Did you fall for a flashy sales pitch and buy an overpriced insurance policy? You’re preaching to the choir because there are lots of people in the same boat.
Insurance companies such as Allstate, Progressive and Geico promote their brand names with ads and it can be hard to sift through the bull and find the best price available.
If you are paying for car insurance now, you will be able to cut costs considerably using this strategy. Finding affordable coverage is not that difficult. Nevertheless, drivers need to have an understanding of how the larger insurance companies sell insurance online and use this information to your advantage.
The best way to compare policy rates is to know most larger insurance companies will pay a fee to provide you with free rate quotes. The only thing you need to do is give them rating details including whether your vehicle is owned or leased, if it has an anti-theft system, if you’re married, and if you are currently licensed. Your information gets sent immediately to multiple companies and you will get price comparisons instantly to find the best rate.
Consumers need to have an understanding of some of the things that come into play when calculating car insurance rates. When consumers understand what controls the rates you pay, this helps enable you to make changes that could help you find much lower annual insurance costs. Many things are part of the calculation when premium rates are determined. Some factors are common sense such as your driving history, but others are not quite as obvious like your continuous coverage or your financial responsibility.
The itemized list below are some of the most common factors used by your company to calculate your prices.
Properly insuring your vehicles can get expensive, but you can get discounts to help offset the cost. A few discounts will be applied when you purchase, but a few must be specifically requested before you get the savings.
While discounts sound great, it’s important to understand that most discounts do not apply to the overall cost of the policy. Most only apply to the cost of specific coverages such as comp or med pay. Even though the math looks like all the discounts add up to a free policy, it doesn’t quite work that way.
A few companies that may include some of the discounts shown above include:
If you are trying to find cheap insurance coverage quotes, ask all companies you are considering the best way to save money. All car insurance discounts may not apply in your area.
When buying the right insurance coverage, there isn’t really a cookie cutter policy. Your needs are not the same as everyone else’s so this has to be addressed. For instance, these questions can help discover if your insurance needs may require specific advice.
If you’re not sure about those questions, then you may want to think about talking to an insurance agent. If you don’t have a local agent, fill out this quick form or go to this page to view a list of companies.
Knowing the specifics of your car insurance policy can be of help when determining the right coverages and proper limits and deductibles. The coverage terms in a policy can be impossible to understand and coverage can change by endorsement. These are the normal coverages found on the average car insurance policy.
Comprehensive insurance pays to fix your vehicle from damage OTHER than collision with another vehicle or object. You first must pay your deductible then your comprehensive coverage will pay.
Comprehensive insurance covers things such as damage from a tornado or hurricane, rock chips in glass and falling objects. The maximum payout your car insurance company will pay is the cash value of the vehicle, so if the vehicle’s value is low it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.
Collision insurance pays for damage to your Lancer resulting from colliding with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. You will need to pay your deductible then your collision coverage will kick in.
Collision coverage pays for claims such as sustaining damage from a pot hole, colliding with a tree, driving through your garage door, colliding with another moving vehicle and rolling your car. Paying for collision coverage can be pricey, so consider removing coverage from vehicles that are 8 years or older. You can also increase the deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage reimburse you for expenses such as chiropractic care, X-ray expenses and rehabilitation expenses. They are used to fill the gap from your health insurance program or if there is no health insurance coverage. It covers you and your occupants and will also cover any family member struck as a pedestrian. Personal Injury Protection is not an option in every state but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage
This coverage will cover damage that occurs to other people or property that is your fault. It protects you from claims by other people. It does not cover your own vehicle damage or injuries.
Liability coverage has three 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 limit of $50,000 per injured person, $100,000 for the entire accident, and a limit of $50,000 paid for damaged property.
Liability coverage protects against claims such as emergency aid, loss of income, repair costs for stationary objects and repair bills for other people’s vehicles. The amount of liability coverage you purchase is a personal decision, but buy higher limits if possible.
This provides protection from other drivers when they either have no liability insurance or not enough. It can pay for injuries to you and your family as well as your vehicle’s damage.
Since many drivers carry very low liability coverage limits, it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. That’s why carrying high Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage is very important.
Some insurance companies may not offer rates over the internet and these smaller companies only sell coverage through independent agents. The cheapest 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer insurance can be sourced from both online companies as well as from independent agentsinsurance , so you should be comparing quotes from both in order to have the best chance of saving money.
When searching for affordable insurance coverage quotes, it’s very important that you do not sacrifice coverage to reduce premiums. There have been many cases where an insured cut uninsured motorist or liability limits to discover at claim time that they should have had better coverage. The proper strategy is to find the BEST coverage for the lowest cost, but do not sacrifice coverage to save money.
Much more information about insurance coverage can be found on the following sites: