Located in Northern Colorado, Fort Collins is known for its 1800s-era Old Town, greenspaces like Lory State Park, and craft beer. Fort Collins drivers pay an average of $128 per month for car insurance, which is less than the statewide monthly average of $150 and the national average of $144 per month.
The city’s smaller population size compared to cities like Denver and Colorado Springs could partly explain its lower rates.
Here’s what you should know about comparing rates and finding cheap car insurance in Fort Collins.
3 of the cheapest car insurance companies in Fort Collins
When shopping for the cheapest car insurance in Fort Collins, remember that coverage options and discounts are just as important as finding the lowest rates. In most cases, the insurer that meets your specific needs will be the best option, compared to companies with lower rates that don’t fit your driving history and needs.
Here are some of the top insurance companies in Fort Collins for you to start your search.
Best insurer for liability-only coverage: State Farm
Best insurer for military members: USAA
Best insurer for families: American Family
How to get the cheapest car insurance in Fort Collins
Qualifying for discounts isn’t the only way you can get an affordable policy that meets your specific needs. Follow these tips while you shop for car insurance:
Ask about bundling. Depending on your marital status, homeowner needs, and family life, you may be able to get a discount by buying your auto, home, life, or other insurance policy through the same insurer.
Shop for quotes. While searching for car insurance, get quotes from at least three different insurance companies at the same coverage level to find the one that offers the best rates.
Reconsider coverage. If the cost of a full-coverage policy’s annual premium is more than your vehicle’s value, you can drop some optional coverages, such as collision and comprehensive, that add to the cost of your policy.
Raise your deductible. Lowering your comprehensive and collision deductible amounts could help reduce your premium.
Cheapest liability-only car insurance in Fort Collins: Progressive
Whether you cause a fender bender in Loveland or sideswipe a parked car in Colorado Springs, you’ll need liability-only insurance to cover the damages you cause.
Liability-only insurance meets the minimum coverage that Colorado state law requires. This insurance product only covers damages and injuries you cause another person, vehicle, or property — not your own damages or injuries.
Liability insurance in Fort Collins costs $84 per month, on average.
Here are the cheapest car insurance companies for liability insurance in Fort Collins.
Cheapest full-coverage car insurance in Fort Collins: State Farm
If you’re driving through Northern Colorado and hit a deer, for example, liability-only insurance won’t cover the damages, but a full-coverage policy likely will.
While insurers have no strict definition for full-coverage insurance, many of them design a full-coverage insurance policy to include liability, plus collision and comprehensive coverage: two insurance products that pay for damages to your car, even if you caused them.
Fort Collins drivers pay a monthly average of $172 for full-coverage insurance.
Here are the average monthly car insurance company quotes for full coverage in Fort Collins.
Car insurance requirements in Colorado
Fort Collins drivers should know that Colorado was a no-fault state but transitioned to an at-fault state in 2003. In an at-fault state, the driver who caused the car accident is responsible for paying for the other parties’ damages and injuries, usually through their liability insurance policy.
But Colorado also uses comparative fault, so any shared fault for the accident can reduce your compensation for damages and injuries. For example, if you’re 20% at fault for an accident, your compensation will be 20% less.2
Here are Colorado’s minimum car insurance requirements:3
Fort Collins drivers may want additional coverage that reimburses them when their own vehicles sustain damage. For example, the Poudre River is subject to flooding; without comprehensive insurance, you’d pay for vehicle damages from flooding out of pocket.
Consider these optional coverages for more protection:
Cheapest car insurance for drivers with an incident
Incidents on your driving record can cause your insurance rates to increase for several years. Some of these incidents may be traffic violations, such as speeding tickets or moving violations. Others may be more serious, like at-fault car accidents and driving under the influence.
DUIs and at-fault accidents typically raise your rates the most, though you may also see a significant premium increase if you have a history of speeding on your motor vehicle record. Here are the cheapest car insurance companies for drivers in Fort Collins who have incidents on their driving record.
Cheapest car insurance for drivers with a speeding ticket: Progressive
Speed plays a major role in car accidents in the Centennial State. It’s the leading cause of death on Colorado roadways, and the fatality rate has risen since 2018. More than one-third of crashes happen on non-interstate rural roads and urban interstates.4
Regardless of where you’re driving, you should follow the posted speed limit. It’s also a good idea to decrease your speed when driving through areas of road work or during severe weather.
Fort Collins drivers with a speeding ticket pay $102 per month for liability insurance and $209 per month for full-coverage insurance, on average.
The table below shows liability-only quotes from the cheapest insurance companies for drivers in Fort Collins with a speeding ticket.
Cheapest car insurance for drivers with an at-fault accident: Progressive
Speed isn’t the only incident that can cause an accident. Although Fort Collins’ number of car crashes decreased by 20% in 2020 compared to 2019, severe crashes increased by 15% in that same time.1 Any at-fault accident could increase your rates; even a minor collision with no injuries could result in a rate increase.
Liability insurance for drivers in Fort Collins with an accident costs an average of $101 per month.
If you have an at-fault accident on your record, check out these liability-only quotes from the cheapest insurance companies in Fort Collins to start your search.
Cheapest car insurance for drivers with a DUI: Progressive
In 2021, 4% of all crashes involved driving under the influence in Fort Collins. But this amount represents 10% of severe crashes and 31% of fatal crashes.1
It’s important to remember that a DUI in Colorado is driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 or higher, and authorities can arrest you for driving while ability impaired (DWAI) with a BAC level as low as 0.05.5 Regardless of whether or not you’re involved in an accident, drinking and driving is a high-risk behavior and likely to result in a substantial premium increase from your insurer for at least three years.
Fort Collins drivers with a DUI pay a monthly average of $135 for minimum-coverage policies. The price jumps to $277 per month for full-coverage insurance.
The following table shows liability-only quotes from the cheapest insurers for Fort Collins drivers with DUI convictions.
Cheapest car insurance for seniors: Progressive
In both unimpaired accidents and DUI car crashes, senior drivers 75 and older in Fort Collins represent the lowest amount — less than 5%.1 Even as drivers between the ages of 35 and 44 have a higher rate than the preceding age groups, drivers should actually see their rates decrease around age 25 and increase again around age 70 due to an enhanced risk of accidents.
Liability insurance costs $69 per month, on average, for senior drivers in Fort Collins.
Senior drivers may have age-related health issues that cause physical, cognitive, or visual impairments and contribute to an increased risk of crashes.6 Here are the cheapest liability-only quotes in Fort Collins for senior drivers.
Cheapest car insurance for teens: Progressive
In Fort Collins, teen drivers are three times more likely to be in a car accident than other age groups.1
This tends to be a trend in many other states: The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reports that teen drivers are almost four times more likely to be involved in a car crash than older drivers.7 Inexperience and distractions are two significant factors, though it should also be noted that teens in Fort Collins are overrepresented in the number of alcohol-related crashes the age group experiences.1
These factors all lead to teen drivers paying higher auto insurance rates in Fort Collins. Teen drivers in Fort Collins pay monthly averages of $149 for liability coverage and $305 for full coverage.
Teen drivers and their policyholder parents should ask their insurer about discounts — such as good driving, good student, and defensive driver discounts — to lower rates. Teens can also save money by staying on their parents' car insurance. Minor teens won't be able to buy their own policy without written consent from a parent or guardian.
The table below shows the cheapest auto insurance companies for teens and young adults in Fort Collins.
Fort Collins car insurance quotes by credit tier
Colorado insurers can legally consider your credit history when determining your insurance premium. But state law prohibits them from using this information solely as the determining factor of whether or not to give you an insurance policy.
In most cases, drivers with excellent or good credit scores receive better rates than drivers with poor credit scores.
Is car insurance more expensive in Fort Collins?
Car insurance in Fort Collins costs an average of $128 per month. Along with it being lower than the state average of $150 per month, it’s also lower than the national monthly average of $144.
While Fort Collins drivers have cheaper rates than many cities around the country and within Colorado, keep in mind that factors like your ZIP code’s accident rate, driving record, coverage level, and vehicle year, make, and model affect your car insurance rates. For example, Fort Collins had fewer motor vehicle thefts than Pueblo, Colorado, in 2019.8
More cities in Colorado
Compared to other cities in Colorado, Fort Collins tends to be cheaper than most, including major metro areas like Denver. See how rates compare in other Colorado cities in the table below.