Are you tired of scraping the payment together to insure your Mazda every month? You’re in the same situation as millions of other consumers. Drivers have multiple insurance companies to buy insurance from, and although it’s nice to have a choice, lots of choices makes it harder to adequately compare rates.
Do you qualify for a discount?
The cost of insuring your cars can be expensive, buy you may qualify for discounts that many people don’t even know exist. Some discounts apply automatically when you quote, but lesser-known reductions have to be manually applied before you will receive the discount. If they aren’t giving you every credit you qualify for, you are paying more than you should be.
- Low Mileage Discounts – Driving fewer miles can earn discounted rates on garaged vehicles.
- Drive Safe and Save – Safe drivers may receive a discount up to 45% less on 3 coverage than their less cautious counterparts.
- Seat Belt Usage – Drivers who require all occupants to use their safety belts can save 10% or more off the personal injury premium cost.
- Service Members Pay Less – Being deployed with a military unit may qualify for rate reductions.
- Auto/Home Discount – When you combine your home and auto insurance with the same company you may earn up to 20% off your total premium.
Consumers should know that most credits do not apply to all coverage premiums. Most cut specific coverage prices like liability, collision or medical payments. So despite the fact that it appears adding up those discounts means a free policy, companies don’t profit that way. Any amount of discount will reduce the amount you have to pay.
To see a list of providers offering auto insurance discounts, click this link.
Compare Quotes for Auto Insurance
Getting a lower price on Mazda 3 insurance is not a difficult process. The only requirement is to take a few minutes comparing rates online from several insurance companies. This is very easy and can be done using a couple different methods.
- The recommended way to get quotes for comparison would be an industry-wide quote request form (click to open form in new window). This form saves time by eliminating boring form submissions to each individual auto insurance company. One quote request compares rates from auto insurance companies with the best prices.
- Another way to analyze rates requires a visit to each company’s website to request a price quote. For example, let’s assume you want comparison quotes from Nationwide, Esurance and State Farm. You would have to spend time on each company’s site and enter your policy data, which is why the first method is quicker. For a list of links to insurance companies in your area, click here.
Whichever way you use, make absolute certain that you use apples-to-apples coverage limits with every price quote. If you compare different values for each quote it will be next to impossible to decipher which rate is best.
What coverages do I need?
When choosing coverage, there is no one size fits all plan. Every insured’s situation is different and a cookie cutter policy won’t apply. For instance, these questions may help highlight whether or not you will benefit from professional help.
- Do I have coverage when making deliveries for my home business?
- Will my rates increase for filing one claim?
- Can I afford low physical damage deductibles?
- Do I need PIP (personal injury protection) coverage in my state?
- Am I covered when driving someone else’s vehicle?
- Does my personal auto insurance policy cover using my vehicle for business use?
- Do I need roadside assistance coverage?
If you don’t know the answers to these questions but a few of them apply, then you may want to think about talking to a licensed agent. To find an agent in your area, complete this form or you can also visit this page to select a carrier It only takes a few minutes and may give you better protection.
Auto insurance ads bend the truth
Consumers get pounded daily by advertisements for cheaper car insurance by Progressive, Allstate and Geico. They all have a common claim that you can save if you switch to their company.
How do they all make the same claim? This is how they do it.
All the different companies have a preferred profile for the type of customer that is profitable for them. For example, a driver they prefer might be profiled as between the ages of 30 and 50, insures multiple vehicles, and has great credit. A driver who meets those qualifications gets the lowest rates and as a result will probably pay quite a bit less when switching companies.
Potential customers who do not match the requirements must pay a higher premium and ends up with business going elsewhere. Company advertisements say “customers who switch” not “everyone that quotes” save that much money. This is how companies can advertise the savings.
This illustrates why drivers should get as many comparisons as possible. It’s just too difficult to predict which auto insurance company will have the lowest rates.
Auto insurance coverages explained
Knowing the specifics of auto insurance can help you determine appropriate coverage and the correct deductibles and limits. The terms used in a policy can be ambiguous and nobody wants to actually read their policy. Below you’ll find typical coverages offered by auto insurance companies.
Collision – This pays to fix your vehicle from damage caused by collision with a stationary object or other vehicle. You first must pay a deductible then your collision coverage will kick in.
Collision insurance covers claims like crashing into a building, rolling your car and colliding with a tree. Paying for collision coverage can be pricey, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from vehicles that are older. You can also choose a higher deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage – Your UM/UIM coverage protects you and your vehicle’s occupants from other drivers when they are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. Covered claims include hospital bills for your injuries and damage to your Mazda 3.
Since a lot of drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits, it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage should not be overlooked. Most of the time the UM/UIM limits are similar to your liability insurance amounts.
Auto liability – This provides protection from damage that occurs to people or other property by causing an accident. Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. Your policy might show liability limits of 25/50/25 that means you have a $25,000 limit per person for injuries, a limit of $50,000 in injury protection per accident, and a total limit of $25,000 for damage to vehicles and property. Alternatively, you may have a combined single limit or CSL which provides one coverage limit without having the split limit caps.
Liability can pay for things like repair costs for stationary objects, medical services, court costs and bail bonds. The amount of liability coverage you purchase is your choice, but you should buy higher limits if possible.
Comprehensive coverage – Comprehensive insurance covers damage from a wide range of events other than collision. You need to pay your deductible first and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive can pay for things such as theft, a broken windshield and damage from a tornado or hurricane. The highest amount a auto insurance company will pay at claim time is the market value of your vehicle, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value it’s not worth carrying full coverage.
Medical payments coverage and PIP – Med pay and PIP coverage kick in for bills for things like nursing services, EMT expenses, funeral costs and chiropractic care. They are often utilized in addition to your health insurance program or if you are not covered by health insurance. Medical payments and PIP cover you and your occupants and also covers if you are hit as a while walking down the street. PIP coverage is only offered in select states and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay
Best coverage at the best price
In this article, we covered a lot of information how to lower your Mazda 3 insurance rates. The key concept to understand is the more times you quote, the better likelihood of reducing your rate. You may be surprised to find that the lowest rates come from some of the smallest insurance companies. These companies may have significantly lower rates on certain market segments as compared to the big name companies such as Allstate, Geico and Progressive.
When buying insurance coverage, it’s very important that you do not buy poor coverage just to save money. In many instances, an accident victim reduced liability coverage limits only to regret at claim time that a couple dollars of savings turned into a financial nightmare. Your focus should be to get the best coverage possible at a price you can afford, not the least amount of coverage.