Lower Your 2018 Toyota Prius Insurance Rates

Are you regretting the purchase of an expensive insurance policy? Trust us, there are many drivers thinking the same thing. Numerous auto insurance companies battle for your insurance dollar, and because of this it can be hard to compare insurance companies to find the best rate

You should make it a habit to get comparison quotes quite often since insurance rates trend upward over time. Just because you found the lowest premium rates on Prius insurance last year you can probably find a better price now. There is a lot of bad information regarding insurance on the internet, but in a few minutes you can learn the best ways to save money.

If you have insurance now or are just looking to switch companies, you can learn to find better prices while maintaining coverages. Finding affordable coverage is not that difficult. Consumers just need to know the proper way to compare rates online.

How your Prius insurance premiums are determined

Lots of factors are considered when you get a price on insurance. Some factors are common sense such as your driving history, although others are less obvious such as your marital status or your vehicle rating.

  • Prevent theft and save – Owning a car with an alarm system can save you a little every year. Anti-theft devices such as vehicle immobilizer systems, General Motors OnStar and LoJack tracking systems all help stop your car from being stolen.
  • Cheaper rates with high comp and collision deductibles – Physical damage coverage, commonly called comprehensive (or other-than-collision) and collision coverage, protects your Toyota from damage. Some coverage claims could be a dented fender, collision with an animal, and damage from a fallen tree branch. The deductibles are the amount of money the insured will be required to pay if the claim is covered. The more of the claim you are required to pay out-of-pocket, the less your car insurance will be on Prius insurance.
  • Marriage discount – Being married actually saves money when buying car insurance. Marriage translates into being less irresponsible and insurance companies like that married drivers tend to have fewer serious accidents.
  • How much liability – Liability coverage kicks in in the event that you are found liable for causing damage or personal injury in an accident. Your policy’s liability insurance provides legal defense coverage starting from day one. This coverage is relatively inexpensive when compared with rates for comp and collision, so do not cut corners here.
  • Drivers with good credit save on car insurance – Having a good credit score can be an important factor in calculating your car insurance rates. Insureds with excellent credit tend to be more responsible as compared to drivers with bad credit. If your credit rating can be improved, you could potentially save money when insuring your 2018 Toyota Prius by improving your credit score.
  • Policy add-ons add up – There are a ton of extra coverages that can waste your money on your Prius policy. Coverages for rental car coverage, towing, and term life insurance could be just wasting money. The coverages may be enticing at first, but if you don’t need them consider taking them off your policy.

Compare insurance price quotes online

Comparing insurance rates can be a lot of work if you don’t understand the most efficient way to do it. You can waste a lot of time talking to local insurance agents in your area, or you can stay home and use online quotes to maximize your effort.

Many companies enroll in a system that allows shoppers to only type in their quote data once, and each company then returns a price quote. This saves time by eliminating quote forms for each company you want a rate for.

To compare rates now click to open in new window.

The single downside to using this type of form is that consumers can’t choose which providers you want pricing from. If you prefer to choose specific providers to request quotes from, we have a listing of the cheapest insurance companies in your area. View list of insurance companies.

Which method you use is up to you, but make darn sure you compare apples-to-apples coverage limits on every price quote you get. If each company quotes differing limits it will be nearly impossible to make a fair rate comparison.

Cheap car insurance rates with discounts

The price of auto insurance can be rather high, but there could be significant discounts to reduce the price significantly. A few discounts will be applied at quote time, but some must be specifically requested before you will receive the discount.

  • Homeowners Pay Less – Owning a house can get you a discount because owning a home requires personal responsibility.
  • Anti-lock Brakes – Cars equipped with ABS or steering control prevent accidents so companies give up to a 10% discount.
  • Driving Data Discount – Drivers that enable their car insurance company to spy on driving habits by using a telematics device such as Allstate’s Drivewise and State Farm’s In-Drive system might see lower rates if they exhibit good driving behavior.
  • Anti-theft Discount – Cars, trucks, and SUVs equipped with anti-theft or alarm systems can help prevent theft and that can save you a little bit as well.
  • E-sign Discounts</strong – Certain larger companies will give a small break get auto insurance on the web.
  • Driver Education Discount – Make teen driver coverage more affordable by requiring them to enroll and complete driver’s education if it’s offered in school.
  • Defensive Driver – Participating in a course in defensive driver could earn you a small percentage discount if your company offers it.
  • Bundle and Save – If you combine your homeowners and auto policies and insure them with the same company you may save up to 20% and get you low cost auto insurance.
  • Good Student Discount – Being a good student can get you a discount of up to 25%. Earning this discount can benefit you up to age 25.
  • Accident Forgiveness – Not necessarily a discount, but a handful of insurance companies may permit one accident before your rates go up so long as you haven’t had any claims before the accident.

Just know that most of the big mark downs will not be given to the entire policy premium. Some only reduce specific coverage prices like medical payments or collision. Even though the math looks like having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, it doesn’t quite work that way.

A list of car insurance companies and some of the premium reductions they offer are:

  • Geico has savings for federal employee, good student, multi-vehicle, military active duty, defensive driver, and anti-lock brakes.
  • Mercury Insurance policyholders can earn discounts including accident-free, anti-theft, annual mileage, type of vehicle, and multi-policy.
  • Farmers Insurance may have discounts that include business and professional, multi-car, pay in full, alternative fuel, and youthful driver.
  • Auto-Owners Insurance may offer discounts for good student, teen driver, anti-theft, multiple vehicles, group or association, and anti-lock brakes.
  • Liberty Mutual may include discounts for hybrid vehicle, newly married, teen driver discount, exclusive group savings, multi-car, new move discount, and new graduate.
  • SAFECO offers discounts for anti-theft, safe driver, teen safety rewards, drive less, homeowner, and multi-car.
  • Progressive includes discounts for online signing, online quote discount, multi-policy, multi-vehicle, and homeowner.
  • USAA discounts include loyalty savings, multi-vehicle, new vehicle, family discount, annual mileage, and driver training.

It’s a good idea to ask all the companies which discounts they offer. Some of the earlier mentioned discounts may not apply to policyholders everywhere. To view providers who offer discounts, click here to view.

Tailor your insurance coverage coverage to you

When it comes to buying coverage for your personal vehicles, there really is no one size fits all plan. Every insured’s situation is different so your insurance needs to address that. For example, these questions can help discover if your situation might need an agent’s assistance.

  • When should I not file a claim?
  • Do I need more liability coverage?
  • What is covered by UM/UIM coverage?
  • What are the best liability limits?
  • Does my 2018 Toyota Prius need full coverage?
  • Do I get a pro-rated refund if I cancel my policy early?
  • Am I insured when driving a different vehicle?
  • Does insurance cover tools stolen from my truck?
  • Is my 2018 Toyota Prius covered for smoke damage?

If you’re not sure about those questions but you think they might apply to your situation, you might consider talking to an insurance agent. If you want to speak to an agent in your area, fill out this quick form or go to this page to view a list of companies. It is quick, free and can help protect your family.

Insurance coverage basics

Having a good grasp of insurance can be of help when determining appropriate coverage at the best deductibles and correct limits. Policy terminology can be confusing and nobody wants to actually read their policy. Shown next are the normal coverages offered by insurance companies.

Collision protection

Collision coverage pays to fix your vehicle from damage from colliding with another car or object. You first must pay a deductible then your collision coverage will kick in.

Collision coverage protects against claims like sustaining damage from a pot hole, hitting a parking meter, driving through your garage door, backing into a parked car and hitting a mailbox. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from vehicles that are 8 years or older. It’s also possible to choose a higher deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.

UM/UIM Coverage

Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage gives you protection when the “other guys” are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. Covered losses include medical payments for you and your occupants and also any damage incurred to your Toyota Prius.

Since a lot of drivers have only the minimum liability required by law, it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is important protection for you and your family. Frequently these limits are similar to your liability insurance amounts.

Comprehensive or Other Than Collision

This pays for damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. A deductible will apply then the remaining damage will be covered by your comprehensive coverage.

Comprehensive coverage pays for things like theft, hitting a bird, rock chips in glass and damage from a tornado or hurricane. The maximum amount your insurance company will pay is the actual cash value, so if the vehicle’s value is low consider dropping full coverage.

Medical costs insurance

Med pay and PIP coverage reimburse you for short-term medical expenses like nursing services, chiropractic care, prosthetic devices, dental work and surgery. They are often used to cover expenses not covered by your health insurance policy or if you lack health insurance entirely. Medical payments and PIP cover you and your occupants and will also cover any family member struck as a pedestrian. Personal Injury Protection is not available in all states and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay

Liability insurance

This coverage protects you from injuries or damage you cause to people or other property that is your fault. This coverage protects you from legal claims by others. Liability doesn’t cover your injuries or vehicle damage.

Coverage consists of three different limits, bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. You commonly see policy limits of 50/100/50 which stand for $50,000 bodily injury coverage, a per accident bodily injury limit of $100,000, and property damage coverage for $50,000. Alternatively, you may have one limit called combined single limit (CSL) which limits claims to one amount without having the split limit caps.

Liability insurance covers claims such as loss of income, legal defense fees and funeral expenses. How much liability coverage do you need? That is up to you, but you should buy higher limits if possible.

Get your money’s worth

When buying insurance coverage, you should never buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. There are a lot of situations where an insured dropped liability limits or collision coverage and found out when filing a claim that saving that couple of dollars actually costed them tens of thousands. Your goal should be to find the BEST coverage at the lowest possible cost but still have enough coverage for asset protection.

You just read a lot of techniques to lower your 2018 Toyota Prius insurance rates. The key thing to remember is the more quotes you get, the better chance you’ll have of finding low cost auto insurance. Consumers may even find the lowest rates come from a smaller regional carrier. Some small companies may often insure only within specific states and give getter rates than the large multi-state companies such as Progressive and Geico.

Additional information