Are you a victim of an overpriced car insurance policy? Trust us when we tell you you are not the only one feeling buyer’s remorse. Companies like Geico, Progressive and Allstate all claim big savings with fancy advertisements and it can be hard to see past the corporate glitz and take the time to shop coverage around.
It’s a good habit to check car insurance prices every six months since insurance rates fluctuate regularly. Even if you think you had the lowest price six months ago you may be paying too much now. There is a lot of bad information regarding car insurance on the web, but I’m going to show you some great ideas on how to buy car insurance cheaper.
If you have insurance now or are just looking to switch companies, you can use this information to cut your premiums while maximizing coverage. Finding the best rates in Houma is not that difficult. Louisiana consumers just need to understand the best way to compare rates online.
How much can you save with these ten discounts?
Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, but there are discounts available to help offset the cost. A few discounts will automatically apply when you complete an application, but some must be manually applied before they will apply. If they aren’t giving you every credit you deserve, you are paying more than you should be.
- No Accidents – Drivers who don’t have accidents can save substantially when compared with drivers who are more careless.
- Good Students Pay Less – Performing well in school can be rewarded with saving of up to 25%. Earning this discount can benefit you until age 25.
- Student in College – Children who live away from home without a vehicle on campus can be insured at a reduced rate.
- Multi-car Discount – Insuring more than one vehicle with the same company may reduce the rate for each vehicle.
- Safe Driver Discount – Drivers who avoid accidents may receive a discount up to 45% less than their less cautious counterparts.
- Sign Early and Save – Some companies give discounts for buying a policy before your current expiration date. It can save you around 10%.
- Passive Restraints and Air Bags – Factory air bags or automatic seat belts can qualify for discounts up to 30%.
- Life Insurance – Select insurance companies reward you with lower rates if you buy life insurance.
- New Car Discount – Buying coverage on a new vehicle is cheaper since new cars are generally safer.
- Theft Prevention Discount – Vehicles with anti-theft systems can help prevent theft and will save you 10% or more.
Keep in mind that most of the big mark downs will not be given to the entire policy premium. Most only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like liability, collision or medical payments. Just because it seems like you would end up receiving a 100% discount, it doesn’t quite work that way. Any amount of discount will bring down your premiums.
Comparison of Car Insurance in Houma, Louisiana
Effectively comparing car insurance prices is a ton of work if you don’t understand the most efficient way. You could waste a few hours talking about coverages with insurance agencies in Houma, or you could use the web to get rates in a matter of minutes.
Most major companies take part in a program where insurance shoppers enter their policy data once, and each participating company then returns a price quote based on the submitted data. This prevents consumers from doing quote forms for each company.
To submit your quote information now, click here to start a free quote.
The only drawback to doing it this way is you can’t choose the providers to receive prices from. So if you prefer to choose from a list of companies for rate comparison, we put together a list of low cost car insurance companies in Louisiana. Click to view list.
Whichever method you choose, make sure you use the exact same deductibles and coverage limits with each company. If you are comparing different liability limits you can’t possibly make a fair comparison in Houma.
Specific coverages
Having a good grasp of car insurance can help you determine which coverages you need for your vehicles. Car insurance terms can be difficult to understand and nobody wants to actually read their policy. Shown next are typical coverage types offered by car insurance companies.
Comprehensive (Other than Collision)
Comprehensive insurance coverage covers damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. You first have to pay a deductible then the remaining damage will be covered by your comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive coverage protects against claims such as damage from flooding, rock chips in glass, hitting a bird, vandalism and damage from getting keyed. The highest amount your car insurance company will pay is the market value of your vehicle, so if the vehicle is not worth much it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.
Collision coverage protection
This pays for damage to your vehicle resulting from colliding with another car or object. You will need to pay your deductible and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.
Collision coverage protects against claims such as damaging your car on a curb, sustaining damage from a pot hole, colliding with another moving vehicle and sideswiping another vehicle. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so consider dropping it from vehicles that are older. Drivers also have the option to bump up the deductible to bring the cost down.
Auto liability
Liability insurance protects you from damages or injuries you inflict on other’s property or people by causing an accident. Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: bodily injury for each person injured, bodily injury for the entire accident and a property damage limit. Your policy might show limits of 100/300/100 which means a limit of $100,000 per injured person, $300,000 for the entire accident, and property damage coverage for $100,000. Some companies may use one limit called combined single limit (CSL) which limits claims to one amount and claims can be made without the split limit restrictions.
Liability coverage pays for things such as repair bills for other people’s vehicles, court costs, funeral expenses, pain and suffering and emergency aid. How much liability coverage do you need? That is a personal decision, but you should buy as large an amount as possible. Louisiana requires drivers to carry at least 15,000/30,000/25,000 but you should think about purchasing better liability coverage.
Medical expense insurance
Med pay and PIP coverage reimburse you for immediate expenses like prosthetic devices, rehabilitation expenses, doctor visits, EMT expenses and X-ray expenses. The coverages can be used to fill the gap from your health insurance policy or if you are not covered by health insurance. They cover not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants and will also cover if you are hit as a while walking down the street. Personal injury protection coverage is not universally available but can be used in place of medical payments coverage
Protection from uninsured/underinsured drivers
This coverage protects you and your vehicle’s occupants from other drivers when they do not carry enough liability coverage. It can pay for hospital bills for your injuries as well as damage to your vehicle.
Since a lot of drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits (Louisiana limits are 15/30/25), their limits can quickly be used up. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is very important. Normally the UM/UIM limits are set the same as your liablity limits.
Smart shoppers get results
You just learned a lot of tips how to save on car insurance. The key concept to understand is the more providers you compare, the better your comparison will be. Consumers could even find that the lowest priced car insurance comes from an unexpected company. Smaller companies may cover specific market segments cheaper than the large multi-state companies such as Progressive and Geico.
As you prepare to switch companies, do not buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. In many cases, an accident victim reduced full coverage only to regret that saving that couple of dollars actually costed them tens of thousands. Your goal should be to get the best coverage possible at a price you can afford while still protecting your assets.
More Louisiana car insurance information
Additional information can be read on the website for the Louisiana Department of Insurance found here. Louisiana consumers can get help finding coverage, report car insurance fraud, learn about insurance regulations, and find disaster information.
Also read more on Wikipedia and this list of agents in Houma, LA.