Having to pay for overpriced insurance can overdraw your checking account and force you to cut corners elsewhere. Doing a rate analysis can lower your rates and help to cut your insurance bill.
With people having so many companies and agents to choose from, it can be challenging to choose the lowest cost insurance company.
The cost of insuring your cars can be expensive, but you might find some hidden discounts that you may not know about. Some trigger automatically at quote time, but occassionally some discounts must be requested specifically prior to receiving the credit. If you aren’t receiving every discount you qualify for, you’re paying more than you need to.
Drivers should understand that most discount credits are not given to the overall cost of the policy. The majority will only reduce individual premiums such as comp or med pay. Even though it may seem like adding up those discounts means a free policy, that’s just not realistic.
Large auto insurance companies and a selection of discounts are:
When getting free insurance coverage quotes, it’s a good idea to each company or agent how you can save money. Some of the discounts discussed earlier may not apply to policyholders everywhere. To see providers with discount rates, follow this link.
When choosing adequate coverage, there really is no cookie cutter policy. Everyone’s needs are different so your insurance needs to address that. For instance, these questions may help you determine whether or not you could use an agent’s help.
If you’re not sure about those questions but you think they might apply to your situation, you might consider talking to a licensed agent. If you don’t have a local agent, fill out this quick form or you can also visit this page to select a carrier
Having a good grasp of your auto insurance policy aids in choosing the right coverages for your vehicles. Policy terminology can be ambiguous and reading a policy is terribly boring. Below you’ll find the normal coverages available from auto insurance companies.
This protects you from damages or injuries you inflict on other’s property or people by causing an accident. It protects you against claims from other people, and does not provide coverage for your own vehicle damage or injuries.
Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. As an example, you may have liability limits of 25/50/25 that means you have a $25,000 limit per person for injuries, a limit of $50,000 in injury protection per accident, and a total limit of $25,000 for damage to vehicles and property. Some companies may use a combined limit which combines the three limits into one amount without having the split limit caps.
Liability coverage protects against things such as court costs, repair costs for stationary objects, loss of income, emergency aid and repair bills for other people’s vehicles. The amount of liability coverage you purchase is a decision to put some thought into, but you should buy as much as you can afford.
Comprehensive insurance coverage covers damage from a wide range of events other than collision. You need to pay your deductible first and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive coverage protects against claims like damage from a tornado or hurricane, vandalism and falling objects. The most you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if the vehicle’s value is low consider dropping full coverage.
Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance provide coverage for bills like dental work, doctor visits, hospital visits, ambulance fees and X-ray expenses. They are often used in conjunction with a health insurance program or if you do not have health coverage. It covers both the driver and occupants and will also cover if you are hit as a while walking down the street. PIP is not an option in every state but can be used in place of medical payments coverage
Collision insurance pays to fix your vehicle from damage resulting from a collision with a stationary object or other vehicle. You first must pay a deductible then your collision coverage will kick in.
Collision coverage protects against things such as hitting a parking meter, damaging your car on a curb, colliding with a tree, driving through your garage door and rolling your car. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so you might think about dropping it from vehicles that are 8 years or older. Drivers also have the option to choose a higher deductible to bring the cost down.
This gives you protection from other drivers when they either are underinsured or have no liability coverage at all. Covered claims include injuries sustained by your vehicle’s occupants as well as your vehicle’s damage.
Since a lot of drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits, their limits can quickly be used up. For this reason, having high UM/UIM coverages is very important. Most of the time your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages do not exceed the liability coverage limits.
More affordable auto insurance can be found online and with local insurance agents, and you should compare price quotes from both to have the best selection. There are still a few companies who don’t offer rates over the internet and most of the time these smaller companies prefer to sell through independent agents.
When getting insurance coverage quotes online, do not reduce needed coverages to save money. There are a lot of situations where consumers will sacrifice collision coverage and learned later that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. Your objective should be to buy the best coverage you can find at the lowest possible cost, not the least amount of coverage.
Even more information can be read in the articles below: