Best Car Insurance for Drivers With a DUI

Top Picks at a Glance

Rankings below come from published rate comparisons built on sample driver profiles. Where a comparison reports a standing rather than a dollar figure, that is what is shown — no premium here is a quote for your vehicle, limits or zip code.

The cited comparisons rank price, not discount programs. Ask each insurer for its filed discount list for your state rather than assuming a program you saw advertised applies to a surcharged policy.

Why Each Insurer Made the List

• Progressive. It is the cheapest national carrier open to all drivers after a DUI, ahead of Travelers (Insurance.com, 2026-10-08), the cheapest overall in a six-month rate comparison (The Zebra, 2026), the carrier with the cheapest DUI quotes in the most states (ValuePenguin, 2026), and the cheapest company for a driver with two DUI convictions (Insurance.com, 2026-10-08). The trade-off: "cheapest in the most states" still means other carriers win in the rest, and ValuePenguin's 2026 state table names different companies in individual states. Treat it as the first quote you get, not the last.
• USAA. Its average annual rate after a DUI is lower than Progressive's, and it is also cheaper than Progressive for drivers with two DUIs — but only for military members, veterans and qualifying family (Insurance.com, 2026-10-08). It was likewise the cheapest option for military members in a six-month comparison (The Zebra, 2026). The caveat is service, not price: USAA draws more customer complaints than an average company its size, despite high J.D. Power claims-satisfaction scores (ValuePenguin, 2026). Confirm your eligibility before you count on the rate.
• Travelers. Travelers lands second behind Progressive among national carriers for a one-DUI profile (Insurance.com, 2026-10-08) and second for the number of states where it posts the cheapest DUI quote (ValuePenguin, 2026). That consistency across two separate comparisons is the case for getting a quote. The trade-off: the cited comparisons publish no minimum-limits figure for a DUI profile, and Travelers writes through multiple underwriting companies, so the premium you are offered depends on which company your record places you in.
• GEICO. GEICO is named among the cheapest insurers for drivers with a DUI (The Zebra, 2026), ranks third for the number of states with the cheapest DUI quotes behind Progressive and Travelers (ValuePenguin, 2026), and is the lowest of the non-standard options reviewed alongside Hallmark and Infinity (The Zebra, 2026). The limitation is the size of the jump: $2,191 to $5,434 on the same profile (Insurance.com, 2026-10-08), and GEICO sits with Nationwide for the largest dollar increase among seven carriers compared (The Zebra, 2026). Cheap before, expensive after.
• Erie. Erie's full coverage after a DUI prices below the national post-DUI average, which is why it appears among the best cheap options alongside Progressive, NJM and USAA (ValuePenguin, 2026). It is also the recommended substitute where NJM is unavailable (ValuePenguin, 2026). The limitation is footprint and distribution: Erie writes in a limited set of states through agents, and it does not appear in the eight-carrier national one-DUI ranking at all (Insurance.com, 2026-10-08), so you cannot compare it head-to-head on the same figures.
• NJM. NJM is one of four carriers whose full coverage after one DUI comes in below the national post-DUI average, with a published monthly rate for that profile (ValuePenguin, 2026). For drivers it covers, it is worth a call before anything else. The hard limit: NJM sells in five states only, and the same analysis points drivers elsewhere to Erie or Shelter instead (ValuePenguin, 2026). If you are outside its footprint, there is no workaround — quote the alternatives rather than waiting.

How Rates Differ by State

Post-DUI pricing is state-by-state, because rate filings, surcharge rules and the underlying tort or no-fault system differ. The cited comparisons report state outcomes for the same carrier that swing in opposite directions.

Two practical consequences. First, a national "cheapest after a DUI" headline is an average across states and sample profiles — Progressive earns it by posting the cheapest DUI quotes in the most states, not every state (ValuePenguin, 2026). Second, if you move during the surcharge period, re-shop immediately; your old carrier's advantage does not travel with you.

What This Situation Does to Your Premium

A DUI changes two things in an insurer's rating plan: the class you are rated in, and in many states whether you can hold a discount at all.

The class change is driven by loss data. The Zebra attributes the insurance-cost impact of drunk driving partly to its contribution to traffic deaths, citing NHTSA (The Zebra, citing NHTSA, 2026). Fatal and serious-injury crashes are the losses that exhaust liability limits, so an underwriter moves a convicted driver into a higher-expected-loss class and applies a multiplier to the base rate for every coverage tied to liability exposure. That is why the increase shows up as a percentage of your whole premium rather than a flat add-on.

The scale is not uniform across carriers. Insurance.com's comparison of eight major carriers shows GEICO going from $2,191 to $5,434 on the same profile (Insurance.com, 2026-10-08), while Nationwide posts the largest percentage increase of the eight (Insurance.com, 2026-10-08). The Zebra's seven-carrier table puts Nationwide and GEICO together at the largest dollar increase (The Zebra, 2026), and The Zebra separately publishes an average percentage increase for a DUI conviction (The Zebra, 2026). The practical point: your current insurer's surcharge factor is specific to its filing, which is why re-shopping after a conviction can save more than any discount.

Duration matters as much as size. A DUI raises rates for a stated multi-year period (Insurance.com, 2026-10-08), and California goes further by blocking the state's safe-driver discount for ten years (Insurance.com, 2026-10-08) — a discount block that can outlast the surcharge itself. Ask each insurer, in writing, how many years it rates for the conviction from the date of conviction, not the date of the incident.

Then there is the filing. If your state orders an SR-22 or FR-44, the certificate is filed by the insurer, and the cost is twofold: The General charges a filing fee on top of an increased premium, with SR-22 policies there costing more than a standard policy on average (WalletHub, 2026). Not every carrier files in every state, so confirm filing capability before you accept a quote — a cheaper premium is worthless if the company will not file your certificate.

How to Qualify for the Best Rate

1. Quote Progressive and Travelers first among national carriers, since those two rank one and two for a one-DUI profile (Insurance.com, 2026-10-08), then add one regional — Erie, NJM or Shelter, depending on where you live (ValuePenguin, 2026).
2. If you or a parent or spouse served, check USAA eligibility before anything else; its average annual post-DUI rate is below Progressive's (Insurance.com, 2026-10-08).
3. Ask each insurer, before you apply, whether it files SR-22 or FR-44 certificates in your state and what the filing fee is — The General charges a filing fee on top of an increased premium (WalletHub, 2026).
4. Ask how many years the conviction is rated, measured from the conviction date, and whether that period matches the multi-year surcharge window reported for DUIs generally (Insurance.com, 2026-10-08).
5. In California, ask when the safe-driver discount becomes available again — a DUI blocks it for ten years (Insurance.com, 2026-10-08), so build that into any decision to stay or switch.
6. Request your motor vehicle record and your CLUE loss-history report before you shop, so you can see what each insurer will see and correct errors first.
7. Get minimum-limits and full-coverage quotes side by side at the identical deductible, rather than dropping comprehensive and collision before you know what the gap between the two actually costs.
8. Confirm whether your current carrier intends to non-renew you before you cancel anything; a lapse adds a second rating problem on top of the conviction.
9. Re-shop at every renewal through the surcharge period, especially at the anniversary when the conviction's rating years expire under your insurer's filing.