Scraping up a payment for overpriced car insurance can take a big chunk out of your personal savings, especially in this economy. Shopping your coverage around is a smart way to reduce premiums and put more money in your pocket.
Companies like Progressive, State Farm and Geico increase brand awareness with ad campaigns and consumers find it hard to ignore the flying pigs and cute green geckos and take the time to shop coverage around.
Consumers should take time to get comparison quotes on a regular basis because prices fluctuate regularly. Even if you got the lowest price a few years ago there is a good chance you can find better rates now. There is too much inaccurate information about car insurance online, so with this article, you’re going to get the easiest ways to stop overpaying for insurance.
If you currently have car insurance, you should be able to reduce your rates substantially using these methods. Finding affordable coverage in Frederick is quite easy. Nevertheless, Maryland consumers benefit from understanding how the larger insurance companies price online insurance.
These ten discounts can lower your rates
Companies don’t always advertise all their discounts in an easy-to-find place, so the following is a list of both well-publicized and also the lesser-known savings tricks you should be using.
- Passive Restraints and Air Bags – Cars that have air bags or automatic seat belts can qualify for discounts of more than 20%.
- Braking Control Discount – Vehicles with anti-lock braking systems can reduce accidents and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
- Distant Student – Kids in college who attend school more than 100 miles from home and do not have a car may be able to be covered for less.
- Drivers Education – Cut your cost by having your teen driver complete a driver education course in school.
- Club Memberships – Belonging to a professional or civic organization could qualify you for a break on car insurance.
- Payment Method – By paying your policy upfront instead of monthly or quarterly installments you could save 5% or more.
- Fewer Miles Equal More Savings – Keeping the miles down could qualify for better rates on cars that stay parked.
- Good Student Discount – This discount can earn a discount of 20% or more. This discount can apply up to age 25.
- Senior Citizens – Mature drivers may be able to get a discount up to 10%.
- Paperless Signup – Some insurance companies may give you up to $50 just for signing your application on their website.
As a disclaimer on discounts, most discount credits are not given to the entire cost. Most cut individual premiums such as liability, collision or medical payments. So even though they make it sound like all the discounts add up to a free policy, you’re out of luck.
To choose insurers with the best car insurance discounts in Maryland, click here.
Which Car Insurance is Cheapest in Frederick, MD?
Most major insurance companies such as State Farm, Geico and Progressive quote prices for coverage directly from their websites. The process is fairly straightforward as you just enter your required coverages into a form. Once you submit the form, the company’s rating system pulls credit information and your driving record and provides a quote based on these and other factors. This streamlines rate comparisons, but the process of having to visit many different websites and fill out multiple forms can be a bit tiresome and repetitive. But it is imperative to get many rate quotes in order to get the best price possible.
Quote rates the easy way
The preferred way to lower your rates utilizes a single form that gets price quotes from multiple companies. It saves time, reduces the work, and makes quoting online a lot less work. As soon as the form is sent, your coverage is rated and you are able to buy any one of the returned quotes. If a lower price is quoted, you simply finish the application and buy the policy. This process takes just a few minutes to complete and may save quite a bit of money.<img class="alignright" style="padding-top:15px;" src="https://www.carinsurancediy.com/wp-content/uploads/ci175-33.jpg" alt="Maryland car insurance“/>
To find out how much you can save on car insurance, click here to open in a new tab and begin entering your coverage information. If you have your current policy handy, we recommend you enter deductibles and limits as shown on your current policy. This makes sure you will have a fair comparison for similar insurance coverage.
Specifics of your car insurance policy
Understanding the coverages of your policy aids in choosing the best coverages for your vehicles. Car insurance terms can be difficult to understand and nobody wants to actually read their policy. Shown next are the normal coverages available from car insurance companies.
Medical payments coverage and PIP – Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance provide coverage for short-term medical expenses such as ambulance fees, X-ray expenses and EMT expenses. They can be used in conjunction with a health insurance policy or if you are not covered by health insurance. It covers not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants and also covers any family member struck as a pedestrian. PIP is not available in all states and may carry a deductible
Collision coverages – This coverage will pay to fix damage to your vehicle caused by collision with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. You have to pay a deductible and then insurance will cover the remainder.
Collision coverage pays for claims like colliding with another moving vehicle, scraping a guard rail, hitting a parking meter and damaging your car on a curb. Paying for collision coverage can be pricey, so consider dropping it from older vehicles. Another option is to raise the deductible to bring the cost down.
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage – This coverage gives you protection from other drivers when they are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. This coverage pays for hospital bills for your injuries and damage to your vehicle.
Because many people only purchase the least amount of liability that is required (Maryland limits are 30/60/15), their limits can quickly be used up. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is important protection for you and your family.
Auto liability – Liability coverage will cover injuries or damage you cause to other people or property. Liability coverage has three limits: per person bodily injury, per accident bodily injury, and a property damage limit. As an example, you may have policy limits of 50/100/50 which means a limit of $50,000 per injured person, a total of $100,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and a limit of $50,000 paid for damaged property.
Liability can pay for claims such as bail bonds, medical services, loss of income and attorney fees. The amount of liability coverage you purchase is up to you, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase as large an amount as possible. Maryland requires drivers to carry at least 30,000/60,000/15,000 but you should think about purchasing higher limits.
Comprehensive coverage – This covers damage that is not covered by collision coverage. You need to pay your deductible first and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive can pay for things like damage from getting keyed, damage from a tornado or hurricane, falling objects and vandalism. The maximum amount you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the actual cash value, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible consider dropping full coverage.
A tidy conclusion
As you prepare to switch companies, don’t be tempted to reduce coverage to reduce premium. In many cases, consumers will sacrifice collision coverage and learned later that it was a big mistake. Your aim should be to find the BEST coverage at the best price.
We just showed you many tips how you can save on car insurance. The key thing to remember is the more times you quote, the better chance you’ll have of finding lower rates. Consumers could even find that the lowest premiums are with a smaller regional carrier. They can often provide lower rates in certain areas than the large multi-state companies such as Allstate, Geico and Progressive.
Low-cost car insurance is definitely available both online in addition to many Frederick insurance agents, and you should be comparing both in order to have the best chance of saving money. There are still a few companies who do not provide online price quotes and most of the time these regional insurance providers sell through independent agents.