North Dakota drivers pay an average of $844.18 per year for car insurance according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), that’s about $70.35 per month. North Dakota drivers pay about 29% less than the countrywide national average of $1,189.64.
The NAIC takes into account all car insurance policies within the state such as drivers who select only state minimum coverage, as well as policies that include various levels of comprehensive and collision coverage. Because car insurance rates are influenced by personal factors, you could find yourself paying significantly less.
North Dakota car insurance quick facts
Minimum liability requirements
25/50/25
Average annual car insurance cost according to the NAIC
$844.18
No-fault state
In no-fault states, each driver pays for their own injury-related expenses after an accident.
North Dakota state minimum car insurance requirements
Drivers in North Dakota are required to carry a minimum amount of liability coverage to legally drive. You may see it written as 25/50/20, but we’ll break down what that means.
North Dakota bodily injury liability
$25,000 bodily injury liability per person
$50,000 bodily injury per accident
North Dakota requires $25,000 in bodily injury liability per person and $50,000 of bodily injury per accident to legally drive. That’s right in line with what most states across the US require for this coverage.
This means $25,000 is the most your insurer will pay for a single person injured by you in an at-fault accident. And $50,000 is the maximum amount your insurer will pay if there is more than one person injured by you in an at-fault accident. Any costs outside of your bodily injury limit are required to come out of your pocket.
North Dakota property damage liability
$25,000 property damage liability
North Dakota requires drivers to carry $25,000 of property damage liability to legally drive. This is the highest required property damage limit, but common across the states.
This means $25,000 is the maximum amount your car insurance company will pay towards damages you cause to another person’s car or property, such as repairs to a car, fence or building. You’ll have to pay out of pocket for any costs beyond your property damage liability limit.
North Dakota uninsured motorist
$25,000 uninsured motorist bodily injury per person
$50,000 uninsured motorist bodily injury per accident
North Dakota requires all drivers to carry $25,000 of uninsured motorist bodily injury per person and $50,000 uninsured motorist bodily injury per accident to legally drive. Near half of the states across the US require some sort of uninsured motorist coverage, though some other states let you opt-out.
This coverage protects you if you get hit by an uninsured or underinsured driver. It pays for medical bills for you and your passengers.
North Dakota personal injury protection
$30,000 personal injury protection
North Dakota drivers are required to carry $30,000 worth of personal injury protection to legally drive.
This coverage helps pay your or your passenger’s medical expenses if you’re injured in an accident, regardless of fault.
Finder tip: North Dakota state minimum coverage isn’t enough
These state-mandated requirements are the lowest amount of coverage you need to legally drive in North Dakota, but may fall short if you’re in a major accident. To avoid high out-of-pocket costs after an accident, consider raising your liability limits by balancing coverage, your budget and what you can afford to pay out of pocket for certain damage.
Cheapest rates by gender in North Dakota
The cheapest company won’t look the same for men as for women. In this sample, men might want quotes from Geico. However, Progressive offers the lowest rates for women by far.
Company
Allstate
Progressive
Geico
USAA
Men
–
$114.13
$112.54
$132.07
Women
$163.54
$97.01
$132.06
$115.69
Sample rates in North Dakota from major car insurance companies
Progressive offers solid value in North Dakota based on our analysis of sample quotes from Savvy.
If you’re a safe driver, you can save even more with a claim-free discount from Progressive. Or you can join its Snapshot program to get a discount based on how safely you drive.
Company
Allstate
Progressive
Geico
USAA
Rate
$123.57
$105.57
$123.70
$126.61
7 factors that affect your car insurance premium in North Dakota
Factors are characteristics specific to you that car insurance companies use to set how much you’ll pay for car insurance. The less risky each of your factors is, the less you pay. And the riskier you are, the more you’ll pay. We’ll break down North Dakota’s rating factors to keep in mind.
Factor
How it affects your rates
Age
How old you are is a top factor in determining your car insurance rates. With each passing year, you earn more experience on the road. More experience can equal cheaper rates. Teen drivers pay the most, but rates begin to level off around your 20s with drivers over 50 paying the least.
Gender
North Dakota takes gender into account when determining your rates. On average, men in North Dakota pay more for car insurance than women. The average annual premium across all age categories for men is $1,233, while women pay an average of $1,219.
Location
Where you live affects your rates, including where you park your car. High theft rates, high traffic and a high number of uninsured drivers could mean higher rates.
When it comes to vehicle theft, North Dakota is a little higher than the national average. For every 100,000 inhabitants, approximately 271 vehicles were stolen, according to Statista. The national average across the US is 246 cars for every 100,000 inhabitants.
As for uninsured drivers, 13% of North Dakotans on the road are uninsured. That ranks the state 21st out of 50 states for uninsured drivers, according to Insurance Information Institute.
Driving Record
The better your record, the lower your premium. If you’re in an at-fault accident you could see rates increases from 20% to 50%. A DUI in North Dakota can increase your rate by an average of 46%. These types of violations typically stay on your record for about five years.
North Dakota drivers with a clean driving record pay approximately $743 annually while North Dakota drivers with one speeding violation pay approximately $948 annually.
Vehicle and mileage
Your car’s make, model and trim directly affect how much you’ll pay for car insurance. Things like its cost, safety ratings, the likelihood of theft and sportiness all help insurers determine its cost to insure.
Safer and cheaper vehicles score the lowest rates, with luxury vehicles with higher repair costs resulting in higher premiums.
And, the more you’re on the road, the more at-risk you are to get in an accident, which means higher premiums. According to the Bureau of Transportation, North Dakotans drive around 32.5 miles per day, which is under the national average of 36.1 miles per day.
Credit score
Your credit score is included in your credit-based insurance score which insurers use to help calculate rates. According to the Insurance Information Institute, there is a strong correlation between your insurance score and claims filings. A good credit-based insurance score could mean lower rates.
North Dakota insurers charge the highest coverage rates for drivers with poor credit histories. Drivers with good credit scores could see an annual insurance rate of about $1,178. These rates rise to about $1,365 with a fair credit score and approximately $1,915 for those with poor credit.
Coverage
The more coverage you get and the higher limits you choose, the more protection you’ll have and the more you’ll pay in monthly premiums. If you opt for full coverage car insurance that includes comprehensive and collision, the amount of your deductible weighs into your costs too. Higher deductibles mean lower monthly premiums.
Low coverage costs in North Dakota average to about $512 yearly, whereas high coverage can be anywhere around $2,082 on average.
What happens if I need an SR-22 in North Dakota?
If you need an SR-22 in North Dakota, your insurance company will file it with the state. You’ll need to meet the requirement for one year from the date that your driving privileges are reinstated, or the date of the accident that led to someone’s death.
SR-22s are required if you have a DUI, get in an accident without insurance, drive with a suspended license, cause an accident leading to someone’s death or commit a felony with a vehicle.
Coverage that we recommend in North Dakota
North Dakota’s required coverage goes beyond other state’s, but we recommend a few car insurance add-ons to give you the broadest protection possible.
You still need higher liability coverage in a no-fault state
While North Dakota is a no-fault state, drivers can go beyond the no-fault system to sue another driver in many cases, according to the legal website Nolo. Also, North Dakotans can recover expenses for property damage like a car without restrictions on going to court.
For both of these reasons, think about boosting your liability limits well above the 25/50/25 that the state requires. Talk with your insurance agent or financial adviser about the right coverage level for your situation.
Most North Dakotans need collision coverage
Unless you can pay to replace your car without taking a financial hit, think about adding collision coverage to pay for your car repairs or the value of your car. When you’re at fault in an accident, the other driver’s insurance won’t pay for your car’s damage, and your liability coverage only pays for the damage you cause to the other driver.
Collision coverage costs about $23 per month in North Dakota, according to the NAIC auto insurance database. Let’s say that you experienced $1,500 in car damage. If you opted out of collision and saved the monthly premium, it would take you over five years to recover from this car repair. This coverage gives you this protection without having to save for years on end.
Consider this coverage if . . .
You rely on your car.
You have an auto loan, and your lender requires it.
You couldn’t pay for major car repairs on your own.
You don’t have the funds to buy another car.
Think about adding “other-than-collision” coverage too
Comprehensive coverage is often called other-than-collision coverage because it covers accidents caused by nearly anything other than a car collision. It covers theft, vandalism, a tree falling on your car, hitting an animal or sliding off of a wet or icy road.
Many of these situations are likely in this state. North Dakotans get their car stolen more often than the average nationwide, and you can expect animal run-ins and heavy rain and snow each year. In fact, North Dakota is the eleventh-worst state for cars hitting deer in the US, according to State Farm’s vehicle-animal collision report.
Consider this coverage if . . .
Your auto loan requires it.
You can’t pay for major car repairs on your own.
You live in an area known for theft or crime.
You live in a rural part of North Dakota with large wildlife.
Your area sees harsh weather.
Top 10 auto insurance companies in USA that serve North Dakota
We’ve pulled the top 10 companies by market share that offer coverage in North Dakota according to S&P Global. Compare top companies by three major rating agencies along with our overall score.
Better Business Bureau (BBB) ratingmeasures how a business interacts with its customers, with the highest rating being A++.
J.D. Powerdetermines customers’ overall satisfaction with their car insurer’s price, billing, claims and customer support. The higher the J.D. Power score out of 1,000, the better.
NAIC complaint indexshows how a company’s number of complaints compares to similar companies of its size. Scores lower than 1.00 show the company receives less than the average number of complaints, and scores above 1.00 show more complaints than average.
Finder’s scoreshows you an overall look at the company by taking into account scores from each of these agencies as well as the coverage and discounts each company offers.
Which city has the cheapest car insurance in North Dakota?
Of North Dakota’s largest cities, Grand Forks has the cheapest rates and Bismarck has the most expensive car insurance rates. Bismarck drivers could face rates 1.5 times more than Grand Forks drivers.
The North Dakota Automobile Insurance Plan can help high-risk drivers find minimum insurance coverage by assigning them to one of several area providers. All North Dakota car insurance companies are required to participate in the plan, so that every driver on the road is provided proper coverage. However, if you apply for coverage through the NDAIP, you can probably expect to pay more for your car insurance.
In North Dakota, each driver pays for their own injury expenses
North Dakota is a no-fault state, which means that you pay for your own medical bills, lost income and other injury expenses after an accident, no matter who’s at fault. File a claim under your personal injury protection for these expenses. However, North Dakota’s no-fault laws don’t apply to property damage like car repairs, according to Nolo.
For property damage, North Dakota considers whether drivers are partially at fault under amodified comparative fault law, Nolo states. Under this law, both drivers are assigned a percentage of fault. Drivers with less than 50% of fault can get paid for damage caused by other drivers.
For example, if you’re 80% at fault for an accident, your insurance will pay 80% of the other driver’s property damage. However, since you’re more than 50% at fault, the other driver isn’t required to pay for your property damage.
Bottom line
Since North Dakota requires you to carry car insurance and because you face financial and legal consequences if you don’t, your best route is to look for a conventional car insurance policy that works for you.
To learn more about these topics, from laws and regulations to finding the best values and policies out there, visit our comprehensive guide to car insurance.
Megan B. Shepherd is a personal finance editor at Finder where she helps people navigate the financial world of loans.
Her personal finance expertise has been featured on Forbes, Nasdaq, MediaFeed, Fox News, Time, Reviews.com, and carinsurance.com, adding invaluable information related to personal loans, financial strategies and smart borrowing tactics.
Megan graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a BS in Business Administration with an entrepreneurial focus. She's worked as a certified financial adviser and has earned certificates of completion from A.D. Banker & Company.
How likely would you be to recommend finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Advertiser Disclosure
finder.com is an independent comparison platform and information service that aims to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions. While we are independent, the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which finder.com receives compensation. We may receive compensation from our partners for placement of their products or services. We may also receive compensation if you click on certain links posted on our site. While compensation arrangements may affect the order, position or placement of product information, it doesn't influence our assessment of those products. Please don't interpret the order in which products appear on our Site as any endorsement or recommendation from us. finder.com compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don't provide information on all available products, providers or services. Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
