Nebraska Car Insurance Guide (Cost + Coverage)

When most people think of Nebraska they think of corn, but the state has given so much more to our country than just a tasty side dish. The 911 system was created and developed in Nebraska, along with center pivot irrigation and Kool-Aid, proving that some truly amazing things have come from the Cornhusker State.

Nebraska is also home to mandatory vehicle insurance laws, so you are required by law to maintain minimum liability coverage on your vehicle at all times. Although it is clearly a necessity, searching for insurance can be difficult. It is time-consuming to call multiple companies to compare quotes on auto insurance, but luckily, there are other options.

If you need to compare rates for your auto insurance, simply enter your zip code now to find a quote.

Nebraska Car Insurance Coverage & Rates

One of the good things about insurance in Nebraska is that the state’s average premium of $831.02 is significantly lower than the national average premium of $1,009.38.

– Nebraska’s Car Culture

People in Nebraska love their cars. Nebraska was the first state in the union to finish its section of the interstate, and they have even built an homage to Stonehenge made completely out of cars.

Even though people in Nebraska love their cars, they don’t spend as much time in them as others in the nation. Nebraska has an average commute time of 17.6 minutes, which is almost nine minutes lower than the national average of 25.5 minutes.

– Nebraska Minimum Coverage

Like the large majority of the nation, Nebraska is an at-fault state. This means the driver who is at-fault for an accident is financially responsible for any damages caused, including both property damage and bodily injury. This is where your liability coverage comes into play.

In Nebraska, all drivers are required to carry minimum liability coverage. The minimum liability coverage levels in the state are:

• Property Damage – $25,000
• Bodily Injury – $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident
• Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist – $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident

Nebraska sometimes refers to uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage as hit-and-run insurance. This is the coverage that helps you when someone without insurance hits your car, causing property damage or bodily injury, but is unable to pay for the damages.

While insurance is required by law, almost 8 percent of Nebraska residents don’t have insurance coverage on their vehicles.

This means you need to protect yourself in the event of a catastrophe, which is why the law requires you to have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage as part of your insurance policy.

– Forms of Financial Responsibility

Whether you print ID cards at home or use your phone to access your insurance policy electronically, the state of Nebraska requires you to carry some form of proof of financial responsibility.

An insurance policy isn’t the only way to cover your legal requirements. You can have a surety bond, a certificate of self-insurance, a cash bond, or an insurance policy, but no matter what option you choose, you will be required to provide proof you are adequately covered.

Many insurance companies offer their customers the option to access their proof of coverage electronically through their smartphones, so be sure to check with your provider to see if they give you that option.

– Premiums as a Percentage of Income

Many different factors impact your insurance premiums. Everything from your age to your driving record to your zip code can have a big effect on your rates. This makes determining your premium as a percentage of your income difficult.

Both teens and adults with poor driving records could be spending 30 percent or more of their income on their coverage, whereas someone in their late 30s with an excellent driving record might be spending less than 5 percent of their income on car insurance premiums.

To determine what percentage of your income is spent on car insurance, take the amount of your premium divided by your income (either gross or net) then multiply by 100.

For example, if a single, 25-year-old woman is earning $39,960 and paying $6,671.15 for insurance each year, she spends 16.69 percent of her gross income on her car insurance each year.

As she gets older, her insurance rates will change, but other factors such, as her zip code and credit history, will also impact her rates, which means she may not be able to predict whether her rates will go up or down over time.

You can use our calculator below to determine the percentage of income you are spending on your car insurance.

– Core Coverage

While liability coverage is required in Nebraska, there is a lot more to insurance than just liability. Insurance is about protecting all of your financial interests, so you may want to consider purchasing some or all of these coverages as well:

• Liability – Liability insurance protects your financial welfare by paying for damages to the other driver’s vehicle if you are at fault in an accident. It also covers medical bills in the event of injuries caused in an accident where you were at fault.
• Uninsured Motorist Coverage – Uninsured motorist coverage, often referred to as UM, is mandatory in Nebraska. Sometimes called hit-and-run coverage, it covers you if you are in an accident where an uninsured driver was at fault. It matches your liability levels, so if you want extra UM coverage you need to increase your liability levels to match.
• Collision – Collision insurance protects you financially by paying for damages to your vehicle if you are at fault in an accident, whether you hit a stationary object or someone else’s vehicle. Sometimes lenders require you to have collision coverage if you are paying off a car loan, so keep that in mind when choosing your coverages.
• Comprehensive – Comprehensive insurance covers damage to your car that isn’t caused by an accident. Some things that might be covered under a comprehensive policy include weather-related damage, vandalism, and theft.

Each insurance company will have their own guidelines as to what is and is not covered under your comprehensive and collision policies, so make sure you do your research when choosing an insurance provider.

– Additional Liability

When it comes to additional liability coverage you will want to consider Personal Injury Protection (PIP). Despite the fact that some states require PIP coverage as part of a basic liability plan, Nebraska does not have that requirement.

Where uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist coverage (UM) takes the place of the liability insurance the other person should have (or should have more of, depending on the situation), PIP is different because it applies no matter who was at fault in the accident.

PIP is usually a smaller amount of coverage, often as low as $2,000, provided to cover your most basic needs if you have to go to the doctor or hospital due to an injury during the accident.

But PIP is about your medical needs. What about the needs of the people in the other car if you are at fault in an accident?

While the state minimum might be $25,000/$50,000 for bodily injury and $25,000 for property damage, that is the minimum, not the maximum, for your liability coverage. You can always increase your liability levels, and most people should give some serious thought to carrying more than the state minimum.

You can choose to purchase more than the legal minimum of insurance. Most companies offer higher coverage levels, typically $100,000 in property damage and $100,000 per person/$300,000 per accident bodily injury, for which you will pay a higher monthly premium.

If you are lucky, in an at-fault accident the damage you cause will be minimal and nobody will get hurt. But what if you aren’t so lucky?

You could hit someone in a pricey, newer model vehicle. They might have three passengers in the car, all of whom need medical attention. A mother of three could easily have all of her children in the car, so keep that in mind when looking at that $50,000 bodily injury cap.

If your insurance only covers $25,000 for property damage and $25,000/$50,000 for bodily injury, you are still required to pay for any damages beyond what your insurance policy covers, so choose your coverage levels carefully.

When you are choosing a policy, you should consider the loss ratio of the company, as well. The loss ratio is the amount paid out in claims by a company versus the amount of premium taken in by the company.

According to the NAIC, a loss ratio in the 60s or 70s is appropriate — it means they aren’t charging too much premium and they are regularly paying out claims to their customers. Below, you can see the average loss ratios for companies in Nebraska.

– Add-Ons, Endorsements, & Riders

Just because you have all of the basic core coverages and higher-than-average levels of liability coverage doesn’t mean you won’t need other coverage. There are other types of coverage available you may need to keep yourself on solid financial ground.

• Umbrella Policy – If you don’t think that $100,000/$300,000 in bodily injury and $100,000 in property damage would be enough to protect your assets in a serious accident, you may want to consider an umbrella policy. Umbrella policies provide a minimum of $1,000,000 in liability coverage and include coverage for things beyond car accidents like libel and slander.
• Rental Reimbursement – Rental reimbursement covers the cost of a rental car while your vehicle is being repaired because of an insured loss. For example, if you woke up one day and found your car had been vandalized comprehensive insurance would cover the cost to repair it, but rental reimbursement coverage would pay for the cost of a rental car covered during repairs.
• Roadside Assistance – If you find yourself in need of a tow truck or basic repair on the side of the road, roadside assistance coverage would help cover the cost of those services.
• GAP Insurance – GAP insurance covers the gap between what your insurance policy pays and the amount still owed for the car. GAP insurance can help prevent you from being forced to make payments on a totaled vehicle, but the type of GAP coverage available varies widely from company to company and state to state, so research carefully before buying.
• Non-Owner Insurance – If you don’t own your own car but you still drive semi-regularly, you might need a non-owner insurance plan to provide you with third party liability coverage so you are financially protected.
• Classic Car Insurance – The value of a classic or vintage car is worth more than normal depreciation. If you have a classic car you will need classic car insurance to make sure your vehicle is protected at its full value.
• Usage-Based/Pay-As-You-Drive Insurance – A device can be installed in your car or an app installed on your phone that records your driving information (speed, mileage, etc.) and reports it to your insurance company who offer you discounts based on your driving record. This has the potential for serious negative side effects though, so consider carefully before signing up.

– Male vs. Female Rates

While some states are now making it illegal for insurance companies to rate people based on their gender, Nebraska is not one of them. Your gender can and will impact your insurance premium, though the difference in premium in Nebraska between genders is not nearly as extreme as it is in other states.

While your age, gender, and marital status all impact your rates, there is still a significant difference in price from company to company, which means it is in your best interest to receive multiple quotes before purchasing a policy. Shopping around for insurance could save you hundreds of dollars per year.

In the tables above, the rates are determined by actual purchased coverage by drivers in Nebraska. It also includes rates for high-risk drivers and drivers who choose to carry higher-than-minimum levels of coverage, so these numbers may be higher than normal in your situation.

– Cheapest Rates by Zip Code

Your zip code is a determining factor in your insurance rates. Everything from the number of accidents to the number of cars stolen in a particular zip code goes into determining the rates for an area, which means that moving a block or two could dramatically change your annual premiums if it puts you in a different zip code.

Next, the cheapest zip codes.

– Cheapest Rates by City

Just like your zip code, your city of residence can have a big impact on your insurance rates. Crime rates, street parking, and other variables in your town can impact the insurance rates for your city.

Melbeta is the most expensive city in Nebraska.

Best Nebraska Car Insurance Companies

Determining which car insurance company is the best for you can be difficult. Some insurance companies offer a wider variety of options, others provide more robust coverage, while others might be the most affordable option. How do you decide which is right for you?

It can be useful to have a surplus of data when choosing which insurance company should protect you and your vehicle. Below are a few of the points you might want to reference when making a decision. Read on to learn more:

– The Largest Companies’ Financial Rating

One way you can determine the stability level of an insurance company is by its financial rating. Companies like A.M. Best rate each company based on their financial stability — whether they have the financial assets needed to pay out claims over the course of the year.

This shouldn’t be your only determining factor, however. After all, just because a company has excellent financial ratings doesn’t mean their customers are happy with their service.

It also doesn’t mean their rates are better (or worse) than any other company, so this is just one of many things to consider when choosing an insurance company.

– Companies with Best Ratings

Geico, State Farm, and USAA are the companies with the highest A.M. Best ratings in Nebraska, but all of the insurance companies included in the table above scored very highly on the A.M. Best scale.

Companies with an A rating or above are typically very financially stable, making them an excellent choice for anyone who may need to file a claim in the future. A company’s financial rating isn’t the only thing you should consider but is just one of the many pieces of information you should think about when choosing an insurance provider.

– Companies with Most Complaints in Nebraska

In every state across the country, consumers are encouraged to report complaints regarding their insurance companies to the Attorney General’s office. But how do you know if your problem warrants filing an official claim?

The NAIC can help guide you through the process. They have apps for both Android and iPhone that can walk you through the steps to take after an accident, including reporting an issue to the state if necessary.

When in doubt, you can always contact the Attorney General’s office at 402-471-2683 and ask for clarification. You can also find their email, fax, and mailing address on the Attorney General’s website.

– Cheapest Companies in Nebraska

These are the largest companies in Nebraska and their annual rates:

While price is important, it is only one of the many factors you should consider when choosing a plan. You will want to be sure any policy you choose has the benefits you need, so check each policy carefully before you accept it.

Also, keep in mind that not every policy is available to every person. USAA, for example, is an insurance company only available to members of the U.S. military and their families, which means not everyone can sign up through USAA, even though they typically have the lowest prices.

– Commute Rates by Companies

Your commute is an important factor when determining your insurance rates. Often, companies break up their commute rates into categories, such as 10-mile commute/6,000 annual mileage or 25-mile commute/12,000 annual mileage.

The more time you spend driving each day, the more likely you are to file a claim; therefore, you will pay a higher premium for your policy.

Whether the claim is as serious as a car accident or something smaller, such as a windshield replacement, increased drive time will expose you to more situations that might damage your vehicle.

The rates for a commute of 10 miles or less are listed on the chart below:

The rates for a commute of 25 miles or more are listed on the chart below. Notice how the rates on this chart are noticeably higher than the rates on the chart above: