2010 Dodge Dakota Insurance Cost

Have you fallen victim to an underperforming, overpriced insurance policy? It’s quite common and you’re not alone.

There is such a variety of car insurance companies to purchase coverage from, and although it’s nice to have multiple companies, more choices can make it harder to get the best deal.

It’s a good habit to do rate comparisons every six months because prices change regularly. If you had the lowest rates on Dakota coverage last year you can probably find a better premium rate now. You’ll find a ton of advice on insurance out there, but we’re going to give you some tested techniques to save money.

The purpose of this post is to let you in on how to effectively get price quotes. If you have car insurance now, you should be able to reduce your rates substantially using these techniques. But drivers do need to learn how insurance companies market insurance on the web and use this information to your advantage.

How car insurance companies determine Dodge Dakota insurance costs

The best way to find cheaper car insurance is to take a look at the different types of things that help determine your premiums. If you understand what positively or negatively impacts your premiums, this enables you to make decisions that can earn you lower premium levels.

  • Insurance companies don’t like frequent claims – If you file claims often, you shouldn’t be surprised to get higher rates. Car insurance companies award the best rates to people who are claim-free. Your car insurance is intended for the bigger claims that can’t be paid out-of-pocket.
  • Mature drivers pay less – Youthful drivers are proven to be less responsible when driving with friends so they pay higher car insurance rates. Older drivers have been proven to be more responsible, tend to cause fewer accidents and get fewer tickets.
  • Annual miles is a factor – Driving a lot of miles annually the more you’ll pay to insure your vehicle. A lot of companies apply a rate based upon how the vehicle is primarily used. Cars and trucks that do not get driven very much cost less to insure than vehicles that have high annual mileage. Ask your agent if your vehicle rating properly reflects the correct usage, because improper ratings can cost you money. Improper usage on your Dakota may be costing you higher rates.
  • Gender and car insurance premiums – Statistics show women are more cautious behind the wheel. The data does not necessarily mean that men are worse drivers. Both sexes tend to get into fender benders in similar numbers, but guys have accidents that have higher claims. Men also tend to receive more costly citations such as DWI and reckless driving. Young men ages 16 to 20 are the most expensive to insure and thus pay the highest rates.
  • Do safer cars cost less to insure? – Cars with five star safety ratings cost less to insure. These vehicles reduce injuries and lower rates of occupant injuries means your insurance company pays less which can result in lower premiums. If your Dodge is rated at least an “acceptable” rating on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety website it may cost less to insure.

Get cheap insurance rates with discounts

Insurance can be pricey, but there could be significant discounts that could drop your premiums quite a bit. Many of these discounts will be applied automatically when you quote, but some discounts are required to be asked for prior to receiving the credit. If you are not receiving all the discounts possible, you could be saving more on your insurance.

  • Smart Student Discounts – Excelling in school can earn a discount of 20% or more. The discount lasts up to age 25.
  • ABS and Traction Control Discounts – Cars, trucks, and SUVs that have steering control and anti-lock brakes have fewer accidents and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
  • Auto/Home Discount – When you combine your auto and homeowners insurance and insure them with the same company you may earn up to 20% and get you the cheapest car insurance.
  • Service Members Pay Less – Being on active deployment in the military could be rewarded with lower prices.
  • Drivers Ed for Students – Teen drivers should sucessfully take a drivers education course as it will make them better drivers and lower rates.

Please keep in mind that most credits do not apply to your bottom line cost. Most only reduce individual premiums such as comprehensive or collision. If you do the math and it seems like all those discounts means the company will pay you, it’s just not the way it works. But all discounts should definitely cut your overall bill.

To view insurance companies who offer free insurance quotes, click here to view.

Tailor your insurance coverage coverage to you

When buying coverage, there isn’t really a best way to insure your cars. Every situation is different and a cookie cutter policy won’t apply. Here are some questions about coverages that might help in determining whether or not you would benefit from an agent’s advice.

  • Do I need replacement cost coverage on my 2010 Dodge Dakota?
  • Can my babysitter drive my car?
  • How high should deductibles be on a 2010 Dodge Dakota?
  • What is an SR-22 filing?
  • Do I need PIP coverage since I have good health insurance?
  • What if I owe more than I can insure my car for?

If you don’t know the answers to these questions but you know they apply to you, then you may want to think about talking to an insurance agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, complete this form or go to this page to view a list of companies.

Auto insurance 101

Knowing the specifics of your policy can help you determine the best coverages at the best deductibles and correct limits. The coverage terms in a policy can be difficult to understand and reading a policy is terribly boring. These are typical coverage types found on most insurance policies.

Liability car insurance – This protects you from damage that occurs to people or other property by causing an accident. It protects YOU from legal claims by others, and does not provide coverage for damage to your own property or vehicle.

Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. Your policy might show liability limits of 25/50/25 that means you have $25,000 bodily injury coverage, a limit of $50,000 in injury protection per accident, and $25,000 of coverage for damaged propery. Occasionally you may see one limit called combined single limit (CSL) which combines the three limits into one amount with no separate limits for injury or property damage.

Liability can pay for claims such as medical services, bail bonds, court costs, attorney fees and structural damage. How much liability coverage do you need? That is a personal decision, but you should buy as large an amount as possible.

Comprehensive insurance – This coverage pays to fix your vehicle from damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. You first have to pay a deductible then your comprehensive coverage will pay.

Comprehensive can pay for claims such as a broken windshield, hail damage and damage from flooding. The maximum payout a insurance company will pay at claim time is the cash value of the vehicle, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value it’s not worth carrying full coverage.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) – This protects you and your vehicle’s occupants from other motorists when they either have no liability insurance or not enough. Covered losses include injuries sustained by your vehicle’s occupants as well as damage to your Dodge Dakota.

Since a lot of drivers only purchase the least amount of liability that is required, it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is a good idea. Normally the UM/UIM limits are identical to your policy’s liability coverage.

Med pay and Personal Injury Protection (PIP) – Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance kick in for expenses for rehabilitation expenses, chiropractic care, dental work, prosthetic devices and nursing services. They can be utilized in addition to your health insurance program or if you lack health insurance entirely. Medical payments and PIP cover not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants in addition to being hit by a car walking across the street. PIP coverage is not available in all states but can be used in place of medical payments coverage

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

Collision insurance covers things such as rolling your car, scraping a guard rail, crashing into a building and driving through your garage door. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so consider removing coverage from vehicles that are older. You can also bump up the deductible to save money on collision insurance.

Have money to burn

The cheapest 2010 Dodge Dakota insurance can be purchased from both online companies and with local insurance agents, and you should be comparing both to have the best chance of lowering rates. Some companies don’t offer online rate quotes and usually these smaller companies only sell coverage through independent agents.

Throughout this article, we presented many ways to shop for 2010 Dodge Dakota insurance online. The most important thing to understand is the more price quotes you have, the better your chances of lowering your prices. You may even discover the lowest premium rates come from some of the lesser-known companies. Smaller companies often have lower prices on specific markets as compared to the big name companies such as Allstate, Geico and Progressive.

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