2002 Pontiac Montana Car Insurance Quotes – 8 Policy Discounts

Paying low cost prices for Driversauto insurance is frustrating for drivers new to buying insurance online. Because there are so many insurance companies available, it can turn into more work than you anticipated to locate the lowest prices.

You should make it a habit to do price comparisons before your policy renews since insurance rates tend to go up over time. If you had the best premium rates for Montana insurance two years ago a different company probably has better prices today. Forget anything you know (or think you know) about auto insurance because I’m going to let you in on the secrets to how to use online quotes to reduce your cost while improving coverage.

If you have car insurance now, you should be able to lower your premiums substantially using this information. Locating cheaper coverage can be fairly easy. Nevertheless, car owners must comprehend how big insurance companies sell insurance online.

Eight discounts to earn cheap car insurance rates

Car insurance is not an enjoyable expense, but there’s a good chance there are discounts that could help you make your next renewal payment. Certain discounts will be triggered automatically at the time you complete a quote, but some need to be manually applied prior to getting the savings.

  • Lower Rates for Military – Having a deployed family member can result in better car insurance rates.
  • Discounts for Safe Drivers – Accident-free drivers can save as much as half off their rates for Montana insurance compared to accident prone drivers.
  • No Claims – Drivers who don’t have accidents have much lower rates compared to drivers who are more careless.
  • Organization Discounts – Being in specific professional or occupational memberships or organizations could qualify you for a break on your policy.
  • Defensive Driver – Taking part in a safe driver class could save 5% or more and also improve your driving technique.
  • Renewal Discounts – Select companies give a discount for switching to them before your current expiration date. This can save 10% or more.
  • First Accident Forgiveness – Not really a discount, but a few companies such as Liberty Mutual and Geico may permit one accident before hitting you with a surcharge with the catch being you have to be claim-free for a particular time prior to the accident.
  • Buy New and Save – Buying a new car model can save you some money because newer models have to meet stringent safety requirements.

As a disclaimer on discounts, most discount credits are not given to all coverage premiums. Most cut specific coverage prices like physical damage coverage or medical payments. So even though it sounds like you can get free auto insurance, company stockholders wouldn’t be very happy.

A few of the larger companies and a partial list of their discounts can be found below.

  • Progressive includes discounts for multi-policy, online quote discount, continuous coverage, online signing, homeowner, and multi-vehicle.
  • Farmers Insurance has savings for bundle discounts, early shopping, youthful driver, switch companies, distant student, and multi-car.
  • Farm Bureau policyholders can earn discounts including safe driver, 55 and retired, driver training, multi-vehicle, multi-policy, and good student.
  • State Farm offers premium reductions for defensive driving training, good driver, student away at school, anti-theft, Drive Safe & Save, and accident-free.
  • Geico may include discounts for federal employee, anti-theft, seat belt use, air bags, and good student.
  • SAFECO may offer discounts for anti-lock brakes, teen safety rewards, homeowner, drive less, and safe driver.
  • Liberty Mutual may have discounts that include new vehicle discount, newly married, hybrid vehicle, safety features, and new move discount.

If you want cheap insurance quotes, ask every company how many discounts you can get. Some of the earlier mentioned discounts might not be available to policyholders in your area. To find companies that offer many of these discounts, follow this link.

How to get free car insurance quotes online

Effectively comparing car insurance prices can be exhausting if you don’t understand the most efficient way. You could spend the better part of a day talking to insurance agencies in your area, or you could save time and use online quotes to get rate comparisons in just a few minutes.

The majority of car insurance companies belong to an insurance system where insurance shoppers submit their information once, and each company then returns a price quote based on that information. This saves time by eliminating form submissions to every company.

To find out what other companies charge click here to start a free quote.

The only downside to doing it this way is you are unable to specify the companies you want to price. So if you prefer to choose specific providers to compare rates, we have a page of car insurance companies in your area. Click here for list of insurance companies.

It’s up to you which method you use, but make sure you use the same coverage limits with every price quote. If you use mixed coverages then you won’t be able to decipher which rate is best. Just a small difference in coverage limits can result in a big premium difference. And when quoting car insurance, remember that having more price comparisons will improve the odds of getting the best rates.

Tailor your car insurance coverage to you

When choosing the best car insurance coverage, there really is not a best way to insure your cars. Coverage needs to be tailored to your specific needs.

Here are some questions about coverages that could help you determine if you might need professional guidance.

  • Does insurance cover tools stolen from my truck?
  • Do I need special endorsements for business use of my vehicle?
  • Which is better, split liability limits or combined limits?
  • Do I get a pro-rated refund if I cancel my policy early?
  • When do I need to add a new car to my policy?
  • How much liability coverage do I need in my state?

If it’s difficult to answer those questions but a few of them apply, you might consider talking to a licensed agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, simply complete this short form.

Brand name doesn’t guarantee savings

Well-known insurance companies like State Farm and Allstate consistently run ads on TV and radio. They all seem to make an identical promise about saving some big amount if you change your insurance coverage to their company. How is it possible that every company can charge you a lower premium? It’s all in how they say it.

Companies quote the lowest rates for the type of driver that is profitable for them. An example of a driver they prefer may be between the ages of 30 and 50, has other policies, and drives a vehicle with a low ISO rating. Any person that meets those criteria will get the preferred rates and most likely will cut their rates substantially.

Consumers who don’t meet these standards may be required to pay higher rates and this can result in business going elsewhere. The wording the ads use say “people that switch” not “all people who quote” can save as much as they claim. This is how companies can truthfully advertise the way they do. This really illustrates why you need to compare quotes as often as possible. It is just not possible to predict with any certainty which company will have better rates than you’re paying now.

Detailed coverages of your insurance policy

Learning about specific coverages of insurance aids in choosing the right coverages and proper limits and deductibles. The terms used in a policy can be ambiguous and nobody wants to actually read their policy.

Comprehensive (Other than Collision) – Comprehensive insurance will pay to fix damage that is not covered by collision coverage. You first have to pay a deductible then the remaining damage will be covered by your comprehensive coverage.

Comprehensive insurance covers claims such as fire damage, damage from getting keyed and hitting a deer. The highest amount a insurance company will pay at claim time is the ACV or actual cash value, so if the vehicle’s value is low consider dropping full coverage.

Collision – This pays for damage to your Montana resulting from colliding with a stationary object or other vehicle. You have to pay a deductible and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.

Collision coverage protects against things like colliding with a tree, rolling your car, driving through your garage door, scraping a guard rail and colliding with another moving vehicle. This coverage can be expensive, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from lower value vehicles. Drivers also have the option to increase the deductible to save money on collision insurance.

Protection from uninsured/underinsured drivers – Your UM/UIM coverage protects you and your vehicle’s occupants when the “other guys” are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. Covered claims include hospital bills for your injuries as well as damage to your Pontiac Montana.

Because many people have only the minimum liability required by law, it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. So UM/UIM coverage is very important.

Liability coverage – This provides protection from damage or injury you incur to other’s property or people. Coverage consists of three different limits, bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. You might see policy limits of 50/100/50 that means you have a $50,000 limit per person for injuries, a per accident bodily injury limit of $100,000, and a total limit of $50,000 for damage to vehicles and property.

Liability can pay for claims like repair bills for other people’s vehicles, repair costs for stationary objects, loss of income and funeral expenses. How much liability coverage do you need? That is up to you, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase as much as you can afford.

Medical expense insurance – Coverage for medical payments and/or PIP provide coverage for expenses for things like chiropractic care, hospital visits, dental work and pain medications. The coverages can be used in conjunction with a health insurance policy or if you are not covered by health insurance. They cover both the driver and occupants as well as being hit by a car walking across the street. PIP coverage is not universally available but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage

Online plus local equals savings

As you quote insurance, it’s very important that you do not reduce needed coverages to save money. In many instances, an accident victim reduced full coverage and discovered at claim time that it was a big error on their part. Your goal is to buy a smart amount of coverage for the lowest price and still be able to protect your assets.

People switch companies for a variety of reasons including policy cancellation, policy non-renewal, extreme rates for teen drivers or being labeled a high risk driver. Regardless of your reason for switching companies, choosing a new insurance company is pretty easy and you might even save some money in the process.

Cheaper auto insurance can be sourced from both online companies in addition to many insurance agents, and you need to comparison shop both in order to have the best chance of saving money. A few companies do not provide online rate quotes and these smaller providers work with local independent agencies.

For more information, link through to these articles: