer service or claims processing.

Companies that underwrite auto insurance policies evaluate numerous variables when determining insurance rates, particularly marital status, accident claims, type of vehicle owned, years of driving experience, and multiple cars and drivers. Also take into account that premiums differ from one company to another. To find out if that you are still getting the lowest-cost fee, evaluate cheap Charleston auto insurance prices via the internet.

Enter your ZIP code below to compare auto insurance rates.

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption

Major Car Insurance Factors in Charleston

The moment your auto insurance agency gets ready to write your insurance plan, they take numerous specifics into mind. Many of these, for example your age or perhaps your exact address, are generally impossible to improve. Some alternative elements are:

Your Zip Code

The place you store your car every night will have a significant influence on your car insurance rate. Usually, car insurance is less expensive in rural areas mainly because a lower number of automobiles indicates a smaller likelihood that you will get in an accident with some other automobile. The population of Charleston is 50,821 and the average household earnings are $48,780.

 

 

Auto Insurance by Zip Code

 

 

Legend:

Charleston

Huntington

Morgantown

Parkersburg

Wheeling

 

Erie

State Farm

Nationwide

Allstate

Sentry

 

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$25

$27

$22

$20

$22

 

 

 

 

 

$39

$40

$32

$34

$36

 

 

 

 

 

$46

$46

$41

$45

$45

 

 

 

 

 

$48

$51

$43

$46

$45

 

 

 

 

 

$61

$61

$53

$60

$52

 

 

 

Automotive Accidents

The rate of serious accidents in Charleston is a little high, especially when compared to other towns in the same state. Unfortunately, not only does this mean that it is more dangerous to drive where you live, but that local insurance providers are probably raising their rates. But you can talk to your agent about safe driving discounts if you believe that you qualify.

 

 

Fatal Accidents in Charleston, WV

 

 

Legend:

Charleston

 

Fatal accident count

Vehicles involved in fatal crashes

Fatal crashes involving drunk persons

Fatalities

Persons involved in fatal crashes

Pedestrians involved in fatal accidents

 

2

4

6

8

10

12

 

 

 

7

 

9

 

2

 

7

 

13

 

4

 

 

 

Auto Thefts in Charleston

Anti-theft systems tend to be a powerful way to protect yourself from auto thievery. They are moderately affordable, very easy to get put in, and once equipped, need no work from you. And best of all, many insurance agencies will provide you with a discount on your automobile insurance simply for having one! Within Charleston, there were only 140 auto thefts in 2011. And although theft rates are low, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider having Comprehensive coverage on your policy.

 

 

Basic vs. Comprehensive Auto Policy

 

 

Legend:

Basic Coverage

Comprehensive Coverage

 

Erie

State Farm

Nationwide

Allstate

Sentry

 

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

 

 

 

 

$25

$61

 

 

$39

$105

 

 

$46

$93

 

 

$48

$142

 

 

$61

$222

 

 

 

Your Credit Score

Your credit score predicts how likely you are to pay your bills on time, and consistently – and insurance companies love giving discounts to customers who don’t present a financial risk of late or missed monthly payments. That’s why drivers with poor credit have such a hard time getting a good rate.

 

 

Auto Insurance by Credit Score

 

 

Legend:

Excellent Credit

Poor Credit

 

Erie

State Farm

Nationwide

Allstate

Sentry

 

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

 

 

 

 

$18

$47

 

 

$40

$61

 

 

$38

$53

 

 

$43

$66

 

 

$54

$94

 

 

 

Your Age

Statistically speaking, youthful teenage motorists will probably enter into a vehicle-totaling accident inside their first 12 months of driving. For such reasons, insurance providers are unwilling to sell them low-priced coverage (and some providers may refuse them outright). But you will find Good Student and Driver’s Education discount rates which will help more youthful motorists obtain a more proper cost.

 

 

Auto Policy Age Comparison

 

 

Legend:

34 Year Old

17 Year Old

 

Erie

State Farm

Nationwide

Allstate

Sentry

 

25

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

250

275

 

 

 

 

$25

$87

 

 

$39

$146

 

 

$46

$196

 

 

$48

$184

 

 

$61

$279

 

 

 

Your Driving Record

West Virginia insurance providers take driving violations seriously. You can observe this type of drastic rate increase for premiums for DUIs and major accidents. But they’re more lenient with regards to such things as speeding tickets. You may even have the ability to encourage them to ignore a small accident out of your recent past when they offer any “Accident Forgiveness” discount rates.

 

 

Driving Violations

 

 

Legend:

Perfect Record

Minor Speeding Ticket

DUI/Reckless Driving

Major At-Fault Accident

 

Erie

State Farm

Nationwide

Allstate

Sentry

 

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

 

 

 

 

 

 

$25

$20

$30

$23

 

 

 

 

$39

$52

$44

$62

 

 

 

 

$46

$50

$85

$64

 

 

 

 

$48

$54

$64

$68

 

 

 

 

$61

$74

$62

$81

 

 

 

Your Vehicle

The greater the overall cost of your automobile, the greater insurance policy you’ll have to purchase to be able to safeguard it, period. In ways, this really is really costing you less within the lengthy term. In the end, should you carry minimum coverage on a fancy Porsche, for instance, you may save a great deal of cash on premiums, but chances are that the coverage won’t shell out any claims if certain types of damage happen to your vehicle.

 

 

Car Insurance by Make/Model

 

 

Legend:

2015 Honda Accord

2012 Porsche Boxster Spyder

 

Erie

State Farm

Nationwide

Allstate

Sentry

 

15

30

45

60

75

90

105

120

135

150

165

 

 

 

 

$25

$74

 

 

$39

$137

 

 

$46

$102

 

 

$48

$166

 

 

$61

Do Not Sell

 

 

 

Minor Car Insurance Factors in Charleston

West Virginia Drivers also need to keep these factors in mind:

Your Marital Status

Married people possess a greater chance to bundle insurance plans than single motorists do. They are able to bundle multiple policies together, they are able to add homeowner’s or RV insurance with their current bundle, or they can even add their teenage children to some family insurance policy for extra discounts.

Your Gender

Nowadays, it appears as if each automotive insurance carrier includes a different way of working out how you can calculate premiums by gender – if gender is even included in the equation to begin with. Each company works by its very own algorithm with regards to gender and driving.

Your Driving Distance to Work

Getting around in Charleston is much easier than in most other US cities. Typical commutes should only take about 10 to 15 minutes on average to complete. But almost 75% of drivers will be on the road alone in their own vehicle, and sharing the highway with so many other automobiles might have an unfortunate effect on your car insurance rate. Another 11% carpool, and around 3% take the bus.

There’s a substantial increase in premiums between automobiles driven for business reasons, and automobiles driven for private use (work, school, pleasure, etc). Such a difference could be between 12-14% greater for that automobiles that are insured for business.

Your Coverage and Deductibles

If you are thinking about trying to “hack” your payments by raising your deductible, make certain you’re doing so sensibly. Work out how much your brand-new deductible is going to be, and make certain you’ve a minimum amount of that much money in the bank staying with you before you decide to change your policy. Otherwise, you can get caught between a rock and a hard place if you want to file claims but can’t spend the money for greater deductible amount.

Education in Charleston, WV

The most common level of education in West Virginia is divided between those who possess a high school diploma (27%) and those who own a bachelor’s degree (nearly 18% of the population). For those lucky few with a higher education, paying their auto insurance premiums is a little less painful because many providers enjoy offering lower rates to highly educated motorists.

There are a few major universities in and around the Charleston area which can meet the educational needs of almost any prospective student. West Virginia State University and the West Virginia University Institute of Technology are public colleges; WVSU is only a short commute away and offers both associate and bachelor’s degrees, while WVUIT specializes in business technology and engineering. There is also the University of Charleston, a private college with a prestigious MBA program.

You should not let a bad auto insurance provider persuade you into purchasing a car insurance policy that’s not right for you. Indeed, the quantity of information needed in order to approximate your own risk profile may be mind-boggling, but comparison websites like this can help make things simpler. Simply enter in a few factors below, and just we’ll do the rest.

How We Conducted Our Car Insurance Analysis

*We calculated our average rate based on the following metrics: a married, 34 year old male with good credit, a 12-month history of maintaining auto insurance, a clean driving record, who owns his own home. Miles driven annually were based on the national average. The average rate was also calculated based on a financed 2015 Honda Accord with a pre-installed anti-theft device.

Sources:

West Virginia Office of the Insurance Commissioner

West Virginia Division of Financial Institutions

Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

City-Data.com

Census.gov

Compare rates right away and save lots on your future insurance payment.

Free Auto Insurance Comparison

Enter your ZIP code below to compare auto insurance rates.

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption