Are you regretting the purchase of an expensive car insurance policy? Trust us, many consumers feel financially strained by their car insurance policy.
Vehicle owners have so many car insurance companies to choose from, and although it’s nice to have a choice, it can be more difficult to find the best rates for your vehicles.
All major insurance companies like State Farm, GEICO and Progressive give insurance quotes on their websites. Comparing rates online is pretty painless because it’s just a matter of typing in your required coverages into the quote form. Once entered, their system automatically orders reports for credit and driving violations and gives you a price quote. This makes it a lot easier to compare rates but having to visit a lot of sites and enter the same data into a form is not the best way to spend an afternoon. But it is imperative to have as many quotes as possible if you are searching for the lowest possible prices on insurance.
A quicker way to compare rates is to use a quote form that gets prices from several different companies. It’s a real time-saver, requires less work, and makes online shopping much easier to do. As soon as you send your information, it gets priced and you can choose any one of the pricing results.
If you find a better price it’s easy to complete the application and buy the policy. This process just takes a couple of minutes and could lower your rates considerably.
To compare rates now, click here to open in a new tab and complete the simple form. If you have your current policy handy, we recommend you enter as close as possible to your current policy. This helps ensure you are getting rate comparison quotes for the exact same coverage.
Some insurance providers don’t necessarily list every policy discount in an easy-to-find place, so we took the time to find both well-publicized as well as the least known ways to save on auto insurance.
A quick disclaimer, most discounts do not apply to the entire cost. Most only apply to individual premiums such as liability and collision coverage. If you do the math and it seems like you would end up receiving a 100% discount, nobody gets a free ride.
A few of the larger companies and some of their more popular discounts are included below.
Before buying, ask each insurance company which discounts they offer. Some of the earlier mentioned discounts may not apply to policyholders in your area. To choose auto insurance companies offering auto insurance discounts, click here to view.
Lots of things are considered when pricing auto insurance. Some factors are common sense like an MVR report, but other factors are not as apparent like your vehicle usage or your vehicle rating.Consumers need to have an understanding of some of the things that help determine the rates you pay for insurance. When you know what positively or negatively influences your rates, this allows you to make good choices that will entitle you to lower premium levels.
The factors shown below are a few of the “ingredients” insurance companies consider when setting your rates.
When choosing coverage for your vehicles, there isn’t really a cookie cutter policy. Coverage needs to be tailored to your specific needs and your policy should reflect that. These are some specific questions might point out if you could use an agent’s help.
If you can’t answer these questions but you know they apply to you, you may need to chat with an agent. To find an agent in your area, complete this form or click here for a list of car insurance companies in your area.
Knowing the specifics of your auto insurance policy can be of help when determining appropriate coverage and the correct deductibles and limits. Policy terminology can be difficult to understand and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording. These are the normal coverages found on the average auto insurance policy.
Comprehensive (Other than Collision) – This coverage covers damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. You need to pay your deductible first then your comprehensive coverage will pay.
Comprehensive coverage protects against things such as vandalism, hail damage and hitting a deer. The maximum amount a auto insurance company will pay at claim time is the ACV or actual cash value, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible it’s not worth carrying full coverage.
Auto liability insurance – Liability insurance will cover injuries or damage you cause to other’s property or people. This coverage protects you against claims from other people, and does not provide coverage for damage sustained by your vehicle in an accident.
Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. You might see limits of 100/300/100 that means you have a $100,000 limit per person for injuries, a limit of $300,000 in injury protection per accident, and a limit of $100,000 paid for damaged property. Occasionally you may see one limit called combined single limit (CSL) which provides one coverage limit without having the split limit caps.
Liability coverage protects against things like medical services, emergency aid, repair costs for stationary objects, loss of income and pain and suffering. How much liability coverage do you need? That is your choice, but you should buy as much as you can afford.
Medical expense insurance – Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance reimburse you for expenses for things like dental work, funeral costs and pain medications. They can be used to cover expenses not covered by your health insurance plan or if you lack health insurance entirely. They cover both the driver and occupants as well as if you are hit as a while walking down the street. Personal Injury Protection is only offered in select states but can be used in place of medical payments coverage
Protection from uninsured/underinsured drivers – Your UM/UIM coverage gives you protection from other drivers when they either have no liability insurance or not enough. Covered losses include hospital bills for your injuries and also any damage incurred to your 2015 FIAT 500.
Since a lot of 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. Frequently your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages do not exceed the liability coverage limits.
Collision coverage – Collision insurance pays for damage to your 500 resulting from a collision with a stationary object or other vehicle. You have to pay a deductible then your collision coverage will kick in.
Collision coverage protects against claims like crashing into a building, crashing into a ditch and sustaining damage from a pot hole. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so you might think about dropping it from older vehicles. Drivers also have the option to bump up the deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.
More affordable insurance is attainable from both online companies and from local insurance agents, so get free car insurance quotes from both of them to have the best rate selection. Some insurance providers do not offer online rate quotes and usually these regional insurance providers sell through local independent agents.
As you restructure your insurance plan, don’t be tempted to reduce coverage to reduce premium. In too many instances, drivers have reduced liability limits or collision coverage only to regret that a couple dollars of savings turned into a financial nightmare. Your goal should be to buy a smart amount of coverage at the lowest possible cost, but do not skimp to save money.