If you’re looking for more affordable insurance, are you frustrated by the wide range of insurance providers available to you? Consumers have such a large number of options that it can easily turn into hard work to find the lowest price.
It’s a great practice to do rate comparisons periodically since insurance rates fluctuate regularly. Just because you had the best rate on Swift coverage at your last renewal you can probably find a lower rate today. Forget all the misinformation about insurance because you’re about to learn one of the best ways to find better coverage at a better price.
The best way to compare insurance rates in your area is to understand all the major auto insurance companies provide online access to provide you with free rate quotes. The only thing you need to do is provide a little information such as your job, distance driven, if you are currently licensed, and coverage limits. The data is then submitted to insurance carriers in your area and they respond with quotes immediately.
To compare multiple company rates now, click here and find out if you can get cheaper insurance.
Companies that sell car insurance don’t always advertise all available discounts very clearly, so the following is a list of a few of the more common in addition to some of the lesser obvious credits available to lower your premiums when you buy car insurance online.
As a sidenote, some credits don’t apply to all coverage premiums. Most only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as comprehensive or collision. Just because it seems like you can get free auto insurance, nobody gets a free ride. Any amount of discount will help lower your premiums.
A list of insurance companies and the discounts they provide can be found below.
When getting a coverage quote, ask each insurance company the best way to save money. Some credits may not be available in every state.
When it comes to buying coverage, there really is no single plan that fits everyone. Every situation is different.
For instance, these questions can help discover whether or not you would benefit from professional advice.
If you don’t know the answers to these questions but you think they might apply to your situation, you might consider talking to a licensed insurance agent. If you want to speak to an agent in your area, fill out this quick form.
State Farm, Geico and Progressive consistently run ads in print and on television. They all seem to make the point about saving some big amount just by switching your coverage to them. How can each company make almost identical claims? It’s all in how they say it.
Most companies are able to cherry pick for a prospective insured that earns them a profit. A good example of a desirable insured may be over age 30, has a clean driving record, and drives less than 5,000 miles a year. Someone that meets those criteria will get very good rates and as a result will probably save a lot if they switch.
Potential insureds who don’t meet this ideal profile will be charged more expensive rates and ends up with the customer buying from someone else. The trick is to say “people that switch” but not “everyone who gets a quote” save that much money. That’s why companies can truthfully lure you into getting a quote. Different companies use different criteria so it is so important to get car insurance quotes from several different companies. It’s just too difficult to predict which insurance companies will have better rates than you’re paying now.
Learning about specific coverages of your policy can help you determine which coverages you need and proper limits and deductibles. The terms used in a policy can be ambiguous and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording.
Uninsured and underinsured coverage – Your UM/UIM coverage protects you and your vehicle when the “other guys” are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. It can pay for hospital bills for your injuries and damage to your 1995 Suzuki Swift.
Because many people only purchase the least amount of liability that is required, their limits can quickly be used up. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage should not be overlooked.
Liability insurance – This coverage provides protection from damage that occurs to people or other property by causing an accident. This insurance protects YOU from claims by other people. Liability doesn’t cover your injuries or vehicle damage.
It consists of three limits, bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. You commonly see values of 50/100/50 which stand for $50,000 bodily injury coverage, $100,000 for the entire accident, and $50,000 of coverage for damaged propery.
Liability insurance covers things such as repair bills for other people’s vehicles, funeral expenses, structural damage and legal defense fees. How much liability coverage do you need? That is up to you, but consider buying as much as you can afford.
Collision coverages – This coverage covers damage to your Swift resulting from colliding with another car or object. A deductible applies and then insurance will cover the remainder.
Collision can pay for things like rolling your car, colliding with another moving vehicle, crashing into a ditch, damaging your car on a curb and colliding with a tree. This coverage can be expensive, so consider removing coverage from lower value vehicles. It’s also possible to raise the deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.
Coverage for medical payments – Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage provide coverage for short-term medical expenses for things like X-ray expenses, doctor visits, funeral costs and dental work. They are often used in conjunction with a health insurance program or if there is no health insurance coverage. Medical payments and PIP cover not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants and will also cover getting struck while a pedestrian. Personal Injury Protection is not an option in every state and may carry a deductible
Comprehensive coverages – Comprehensive insurance will pay to fix 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 claims such as hitting a deer, vandalism, a broken windshield and damage from flooding. The maximum amount you’ll receive from a claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if the vehicle is not worth much it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.
Lower-priced car insurance can be sourced from both online companies and also from your neighborhood agents, and you should be comparing both to have the best selection. Some insurance companies may not provide online rate quotes and usually these regional insurance providers provide coverage only through independent insurance agents.
As you restructure your insurance plan, it’s a bad idea to buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. There are a lot of situations where an accident victim reduced uninsured motorist or liability limits only to regret at claim time that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. Your focus should be to buy the best coverage you can find for the lowest cost, but do not skimp to save money.
Consumers change insurance companies for any number of reasons including delays in paying claims, extreme rates for teen drivers, unfair underwriting practices and being labeled a high risk driver. Whatever your reason, choosing a new company is pretty easy and you might even save some money in the process.