I can’t think of anyone who looks forward to buying car insurance, especially knowing the price is too high. Because you have many companies to choose from, it is hard for the average consumer to find the most cost effective insurer.
Consumers should take time to shop coverage around before your policy renews due to the fact that insurance rates fluctuate regularly. Just because you had the best deal two years ago you can probably find a lower rate today. Starting right now, forget anything you know (or think you know) about car insurance because you’re going to learn how to use online quotes to save on car insurance.
This information will help educate you on the most effective way to quote insurance and some money-saving tips. If you are paying for car insurance now, you will most likely be able to save some money using these methods. Washington vehicle owners just need to know the tricks to find the lowest price online.
How to Get Car Insurance in Seattle, Washington
All major car insurance companies quote prices on the web. Getting online quotes is pretty painless as you simply enter the coverage amounts you desire as requested by the quote form. When complete, the company’s rating system automatically retrieves your driving and credit reports and returns a price based on these and other factors. Online quotes streamlines rate comparisons, but the work required to visit each company’s website and repetitively enter the same data into a form can be a bit repetitive. But it is imperative to have as many quotes as possible in order to find better prices.
The smarter way to locate the lowest prices uses one simple form to obtain quotes from multiple companies. This type of form saves time, requires much less work on your part, and makes rate comparisons much simpler. After sending the form, it gets priced and you are able to buy any or none of the returned quotes.
If you find a better price you can click and sign and purchase the new policy. The whole process takes just a few minutes to complete and you will know how your current rates stack up.
In order to compare pricing, click here and submit your coverage information. To compare your current rates, we recommend you replicate your coverages exactly as shown on your declarations page. Doing this assures you will get a price comparison based on the exact same insurance coverage.
Is there deception in advertising?
Consumers can’t get away from ads for car insurance savings from companies such as Allstate and Progressive. They all make an identical promise of big savings if you switch your policy.
How do they all make the same claim? This is how they do it.
Insurance companies have a certain “appetite” for the type of driver that earns them a profit. For instance, a desirable insured could possibly be a mature driver, has no prior claims, and drives less than 7,500 miles a year. A customer who matches those parameters receives the best rates and as a result will probably save when switching.
Potential customers who do not match these standards will have to pay a more expensive rate and this can result in the driver buying from a lower-cost company. The ads state “customers that switch” not “everyone that quotes” save that much money. This is how insurance companies can advertise the savings.
Because of the profiling, you absolutely need to get as many quotes as possible. Because you never know which car insurance company will give you the biggest savings.
These discounts can lower your rates
Insurance can cost an arm and a leg, but there could be available discounts that many people don’t even know exist. Some trigger automatically when you quote, but a few must be asked about prior to getting the savings. If you aren’t receiving every discount available, you’re paying more than you need to.
- College Student – Children living away from home attending college and do not have a car may qualify for this discount.
- Federal Government Employee – Simply working for the federal government can earn a discount up to 10% depending on your company.
- Multi-policy Discount – When you combine your home and auto insurance with the same company you could get a discount of approximately 10% to 15%.
- Accident Waiver – A handful of insurance companies permit an accident before your rates go up as long as you don’t have any claims for a set time period.
- Driver’s Ed – Cut your cost by having your teen driver enroll in driver’s education if it’s offered in school.
- Early Switch Discount – Select companies give a discount for switching policies before your current expiration date. It’s a savings of about 10%.
- Theft Prevention System – Anti-theft and alarm systems prevent vehicle theft and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
- Seat Belts Save more than Lives – Using a seat belt and requiring all passengers to wear their seat belts can save up to 15% off your medical payments premium.
- Discount for Good Grades – Performing well in school can get you a discount of up to 25%. Earning this discount can benefit you up to age 25.
A little note about advertised discounts, some credits don’t apply to all coverage premiums. Most only cut individual premiums such as physical damage coverage or medical payments. Just because it seems like all those discounts means the company will pay you, you’re out of luck. But all discounts will bring down your overall premium however.
To see a list of companies with the best car insurance discounts in Washington, follow this link.
Additional car insurance information can be read on the website for the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner found here. Consumers can read state legal mandates and laws, learn about insurance regulations, and read industry bulletins.
More effort can pay off
The cheapest car insurance can be sourced from both online companies in addition to many Seattle insurance agents, so you should be comparing quotes from both to have the best rate selection. Some companies do not provide online price quotes and these small insurance companies work with independent agents.
We just covered some good ideas how to reduce car insurance prices online. The most important thing to understand is the more quotes you get, the better likelihood of reducing your rate. Consumers could even find that the biggest savings come from a company that doesn’t do a lot of advertising. Smaller companies can often insure niche markets at a lower cost than the large multi-state companies such as Progressive or Geico.
When you buy insurance online, it’s very important that you do not skimp on coverage in order to save money. There are many occasions where consumers will sacrifice uninsured motorist or liability limits and discovered at claim time that a couple dollars of savings turned into a financial nightmare. Your strategy should be to purchase a proper amount of coverage at the best price.