Consumers who are new to shopping for insurance online can find purchasing cut-rate Las Vegas car insurance very challenging.
Save big with these nine discounts
Auto insurance companies don’t necessarily list every discount in an easy-to-find place, so we took the time to find some of the best known and the more hidden ways to save on car insurance. If they aren’t giving you every credit you deserve, you are paying more than you should be.
- Paperwork-free – A few companies give back up to $50 for buying your policy online.
- Discount for Life Insurance – Some companies give a break if you buy life insurance.
- Homeowners Savings – Simply owning a home may trigger a car insurance policy discount because owning a home is proof that your finances are in order.
- Bundle and Save – When you have multiple policies with the same insurance company you could get a discount of up to 20% off your total premium.
- Multiple Cars – Buying insurance for all your vehicles on one policy could earn a price break for each car.
- Driver Safety – Taking part in a defensive driving course could save 5% or more if you qualify.
- Payment Method – If you pay your entire premium ahead of time instead of making monthly payments you could save up to 5%.
- Employee of Federal Government – Being employed by or retired from a federal job may qualify you for a discount with certain companies.
- Distant Student – Youth drivers who attend school more than 100 miles from home and do not have access to a covered vehicle can be insured at a reduced rate.
Drivers should understand that most credits do not apply the the whole policy. Some only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as liability and collision coverage. So when it seems like adding up those discounts means a free policy, it doesn’t quite work that way.
To see a list of insurers with discount car insurance rates in Las Vegas, click this link.
Advertising myths
Nevada consumers constantly see and hear ads for the lowest price auto insurance from companies such as Geico, State Farm and Progressive. All the companies say the same thing that you’ll save big if you switch your policy.
How can each company make almost identical claims? It’s all in the numbers.
All companies can use profiling for the type of driver they prefer to insure. An example of a profitable customer could be between 30 and 50, has no driving citations, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. Any driver who matches those parameters will get very good rates and most likely will save quite a bit of money when switching.
Potential customers who don’t qualify for the “perfect” profile will be quoted higher premiums which leads to business not being written. Company advertisements say “customers that switch” but not “drivers who get quotes” save that much money. This is how companies can make those claims. This emphasizes why you should get a wide range of price quotes. It’s not possible to predict which car insurance company will give you the biggest savings.
Auto insurance coverages
Having a good grasp of your car insurance policy aids in choosing the best coverages at the best deductibles and correct limits. The terms used in a policy can be confusing and reading a policy is terribly boring.<img class="alignright" style="padding-top:15px" src="https://www.carinsurancediy.com/wp-content/uploads/ci175-40.jpg" alt="Las Vegas Nevada auto insurance” />
Liability car insurance – This coverage provides protection from damage that occurs to a person or their property by causing an accident. It protects you from legal claims by others, and does not provide coverage for your injuries or vehicle damage.
Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: 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 50/100/50 that means you have a $50,000 limit per person for injuries, a limit of $100,000 in injury protection per accident, and $50,000 of coverage for damaged propery.
Liability insurance covers things like court costs, repair bills for other people’s vehicles and legal defense fees. The amount of liability coverage you purchase is your choice, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase higher limits if possible. Nevada requires minimum liability limits of 15,000/30,000/10,000 but you should consider buying more liability than the minimum.
UM/UIM Coverage – This protects you and your vehicle’s occupants from other drivers when they either have no liability insurance or not enough. It can pay for injuries sustained by your vehicle’s occupants and also any damage incurred to your vehicle.
Since many Nevada drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits (15/30/10 in Nevada), their liability coverage can quickly be exhausted. For this reason, having high UM/UIM coverages should not be overlooked.
Medical costs insurance – Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage reimburse you for expenses for prosthetic devices, nursing services, pain medications and ambulance fees. They are used to cover expenses not covered by your health insurance plan or if you do not have health coverage. Coverage applies to you and your occupants in addition to being hit by a car walking across the street. Personal injury protection coverage is not an option in every state but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage
Comprehensive or Other Than Collision – This pays to fix your vehicle from damage OTHER than collision with another vehicle or object. You need to pay your deductible first and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive can pay for claims such as a broken windshield, damage from flooding, hitting a deer and falling objects. The highest amount you’ll receive from a claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if the vehicle is not worth much it’s not worth carrying full coverage.
Collision – Collision coverage pays to fix your vehicle from damage resulting from colliding with a stationary object or other vehicle. A deductible applies and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.
Collision insurance covers things such as sideswiping another vehicle, rolling your car and sustaining damage from a pot hole. This coverage can be expensive, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from older vehicles. You can also increase the deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.
Informative consumer insurance sites
More detailed Nevada car insurance information can be found at the Nevada Division of Insurance website. Nevada drivers can get help finding coverage, find out which companies have the most complaints, find out industry alerts, and find disaster information.
In Summary
We just covered some good ideas how you can save on car insurance. The most important thing to understand is the more providers you compare, the better likelihood of reducing your rate. Drivers may discover the best prices are with an unexpected company.
When you buy insurance online, it’s very important that you do not sacrifice coverage to reduce premiums. There are a lot of situations where drivers have reduced full coverage to discover at claim time that they should have had better coverage. Your focus should be to purchase plenty of coverage at the best price.
Affordable car insurance is attainable from both online companies in addition to many Las Vegas insurance agents, so compare prices from both to get a complete price analysis. A few companies do not provide online quoting and most of the time these small insurance companies sell through independent agents.