Car Insurance in Japan in My 60s: 2,120 Yen a Month With JA Kyosai

My car insurance, in my 60s, is 2,120 yen a month. 25,440 yen a year.

I put it next to another kyosai with the same conditions, and that one was 2,040 yen a year cheaper. Still, I stay with JA.

Is your premium expensive, or cheap?
If you have ever thought, “Is my premium really fair?”, please read on from here.
I will show everything inside my insurance, and why I keep it.

I Will Show All of the Insurance I Have Now

It is car insurance from JA Kyosai, the mutual aid insurance of the Japanese farm cooperatives. This is what is inside.

• Monthly: 2,120 yen
• Yearly: 25,440 yen
• No-claims grade: 20 (the top grade)
• Driver license: gold
• Age condition: drivers 26 and older only
• Car: a 1000cc compact car
• Bodily injury to others: unlimited
• Damage to property of others: unlimited (0 yen deductible)
• Personal injury: 30 million yen per person
• Lawyer fees: 3 million yen
• Towing: 150,000 yen
• Collision coverage for my own car: none (I dropped it)

All this for 2,120 yen a month. That is 70 yen a day.
Cheaper than one can of coffee.

Why Did I Choose JA Kyosai?

I will be honest. When I switched, I did not compare it with other companies.

It started with an accident in my 50s, where the other side was 100 percent at fault.
I asked for help from the car shop I have used for many years.
The person at that car shop also happened to be an insurance adjuster.

An “adjuster” is an expert who, when an accident happens, looks into the damage to the car and how much each side is at fault.
I learned that word for the first time then.

I trusted that adjuster.
And that car shop handled JA Kyosai.

“If I leave it to them, there will be no mistake.”
I thought so, and I switched after that.

In my town, a car shop I know personally acts for me. And if something happens on a trip, JA is all over the country.

Compared with the big online insurance companies, maybe there is cheaper insurance.
But when there is an accident, a person I know personally acts for me. I think that peace of mind cannot be traded for a difference of a few hundred yen a month.

Why I Made Injury and Property Damage to Others “Unlimited”

As in the list, I made both bodily injury and property damage to others unlimited.

The reason is simple.
If I kill someone in an accident, or break a shop or a house, 30 million yen may not be enough. When I looked it up, there are court cases where payment of more than 200 million yen was ordered.

It seems the difference in premium is not big even if I make it unlimited.
If that takes away the sleepless nights, it is cheap.

My decision is this. Coverage for injury and property damage to others is the one thing I will never cut.

Why I Keep the 3 Million Yen Lawyer Fee Rider

I also had this rider at the time of the 100 to 0 accident (with the insurance I had before I switched to JA).
But I did not use it then.
That was because the adjuster told me, “Bringing in a lawyer is no use.”

A 100 to 0 accident means the other side is 100 percent at fault.
Because I have no fault, I have to talk directly with the insurance company of the other side.

This was hard.
I am an amateur, negotiating against an insurance professional. There is no way I can win.

If a lawyer had acted for me then, I am sure it would have ended faster, and in a way I could accept.

It is a few hundred yen a year. I still keep it as insurance for “if I am hit in a 100 to 0 accident again”.

The Story of Dropping Collision Coverage (My Biggest Decision)

This is the biggest decision in my insurance.

When I first switched, I had collision coverage.
But the adjuster had told me this.

“Looking at the age and the value of the car, you do not need collision coverage.”

I did not listen.
I was afraid that when something happened, I could not repair the car.

So I kept paying for 3 years.

The turning point was the day I hit a wall of snow.
The repair cost 400,000 yen.
When I calculated with the adjuster, 400,000 yen was bigger than the extra premium I would pay for 3 years after my grade went down.
So that time, I used the collision coverage.

After my grade came back, I watched a video that said, “You do not need insurance for a loss you can pay yourself.” Then, finally, I cancelled it.

After I dropped it, my monthly premium went down, to the 2,120 yen a month I pay now.

Looking back roughly, the monthly premium changed like this (rough amounts).

• When I first switched to JA Kyosai (with collision coverage): about 5,340 yen
• Right after I used collision coverage for my single-car accident (grade went down): about 7,540 yen
• 3 years later, when my grade came back: about 4,640 yen
• Now, without collision coverage: 2,120 yen

Compared with just before I dropped collision coverage (about 4,640 yen), the difference is 2,520 yen a month. About 30,000 yen a year.
It may sound like only 30,000 yen. But with no accident, it is money that stays in my hand.

Also, I dropped collision coverage from the car insurance for my child in the same way.
The reason is the same.
Cut what can be cut. That is my policy.

JA Kyosai Road Service: What Is the 150,000 Yen Towing For?

If my car stops moving, first I call the JA Kyosai support center.
They take calls 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
An accident, a breakdown, a dead battery, keys locked inside. When I am in trouble, I call here.

The 150,000 yen is the upper limit of the payout for towing and road service costs.
From June 2024, the cost charged by a company I arrange myself is also covered by this limit.

But JA Kyosai warns that there have been cases in which companies found on the internet charged high prices.
So the order is the support center first.

I almost never have a chance to use it.
But without it, I would be in trouble. It is a rider like a lucky charm.
I just do not want to get the order wrong.

I Put JA Kyosai and My Car Kyosai Side by Side, With the Same Conditions

I think JA Kyosai is the best. When I hit the wall of snow, too, I talked with the car shop (the adjuster) and decided whether to use collision coverage. There is someone I know personally, and JA is all over the country, so wherever my car breaks down or I have an accident, I can get things handled.

But I lined up the prices once. In October 2026, I put the same conditions as mine into My Car Kyosai of Kokumin Kyosai, another mutual aid insurer: in my 60s, grade 20, unlimited injury and property damage to others, no collision coverage, a lawyer fee rider, and drivers 26 and older.

	JA Kyosai (my contract now)	My Car Kyosai (estimate)
Monthly	2,120 yen	1,950 yen
Yearly (monthly x 12)	25,440 yen	23,400 yen
Personal injury	30 million yen	50 million yen

The difference is 170 yen a month, 2,040 yen a year. For personal injury, the other one covers more.

If it is 2,040 yen a year, I stay with JA.

You cannot know whether your premium is fair until you line it up with your own conditions. You can ask the price of JA at a JA counter.

You decide how big a difference it takes to make you move. First, start by getting your own numbers.

In the End, I Keep This Insurance

2,120 yen a month. 25,440 yen a year.
A 1000cc compact car, grade 20, gold license, drivers 26 and older only, unlimited injury and property damage to others, no collision coverage.

This is my answer.

When there is an accident, I have someone who shows up for me.
I cut what should be cut. I kept what should be kept.

All that is left is how long I can keep driving with no accident. That is all.

What do you cut from your insurance, and what do you keep?

Other things I have written about car costs and insurance in Japan:

• My Shaken Bill Doubled: What I Saw in Year Seven as a Former Mechanic
• I Cancelled My Life Insurance in My 60s and Got 250,000 Yen Back. I Wish I Had Noticed Sooner.