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Whether you frequent beach parties or business meetings, make sure you have plenty of protection to cover all your drives around the city and its surrounding areas. As you shop for a policy, narrow down your choices with our best car insurance picks in San Diego.
Our car insurance experts chose insurers that balance well-rounded coverage, top-notch customer reputation and steep discounts that can make premiums more affordable. See which companies made our list of best car insurance companies in San Diego.
Allstate
Finder score
Allstate Drivewise offers one of the highest discounts possible for using telematics. Telematics programs track and score your driving in exchange for a personalized discount. Unlike other telematics-based insurers, you'll also get wide coverage and solid customer service when you choose Allstate.
| Telematics | Drivewise |
|---|---|
| Gap insurance | Yes |
Progressive
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Progressive is a top choice by customers because of its well-rounded coverage and low rates compared to other national companies. It also stays on top of technology with an intuitive website, pricing tool, mobile app and Snapshot program that rewards your safe driving.
| Telematics | Snapshot |
|---|---|
| Gap insurance | loan/lease coverage |
AAA
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When you choose AAA, you get much more than auto insurance coverage, although it offers the coverage you need and then some. You also get access to its roadside service, giving peace of mind even if you're a passenger in someone else's car. Also, take advantage of other travel and shopping discounts to get the most out of your membership.
| Telematics | No |
|---|---|
| Gap insurance | Yes |
Wawanesa Mutual
Finder score
Chances are that you'll hear about Wawanesa if you ask a local which company they'd recommend. It consistently ranks first for customer satisfaction in California by J.D. Power. And if your driving record is clean, your premium could cost significantly less than any other company you're considering.
| Telematics | No |
|---|---|
| Gap insurance | No |
To find the best insurance companies in San Diego, our experts considered both national and regional companies. We looked for well-rounded companies offering wide coverage, high customer satisfaction and a variety of discount opportunities. We also considered each company’s customer ratings and reputation in the San Diego area.
Keep a car insurance policy with at least liability insurance to stay legal in San Diego. However, since the legal requirements are some of the lowest in the US, think about extra coverage that suits your driving and finances.
Unless you have the funds to pay for your own car repairs, we recommend adding comprehensive and collision coverage to your car insurance. Any car owner has a chance of getting in an accident or experiencing damage after a storm. Since you can’t always control what happens on the road, make sure you’re protected in case you’re deemed at fault for an accident.
The California Highway Patrol’s annual collision report shows most California counties see under 4,000 accidents per year, including both injury and fatal accidents. Yet, San Diego more than triples that number only in accidents that lead to driver or passenger injury. It ranks third in the top five of the worst California counties for accidents overall.
| Rank | County | Accidents w/ injuries in 2017 | Fatal accidents in 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles | 62,574 | 715 |
| 2 | Orange | 15,173 | 197 |
| 3 | San Diego | 14,694 | 222 |
| 4 | Riverside | 10,511 | 283 |
| 5 | San Bernardino | 10,020 | 308 |
San Diego stands near the front of California counties with the highest number of stolen rides. The county falls under Los Angeles, which saw 63,000 thefts in 2020, San Francisco with nearly 31,000 thefts and Riverside with 23,000 thefts, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
San Diego car thefts
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| 10,971 | 10,969 | 11,091 |
Give your insurance company a reason to lower your premiums when you improve your safety on the road. If nothing else, shopping around can go a long way toward paying less.
You may not need a lot of car insurance coverage to legally get around San Diego. But the best policies give you a suite of coverage options to boost your protection and a variety of discounts. To ensure you’re getting the best rate and coverage that suits your circumstances, compare car insurers.
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