What car insurance costs in Indiana

Indiana's bill next to the national one

Each year the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) adds up the premiums insurers collected in every state. For 2023, its most recent state data, the average Indiana expenditure was $926 per insured car, 14% more than the $814 recorded for 2022. That average blends liability-only policies with full coverage; a car insured for all three main coverages averaged $1,032.

Indiana sits under the national figure on every line. The widest gap is liability: $485 is roughly two-thirds of the U.S. average, and liability is the part of the bill the law makes you buy. Collision and comprehensive are closer to the national numbers, about 20% to 25% lower. Within the state, your price still turns on your car, your record and where you garage it; see how your ZIP code moves a premium.

The coverage Indiana requires

Indiana Code 9-25-4-5 sets the minimum financial responsibility at $25,000 for injury to one person, $50,000 for injuries to two or more people in one accident and $25,000 for property damage: 25/50/25. Those are floors. A crash that injures several people or wrecks a newer car can run past them, and anything above your limit can come back to you.

• Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage must be included in every newly written Indiana liability policy unless you turn it down in writing. The Indiana Department of Insurance (IDOI) lists minimums of $25,000/$50,000 for uninsured motorist bodily injury, $25,000 for uninsured motorist property damage and $50,000 for underinsured motorist bodily injury.
• Medical payments coverage is optional. It pays medical bills for you and usually your passengers after a crash, up to the limit you choose.
• Collision and comprehensive protect your own car. Indiana's minimum doesn't include them, but a lender or lessor will usually insist on both.

After an accident or certain traffic violations, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles can ask for proof that you were insured. Your agent files a Certificate of Compliance for you, and the IDOI warns that it must go to the BMV, not to the department, or you risk your driving privileges. Before cutting a coverage to save money, read our page on limits and deductibles.

How Indiana insurers set their prices

The IDOI doesn't set car insurance rates. Each insurer files its rates and policy forms with the department before using them, the rates must not be excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory, and the filings are open to the public. Because every company prices on its own, the IDOI suggests talking to several agents and comparing policies on the same basis rather than on price alone.

The department lists credit scores among the factors an insurer may weigh, next to age, sex, marital status, driving record, how the car is used, where you live, the limits and deductibles you pick, the vehicle, driver training and claims history. Under IC 27-2-21, as the department explains in Bulletin 130, an insurer can't deny, cancel or nonrenew a policy, or set a renewal rate, solely on credit information, and a score can't use medical collection accounts or treat insurance inquiries as negatives. Our page on credit-based insurance scores explains how that factor tends to work.

Indiana also limits how a policy can end. An insurer may cancel a new policy within its first 60 days; after that, only for specific reasons such as nonpayment or losing your license. At the end of a term it may decline to renew, but it must give you 20 days' notice, enough time to shop.

Turned down? The Indiana Automobile Insurance Plan

If regular insurers won't cover you, any Indiana insurance agent can apply for you through the Indiana Automobile Insurance Plan. Every insurer licensed in the state takes a share of these drivers, in proportion to its share of the voluntary market. It is meant as a bridge while your record ages, and our guide to assigned-risk plans covers what to expect from one.

Keeping an Indiana premium down

1. 1 Collect quotes on identical coverage. Ask two or three insurers for the same limits and deductibles, then compare the quotes line by line.
2. 2 Question every discount. Multi-car, home and auto together, driver training and a claims-free record are common; each company decides what it offers and how much it is worth.
3. 3 Weigh a higher deductible. It lowers the collision and comprehensive premium; the deductible break-even calculator shows when it pays off.
4. 4 Complain when something looks wrong. Start with your insurer or agent. If that fails, file with the IDOI Consumer Services Division online or call 1-800-622-4461; the company gets 20 business days to answer the department in writing.

Questions drivers ask