Rachel Bodine graduated from college with a BA in English. She has since worked as a Feature Writer in the insurance industry and gained a deep knowledge of state and countrywide insurance laws and rates. Her research and writing focus on helping readers understand their insurance coverage and how to find savings. Her expert advice on insurance has been featured on sites like PhotoEnforced, All...

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Leslie Kasperowicz holds a BA in Social Sciences from the University of Winnipeg. She spent several years as a Farmers Insurance CSR, gaining a solid understanding of insurance products including home, life, auto, and commercial and working directly with insurance customers to understand their needs. She has since used that knowledge in her more than ten years as a writer, largely in the insurance...

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Reviewed by Leslie Kasperowicz
Former Farmers Insurance CSR

UPDATED: Oct 30, 2020

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Wisconsin state flagAre you a Wisconsin resident and ready to buy auto insurance? There are a few things you should know about your state and it’s auto insurance requirements before you take the plunge!

Wisconsin, a state located in the Midwest of the United States, has long been referred to as the “Badger State” and “America’s Dairyland.” The state’s economy depends a lot on agriculture and manufacturing – goods that must be moved from place to place in order to be sold. The state’s motto is one simple word: Forward. And as we enter the future, we move forward with our technologies and methods of transferring goods. Nowadays, the most common way to move things from one place to another is by automotive vehicle. Vehicles are very efficient, but without proper insurance, they can often times be a costly liability.

wisconsin auto insurance

Wisconsin Auto Insurance Laws And Requirements

In Wisconsin, the state liability coverage minimums are:

  • Bodily Injury Liability Coverage – $25,000 per person
  • Bodily Injury Liability Coverage – $50,000 per accident
  • Property Damage Liability Coverage – $10,000 per accident

Take a look at how Wisconsin’s minimum rates compare with surrounding states.

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Uninsured Motorist coverage minimums:

  • Bodily Injury Coverage – $25,000 per person
  • Bodily Injury Coverage – $50,000 per accident

Optional coverage options in Wisconsin include:

  • Comprehensive Coverage
  • Collision Coverage
  • Medical Payments Coverage
  • Rental Car Reimbursement Coverage
  • Roadside Assistance / Towing Coverage

In Wisconsin, a “tort” system is in place that makes it so that one of the drivers involved in the accident must be labeled as the person at fault. Whoever is at fault for the accident must pay for the damages through his or her insurance. Along with this system, all drivers licensed under the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles must have insurance that satisfies the minimum requirements for auto insurance coverage.

When you are found to be at fault, there are two mandatory liability policies: Bodily injury liability (BIL) and Property damage liability (PDL). The minimum coverage required for BIL in Wisconsin is $50,000 per person and $100,000 per individual accident. These coverages pay for any medical bills that need to be paid as a result of the accident. Property damage liability, on the other hand, covers the costs associated with damages to the other person’s vehicle during the accident. This would cover things like auto body damage and internal circuitry damage. The minimum requirement of coverage for this is $15,000, but more should be purchased if you feel that you would ever find yourself in a situation where you inflict more than $15,000 worth of damage, such as totaling a luxury vehicle.

Wisconsin also requires that you purchase some insurance to cover yourself in case the other motorist doesn’t have insurance of his own when he or she is at fault. This type of coverage, known as uninsured motorist coverage, primarily covers bodily injury. The state requires a $100,000 minimum per person up to a total of $300,000 total per accident in coverage for you and your family.

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Wisconsin Auto Insurance Rates

Luckily the insurance rates in Wisconsin are much cheaper in comparison to the other states in the nation.

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The statewide average for auto insurance is just under $1,100 per year, which is less than $100 a month. Compared to the national average, this rate is more than $300 less. What’s even better is that the rate doesn’t change much when going from an average rural area to the big city.

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The auto insurance rates for major cities in Wisconsin are about $1,350 in Milwaukee and a little more than $1,000 in Madison. These are still noticeably less expensive than the national average, so it’s very affordable to be properly insured in Wisconsin.

There are a lot of factors that auto insurance companies take into consideration when determining your rates. Take a look at our overview here.

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While many of these factors are simply based on your own driving record, two things that affect even the safest of drivers are age and gender. As with most states, males typically pay higher auto insurance rates than females.

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While this may seem biased, it’s also important to realize that as people get older, their rates begin to go down dramatically, and the gap between genders shrinks. The reason for this is simply that younger drivers have less experience behind the wheel, and are therefore a higher-risk demographic to insure.

Wisconsin Car And Driving Statistics

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, the amount of auto theft in Wisconsin is also very good news to hear about. The amount of reported stolen vehicles has been constantly decreasing since 1992. In 2009, Wisconsin saw its lowest number of auto thefts in one year since 1982, with only 8,926 report thefts compared to 11,539 the year before. This works out to be only 157.8 stolen vehicles per 100,000 vehicles, one of the lowest theft rates in the nation.

Another decreasing trend in Wisconsin is the amount of crashes among motorists. The total amount of accidents in the state has decreased from 125,174 in 2005 to 108,808 in 2010. Of the 108,808 accidents in 2010, only 29,380 (about 30%) of them caused any type of injury, and of those 517 were fatal. Wisconsin comes out to be one of the safest states when it comes to the amount of injuries/deaths per accident.

Cheap Auto Insurance In Wisconsin

With such safe statistics, it’s no wonder that Wisconsin offers such affordable rates for its citizens in terms of Auto insurance.

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Being insured in case of an accident is very important as it prevents any additional severe financial damage to take toll after an accident. Buying auto insurance may seem like a very difficult thing to do for new drivers, but with proper research and comparison, you can always find the policy that fits your exact needs.

Buying insurance isn’t something you can do over night and shouldn’t be something you rush to get over with, so it’s recommended that you spend as much time as you need looking at all of the facts, details, and terms before signing any agreement.

Picking a large company can often be a good choice, since they are so financially established. Take a look at how the top Wisconsin auto insurance companies dominate the market share.

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If you ever find yourself ready to start finding quotes for the best auto insurance deals in Wisconsin, simply enter your ZIP code to start your journey to finding the policy that fits you.

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