What is flexible car insurance? [Expert Review, Rates, & Discounts]
Flexible car insurance is an option at most car insurance companies. Most car insurers offer six-month policies but provide multiple payment arrangement options. Flexible auto insurance can be the ideal coverage for delivery drivers and drivers who need temporary car insurance.
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Michael Leotta
Insurance Operations Specialist
Michael earned a degree in Business Management with an insurance focus, which led to a successful 25-year career in insurance claims operations and support. He possesses a high-level of business acumen across multiple areas of the insurance industry. Over the course of his career, he served in multiple roles supporting claims operations including: Claims Specialist, Claims Trainer, Claim Automatio...
Insurance Operations Specialist
UPDATED: Oct 24, 2024
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Our car insurance industry partnerships don’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own. To compare quotes from many different car insurance companies please enter your ZIP code on this page to use the free quote tool. The more quotes you compare, the more chances to save.
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.
UPDATED: Oct 24, 2024
It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right car insurance coverage choices.
Advertiser Disclosure: We strive to help you make confident car insurance decisions. Comparison shopping should be easy. We are not affiliated with any one car insurance company and cannot guarantee quotes from any single company.
Our car insurance industry partnerships don’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own. To compare quotes from many different car insurance companies please enter your ZIP code on this page to use the free quote tool. The more quotes you compare, the more chances to save.
On This Page
- Flexible car insurance may refer to more convenient ways to pay your bill or choosing different types of coverage
- But most advertised flexible car insurance policies simply allow customers multiple payment options
- There are several payment options out there, so figure out what kind of coverage you need first and then comparison shop online
Flexible car insurance is a new term in the car insurance industry, and although it sounds catchy, it’s not really anything new.
Over the last decade, car insurance companies have started offering policyholders more and more convenient ways to pay their bill and choose the types of coverage they need.
So, flexible car insurance: what are my options? Only a handful of companies allow consumers to modify, exclude, and customize car insurance coverage. It’s important to understand that flexible car insurance is more about payment options than actually purchasing custom policy coverage.
The definition of flexible car insurance will depend on which provider you speak with, but most flexible auto insurance policies advertised simply allow customers multiple payment options.
Multiple payment options are not anything new, but it’s a good marketing campaign to let a company stand out from another.
If you’re looking for better and more affordable car insurance, enter your ZIP code above and compare at least three to four policies today to see which is flexible enough for you.
What are my flexible car insurance payment options?
Whenever you purchase a car insurance policy, you are either buying a six or twelve-month policy. While most car insurers offer the option to pay your policy every six-months, some do offer twelve.
It is challenging to find a car insurance company that offers coverage for longer than 12 months since laws do not allow providers to change or cancel your coverage while in force.
The longer an insurer guarantees coverage, the higher the risk they are taking on; so the industry has formed a baseline of six or twelve-month policies as industry standards.
Some car insurers only offer pay-in-full policies, while others allow monthly payments.
When a car insurance provider offers several options for consumers to purchase insurance, it can be considered “flexible” car insurance. Some of the payment options could include:
- Low Down Payment and Equal Monthly Payments
- Incentive Discount to Pay in Full
- Larger Payments over a shorter term
- Bi-weekly Payments
- Credit Card Payments
- Automatic Checking Account Withdrawal
It’s usually easy to find flexible car insurance for students or learner drivers. Nearly every company has some kind of good student discount or multi-car policy for insuring your teen.
Who has cheap car insurance? The table below shows rates by coverage level for the top insurers in the country by market share.
Average Annual Car Insurance Rates by Coverage Level for the Top Insurers
| Companies | Rates for Low Coverage | Rates for Medium Coverage | Rates for High Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
| USAA | $2,404.11 | $2,539.87 | $2,667.92 |
| Geico | $3,001.91 | $3,213.97 | $3,429.14 |
| State Farm | $3,055.40 | $3,269.80 | $3,454.80 |
| American Family | $3,368.49 | $3,544.37 | $3,416.40 |
| Nationwide | $3,394.83 | $3,449.80 | $3,505.37 |
| Progressive | $3,737.13 | $4,018.46 | $4,350.96 |
| Farmers | $3,922.47 | $4,166.22 | $4,494.13 |
| Travelers | $4,223.63 | $4,462.02 | $4,619.07 |
| Allstate | $4,628.03 | $4,896.81 | $5,139.02 |
| Liberty Mutual | $5,805.75 | $6,058.57 | $6,356.04 |
Is USAA the cheapest auto insurance? If you are in the military, it may be. As you can see, it helps to shop around to find a good price. These rates include drivers who are high-risk in all areas of the country, so yours may be lower.
How to Get the Best Flexible Car Insurance for You
There are many ways to purchase car insurance, and you want to make sure you get the right policy for you. It helps to check a company’s ratings, such as their A.M. Best Ratings. What’s an A.M. Best Rating? It’s basically a rating that shows the financial strength of a company. You can check out this video for a brief explanation.
You can see that in the table below for the largest insurers in the country.
Top 10 Car Insurance Companies by Market Share With Ratings, Premiums Written, and Loss Ratio
| Companies | A.M. Best Rating | Direct Premiums Writen | Market Share | Loss Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allstate | A+ (Superior) | $22.7 billion | 9.19% | 56% |
| American Family | A (Excellent) | $4.7 billion | 1.90% | 69% |
| Farmers | A (Excellent) | $10.5 billion | 4.26% | 61% |
| Geico | A++ (Superior) | $33.1 billion | 13.41% | 71% |
| Liberty Mutual | A (Excellent) | $11.8 billion | 4.77% | 62% |
| Nationwide | A+ (Superior) | $6.7 billion | 2.73% | 58% |
| Progressive | A+ (Superior) | $27.1 billion | 10.97% | 62% |
| State Farm | A++ (Superior) | $41.9 billion | 17.01% | 63% |
| Travelers | A++ (Superior) | $4.7 billion | 1.90% | 60% |
| USAA (Military Personnel & Family Members) | A++ (Superior) | $14.5 billion | 5.87% | 77% |
It also helps to look up J.D. Power ratings, which show how happy drivers are with a company’s customer service.
However, you need to compare all the elements of a policy instead of just focusing on what payment plans are available in order to secure the best coverage.
Most car insurance companies offer some type of payment plans, so start a car insurance comparison search online to compare features, types of coverage, and learn about discounts.
Each car insurance company has a unique list of discounts that they provide. The table below shows a sample of these.
Common Car Insurance Discounts by Insurance Provider
| Companies | Anti-Theft | Claim Free | Good Student | Married | Membership/Group | Military | Multiple Policies | Multiple Vehicles | Safe Driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allstate | x | x | x | x | x | x | |||
| American Family | x | x | x | x | x | x | |||
| Farmers | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ||
| Geico | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |
| Liberty Mutual | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |
| Nationwide | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |
| Progressive | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ||
| State Farm | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |
| Travelers | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ||
| USAA | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
You can really see the difference in what’s offered here. And that’s why it’s so important to shop around if you want to save money.
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Frequently Asked Questions: Flexible Car Insurance
Keep reading for some more FAQs about flexible insurance.
Can you get flexible car delivery insurance?
Some companies already provide you some insurance, such as Amazon Flex. Most commercial policies also provide you multiple options to pay.
What are the best on-demand car insurance options?
There are some other options if you don’t want traditional car insurance.
Where can I get temporary car insurance?
Asking “Can I insure my car for an hour?” If you’re looking for this type of flexible car insurance, the UK may have good options through companies like Cuvva, but the US doesn’t have a lot of good ones.
What is the best temporary car insurance?
Looking for short-term car insurance? Legitimate insurers will probably not offer policies of less than six months at a time. So, if you’re looking for Geico temporary auto insurance or Nationwide car insurance that’s short-term, you’re out of luck. Weekly car insurance is not really an option.
What’s the best pay-per-mile car insurance?
What is MileWise or Metromile? These car insurance companies provide pay-per-mile auto insurance, reviewed for how many miles you actually drive.
This video from Metromile explains a little about how it works.
If you’re looking for a really flexible option when you don’t drive much, you may want to consider pay-per-mile.
So, how can I get super cheap car insurance? If you’d like to compare auto insurance plans and get the best and cheapest car insurance, enter your ZIP code below and start comparison shopping flexible policies today.
Compare quotes from the top car insurance companies and save
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Michael Leotta
Insurance Operations Specialist
Michael earned a degree in Business Management with an insurance focus, which led to a successful 25-year career in insurance claims operations and support. He possesses a high-level of business acumen across multiple areas of the insurance industry. Over the course of his career, he served in multiple roles supporting claims operations including: Claims Specialist, Claims Trainer, Claim Automatio...
Insurance Operations Specialist
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.