Nobody that owns a car loves paying for car insurance, especially when they know they could find better rates elsewhere.
Since you have so many car insurance companies to choose from, it can be hard to choose the lowest price company.
Consumers need to take a look at other company’s rates once or twice a year since insurance rates are adjusted regularly by insurance companies. If you had the lowest premium rates on Venture insurance last year a different company probably has better prices today. Ignore everything you know about car insurance because we’re going to demonstrate the easiest way to buy cheaper car insurance.
The purpose of this post is to introduce you to the most effective way to quote insurance and some tips to save money. If you have car insurance now, you will most likely be able to lower your premiums substantially using these tips. Although consumers must understand how insurance companies price online insurance and use this information to your advantage.
Insurance is neither fun to buy or cheap, but you may find discounts that can drop the cost substantially. Many of these discounts will be applied automatically when you purchase, but once in a while a discount must be inquired about prior to receiving the credit.
It’s important to note that most discounts do not apply to your bottom line cost. Most cut individual premiums such as comp or med pay. Even though the math looks like it’s possible to get free car insurance, insurance companies wouldn’t stay in business.
Companies and a summarized list of policyholder discounts include:
Double check with all the companies how you can save money. Depending on the company, some discounts may not apply in your area. To locate companies that offer some of these discounts, follow this link.
There are multiple methods to compare auto insurance quotes, but some are easier and takes less work. You could spend the better part of a day talking about coverages with insurance companies in your area, or you could use the internet to accomplish the same thing much quicker.
Many insurance companies enroll in a system that enables customers to send in one quote, and each company then returns a price quote based on that data. This system prevents you from having to do repetitive form submissions for each company you want a rate for.
To enter your information into the quoting system, click here to open in new window.
The single downside to getting quotes like this is you cannot specify which companies to get pricing from. So if you want to choose specific insurance companies for rate comparison, we have a listing of companies who write auto insurance in your area. View list of insurance companies.
It doesn’t matter which method you choose, just try to use the exact same coverage limits and deductibles with each company. If you have higher or lower deductibles you can’t possibly make a fair rate comparison. Even a minor difference in limits can mean a large discrepancy in price. And when quoting auto insurance, remember that comparing more quotes helps improve the odds of finding the best rates.
When choosing coverage, there really is not a single plan that fits everyone. Everyone’s situation is a little different so this has to be addressed. For instance, these questions might point out if you might need an agent’s assistance.
If you’re not sure about those questions but a few of them apply, then you may want to think about talking to a licensed agent. To find an agent in your area, simply complete this short form or you can also visit this page to select a carrier
Understanding the coverages of insurance can be of help when determining which coverages you need at the best deductibles and correct limits. Policy terminology can be ambiguous and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording. Listed below are the normal coverages available from insurance companies.
Liability – Liability coverage provides protection from damage or injury you incur to other people or property that is your fault. This coverage protects you against other people’s claims. Liability doesn’t cover your own vehicle damage or injuries.
It consists of three limits, bodily injury for each person injured, bodily injury for the entire accident and a property damage limit. As an example, you may have policy limits of 25/50/25 which means $25,000 in coverage for each person’s injuries, a per accident bodily injury limit of $50,000, and a total limit of $25,000 for damage to vehicles and property. Some companies may use a combined limit which provides one coverage limit and claims can be made without the split limit restrictions.
Liability can pay for things such as legal defense fees, pain and suffering, repair costs for stationary objects and repair bills for other people’s vehicles. How much liability coverage do you need? That is up to you, but consider buying as large an amount as possible.
Medical costs insurance – Coverage for medical payments and/or PIP pay for short-term medical expenses for hospital visits, surgery, nursing services and dental work. They are often used in conjunction with a health insurance program or if you are not covered by health insurance. Medical payments and PIP cover not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants and will also cover being hit by a car walking across the street. PIP coverage is not universally available and may carry a deductible
Comprehensive or Other Than Collision – This coverage will pay to fix damage OTHER than collision with another vehicle or object. A deductible will apply and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive coverage protects against claims like a broken windshield, a tree branch falling on your vehicle and damage from getting keyed. The most you’ll receive from a claim is the actual cash value, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible consider removing comprehensive coverage.
UM/UIM Coverage – This protects you and your vehicle’s occupants when the “other guys” either have no liability insurance or not enough. This coverage pays for injuries to you and your family as well as your vehicle’s damage.
Since many drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits, it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage should not be overlooked. Normally the UM/UIM limits are identical to your policy’s liability coverage.
Collision coverages – Collision coverage covers damage to your Venture caused by collision with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. You first must pay a deductible and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.
Collision coverage pays for claims such as crashing into a building, driving through your garage door and colliding with another moving vehicle. This coverage can be expensive, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from vehicles that are 8 years or older. Drivers also have the option to choose a higher deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.
While you’re price shopping online, make sure you don’t buy poor coverage just to save money. In many instances, someone sacrificed comprehensive coverage or liability limits and found out when filing a claim that saving that couple of dollars actually costed them tens of thousands. Your focus should be to purchase plenty of coverage at an affordable rate, not the least amount of coverage.
Low-cost 2004 Chevy Venture insurance is possible from both online companies in addition to local insurance agencies, and you need to comparison shop both in order to have the best chance of saving money. Some insurance providers may not provide price quotes online and most of the time these smaller companies work with independent agents.