I can’t think of a single person who looks forward to paying for car insurance, in particular when the prices are way too high. There are many auto insurance companies to insure vehicles with, and although it’s nice to have a choice, lots of choices makes it harder to find the lowest cost provider.
Most companies like State Farm and Allstate make it easy to get prices directly from their websites. Doing online price comparisons is fairly simple as you just enter your coverage preferences on the page. After the form is submitted, the company’s rating system requests information on your driving record and credit history and gives you a price quote based on these and other factors. Being able to quote online makes it a lot easier to compare rates but the time it takes to visit several different sites and type in the same information is a big time waster. But it’s very important to have as many quotes as possible in order to get the best price on car insurance.
Rate comparisons made easy
A more efficient way to compare rates makes use of a single form that gets price quotes from several different companies. It’s a real time-saver, eliminates repetitive work, and makes online shopping a lot less work. Immediately after you send the form, it is quoted and you are able to buy your choice of the price quotes you receive.
If one or more price quotes are lower than your current rates, you simply finish the application and purchase the new policy. The whole process can be completed in less than 10 minutes and could lower your rates considerably.
To fill out one form to compare multiple rates now, click here to open in new window and fill out the form. If you have a policy now, it’s recommended you input coverages and limits identical to your current policy. Doing this guarantees you will be getting an apples-to-apples comparison for the exact same coverage.
More discounts mean lower premiums
Companies that sell car insurance don’t always publicize all possible discounts in a way that’s easy to find, so here is a list both well-publicized as well as some of the hidden car insurance savings.
- Good Student – Excelling in school can earn a discount of 20% or more. This discount can apply until age 25.
- No Claim Discounts – Insureds with no claims or accidents can earn big discounts as opposed to drivers who are more careless.
- Driver Training Discounts – Participating in a course that instructs on driving safety could possibly earn you a 5% discount if you qualify.
- Pay Now and Pay Less – If paying your policy premium upfront instead of making monthly payments you could save up to 5%.
- Paperwork-free – A few larger online companies provide a small discount on their website.
- Policy Bundle Discount – When you have multiple policies and insure them both with the same insurance company you could get a discount of at least 10% off all policies.
- Lower Rates for Military – Having a family member in the military can result in better car insurance rates.
- Sign Early and Save – A few insurance companies give discounts for buying a new policy before your current coverage expires. It can save you around 10%.
- ABS Braking Discount – Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles are safer to drive and earn discounts up to 10%.
As a footnote on discounts, some credits don’t apply to your bottom line cost. Most only apply to the price of certain insurance coverages like collision or personal injury protection. So even though you would think all those discounts means the company will pay you, you aren’t that lucky.
A few popular companies and some of the premium reductions they offer are shown below.
- American Family offers premium reductions for defensive driver, mySafetyValet, air bags, good student, and good driver.
- Nationwide has discounts for easy pay, good student, multi-policy, family plan, accident-free, business or organization, and defensive driving.
- MetLife may offer discounts for claim-free, good driver, accident-free, good student, defensive driver, multi-policy
- 21st Century offers discounts for student driver, driver training, teen driver, air bags, homeowners, 55 and older, and early bird.
- Farmers Insurance discounts include mature driver, good student, electronic funds transfer, business and professional, early shopping, bundle discounts, and youthful driver.
- Allstate offers discounts including auto/life discount, good student, anti-lock brakes, farm vehicle, and premier plus.
Check with every company to apply every possible discount. Depending on the company, some discounts might not be available to policyholders in every state. For a list of insurers that offer multiple discounts in Illinois, click here to view.
What determines how much you pay?
Many different elements are used when you get a price on insurance. A few of the factors are predictable such as your driving record, but some are less obvious like your vehicle usage or how financially stable you are.
- Safer vehicles save money – Vehicles that have high safety ratings tend to be cheaper to insure. Vehicles built for safety reduce injuries and fewer injuries translates into savings for insurance companies and cheaper rates on your policy. If your vehicle is rated at a minimum four stars on Safercar.gov you may pay a lower rate.
- Getting married reduces risk – Being married may cut your premiums on your car insurance bill. It means you’re more responsible and statistics show drivers who are married file infrequent claims.
- Raise coverage deductibles and save – Protection for physical damage, commonly called comprehensive (or other-than-collision) and collision coverage, is used to repair damage to your car. A few examples of covered claims could be a dented fender, collision with an animal, and rolling your vehicle. Comp and collision deductibles represent how much money the insured will be required to pay if the claim is covered. The more damage repair cost you pay before a claim is paid (deductible), the less your company will charge you for insurance.
- Your employer is a factor – Did you know your car insurance rates can be affected by your occupation? Jobs like military generals, social workers and financial analysts are shown to have higher rates than average due to high stress and long work hours. Other careers such as farmers, engineers and performers pay lower than average rates.
- Frequent insurance claims will cost more – Companies in Illinois award discounts to insureds who do not rely on their insurance for small claims. If you tend to file frequent claims, you can expect either a policy non-renewal or much higher rates. Your car insurance is meant to be used in the event of claims that you cannot pay yourself.
- Alarms and GPS tracking lower prices – Choosing to buy a car that has an advanced theft prevention system can help lower your rates. Anti-theft features such as vehicle immobilizer systems, OnStar, and tracking devices like LoJack all hinder car theft.
- Expect high rates for teens – Drivers with little experience are statistically shown to be inattentive when at the wheel of a vehicle so car insurance rates are higher. Older, more experienced drivers are more responsible, tend to cause fewer accidents and are safer drivers.
- Proper usage rating affects premiums – The more you drive in a year’s time the more you will pay for car insurance. The majority of insurers charge to insure your cars based upon how you use the vehicle. Cars and trucks that are left in the garage get more affordable rates than those used for commuting. Verify your vehicle rating is showing annual mileage, because improper ratings can cost you money.
When to contact an insurance agency
Many drivers still like to go talk to an agent and often times that is recommended A good thing about getting online price quotes is you can get lower auto insurance rates and still buy from a local agent. Buying insurance from local insurance agencies is especially important in Glenview.<img class="alignright" style="padding-top:15px" src="https://www.carinsurancediy.com/wp-content/uploads/ci175-117.jpg" alt="Glenview Illinois insurance quotes” />
Once you complete this short form, the coverage information is submitted to participating agents in Glenview who will give you quotes to get your business. There is no reason to leave your computer since price quotes are sent to the email address you provide. You can get cheaper car insurance rates and a licensed agent to work with. If you have a need to get a comparison quote from a particular provider, don’t hesitate to jump over to their website and give them your coverage information.
If you want a reliable insurance agent, there are two different agency structures and how they function. Car insurance policy providers can be classified as either independent or captive.
Independent Agencies or Brokers
Agents that choose to be independent often have many company appointments and that gives them the ability to insure with many different companies and find the cheapest rate. To transfer your coverage to a different company, your agent can just switch to a different company which is easy for the insured.
When comparing rates, we highly recommend that you get rate quotes from independent agents so that you can do a thorough price comparison.
The following is a list of independent insurance agencies in Glenview that may be able to give you free car insurance rate quotes.
Global Insurance – 950 Milwaukee Ave – Glenview, IL 60025 – (847) 296-2033
Calvo 1 Stop Insurance – 950 Milwaukee Ave # 220 – Glenview, IL 60025 – (847) 390-6666
Captive Agencies
Agents of this type generally can only insure with one company and examples are Allstate and State Farm. They usually cannot shop your coverage around so keep that in mind. Captive agents are well schooled on their products and sales techniques which helps overcome the inability to quote other rates.
Listed below is a list of captive agencies in Glenview that are able to give price quote information.
Allstate Insurance – 3246 Glenview Rd – Glenview, IL 60025 – (847) 518-9300
To select from insurance agents near you, click for a directory of Glenview, IL insurance agents.
Finding the right insurance agency requires more thought than just a cheap price quote. Any agent should have no problem answering these questions:
- Which insurance company do they prefer to write with?
- Are claim adjusters local or do you have to take your car somewhere else?
- How many years have they been established?
- Where would glass claims be handled in Glenview?
- Does the agency support the community they serve?
- Who is covered by the car insurance policy?
After getting good feedback to your questions in addition to an acceptable price estimate, you may have found an auto insurance agent that is reputable and can properly insure your vehicles.
Additional information is located on the website for the Illinois Department of Insurance. Click here for link. Visitors are able to get help finding coverage, find disaster information, report car insurance fraud, and read enforcement actions against agents and companies.
Additional helpful sites include QuoteClickInsure.com and this link where you can make Glenview car insurance comparisons.
Advertising and car insurance
Car insurance providers like State Farm and Allstate constantly bombard you with ads in print and on television. They all make the point that you’ll save big just by switching your policy. That’s great but how can every company sell you cheaper insurance coverage? It’s all in the words they use.
All the different companies have strict underwriting profiles for the driver that earns them the highest profit. For instance, this type of driver might have to be between the ages of 30 and 50, has no claims, and chooses high deductibles. Anybody who fits those characteristics will most likely get cheap rates and will cut their rates substantially.
Insureds who do not fit these stringent criteria will probably have to pay higher premiums with the end result being the customer not buying. The ads state “people who switch” but not “all drivers who get quotes” save money. This is how companies can advertise the way they do.
This emphasizes why drivers must do a price quote comparison at every renewal. It’s impossible to know which car insurance company will have the best premium rates for your profile.
Be persistent and save
As you prepare to switch companies, it’s very important that you do not sacrifice coverage to reduce premiums. In many instances, someone dropped collision coverage to discover at claim time that the small savings ended up costing them much more. Your objective should be to buy the best coverage you can find at the lowest possible cost while still protecting your assets.
Lower-priced car insurance is available from both online companies and also from your neighborhood Glenview agents, so you should compare both in order to have the best chance of saving money. Some companies may not have the ability to get quotes online and most of the time these small insurance companies provide coverage only through independent insurance agents.
We just presented many ways to lower your car insurance rates. The most important thing to understand is the more providers you compare, the higher your chance of finding . Drivers may discover the best rates are with some of the lesser-known companies. These companies may have significantly lower auto insurance rates on certain market segments compared to the large companies like Progressive and Geico.