I can’t think of a single person who likes paying for car insurance, in particular when their premiums are through the roof. Multiple insurers compete for your hard-earned dollar, so it can be very hard to choose a insurer and get the best coverage at the lowest cost out there.
If you have insurance now or need new coverage, you can use this information to find better prices and possibly find even better coverage. Finding the best rates in North Charleston is not rocket science. South Carolina drivers just need to understand the tricks to get comparison rates over the internet.
Don’t overlook these discounts
Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, but you may find discounts that you may not know about. Certain discounts will be triggered automatically when you complete an application, but some must be asked about before they will apply. If they aren’t giving you every credit you qualify for, you’re just leaving money on the table.
- Anti-lock Brake System – Vehicles with anti-lock braking systems prevent accidents and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
- Own a Home – Owning a home in North Charleston may earn you a small savings because of the fact that having a home shows financial diligence.
- Discounts for Safe Drivers – Safe drivers can pay as much as 50% less than drivers with accidents.
- Drive Less and Save – Driving fewer miles could qualify for a substantially lower rate.
- Pay Upfront and Save – If paying your policy premium upfront rather than paying monthly you could save up to 5%.
It’s important to understand that most credits do not apply to your bottom line cost. Most only apply to specific coverage prices like physical damage coverage or medical payments. Just because it seems like having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, you’re out of luck. Any amount of discount will reduce the amount you have to pay.
To see a list of providers with discount car insurance rates in North Charleston, click here to view.
Smart Consumers Save More
An important part of buying insurance is that you know some of the elements that go into determining car insurance rates. Understanding what determines base rates empowers consumers to make smart changes that could result in big savings.
Listed below are a partial list of the pieces used by your company to calculate premiums.
- Safer cars are cheaper to insure – Vehicles with good safety scores tend to have better insurance rates. These vehicles protect occupants better and lower injury rates means lower claim amounts passed on to you as lower rates.
- Older drivers pay less – Young drivers in South Carolina have a tendency to be less responsible when behind the wheel so car insurance rates are higher. Older insureds tend to be more responsible, statistically cause fewer accidents and receive fewer citations.
- Don’t cancel a policy without a new one in place – Allowing your car insurance policy to lapse is a guaranteed way to bump up your car insurance costs. Not only will you pay more, getting caught without coverage will get you a hefty fine and possibly a revoked license.
- Lower miles equals lower premium – The more you drive each year the higher your rate. Most companies price each vehicle’s coverage based upon how you use the vehicle. Vehicles that are left in the garage get more affordable rates than those used for commuting. Verify your car insurance policy shows the correct driver usage.
Much more information about car insurance in South Carolina is available on the website for the South Carolina Department of Insurance found here. South Carolina consumers can file complaints about an insurance agent or broker, file complaints about a company, and read consumer alerts.
Other informative sites include Wikipedia and this page where you can also get North Charleston car insurance quotes.
One last thing
In this article, we covered a lot of techniques to get a better price on car insurance. The most important thing to understand is the more companies you get rates for, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. You may even find the most savings is with the smaller companies. These companies may cover specific market segments cheaper than their larger competitors like Allstate, Geico and Progressive.
When trying to cut insurance costs, make sure you don’t skimp on critical coverages to save a buck or two. In too many instances, someone sacrificed uninsured motorist or liability limits only to regret at claim time that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. The aim is to purchase plenty of coverage for the lowest price while still protecting your assets.