What car insurance costs in Oregon

How Oregon's bill compares

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) tracks what insurers collect for each insured car. Its newest state data, for 2023, show an Oregon average expenditure of $1,170, up 16% from $1,006 in 2022, while the U.S. average rose 14%. The expenditure counts liability-only cars and fully covered cars together. With liability, collision and comprehensive on the same car, the combined premium was $1,268.

Liability is the one line above the national figure, by $14. Collision and comprehensive, the coverages that pay for your own car, were well below it: $112 and $73 under. So in Oregon the required part of the bill weighs more, and the optional part less, than in the country as a whole. That matters when you decide which costs you can actually move; see trimming optional coverages.

What every Oregon policy must include

Oregon's minimum liability is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash for injuries to others, plus $20,000 per crash for damage to others' property, written as 25/50/20. Oregon DMV lists two more coverages that every policy must carry, and you give your policy number each time you register a vehicle.

• Personal injury protection (PIP), $15,000 per person. According to the Division of Financial Regulation, PIP pays reasonable and necessary medical expenses incurred within two years of the crash, up to your PIP limit, and your health insurance usually won't pay accident bills until PIP is used up.
• Uninsured motorist coverage, $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash for bodily injury. The Insurance Research Council estimates that 14.7% of Oregon drivers were uninsured in 2023.
• Collision and comprehensive are not required by the state, though a lender or leasing company will usually demand them.

Because PIP and uninsured motorist coverage are fixed parts of the policy, the main choices you control are your liability limits, your deductibles and the optional extras. Our guide to limits and deductibles shows how each one moves the price.

Oregon's limits on credit-based pricing

Oregon law (ORS 746.661) lets insurers consider credit history when you first apply, but it puts firm limits on what happens afterwards. An insurer may not cancel or refuse to renew a policy that has been in force more than 60 days because of your credit. At renewal, it may re-rate the policy only on factors other than credit history or an insurance score.

• Once a year per insurer and policy line, you can ask to be re-rated on the standards for a new applicant. Credit information from that review can't be used to raise your premium, and a better tier lowers it from the date you asked.
• An insurer can't re-rate you on credit because your marital status changed through the death of a spouse or a divorce.
• If you correct a credit report error through the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act process and tell the insurer in writing, it must re-rate back to the start of the current term.

The statute also bars counting insurance-related credit inquiries or your total available credit line against you. More background is on our page about credit-based insurance scores.

Driving record and the assigned risk pool

Oregon premiums reflect your driving record for the past three years, and insurers check records with Oregon DMV and other states. If no company will take you, you may qualify for the assigned risk pool: an agent can arrange coverage through the Western Association Automobile Insurance Plans, reachable at 800-227-4659. Our guide to assigned risk plans explains what to expect from one.

State law limits when an insurer can refuse to renew, and the company must give at least 10 days' notice before canceling for nonpayment and at least 30 days' notice, with a reason, for other cancellations or nonrenewals.

Where an Oregon driver can save

1. 1 Shop around. The Division of Financial Regulation notes that what coverage costs varies between companies. Ask two or three for quotes on identical limits and deductibles.
2. 2 Use your once-a-year re-rate. If your credit has improved, ask your insurer to re-rate you as a new applicant; under Oregon law the review can't raise your premium.
3. 3 Keep your record clean. Tickets and accidents follow you for three years in Oregon pricing, and many companies give discounts to drivers with clean records for three years or more.
4. 4 Contact the Division of Financial Regulation if you can't settle a problem with your insurer. Its consumer hotline is 888-877-4894, and complaints can be filed online.

Questions drivers ask