Have you had enough of being strong-armed each month for car insurance? Your situation is no different than many other Idaho drivers.
Because you have many options, it is very difficult to locate the most affordable insurance company.
It’s a good habit to price shop coverage before your policy renews due to the fact that insurance rates are constantly changing. Even if you got the lowest rates a few years ago you will most likely find a better rate today. You’ll find quite a bit of inaccurate information about car insurance online, so we’re going to give you some excellent ideas to save money.
Buying the lowest cost car insurance coverage in Kuna is simple if you know the tricks. Basically, everyone who is shopping for car insurance will most likely be able to find lower rates. But Idaho consumers need to learn the way insurance companies sell insurance online and apply this information to your search.
How much can you save with these eight discounts?
The price of auto insurance can be rather high, but you may find discounts to help bring down the price. Some trigger automatically when you get a quote, but some may not be applied and must be specifically requested before they will apply.
- Drivers Education – Cut your cost by having your teen driver successfully complete driver’s ed class in school.
- Federal Employees – Active or retired federal employment can save as much as 8% with certain companies.
- Organization Discounts – Affiliation with a qualifying organization is a good way to get lower rates on car insurance.
- Seat Belt Usage – Drivers who require all occupants to use their safety belts could cut 10% or more on the medical payments or PIP coverage costs.
- Low Mileage – Keeping the miles down could qualify for lower rates on the low mileage vehicles.
- Homeowners Savings – Owning a house in Kuna may earn you a small savings due to the fact that maintaining a home demonstrates responsibility.
- Accident Forgiveness – Some insurance companies permit an accident before hitting you with a surcharge if you are claim-free for a particular time prior to the accident.
- Anti-theft Discount – Vehicles equipped with anti-theft or alarm systems help deter theft and earn discounts up to 10%.
Consumers should know that many deductions do not apply to the overall cost of the policy. The majority will only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like physical damage coverage or medical payments. Even though it may seem like you can get free auto insurance, you’re out of luck. But all discounts will bring down your premiums.
Compare Car Insurance Today
To find the best car insurance prices, there are several ways to get quotes from car insurance companies in your area. The best method to find competitive insurance rates is to perform an online rate comparison. This is very easy and can be done in just a few minutes using one of these methods.
- The fastest way to compare a lot of rates at once is an all-inclusive rate comparison like this one (opens in new window). This form eliminates the need for repetitive form submissions to each individual car insurance company. Just one form will return price quotes instantly.
- A harder way to get quotes online is to manually visit the website for each individual company to complete a price quote. For sake of this example, we’ll assume you want to compare Farmers, Progressive and Travelers. To get each rate you have to take the time to go to each site and enter your policy data, and that’s why the first method is more popular. For a list of links to companies insuring cars in Kuna, click here.
It’s your choice how you get your quotes, but ensure you are comparing exactly the same coverage information on every quote. If you use differing limits you will not be able to determine the best price in Kuna. Having just a slight variation in coverage limits can result in a big premium difference. It’s important to know that more quotes gives you a better chance of getting better pricing.
Don’t be fooled by advertising claims
Companies like State Farm and Allstate regularly use ads in print and on television. All the ads make the same claim that you can save if you move to them. How does each company make almost identical claims?
Insurance companies have a preferred profile for the type of driver that is profitable for them. For example, a desirable insured might be between 25 and 40, a clean driving record, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. Any driver who matches those parameters will get the preferred rates and most likely will save quite a bit of money when switching.
Consumers who don’t measure up to the requirements will be quoted a more expensive rate which leads to business not being written. Company advertisements say “customers that switch” not “people who quote” save that much money. That is how companies can advertise the way they do.
This emphasizes why drivers should get as many quotes as possible. It’s not possible to predict which car insurance company will give you the biggest savings.
Specific coverage details
Having a good grasp of your policy can help you determine the right coverages at the best deductibles and correct limits. Car insurance terms can be ambiguous and nobody wants to actually read their policy. Listed below are typical coverage types found on most car insurance policies.
Medical expense coverage
Coverage for medical payments and/or PIP pay for short-term medical expenses such as rehabilitation expenses, prosthetic devices and surgery. They can be used to fill the gap from your health insurance program or if you do not have health coverage. It covers not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants and also covers getting struck while a pedestrian. Personal Injury Protection is not available in all states and may carry a deductible
Uninsured or underinsured coverage
This coverage provides protection from other drivers when they either have no liability insurance or not enough. It can pay for injuries to you and your family and also any damage incurred to your vehicle.
Since many Idaho drivers carry very low liability coverage limits (Idaho limits are 20/50/15), it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. That’s why carrying high Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage is important protection for you and your family. Normally these limits do not exceed the liability coverage limits.
Collision coverage protection
This coverage pays for damage to your vehicle resulting from colliding with another car or object. A deductible applies and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.
Collision can pay for claims such as driving through your garage door, backing into a parked car, colliding with a tree, damaging your car on a curb and crashing into a building. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from lower value vehicles. It’s also possible to increase the deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.
Liability car insurance
This coverage provides protection from damages or injuries you inflict on a person or their property that is your fault. Coverage consists of three different limits, bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. As an example, you may have values of 100/300/100 which means $100,000 in coverage for each person’s injuries, a limit of $300,000 in injury protection per accident, and $100,000 of coverage for damaged propery. Occasionally you may see a combined single limit or CSL which limits claims to one amount with no separate limits for injury or property damage.
Liability insurance covers things such as medical expenses, emergency aid, structural damage and bail bonds. How much liability should you purchase? That is your choice, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase as high a limit as you can afford. Idaho requires drivers to carry at least 20,000/50,000/15,000 but you should think about purchasing more liability than the minimum.
Comprehensive protection
Comprehensive insurance coverage covers damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. A deductible will apply and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive insurance covers claims such as hitting a bird, damage from flooding, a tree branch falling on your vehicle and a broken windshield. The highest amount you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if the vehicle is not worth much consider dropping full coverage.
Summing up your car insurance search
While you’re price shopping online, you should never reduce coverage to reduce premium. In too many instances, an insured cut liability limits or collision coverage only to find out that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. The proper strategy is to purchase plenty of coverage at an affordable rate, not the least amount of coverage.
We just showed you many ways to get a better price on car insurance. The key concept to understand is the more companies you get rates for, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. Drivers may discover the lowest premiums are with a lesser-known regional company. These smaller insurers often have lower prices on specific markets compared to the large companies like State Farm, Geico and Nationwide.
Much more information about car insurance in Idaho is located on the website for the Idaho Department of Insurance through this link. Consumers can find a variety of consumer forms, view agent and company licensing information, file complaints about an insurance agent or broker, and get help finding coverage.