No one in their right mind cherishes buying car insurance, especially knowing their premiums are through the roof. Insurance companies such as Geico, Farmers Insurance and State Farm constantly blast consumers with catchy ads and it is challenging if not impossible to ignore the flashy ads and effectively compare rates to find the best deal.
It’s a good habit to price shop coverage occasionally due to the fact that insurance rates are adjusted regularly by insurance companies. Even if you think you had the lowest rates a year ago there is a good chance you can find better rates now. Block out anything you think you know about car insurance because you’re about to learn the tricks you need to know to lower your rates without sacrificing coverage.
Companies offer discounts so take them!
Auto insurance companies don’t list all available discounts in a way that’s easy to find, so here is a list some of the best known and the harder-to-find ways to save on car insurance. If you aren’t receiving every discount available, you are throwing money away.
- Payment Method – If paying your policy premium upfront instead of monthly or quarterly installments you could save up to 5%.
- Driver’s Ed – Make teen driver coverage more affordable by requiring them to enroll in driver’s education if it’s offered in school.
- New Vehicle Savings – Adding a new car to your policy can cost up to 25% less due to better safety requirements for new cars.
- Homeowners Pay Less – Owning a home in Rochester may earn you a small savings because owning a home shows financial diligence.
- College Student – Any of your kids who live away from home without a vehicle on campus can be insured at a reduced rate.
- Senior Citizens – Older drivers may receive reduced rates.
- Sign Online – A few companies give back up to $50 for buying a policy and signing up over the internet.
- Club Memberships – Affiliation with certain professional organizations could trigger savings on your policy.
- Seat Belt Usage – Buckling up and requiring all passengers to buckle their seat belts can save up to 15% off your medical payments premium.
As a disclaimer on discounts, most discount credits are not given to your bottom line cost. A few only apply to specific coverage prices like collision or personal injury protection. So even though they make it sound like all the discounts add up to a free policy, companies don’t profit that way.
Finding Car Insurance in Rochester
Getting a cheaper price on insurance is actually quite simple. You just have to take time to compare rate quotes online with multiple companies. It is quite easy and can be accomplished in just a few minutes using one of these methods.
- One of the simplest ways to get quotes is to use a rate comparison form click to view form in new window. This form eliminates the need for separate quote forms to each individual car insurance company. A single form gets you coverage quotes from multiple low-cost companies.
- A harder way to compare prices is to manually visit each individual company website and fill out their own quote form. For sake of this example, let’s assume you want rates from Farmers, Progressive and GMAC. To find out each rate you need to visit each site and enter your information, and that’s why the first method is more popular.
For a handy list of car insurance company links in Rochester, click here.
It’s your choice how you get your quotes, but make absolute certain that you use apples-to-apples deductibles and coverage limits with every price quote. If the quotes have different values for each quote it will be very difficult to truly determine the lowest rate in Rochester.
Do I just need basic coverages?
When it comes to choosing adequate coverage, there really is no “best” method to buy coverage. Everyone’s needs are different so this has to be addressed. Here are some questions about coverages that can help discover if you could use an agent’s help.
- When do I need to add a new car to my policy?
- Do I have coverage when using my vehicle for my home business?
- What should my uninsured motorist coverage limits be in New York?
- Do I have any recourse if my insurance company denies a claim?
- What vehicles should carry emergency assistance coverage?
- Do I benefit by insuring my home with the same company?
- Is my vehicle covered for smoke damage?
- Does my policy cover me when driving someone else’s vehicle?
- Am I covered when driving a rental car?
If it’s difficult to answer those questions but you think they might apply to your situation, you might consider talking to a licensed insurance agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, simply complete this short form or you can go here for a list of companies in your area. It only takes a few minutes and you can get the answers you need.
Car insurance coverage information
Understanding the coverages of a car insurance policy can be of help when determining which coverages you need for your vehicles. The terms used in a policy can be impossible to understand and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording. These are the normal coverages found on the average car insurance policy.
Medical costs insurance
Med pay and PIP coverage pay for expenses for things like X-ray expenses, doctor visits and EMT expenses. They are utilized in addition to 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 if you are hit as a while walking down the street. Personal Injury Protection is not an option in every state but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage
Liability car insurance
Liability insurance can cover damage that occurs to people or other property by causing an accident. It protects you from legal claims by others. Liability 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 means you have a limit of $25,000 per injured person, a per accident bodily injury limit of $50,000, and property damage coverage for $25,000.
Liability can pay for things like structural damage, emergency aid, pain and suffering and medical expenses. The amount of liability coverage you purchase is up to you, but you should buy as large an amount as possible. New York requires minimum liability limits of 25,000/50,000/10,000 but you should consider buying more coverage.
Collision coverage
Collision coverage covers damage to your vehicle caused by collision with an object or car. A deductible applies and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.
Collision can pay for things like driving through your garage door, hitting a mailbox, sideswiping another vehicle, crashing into a ditch and colliding with another moving vehicle. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so consider dropping it from vehicles that are older. It’s also possible to increase the deductible to bring the cost down.
Comprehensive or Other Than Collision
This coverage will pay to fix damage that is not covered by collision coverage. You first have to pay a deductible and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive coverage pays for things like vandalism, falling objects, damage from flooding and a broken windshield. The most you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the ACV or actual cash value, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible consider dropping full coverage.
UM/UIM Coverage
Your UM/UIM coverage protects you and your vehicle from other drivers when they either are underinsured or have no liability coverage at all. Covered losses include injuries to you and your family as well as your vehicle’s damage.
Since many New York drivers have only the minimum liability required by law (25/50/10), it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. That’s why carrying high Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage is a good idea.
And the best car insurance company is…
Throughout this article, we presented many ideas to compare car insurance prices online. The key thing to remember is the more providers you compare, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. You may be surprised to find that the biggest savings come from a company that doesn’t do a lot of advertising. These smaller insurers can often insure niche markets at a lower cost compared to the large companies like Progressive or Geico.
Discount car insurance can be sourced online in addition to many Rochester insurance agents, and you need to comparison shop both so you have a total pricing picture. Some companies do not provide online quoting and most of the time these regional insurance providers sell through independent agents.