Nobody enjoys paying for car insurance, in particular when the price is too high. Since consumers have many insurance providers from which to choose, it is very difficult to choose the cheapest company.
Shopping for affordable car insurance in Amherst can be fairly easy. If you are insured now or are shopping for new coverage, you can use this information to get lower rates while maintaining coverages. New Hampshire drivers just need to know the most efficient way to compare prices on the web.
Save money by taking advantage of these discounts
Insurance can cost an arm and a leg, buy you may qualify for discounts that you may not even be aware of. A few discounts will automatically apply at quote time, but some may not be applied and must be asked for prior to receiving the credit. If they aren’t giving you every credit you deserve, you are paying more than you should be.
- Early Switch Discount – A few companies offer discounts for switching to them prior to your current policy expiring. It’s a savings of about 10%.
- Multi-policy Discount – When you have multiple policies with the same company you may earn approximately 10% to 15%.
- Save with a New Car – Adding a new car to your policy can be considerably cheaper since new cars are generally safer.
- Good Student – A discount for being a good student can save 20 to 25%. Earning this discount can benefit you up until you turn 25.
- Federal Employees – Active or retired federal employment can earn a discount up to 10% with a few car insurance companies.
- Drivers Ed for Students – Cut your cost by having your teen driver take driver’s ed class if it’s offered in school.
- Homeowners Savings – Simply owning a home can help you save on car insurance because maintaining a house requires personal responsibility.
- Anti-lock Brakes – Vehicles equipped with ABS or steering control can reduce accidents and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
It’s important to note that some credits don’t apply to the entire cost. Most only reduce specific coverage prices like liability and collision coverage. So despite the fact that it appears adding up those discounts means a free policy, you won’t be that lucky. But any discount will bring down your premiums.
For a list of insurance companies with discount car insurance rates in New Hampshire, click here.
Compare the Market for Car Insurance in Amherst
Most major insurance companies such as Progressive, Allstate and Geico quote prices on the web. This process is pretty painless as you simply type in the coverages you want as requested by the quote form. When complete, their system will obtain reports for credit and driving violations and generates pricing information. Online price quotes makes comparing rates easy, but the work required to visit multiple sites and enter the same data into a form is monotonous and tiresome. But it’s very important to do this in order to find the lowest price.
The better way to compare rates
The preferred way to find better car insurance pricing is to use a quote form that gets prices from several companies at one time. It’s a real time-saver, requires less work, and makes price shopping online much easier to do. Immediately after you send the form, it gets priced with multiple companies and you can pick any or none of the price quotes you receive.
If a lower price is quoted, you simply finish the application and purchase the new policy. The whole process takes less than 15 minutes and may result in a nice savings.
To find out how much you’re overpaying now, click here and input your coverage information. If you have your current policy handy, we recommend you duplicate the insurance coverages just like they are on your policy. Doing this assures you will have a fair comparison for exact coverage.
You have some control over your rates
Consumers need to have an understanding of some of the elements that help determine the rates you pay for car insurance. Knowing what impacts premium levels allows you to make educated decisions that could result in much lower annual insurance costs.
- Higher safety ratings means cheaper insurance – Cars with high safety ratings tend to have better insurance rates. Safe vehicles reduce injuries and any reduction in injury severity means lower claim amounts and lower rates for you.
- More miles equals more premium – Driving more miles each year the higher your rate. Most insurance companies price each vehicle’s coverage based on their usage. Vehicles not used for work or commuting get more affordable rates compared to those used for work or business. Ask your agent if your car insurance coverage is rated on the proper vehicle usage.
- Frequent car insurance claims increase rates – If you are a frequent claim filer, you can definitely plan on higher rates. Auto insurance companies in New Hampshire give discounts to insureds who do not rely on their insurance for small claims. Insurance coverage is intended for major claims that would cause financial hardship.
- Car features impact rates – Driving a car with anti-theft technology or alarm system can get you a discount on your car insurance. Theft prevention features such as vehicle immobilizer systems, General Motors OnStar and LoJack tracking systems all hinder your vehicle from being stolen.
- Performance level impacts rates – The make and model of the car you are insuring makes a substantial difference in determining your rates. The cheapest insurance rates are generally reserved for small economy passenger vehicles, but other factors influence the final cost greatly.
- Your occupation can affect rates – Careers like lawyers, executives and dentists tend to pay the highest average rates in part from high stress levels and lots of time spent at work. Other occupations such as actors, historians and the unemployed have the lowest average rates.
- With age comes lower rates – Teen drivers in New Hampshire have a tendency to be careless and easily distracted when driving so car insurance rates are higher. Having to add a teen driver to your policy can really hurt. More mature drivers are more cautious drivers, tend to cause fewer accidents and get fewer tickets.
The car insurance bait and switch
New Hampshire drivers get pounded daily by advertisements for car insurance savings by companies like Progressive, Allstate and Geico. They all have a common claim about savings if you switch to them.
But how can every company say the same thing? This is how they do it.
All the different companies can use profiling for the right customer they prefer to insure. For example, a profitable customer might be over the age of 40, a clean driving record, and has excellent credit. A driver that hits that “sweet spot” will get very good rates and is almost guaranteed to cut their rates substantially.
Consumers who fall outside these standards must pay higher rates which usually ends up with the customer not buying. Company advertisements say “customers who switch” not “everybody who quotes” save money. That is how companies can truthfully advertise the way they do.
This illustrates why it is so important to get quotes from several different companies. Because you never know which company will have the lowest rates.
And the best car insurance company is…
Throughout this article, we presented a lot of information how to compare car insurance prices online. It’s most important to understand that the more price quotes you have, the better likelihood of reducing your rate. You may be surprised to find that the lowest rates come from the least-expected company. These smaller insurers can often provide lower rates in certain areas compared to the large companies like State Farm and Allstate.
When trying to cut insurance costs, it’s a bad idea to buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. There are a lot of situations where someone sacrificed collision coverage and found out when filing a claim that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. The ultimate goal is to purchase plenty of coverage at the best price, not the least amount of coverage.
Additional car insurance information is located on the website for the New Hampshire Insurance Department through this link. New Hampshire drivers can view a list of available companies, find out which companies have the most complaints, find out industry alerts, and get help finding coverage.
The articles below may also help you learn more about car insurance in Amherst