Overpriced car insurance can take a big chunk out of your savings account and force you to make sacrifices. Shopping your coverage around is a great way to cut your insurance bill. There is such a variety of auto insurance companies to choose from, and although it’s nice to have multiple companies, so many choices can make it hard to find the best rates for your vehicles.
It’s a great practice to check car insurance prices at least once a year since rates fluctuate regularly. Despite the fact that you may have had the lowest rates a year ago you may be paying too much now. Starting now, forget all the misinformation about car insurance because it’s time to teach you the best way to save on car insurance.
Discounts are great for lower rates
Auto insurance companies don’t list all available discounts in a way that’s easy to find, so we took the time to find both well-publicized and also the lesser-known ways to save on car insurance. If you aren’t receiving every discount available, you are throwing money away.
- Drive Less and Save – Low mileage vehicles can qualify you for a substantially lower rate.
- Lower Rates for Military – Being deployed with a military unit could be rewarded with lower premiums.
- Early Switch Discount – Select companies give a discount for switching to them prior to your current policy expiring. It’s a savings of about 10%.
- Bundle and Save – If you have multiple policies with one company you may earn approximately 10% to 15%.
- Own a Home – Simply owning a home can save you money because owning a home requires personal responsibility.
- Employee of Federal Government – Employees or retirees of the government can save as much as 8% with a few car insurance companies.
- Claim Free – Claim-free drivers can save substantially when compared with drivers who are more careless.
- Life Insurance – Larger companies have better rates if you take out life insurance.
- Drive Safe and Save – Drivers who don’t get into accidents can pay as much as 50% less than their less cautious counterparts.
Drivers should understand that most credits do not apply to your bottom line cost. The majority will only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like physical damage coverage or medical payments. So when it seems like you can get free auto insurance, you’re out of luck.
To choose insurers offering car insurance discounts in El Dorado, click here.
Cheap El Dorado Car Insurance Comparisons
All major car insurance companies provide prices for coverage directly from their websites. Getting online rates is fairly straightforward as you just type in your coverage information into the quote form. Once you submit the form, their system makes automated requests for your driving record and credit report and quotes a price based on these and other factors. Quoting online helps simplify price comparisons, but having to visit many different websites and fill out multiple forms gets old quite quickly. But it’s absolutely necessary to perform this step if you are searching for a better rate.
Isn’t there an easier way to compare rates?
A less time-consuming method to locate the lowest prices utilizes a single form to obtain quotes from a lot of companies. The form is fast, requires much less work on your part, and makes price shopping online a lot less work. Immediately after you send the form, it is quoted and you can select your choice of the pricing results. If the quotes result in lower rates, it’s easy to complete the application and purchase the new policy. It can be completed in less than 10 minutes and you’ll know if lower rates are available.
To save time and use this form to compare rates, click here and enter your information. If you have your current policy handy, we recommend you duplicate the insurance coverages exactly as they are listed on your policy. This helps ensure you will get rate comparison quotes based on similar coverages.
Are insurance agents a thing of the past?
A small number of people would prefer to sit down with an agent and that is just fine! Educated insurance agents can answer important questions and give you peace of mind. One of the great benefits of price shopping on the web is you may find the best rates but also keep your business local.
Once you complete this simple form, your insurance coverage information is instantly submitted to local insurance agents in El Dorado who will return price quotes for your insurance coverage. There is no need to even leave your home as quotes are delivered immediately to your email address.
Selecting an insurance company shouldn’t rely on just the bottom line cost. Here are some questions to ask:
- What will you get paid if your car is a total loss? How is that amount determined?
- Does the agency provide any after hours assistance?
- Are they full-time agents?
- Are there any hidden costs in their price quote and does it include driving and credit history?
- Do they review policy coverages at every renewal?
The difference between El Dorado car insurance agents
If you’re trying to find a local agent, there are a couple of types of insurance agents to choose from. Agents are categorized either independent or captive. While both can do a good job, but it’s important to know the difference between them because it can influence your agent selection.
Agency Captives
This type of agents have only one company to place business with like AAA, Allstate and State Farm. They generally cannot place coverage with different providers so keep that in mind. Captive agents are trained well in insurance sales which helps them sell insurance even at higher premiums.
Below are El Dorado captive insurance agencies that are able to give rate quotes.
State Farm Insurance – 123 E 2nd Ave – El Dorado, KS 67042 – (316) 320-2136
Farmers Insurance Group – 224 W Central Ave – El Dorado, KS 67042 – (316) 321-2387
American Family Insurance – 615 N Main St – El Dorado, KS 67042 – (316) 321-7002
Farm Bureau Insurance – 341 N Main St – El Dorado, KS 67042 – (316) 320-3166
Shelter Insurance – 1236 W Central Ave – El Dorado, KS 67042 – (316) 322-7200
Independent Insurance Agents
Independent insurance agents are not required to write business for one company but rather can write business amongst many companies and potentially find a lower price. To transfer your coverage to a different company, they simply move the coverage in-house and that require little work on your part. When shopping rates, we recommend you get quotes from at a minimum one independent agency for the best price selection.
Listed below are El Dorado independent agents who can help you get price quote information.
Bonnie J Buckman Insurance Inc – 208 S Main St – El Dorado, KS 67042 – (316) 320-2210
Farm Bureau Insurance – 341 N Main St – El Dorado, KS 67042 – (316) 320-3166
To view a complete directory of El Dorado insurance agents, view this link.
Upon getting positive responses to all your questions in addition to an acceptable price estimate, it’s possible that you found an insurance agency that is a good match to properly insure your vehicles. Just keep in mind once you purchase a policy you can cancel coverage at any point so don’t think you are locked into any specific agency for any length of time.
Ads can be misleading
Kansas drivers can’t ignore all the ads for cheaper car insurance by companies like Allstate and Progressive. They all make the same claim about savings after switching to them.
How does each company say the same thing?
Insurance companies can use profiling for the type of customer they prefer to insure. For instance, a driver they prefer might be over the age of 50, has no tickets, and drives newer vehicles. A customer getting a price quote who matches those parameters will get the preferred rates and is almost guaranteed to save when switching.
Drivers who are not a match for the “perfect” profile will be quoted higher rates and this can result in the customer not buying. The ad wording is “people who switch” but not “drivers who get quotes” save that much. That’s the way companies can make the claims of big savings. This emphasizes why drivers must get a wide range of price quotes. It is impossible to predict which insurance companies will fit your personal profile best.
Car insurance coverages explained
Knowing the specifics of your car insurance policy can be of help when determining appropriate coverage at the best deductibles and correct limits. The coverage terms in a policy can be ambiguous and reading a policy is terribly boring. Listed below are typical coverages available from car insurance companies.
Comprehensive car insurance
Comprehensive insurance coverage pays to fix your vehicle from damage OTHER than collision with another vehicle or object. A deductible will apply then your comprehensive coverage will pay.
Comprehensive coverage pays for things such as hail damage, fire damage, hitting a bird, theft and damage from a tornado or hurricane. The maximum payout a car insurance company will pay at claim time is the actual cash value, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value consider removing comprehensive coverage.
Coverage for uninsured or underinsured drivers
Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage provides protection when other motorists do not carry enough liability coverage. Covered losses include hospital bills for your injuries as well as damage to your vehicle.
Since a lot of drivers carry very low liability coverage limits (which is 25/50/10), their liability coverage can quickly be exhausted. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is a good idea.
Coverage for collisions
This coverage pays for damage to your vehicle caused by collision with another car or object. You first must pay a deductible and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.
Collision coverage pays for things like scraping a guard rail, rolling your car, driving through your garage door and hitting a parking meter. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so you might think about dropping it from vehicles that are 8 years or older. Another option is to choose a higher deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.
Auto liability insurance
This coverage protects you from damage that occurs to other’s property or people. Liability coverage has three limits: bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. Your policy might show values of 50/100/50 which stand for $50,000 in coverage for each person’s injuries, $100,000 for the entire accident, and $50,000 of coverage for damaged propery.
Liability coverage protects against things like court costs, structural damage and pain and suffering. How much liability should you purchase? That is a decision to put some thought into, but you should buy as high a limit as you can afford. Kansas state law requires minimum liability limits of 25,000/50,000/10,000 but it’s recommended drivers buy better liability coverage.
Coverage for medical expenses
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage provide coverage for short-term medical expenses for things like chiropractic care, EMT expenses, hospital visits, X-ray expenses and rehabilitation expenses. They are often utilized in addition to your health insurance plan or if you do not have health coverage. Medical payments and PIP cover you and your occupants as well as being hit by a car walking across the street. PIP is not available in all states and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay
Cheaper insurance is a realistic goal
We’ve covered some good ideas how you can save on car insurance. The key thing to remember is the more times you quote, the better your comparison will be. You may be surprised to find that the biggest savings come from a smaller regional carrier. Smaller companies can often insure niche markets at a lower cost as compared to the big name companies such as Allstate or State Farm.
Affordable car insurance is definitely available both online and also from your neighborhood El Dorado agents, so you should compare both to have the best rate selection. Some companies may not provide the ability to get a quote online and usually these regional insurance providers provide coverage only through local independent agents.
More detailed Kansas car insurance information can be found at the Kansas Insurance Department website. Consumers can file complaints about a company, file complaints about an insurance agent or broker, get help finding coverage, and learn about specific coverages.