Are you intimidated by the number of auto insurance company choices in Selbyville? You’re not the only one! People have so many choices that it can quickly become a real challenge to find the best price.
It’s a good habit to price shop coverage periodically because prices trend upward over time. Even if you got the best price a few years ago there is a good chance you can find better rates now. Starting now, forget anything you know (or think you know) about auto insurance because you’re about to learn the tricks you need to know to lower your annual insurance bill.
If you have a policy now or need new coverage, you can learn to find better prices while maximizing coverage. The purpose of this post is to teach you how to effectively get price quotes. Delaware consumers just need to learn the most effective way to get comparison rates online.
Informed Drivers can Cut Their Rates
An important part of buying insurance is that you know the different types of things that help determine auto insurance rates. Understanding what determines base rates enables informed choices that can help you get big savings.
The following are some of the factors auto insurance companies consider when setting your rates.
- Battle of the sexes – Statistics have proven women are more cautious behind the wheel. However, don’t assume that women are better drivers. Women and men are in accidents in similar numbers, but the males cause more damage and cost insurance companies more money. They also have more aggressive citations like DUI and reckless driving.
- Credit scores impact auto insurance rates – A driver’s credit rating is a huge factor in calculating your auto insurance rates. Consumers who have high credit scores tend to be less risk to insure than drivers who have lower credit scores. If your credit history can use some improvement, you could potentially save money when insuring your by repairing your credit.
- Extra coverages can waste money – There are quite a few add-on coverages that can waste your money when buying auto insurance. Coverages like vanishing deductibles, accident forgiveness and motor club memberships are examples of these. They may seem like a good idea at first, but if you don’t need them get rid of them and save.
- An active claims history can cost you – Companies in Delaware provide discounts to insureds who do not rely on their insurance for small claims. If you tend to file frequent claims, you can expect higher rates. Car insurance is designed for the large, substantial claims.
- What are your deductibles? – The deductibles define the amount you are willing to pay if you file a covered claim. Coverage for physical damage, otherwise known as comp (or other than collision) and collision, is used to repair damage to your car. Some instances where coverage would apply could be running into the backend of another car, collision with an animal, and burglary. The higher the amount you are required to pay out-of-pocket, the less your auto insurance will be.
- Lower rates with optional equipment – Owning a car with a theft deterrent system can help bring down rates. Theft prevention devices such as tamper alarm systems, vehicle immobilizer technology and General Motors OnStar can help prevent car theft.
Comprehensive Auto Insurance Comparison in Selbyville, DE
Finding cheaper auto insurance prices is not a difficult process. Just spend a little time getting comparison quotes from different insurance companies. This can be accomplished in just a few minutes using one of these methods.
- The easiest and least time consuming way to get quotes is a comparison rater form (click to open form in new window). This method prevents you from having to do separate forms for each company. A single, simple form compares rates from many national carriers. It’s the fastest way to compare.
- A harder way to find lower rates is spending the time to visit each company website and fill out their own quote form. For sake of this example, we’ll pretend you want to compare rates from Farmers, State Farm and American Family. To find out each rate you need to spend time on each company’s site and enter your policy data, and that’s why the first method is more popular.
For a list of links to insurance companies in Selbyville, click here.
Whichever method you choose, be sure to compare exactly the same coverages for every company. If you are comparing higher or lower deductibles it will be impossible to determine the lowest rate in Selbyville.
Do you really save 40% when you switch?
Delaware drivers can’t ignore all the ads that promise big savings from companies such as State Farm, Allstate and Geico. All the companies make an identical promise that you’ll save big if you change your policy.
How can each company say the same thing?
Insurance companies can use profiling for the right customer that is profitable for them. An example of a preferred risk might be over the age of 50, has no prior claims, and has a short commute. Any driver who meets those qualifications will get the preferred rates and is almost guaranteed to save when they switch companies.
Potential customers who do not match the “perfect” profile will be charged a higher premium and ends up with business not being written. Company advertisements say “customers who switch” not “people who quote” save that much. This is how insurance companies can confidently claim big savings. That is why drivers should compare many company’s rates. Because you never know which insurance companies will have the lowest rates.
Take advantage of discounts
Companies that sell car insurance do not list all their discounts very clearly, so the following is a list of both the well known and also the lesser-known ways to save on auto insurance. If you’re not getting every credit available, you are throwing money away.
- College Student – Kids in college who attend school more than 100 miles from home and don’t have a car can receive lower rates.
- Anti-theft System – Anti-theft and alarm systems are stolen less frequently and will save you 10% or more.
- Federal Employees – Being employed by or retired from a federal job could cut as much as 10% off with a few auto insurance companies.
- Anti-lock Brake System – Vehicles with anti-lock braking systems can reduce accidents and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
- Organization Discounts – Being a member of a professional or civic organization could trigger savings on auto insurance.
A little note about advertised discounts, some of the credits will not apply to the entire cost. Most only reduce individual premiums such as medical payments or collision. So even though they make it sound like adding up those discounts means a free policy, it doesn’t quite work that way.
To see a list of insurance companies offering auto insurance discounts in Delaware, click here.
Even more information is available at the Delaware Department of Insurance website. Consumers can read state legal mandates and laws, discover disciplinary actions, view a list of available companies, and find a variety of consumer forms.
One last thing
When you buy insurance online, never reduce needed coverages to save money. In too many instances, someone dropped liability coverage limits only to regret that a couple dollars of savings turned into a financial nightmare. Your aim should be to purchase a proper amount of coverage at an affordable rate.
People who switch companies do it for many reasons like poor customer service, policy cancellation, extreme rates for teen drivers and high rates after DUI convictions. Regardless of your reason for switching companies, finding a great new company is easier than you think.
In this article, we covered quite a bit of information on how to get a better price on auto insurance. It’s most important to understand that the more you quote, the better likelihood of reducing your rate. Drivers may discover the lowest priced auto insurance comes from some of the lesser-known companies.