Are you kicking yourself for buying an underperforming, overpriced car insurance policy? Believe me, many Leeds drivers have buyer’s remorse. Due to the fact that there are so many different company options, it’s nearly impossible to choose the best insurance company.
Finding the best rates in Leeds is quite easy. Essentially every driver who has to buy car insurance will be able to find lower rates. Although Alabama car owners can benefit by having an understanding of how big insurance companies price insurance differently and use this information to your advantage.
The quickest method we recommend to compare insurance rates from multiple companies takes advantage of the fact most larger insurance companies participate in a system to give you rate quotes. The only thing you need to do is provide a small amount of information like marital status, how much you drive, the ages of drivers, and if you are currently licensed. That rating information is submitted instantly to many of the top insurers and they return quotes very quickly.
To find the cheapest car insurance rates, click here and complete the quick form.
Save with these discounts
Properly insuring your vehicles can get expensive, but companies offer discounts that may help make it more affordable. Some trigger automatically at the time you complete a quote, but some may not be applied and must be asked for before you get the savings.
- Switch and Save Discount – A few companies offer discounts for switching policies before your current expiration date. This discount can save up to 10%.
- Own a Home and Save – Just being a homeowner may earn you a small savings since home ownership is proof that your finances are in order.
- Senior Citizen Discount – If you qualify as a senior citizen, you could receive a slight reduction on a .
- Good Student Discount – A discount for being a good student may save as much as 25% on a . The good student discount can last up until you turn 25.
- Policy Bundle Discount – When you combine your home and auto insurance with one company you could save nearly 15% which can help you find .
- Theft Deterent Discount – Cars with anti-theft systems prevent vehicle theft and will save you 10% or more.
- Include Life Insurance and Save – Not every insurance company offers life insurance, but if they do you may earn a lower rate if you buy life insurance.
- More Vehicles More Savings – Drivers who insure multiple cars with one company could earn a price break for each car.
Remember that most discounts do not apply to the entire policy premium. Most only cut individual premiums such as comp or med pay. Just because it seems like you can get free auto insurance, you aren’t that lucky.
The best car insurance companies and a selection of discounts can be found below.
- State Farm has savings for accident-free, safe vehicle, multiple autos, Drive Safe & Save, defensive driving training, passive restraint, and driver’s education.
- Liberty Mutual has discounts for preferred payment discount, new move discount, exclusive group savings, new vehicle discount, and multi-policy.
- American Family may have discounts that include Steer into Savings, accident-free, multi-vehicle, air bags, and good driver.
- Progressive offers discounts including online signing, continuous coverage, homeowner, good student, and multi-vehicle.
- Farmers Insurance includes discounts for early shopping, good student, business and professional, multi-car, and bundle discounts.
- Auto-Owners Insurance discounts include multiple vehicles, safe vehicle, anti-lock brakes, group or association, student away at school, company car, and air bags.
- SAFECO may include discounts for anti-theft, homeowner, drive less, bundle discounts, teen safety rewards, safe driver, and teen safe driver.
If you need lower rates, check with each company or agent how you can save money. All car insurance discounts might not be available to policyholders in your area.
Find more affordable car insurance with these tips
Lots of factors are used when you quote your car insurance policy. Some factors are common sense such as your driving history, although some other factors are more transparent like where you live or your financial responsibility. When buying car insurance it’s important to understand some of the things that aid in calculating the price you pay for car insurance. When you understand what positively or negatively impacts your premiums, this enables informed choices that can help you get better car insurance rates.
- You may save more by bundling policies – The majority of companies will give better rates to insureds who buy several policies from them, otherwise known as a multi-policy discount. Even with this discount, you still need to shop around to help guarantee you have the best rates. It’s possible to still save even more than the discount by splitting coverages up.
- Avoid tickets and save – Even a single speeding ticket or other violation can increase the cost of insurance by as much as thirty percent. Good drivers tend to pay less for car insurance than their less careful counterparts. Drivers with license-revoking violations like DWI, reckless driving or hit and run convictions may be required to complete a SR-22 with their state motor vehicle department in order to keep their license.
- Where do you drive? – The more miles you rack up on your car every year the higher your rate. A lot of companies price each vehicle’s coverage based on their usage. Vehicles that sit idle most of the time can get a lower rate compared to those used for work or business. Ask your agent if your car insurance declarations sheet reflects the correct usage, because improper ratings can cost you money.
- Younger drivers are expensive to insure – Youthful drivers in Alabama have been known to be less responsible when at the wheel of a vehicle so car insurance rates are higher. If you’ve ever had to add a teenage driver onto your car insurance will cause a huge premium hike. Older insureds have been proven to be more responsible, tend to cause fewer accidents and get fewer tickets.
- Safety first – Safer cars can get you lower premiums. Vehicles engineered for safety reduce occupant injuries and lower injury rates translates into savings for insurance companies and lower rates for you. If your car, truck, or SUV scored better than four stars on Safercar.gov or an “acceptable” rating on iihs.org you may qualify for a discount.
- Small claims can cost you – If you file claims often, don’t be surprised to see much higher rates or policy non-renewal. Companies in Alabama provide better rates to people who do not file claims often. Insurance coverage is intended to be relied upon for more catestrophic claims.
- Only buy what you need – There are a lot of extra bells and whistles you can purchase if you aren’t diligent. Add-on coverages like replacement cost coverage, better glass coverage, and Farm Bureau memberships are examples of these. These coverages may sound good when deciding what coverages you need, but now you might not need them so remove them from your policy.
More detailed Alabama car insurance information is available at the Alabama Department of Insurance website. Visitors are able to find out industry alerts, download brochures, learn about specific coverages, and report car insurance fraud.
Other informative sites include this link for Alabama coverage information and this page on QuoteClickInsure.com.
Are you falling for claims of savings?
Big name companies like Geico, State Farm and Progressive seem to constantly run ads on TV and radio. All the companies say the same thing about saving some big amount if you switch your coverage. It sounds good, but how can they all charge lower premium rates? This is the trick they use.
Most companies have an ideal profile for the type of driver that earns them the highest profit. An example of a preferred risk may be a married male, insures multiple vehicles, and drives less than 7,500 miles a year. Any new insured that hits that “sweet spot” will get a cheap rate quote and therefore will save if they switch.
Drivers who do not match those criteria will probably have to pay a higher rate and this results in the customer buying from a different company. The ads say “people who switch” not “all people who quote” will save that much if they switch. That’s why companies can make the claims of big savings. This really drives home the point why drivers should compare often. It’s just not possible to know with any certainty which company will have the best auto insurance rates at this point in time.
Cheaper car insurance is a realistic goal
A few companies do not offer rates over the internet and many times these regional insurance providers only sell through local independent agencies. Low-cost car insurance can be found both online and from local agencies, so compare prices from both to get a complete price analysis.
In this article, we presented some good ideas how to shop for car insurance online. It’s most important to understand that the more rate quotes you have, the higher your chance of finding . You may be surprised to find that the best price on car insurance is with the smaller companies. Some small companies often have lower prices on specific markets than their larger competitors like Progressive or Geico.