How Much Does Non-owner Car Insurance Cost in Massachusetts?

Just because you don’t own a car, doesn’t mean you aren’t able to cause a car accident. If you drive a car at all, you need car insurance … named non-owner car insurance that is.

Named non-owner car insurance protects you from damage or liability costs resulting from an auto accident. But of course, like any other insurance, the product comes at its own cost.

So if you need non-owner insurance, you’re probably wondering exactly what you can expect that cost to be.

Well you’re in luck! Because here at Berry Insurance, we’ve issued hundreds of named non-owner auto policies to Massachusetts drivers. And we’ve actually been seeing a huge uptick in these types of policies lately, so we are more than familiar with the policies and what goes into determining their costs.

In this article, we’ll give you an estimate on what non-owner auto insurance can cost, get into the factors that influence it, and give some real examples of insurance premiums for Massachusetts drivers.

What is the cost of a non-owner policy?

Without any context, giving you an estimate on what your non-owner policy will cost is basically impossible. 

But we can try our best to at least give you a rough estimate based on the premiums we usually see.

Depending on several factors, you can generally expect a non-owner car insurance policy to fall somewhere between $300 - $700 per year or $25 - $58 per month.

For a more accurate estimate, you would need to factor in several other pieces of information, which we will get into next.

Factors that influence the cost of non-owner insurance:

We know the range we provided above is a little vague. But that’s because each policy varies significantly from driver to driver and situation to situation, based on many factors. Here’s what you can expect to play a role.

Driving record:

When it comes to driving, if you’ve had an accident or violation in the past, insurance companies will consider you more likely to have one again.

Massachusetts follows a Safe Driver Insurance Plan, which is a point system used to assign individuals a score based on their previous driving experience. If you’ve got a clean driving record – one without any accidents, tickets or violations – then your insurance will be priced lower.

In fact, if you don’t have a clean driving record, you may not even qualify for non-owner insurance.

Carriers are a little stricter about issuing non-owner policies than they are about standard auto policies. If you have had any sort of violations in the past six years, most carriers will consider you too much of a risk and won’t provide you with a policy.

Age:

With age comes experience. 

Insurance companies consider more experienced drivers safer drivers. And safer drivers = less chance of claims.

So the younger you are, the higher your premium will be. If you’re more experienced, your premium will be lower.

Actually, if you have less than six years of driving experience, chances are you won’t even qualify for a non-owner policy.

Location:

It’s no secret that some places are riskier to drive in than others. Our small town of Franklin? Pretty safe. Drive 30 minutes to Boston? Suddenly the prospect of getting into a fender bender seems much more likely.

So if you live in an area where claims occur less, your premium will be less. If you’re in a riskier area, you can expect your premium to be higher.

Policy limits:

Non-owner auto insurance has three sections:

• Injuries caused to others while driving someone else’s car
• Property damage caused to others while driving someone else’s car
• Coverage to injuries to you and your passengers if the other driver is uninsured or underinsured

Each of these sections have their own limits, which is the total amount the insurance carrier would pay out in a claim.

Generally, with higher limits, you can expect a higher cost.

Number of drivers:

If a non-owner policy has more than one driver, the premium will almost always be higher than for a singular driver.

Prior claims:

If you’ve ever had a car insurance claim, your carrier will consider you more of a risk to have another and will charge you more because of it.

Your insurance carrier:

Each insurance carrier prices policies differently, so the cost of a policy can vary based on the carrier it’s quoted with. 

That’s why we always stress working with an independent agent (like us) who can shop your insurance around with all the carriers they work with to get you the right coverage at the right price.

For our list of the best non-owner insurance carriers we recommend, check out this article: Top 4 Non-owner Auto Insurance Carriers in MA. 

MA non-owner insurance premium examples: 

You know the factors that influence price, but you probably still don’t have a clear idea of how exactly they will impact your specific non-owner auto insurance.

So to help give you some more insight, we’ll give you some specific examples of some of the non-owner policies we’ve quoted recently.

• A 32 year old living in Cambridge: $285
• A 26 year old living in Cambridge: $298
• A 33 year old living in Cambridge: $460
• A 40 and 43 year old living in Medford: $524
• Two 34 year olds living in Boston: $653

Find the right non-owner policy at the right price with the right agency

If you’re looking for the right price for your non-owner car insurance, you’ll want to make sure you’re working with a reputable insurance agent. 

But who is the right insurance agency to provide your non-owner insurance?

This is actually an important question because not all insurance carriers offer non-owner insurance. 

But not to worry, there are some MA agents out there (like our team at Berry Insurance) who will be able to help you get a non-owner policy.

If you’re beginning a search to find the right agent to write your non-owner auto insurance, begin with this article: What to Look For when Selecting an Insurance Agency or Company.