Did you fall for a flashy sales pitch and buy an underperforming, overpriced auto insurance policy? Believe me when I say there are many Hickory consumers feeling the pinch from expensive auto insurance.
Multiple car insurance companies compete for your insurance dollar, so it’s not easy to compare every provider and uncover the absolute lowest cost out there.
If you are paying for car insurance now, you will be able to reduce your rates substantially using this information. Finding the best rates in Hickory is not that difficult. Although North Carolina car owners benefit from understanding how companies market insurance on the web and use this information to your advantage.
How to Get Auto Insurance in Hickory, North Carolina
All the larger auto insurance companies provide price estimates directly from their websites. Getting online quotes doesn’t take a lot of time as you simply enter your personal and coverage information into a form. When the form is submitted, their rating system makes automated requests for credit information and your driving record and generates pricing information based on these and other factors. Online quotes helps simplify price comparisons, but the time it takes to visit many different websites and complete many quote 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.
A less time-consuming method to lower your auto insurance bill requires only one form to return rates from more than one company. The form is fast, helps eliminate reptitive entry, and makes online shopping much more enjoyable. Immediately after submitting the form, it is quoted and you can select any of the returned quotes.
If you find a better price you simply finish the application and purchase the new policy. The whole process can be completed in less than 10 minutes and you will know how your current rates stack up.
To get comparison pricing now, click here and submit your coverage information. If you have coverage now, it’s recommended you replicate coverages and limits exactly as shown on your declarations page. This helps ensure you will be getting a rate comparison for similar insurance coverage.
Be sure to get all your discounts
Insuring your fleet can be pricey, buy you may qualify for discounts to help offset the cost. Larger premium reductions will be automatically applied at quote time, but some may not be applied and must be asked for prior to receiving the credit.
- Auto/Life Discount – Select insurance companies reward you with better rates if you take out a life insurance policy as well.
- Club Memberships – Participating in a qualifying organization could qualify you for a break on your policy.
- Military Discounts – Having a family member in the military could be rewarded with lower premiums.
- Defensive Driver – Successfully completing a driver safety course could save 5% or more and easily recoup the cost of the course.
- College Student – Any of your kids who live away from home and do not have access to a covered vehicle can receive lower rates.
- Save with a New Car – Buying coverage on a new vehicle is cheaper since new cars are generally safer.
- Accident Forgiveness – Some insurance companies will allow you to have one accident without raising rates if your claims history is clear for a set time period.
- Drivers Ed for Students – Require your teen driver to successfully complete driver’s ed class in school.
As a disclaimer on discounts, most credits do not apply the the whole policy. Most only cut specific coverage prices like medical payments or collision. Just because it seems like it’s possible to get free car insurance, it just doesn’t work that way. Any amount of discount will bring down your overall premium however.
For a list of companies who offer auto insurance discounts in North Carolina, click this link.
Neighborhood agents for auto insurance
Certain consumers prefer to talk to a local agent and that is just fine! One of the great benefits of comparing insurance prices online is you may find the best rates but also keep your business local. And providing support for local agencies is important particularly in Hickory.
After filling out this simple form, the quote information is sent to local insurance agents in Hickory who will return price quotes to get your business. You never need to drive around because quoted prices will be sent straight to your inbox. How cool is that?! Get lower rates and work with a local agent.
If you want to contact a specific insurance agent in Hickory, please click here.
Picking an insurer needs to be determined by more than just the premium amount. These questions are important to ask:<img class="alignright" style="padding-top:15px;" src="https://www.carinsurancediy.com/wp-content/uploads/ci175-85.jpg" alt="Hickory North Carolina car insurance quote”/>
- Will their companies depreciate repairs to your car based on the mileage?
- Do the companies they represent have a solid financial rating?
- Do you have coverage for a rental car if your vehicle is in the repair shop?
- What insurance company do they write the most business with?
- Does the agency provide any after hours assistance?
- Is working in the agency their full-time job?
- Is their price quote a firm figure or are their hidden costs?
Once you have positive responses to these questions and a low price estimate, you’ve probably found a company that can insure your vehicles.
Additional information can be read on the website for the North Carolina Department of Insurance found here. North Carolina drivers can find out which companies have the most complaints, view a list of available companies, find out industry alerts, and view agent and company licensing information.
Coverages available on your auto insurance policy
Having a good grasp of auto insurance can help you determine which coverages you need and proper limits and deductibles. Auto insurance terms can be ambiguous and reading a policy is terribly boring. Below you’ll find typical coverage types found on most auto insurance policies.
Uninsured or underinsured coverage
This protects you and your vehicle from other drivers when they either have no liability insurance or not enough. This coverage pays for hospital bills for your injuries and also any damage incurred to your vehicle.
Because many people have only the minimum liability required by law (30/60/25 in North Carolina), it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage should not be overlooked. Frequently your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages do not exceed the liability coverage limits.
Coverage for liability
Liability coverage can cover damage or injury you incur to people or other property in an accident. It protects YOU against claims from other people, and doesn’t cover your own vehicle damage or injuries.
It consists of three limits, bodily injury for each person injured, bodily injury for the entire accident and a property damage limit. You might see policy limits of 25/50/25 which stand for $25,000 in coverage for each person’s injuries, a per accident bodily injury limit of $50,000, and a limit of $25,000 paid for damaged property. Some companies may use a combined limit that pays claims from the same limit with no separate limits for injury or property damage.
Liability can pay for claims like funeral expenses, loss of income and bail bonds. How much liability coverage do you need? That is a personal decision, but buy as high a limit as you can afford. North Carolina state law requires minimum liability limits of 30,000/60,000/25,000 but it’s recommended drivers buy more coverage.
Comprehensive protection
This coverage pays to fix your vehicle from damage OTHER than collision with another vehicle or object. You first have to pay a deductible then the remaining damage will be covered by your comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive coverage pays for things like hitting a deer, fire damage, hail damage, damage from a tornado or hurricane and a tree branch falling on your vehicle. The highest amount a auto insurance company will pay at claim time is the ACV or actual cash value, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.
Medical expense coverage
Coverage for medical payments and/or PIP reimburse you for expenses for things like ambulance fees, dental work, nursing services, surgery and EMT expenses. They are used to fill the gap from your health insurance policy or if you are not covered by health insurance. Medical payments and PIP cover all vehicle occupants and will also cover getting struck while a pedestrian. Personal injury protection coverage is not an option in every state but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage
Collision protection
Collision insurance will pay to fix damage to your vehicle caused by collision with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. You first must pay a deductible then the remaining damage will be paid by your insurance company.
Collision can pay for claims such as colliding with another moving vehicle, hitting a mailbox, rolling your car and hitting a parking meter. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so consider removing coverage from vehicles that are 8 years or older. It’s also possible to choose a higher deductible to save money on collision insurance.
Buy online or local, you save
In this article, we covered a lot of ways to compare auto insurance prices online. It’s most important to understand that the more price quotes you have, the better your comparison will be. You may even discover the lowest priced auto insurance comes from the smaller companies. They may cover specific market segments cheaper as compared to the big name companies such as Progressive or Geico.
Discount auto insurance can be purchased online as well as from independent agents in Hickory, so you should compare both so you have a total pricing picture. Some insurance providers don’t offer you the ability to get quotes online and usually these smaller companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.