Trying to come up with a payment for overpriced car insurance can stress out your monthly budget and put a big crunch on your finances. Comparison shopping is a fast and free way to slash your bill and have more diposable income.
Because there are so many car insurance companies to choose from, it can be diffult for drivers to find a lower cost insurer.
You should make it a habit to get comparison quotes yearly because prices trend upward over time. Even if you think you had the lowest price a year ago you can probably find a lower rate today. Forget anything you know (or think you know) about car insurance because you’re about to find out the quickest way to save money, get proper deductibles and limits, all at the lowest rate.
This information will instruct you on how to effectively get price quotes. If you are paying for car insurance now, you will be able to reduce your rates substantially using these methods. New York consumers only need an understanding of the most efficient way to find the lowest price online.
Car insurance companies offer money-saving discounts
Car insurance is neither fun to buy or cheap, but there could be significant discounts that you may not know about. Larger premium reductions will be automatically applied at the time you complete a quote, but a few must be asked for before they will apply.
- Student Driver Training – Cut your cost by having your teen driver successfully complete driver’s ed class as it can save substantially.
- Multi-line Discount – Not all companies offer life insurance, but some may give you a discounted rate on car insurance if you buy life insurance.
- Active Service Discounts – Being on active deployment in the military can result in better prices.
- Employee of Federal Government – Being employed by or retired from a federal job could provide a small rate reduction depending on your company.
- ABS and Traction Control Discounts – Vehicles with anti-lock braking systems can avoid accidents and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
- Multiple Policy Discount – If you combine your homeowners and auto policies and insure them with the same company you could get a discount of up to 20% off your total premium.
Don’t be surprised that some credits don’t apply to all coverage premiums. Most only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like liability, collision or medical payments. So when the math indicates all those discounts means the company will pay you, it just doesn’t work that way.
A list of car insurance companies and a summarized list of policyholder discounts can be read below.
- State Farm has savings for driver’s education, Drive Safe & Save, good driver, Steer Clear safe driver discount, multiple autos, and defensive driving training.
- American Family offers discounts including good student, accident-free, defensive driver, multi-vehicle, bundled insurance, mySafetyValet, and TimeAway discount.
- Geico may have discounts that include five-year accident-free, seat belt use, anti-theft, membership and employees, and anti-lock brakes.
- 21st Century offers premium reductions for good student, homeowners, student driver, 55 and older, automatic seat belts, teen driver, and anti-lock brakes.
- Progressive discounts include continuous coverage, homeowner, online signing, good student, multi-policy, and multi-vehicle.
If you need lower rates, check with all the companies which discounts they offer. Depending on the company, some discounts may not apply to policies in every state. To choose car insurance companies who offer cheap car insurance quotes in Middletown, click here to view.
How to lower your car insurance rates
It’s important that you understand the factors that play a part in calculating your car insurance rates. If you have a feel for what positively or negatively impacts your premiums, this empowers consumers to make smart changes that could result in better car insurance rates. Many things are part of the equation when pricing auto insurance. Some are pretty understandable like your driving record, although some other factors are more transparent like your continuous coverage or how financially stable you are.
The following are some of the most common factors used by companies to determine your rate level.
- How much liability insurance – Your policy’s liability coverage is the coverage that protects you if ever you are determined to be liable for damages from an accident. Your policy’s liability insurance provides legal defense coverage to defend your case. This coverage is relatively inexpensive compared to other policy coverages, so do not skimp.
- Females tend to take less risk – Over the last 50 years, statistics have shown that females tend to be a little less risky than males. That doesn’t necessarily mean that males are worse at driving than females. Both genders are responsible for auto accidents at a similar rate, but men have accidents that have higher claims. Not only that, but men also receive more costly citations such as DWI and reckless driving.
- Always keep your car insurance in force – Going without insurance can be a sure-fire way to increase your renewal premiums. And not only will insurance be more expensive, failure to provide proof of insurance may earn you a hefty fine and possibly a revoked license.
- Increase deductibles to save – Physical damage deductibles are the amount of money you are required to spend if a covered claim is submitted. Coverage for physical damage, aka comp and collision, is used to repair damage to your car. Examples of some claims that would be covered are collision with another vehicle, hail damage, and damage from wind. The more money the insured has to pay upfront, the better rate you will receive.
- Prices and vocation – Do you have a high-stress occupation? Occupations like military generals, executives and financial analysts generally have higher rates than the rest of us attributed to intense work-related stress and long work days. On the other hand, jobs such as scientists, athletes and homemakers receive lower rates.
- Cheaper car insurance rates with safer cars – Vehicles with high crash test scores tend to be cheaper to insure. Highly rated vehicles reduce the chance of injuries and fewer injuries translates into savings for insurance companies and lower rates for you. If your vehicle is rated at a minimum four stars on Safercar.gov or an “acceptable” rating on iihs.org you may pay a lower rate.
Car insurance ads are enticing
New York consumers can’t ignore all the ads for the lowest price car insurance from companies such as State Farm, Allstate and Geico. They all seem to seem to make the promise that you can save if you just switch to their company.
How does every company give you a lower rate?
Insurance companies are able to cherry pick for the type of driver that is profitable for them. For example, a profitable risk profile could be between the ages of 30 and 50, has no tickets, and drives a lower-performance vehicle. Anyone who fits that profile will probably get the lowest premium rates and will save when they switch companies.
Potential insureds who cannot meet these standards may be forced to pay a more expensive rate and this results in the driver buying from a lower-cost company. The trick companies use is to say “customers that switch” but not “everyone who gets a quote” save that much money. This is how insurance companies can make the claims of big savings.
This really emphasizes why you should do a rate comparison at every renewal. It is impossible to guess with any certainty which company will fit you best based on your risk profile.
Much more information about car insurance in New York can be found on the found here. Consumers can read consumer alerts, read industry bulletins, and find out which companies have the most complaints.
The articles below may also help you learn more about car insurance in Middletown
- Proven Techniques for Getting Cheap Middletown Car Insurance
- Middletown Auto Insurance Agents Are They All the Same?
Be persistent and save
As you shop your coverage around, never reduce needed coverages to save money. In too many instances, someone sacrificed full coverage only to regret that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. The proper strategy is to purchase a proper amount of coverage at the lowest possible cost, but don’t skip important coverages to save money.
Some car insurance companies may not offer rate quotes online and many times these regional insurance providers sell through independent insurance agencies. Discount car insurance can be sourced both online in addition to many Middletown insurance agents, and you need to comparison shop both so you have a total pricing picture.
Throughout this article, we presented a lot of ways to save on car insurance. The most important thing to understand is the more you , the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. Consumers could even find that the biggest savings come from an unexpected company. These companies may only write in your state and offer lower prices as compared to the big name companies such as State Farm and Allstate.