Buying cheap Plaistow car insurance on the web can seem to be challenging for beginners to online price comaprisons. With so many insurance companies available, how can Plaistow drivers effectively compare the different rates to find the best price?
Don’t overlook these nine discounts
Car insurance companies don’t necessarily list all available discounts very well, so the following is a list of both well-publicized and the more hidden discounts you could be receiving.
- Own a Home – Owning a home in Plaistow can help you save on car insurance because maintaining a house requires personal responsibility.
- Good Student – A discount for being a good student can get you a discount of up to 25%. Earning this discount can benefit you well after school through age 25.
- Seat Belt Usage – Requiring all passengers to use their safety belts can save 10% or more on the medical payments or PIP coverage costs.
- Defensive Driving Course – Taking a course teaching defensive driving skills could cut 5% off your bill depending on where you live.
- Save with a New Car – Insuring a new car can be considerably cheaper due to better safety requirements for new cars.
- Service Members Pay Less – Being deployed with a military unit could be rewarded with lower premiums.
- Paperless Signup – Some insurance companies give back up to $50 simply for signing online.
- Auto/Life Discount – Some companies give a break if you buy a life insurance policy as well.
- Accident Forgiveness – A few companies will allow you to have one accident without raising rates if your claims history is clear for a certain period of time.
Drivers should understand that some credits don’t apply to the overall cost of the policy. Most only reduce individual premiums such as comprehensive or collision. So even though they make it sound like you could get a free car insurance policy, companies wouldn’t make money that way.
Car insurance coverage basics
Knowing the specifics of your policy aids in choosing which coverages you need at the best deductibles and correct limits. Car insurance terms can be confusing and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording.
Auto liability
Liability insurance provides protection from injuries or damage you cause to a person or their property by causing an accident. It protects YOU against claims from other people, and doesn’t cover damage sustained by your vehicle in an accident.
Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: per person bodily injury, per accident bodily injury, and a property damage limit. Your policy might show limits of 25/50/25 that translate to $25,000 in coverage for each person’s injuries, a limit of $50,000 in injury protection per accident, and property damage coverage for $25,000.
Liability can pay for claims such as bail bonds, repair bills for other people’s vehicles, attorney fees and repair costs for stationary objects. How much liability coverage do you need? That is up to you, but you should buy as high a limit as you can afford. New Hampshire state minimum liability requirements are 25,000/50,000/25,000 but drivers should carry more liability than the minimum.
UM/UIM (Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist) coverage
This coverage protects you and your vehicle’s occupants from other drivers when they do not carry enough liability coverage. It can pay for medical payments for you and your occupants as well as damage to your vehicle.
Since many New Hampshire drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits (New Hampshire limits are 25/50/25), their limits can quickly be used up. So UM/UIM coverage is important protection for you and your family.
Comprehensive auto coverage
Comprehensive insurance will pay to fix damage from a wide range of events other than collision. You need to pay your deductible first then your comprehensive coverage will pay.
Comprehensive can pay for things such as hitting a deer, damage from getting keyed, a tree branch falling on your vehicle, a broken windshield and theft. The highest amount a car 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 consider removing comprehensive coverage.
Auto collision coverage
This will pay to fix damage to your vehicle resulting from colliding with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. You first must pay a deductible then your collision coverage will kick in.
Collision coverage protects against claims like backing into a parked car, crashing into a ditch, driving through your garage door and crashing into a building. Paying for collision coverage can be pricey, so consider removing coverage from vehicles that are older. Drivers also have the option to choose a higher deductible to save money on collision insurance.
Medical payments and PIP coverage
Coverage for medical payments and/or PIP pay for expenses for things like hospital visits, funeral costs, ambulance fees and surgery. They are used to cover expenses not covered by your health insurance policy or if you do not have health coverage. Medical payments and PIP cover you and your occupants and will also cover getting struck while a pedestrian. Personal Injury Protection is not an option in every state but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage
Additional detailed information can be found at the New Hampshire Insurance Department website. Consumers can get help finding coverage, read state legal mandates and laws, and view agent and company licensing information.
Also read more on BankRate.com’s Car Insurance: When not to Skimp and this page for help finding agents in Plaistow, NH.
One last thing
As you shop your coverage around, do not sacrifice coverage to reduce premiums. There have been many situations where an insured dropped physical damage coverage and discovered at claim time they didn’t purchase enough coverage. The aim is to find the BEST coverage at a price you can afford, not the least amount of coverage.
Cheaper car insurance is attainable from both online companies as well as from independent agents in Plaistow, and you should be comparing both to have the best selection. Some car insurance companies don’t offer online price quotes and most of the time these regional insurance providers sell through independent agents.
We just covered a lot of ways to shop for car insurance online. The key concept to understand is the more providers you compare, the better your comparison will be. You may even discover the best price on car insurance is with some of the smallest insurance companies.