Price shopping your Driversauto insurance can be frustrating for drivers not familiar with buying insurance online. People have so many different companies and agents to choose from that it can quickly become hard work to find better rates.
It’s important to shop coverage around once or twice a year due to the fact that insurance rates change quite often. Just because you found the best rate on V50 insurance on your last policy you will most likely find a better price 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 get good coverage at a lower rate.
Buying car insurance is not rocket science. If you currently have car insurance, you will most likely be able to cut costs considerably using these techniques. But consumers benefit from understanding how insurance companies sell online and use this information to your advantage.
Companies offering auto insurance do not list all disounts in a way that’s easy to find, so the below list has some of the more common in addition to some of the lesser obvious discounts you could be receiving when you buy car insurance online. If you’re not getting every credit possible, you’re paying more than you need to.
As a footnote on discounts, some credits don’t apply to all coverage premiums. A few only apply to individual premiums such as liability, collision or medical payments. If you do the math and it seems like you would end up receiving a 100% discount, you’re out of luck.
A list of insurance coverage companies and a summarized list of policyholder discounts are:
Check with each company the best way to save money. Some discounts listed above might not be offered on policies in your area. To find insurance companies that offer many of these discounts, click here to view.
There are a lot of ways to compare car insurance prices and some are more efficient than others. You can waste hours talking to insurance companies in your area, or you can stay home and use the web to get rate comparisons in just a few minutes.
Many of the larger companies belong to a marketplace where prospective buyers submit one quote, and every company returns a competitive quote based on that information. This saves time by eliminating repetitive form submissions for every car insurance company.
To find out how much you’re overpaying now click here (opens in new window).
The one downside to comparing rates this way is you don’t know exactly which insurance companies you will receive quotes from. If you wish to select specific providers to request quotes from, we put together a list of low cost car insurance companies in your area. Click here to view list.
It’s up to you how you get prices quotes, just try to keep apples-to-apples quote information for each comparison quote. If each company quotes mixed coverages it will be very difficult to make an equal comparison. Having just a slight variation in coverages may cause a big price difference. And when comparison shopping, obtaining a wide range of quotes will improve the odds of getting the best price. Some regional insurers cannot provide quotes online, so it’s necessary to compare quotes from them as well.
When choosing adequate coverage, there isn’t really a one size fits all plan. Everyone’s needs are different.
For instance, these questions can help discover whether your personal situation may require specific advice.
If it’s difficult to answer those questions but a few of them apply, you may need to chat with an insurance agent. To find an agent in your area, simply complete this short form.
Insurance companies such as Allstate and Progressive consistently run ads in print and on television. They all seem to seem to make the promise about saving some big amount if you just switch your insurance policy to them. It sounds good, but how can they all sell you cheaper insurance coverage? It’s all in the words they use.
Most companies give the cheapest rates for the type of driver that will add to their bottom line. A good example of a desirable risk could possibly be over the age of 35, has a low-risk occupation, and drives newer vehicles. A customer getting a price quote who fits those characteristics will qualify for the lowest prices and will probably save a lot of money.
Potential insureds who may not quite match this ideal profile may be required to pay higher rates which leads to the customer buying from a different company. If you listen to the ad wording, they say “people that switch” but not “everyone who gets a quote” save money. That’s the way insurance companies can confidently make claims like that. Because every company is different, you really should get car insurance quotes as often as possible. It’s impossible to know with any certainty which company will provide you with the cheapest premium rates.
Having a good grasp of your auto insurance policy helps when choosing which coverages you need and the correct deductibles and limits. Policy terminology can be confusing and nobody wants to actually read their policy.
Medical payments and PIP coverage – Med pay and PIP coverage pay for bills such as ambulance fees, nursing services and doctor visits. They are utilized in addition to your health insurance program or if you lack health insurance entirely. 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 can be used in place of medical payments coverage
UM/UIM (Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist) coverage – Your UM/UIM coverage protects you and your vehicle from other motorists when they either are underinsured or have no liability coverage at all. Covered claims include injuries to you and your family and also any damage incurred to your Volvo V50.
Due to the fact that many drivers carry very low liability coverage limits, their limits can quickly be used up. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is very important.
Collision coverages – This will pay to fix damage to your V50 resulting from a collision with an object or car. You first must pay a deductible then the remaining damage will be paid by your insurance company.
Collision coverage pays for things such as driving through your garage door, crashing into a building, backing into a parked car, scraping a guard rail and sustaining damage from a pot hole. This coverage can be expensive, so you might think about dropping it from vehicles that are 8 years or older. Another option is to increase the deductible to save money on collision insurance.
Auto liability – This coverage can cover damage that occurs to a person or their property by causing an accident. This insurance protects YOU against claims from other people, and does not provide coverage for your injuries or vehicle damage.
Coverage consists of three different limits, bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. Your policy might show values of 50/100/50 that translate to $50,000 in coverage for each person’s injuries, $100,000 for the entire accident, and a limit of $50,000 paid for damaged property.
Liability insurance covers things like medical expenses, bail bonds and court costs. The amount of liability coverage you purchase is your choice, but you should buy as much as you can afford.
Comprehensive auto coverage – This pays for damage from a wide range of events other than collision. You first must pay your deductible and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive coverage pays for claims such as damage from flooding, hitting a bird, a tree branch falling on your vehicle and theft. The maximum payout you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the actual cash value, so if the vehicle’s value is low consider removing comprehensive coverage.
People leave their current company for a variety of reasons including lack of trust in their agent, an unsatisfactory settlement offer, not issuing a premium refund or even delays in responding to claim requests. Regardless of your reason for switching companies, finding a new insurance company can be less work than you think.
You just learned quite a bit of information on how to save on 2007 Volvo V50 insurance. It’s most important to understand that the more price quotes you have, the higher the chance of saving money. Drivers may discover the biggest savings come from a company that doesn’t do a lot of advertising.
As you restructure your insurance plan, do not reduce coverage to reduce premium. There have been many situations where someone sacrificed physical damage coverage and learned later they didn’t have enough coverage. Your aim should be to buy the best coverage you can find at an affordable rate while not skimping on critical coverages.