Being forced to pay for overpriced auto insurance premiums can dwindle your family’s budget and make it hard to pay other bills. Price shopping at each renewal is recommended to lower your bills every month.
With drivers having so many different company options, it can be diffult for people to pick the most cost effective auto insurance company.
There are multiple methods you can shop for auto insurance but one way is less labor-intensive and much quicker. You could waste a few hours discussing policy coverages with local insurance agents in Margate City, or you could save time and use online quoting to get pricing more quickly.
Many companies belong to an insurance system that enables customers to submit one quote, and each company returns a rated price. This prevents consumers from doing repetitive form submissions to each individual auto insurance company.
To access this free quoting program, click here to open in new window.
The single downside to using this type of form is buyers cannot specifically choose the insurers to get pricing from. So if you prefer to choose specific insurance companies to compare prices, we have assembled a list of low cost auto insurance companies in New Jersey. Click here for list of insurance companies in New Jersey.
Which method you use is up to you, but make sure you use nearly identical information for every company. If your comparisons have different deductibles it will be very difficult to determine the best price in Margate City.
Auto insurance discounts help lower rates
Not too many consumers would say auto insurance is affordable, but there could be available discounts that can help lower your rates. Many of these discounts will be applied automatically at quote time, but once in a while a discount must be specially asked for before you will receive the discount. If they aren’t giving you every credit available, you could be paying more than you need to.
- Life Insurance Discount – Select auto insurance companies reward you with a small discount if you purchase auto and life insurance together.
- Discount for Swiching Early – Some larger companies provide a discount for renewing your policy before your current policy expires. You could save around 10% when you .
- Anti-lock Brake Discount – Cars, trucks, and SUVs with anti-lock braking systems are safer to drive and the ABS can save up to 10%.
- First Accident Forgiveness – This one isn’t a discount, but some insurance companies permit an accident without raising rates if you are claim-free prior to being involved in the accident.
- Low Mileage – Keeping the miles down could qualify for substantially lower premium rates.
- No Accidents – Drivers with accident-free driving histories pay less in comparison with insureds who have frequent claims or accidents.
- Driving Data Discount – Margate City drivers who agree to allow companies to scrutinize when and where they use their vehicle by using a small device installed in their vehicle such as Progressive’s Snapshot may see discounts as long as they are good drivers.
- Multi-policy Discount – If you can bundle your auto and homeowners insurance and place coverage with the same company they may give you a discount of up to 20% off your total premium.
- Safe Driver Discount – Insureds without accidents may receive a discount up to 45% than less cautious drivers.
- 55 and Retired – Seniors may receive lower premium rates.
As a disclaimer on discounts, many deductions do not apply to all coverage premiums. Most only reduce individual premiums such as liability, collision or medical payments. So when it seems like you would end up receiving a 100% discount, you won’t be that lucky.
To choose auto insurance companies with the best auto insurance discounts in Margate City, click this link.
Shop online but buy locally
Many drivers just want to talk to an insurance agent and doing so can bring peace of mind Agents can make sure you are properly covered and help in the event of a claim. One of the great benefits of getting online price quotes is that you can find lower car insurance rates but also keep your business local. And buying from local agents is important particularly in Margate City.
To make it easy to find an agent, after completing this quick form, your coverage information is sent to participating agents in Margate City that provide for your insurance coverage. It makes it easy because there is no need to find an agent because prices are sent to you directly. If you have a need to get a rate quote from a particular provider, you just need to find their quoting web page and fill out the quote form the provide.
When narrowing the list to find a reliable insurance agency, you must know there are a couple different types of agents and how they are slightly different. Auto insurance policy providers can be described as either captive agents or independent agents. Both can write auto insurance policies, but it’s a good idea to understand the differences because it may have an impact on your agent selection.
Independent Auto Insurance Agents
Independent agents are appointed with more than one company so they can insure your vehicles with any number of different companies and get the cheapest rates. If they find a lower price, they simply switch companies in-house and you can keep the same agent.
When searching for an agent, you absolutely need to include rate quotes from several independent insurance agents so that you can do a thorough price comparison.
Shown below is a list of independent agents in Margate City that may be able to provide pricing information.
R E Darby Insurance Inc – 7809 Atlantic Ave – Margate City, NJ 08402 – (609) 822-5393
R E Darby Insurance Inc – 8005 Atlantic Ave – Margate City, NJ 08402 – (609) 822-5393
Captive Auto Insurance Agencies
Agents that choose to be captive have only one company to place business with and examples are AAA, Allstate, State Farm, or Farmers Insurance. They are unable to provide rate quotes from other companies so always compare other rates. Captive agents receive a lot of sales training on their company’s products which helps offset the inability to provide other markets.
Finding the right insurance agent requires more thought than just a cheap price quote. These are some questions you should get answers to.
- How long have they been in business?
- Will a damage claim use OEM or aftermarket replacement parts?
- What is the agency’s Better Business Bureau rating?
- Are claim adjusters local or do you have to take your car somewhere else?
- Will the quote change when the policy is issued?
- Do they specialize in personal lines auto insurance?
- What companies can they write with?
Additional auto insurance information can be read on the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance website located here. New Jersey consumers can file complaints about a company, download brochures, find out industry alerts, and find disaster information.
Smaller companies may have the best rates
New Jersey consumers can’t avoid all the ads that claim the best car insurance rates from companies such as State Farm, Geico and Progressive. All the ads state the claim about saving some big amount if you just switch to them.
That’s great but how can every company charge lower premium rates? This is how they do it.
Insurance companies have a preferred profile for the type of driver that will add to their bottom line. A good example of this type of driver may need to be between the ages of 30 and 45, carries full coverage, and does not commute to work. Anybody that hits that “sweet spot” will get low prices and will probably save when they switch companies.
People who don’t meet those standards will get a higher premium and this can result in business going elsewhere. The ads state “people who switch” not “everyone that quotes” save that kind of money. That’s why insurance companies can make claims like that.
This really drives home the point why drivers should get as many as possible. It is impossible to guess which insurance companies will give you the biggest savings.
Auto insurance coverage information
Learning about specific coverages of a auto insurance policy helps when choosing the best coverages at the best deductibles and correct limits. Policy terminology can be ambiguous and nobody wants to actually read their policy. Shown next are typical coverage types available from auto insurance companies.
Comprehensive or Other Than Collision
Comprehensive insurance coverage covers damage that is not covered by collision coverage. A deductible will apply and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive coverage protects against things such as falling objects, damage from a tornado or hurricane, fire damage, a tree branch falling on your vehicle and vandalism. The maximum amount you’ll receive from a claim is the cash value of the vehicle, so if the vehicle is not worth much consider dropping full coverage.
Auto collision coverage
This coverage will pay to fix damage to your vehicle from colliding with a stationary object or other vehicle. You first must pay a deductible then the remaining damage will be paid by your insurance company.
Collision coverage pays for claims like crashing into a building, colliding with a tree and backing into a parked car. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from lower value vehicles. Drivers also have the option to choose a higher deductible to save money on collision insurance.
UM/UIM Coverage
This gives you protection when the “other guys” either have no liability insurance or not enough. Covered claims include injuries to you and your family as well as your vehicle’s damage.
Since a lot of drivers have only the minimum liability required by law (15/30/5), it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. For this reason, having high UM/UIM coverages is a good idea. Normally these limits are similar to your liability insurance amounts.
Auto liability insurance
This coverage provides protection from damage or injury you incur to a person or their property by causing an accident. This insurance protects YOU from claims by other people, and doesn’t cover damage to your own property or vehicle.
Coverage consists of three different limits, bodily injury for each person injured, bodily injury for the entire accident and a property damage limit. You commonly see limits of 25/50/25 which stand for $25,000 bodily injury coverage, a limit of $50,000 in injury protection per accident, and property damage coverage for $25,000. Occasionally you may see one limit called combined single limit (CSL) that pays claims from the same limit with no separate limits for injury or property damage.
Liability coverage protects against things such as funeral expenses, bail bonds, structural damage and legal defense fees. The amount of liability coverage you purchase is a decision to put some thought into, but buy as large an amount as possible. New Jersey requires minimum liability limits of 15,000/30,000/5,000 but drivers should carry more liability than the minimum.
Medical costs insurance
Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance provide coverage for bills such as X-ray expenses, ambulance fees, chiropractic care, pain medications and doctor visits. They are often used to cover expenses not covered by your health insurance program or if there is no health insurance coverage. It covers not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants in addition to any family member struck as a pedestrian. Personal Injury Protection is not available in all states but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage
Don’t give up on cheaper rates
Throughout this article, we presented many tips how you can reduce auto insurance prices online. The key thing to remember is the more you , the better your chances of lowering your rates. Drivers may discover the most savings is with some of the lesser-known companies. These companies may often insure only within specific states and give getter rates than the large multi-state companies such as State Farm or Progressive.
Budget-friendly auto insurance can be found from both online companies and from local agencies, and you need to price shop both in order to have the best chance of saving money. Some insurance companies may not offer rates over the internet and many times these small insurance companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.
As you shop your coverage around, do not skimp on critical coverages to save a buck or two. There are a lot of situations where an insured cut physical damage coverage only to discover later that saving that couple of dollars actually costed them tens of thousands. Your goal is to buy enough coverage at a price you can afford, but do not sacrifice coverage to save money.