Sick and tired of being strong-armed to insure your vehicles every month? You are in the same boat as millions of other consumers. Consumers have many insurance companies to pick from, and though it is a good thing to be able to choose, it makes it harder to find a good deal.
Choosing the best insurance company for you in Bardstown is not that difficult. If you currently have car insurance, you should be able to lower your premiums substantially using these techniques. Kentucky consumers just need to understand the tricks to shop for car insurance over the internet.
How to Compare Car Insurance Costs in Bardstown, KY
There are several ways to shop for car insurance, but one way is less time-consuming than others. You can waste a few hours (or days) discussing policy coverages with insurance companies in Bardstown, or you could save time and use online quoting to achieve your goal.
Many companies enroll in a system that enables customers to only type in their quote data once, and each participating company returns a competitive quote based on that data. This saves time by eliminating quotation requests for each company.
To fill out one form to compare multiple rates now click here to open in new window.
The one downside to getting quotes like this is you cannot specify which insurance companies to receive prices from. If you would rather choose specific providers to receive pricing from, we put together a list of companies who write car insurance in Kentucky. Click here to view list.
Whichever way you use, ensure you are comparing the exact same coverage limits on every quote you get. If you enter different liability limits it will be impossible to make a fair comparison in Bardstown.
Advertising myths
Consumers in Kentucky can’t get away from ads for car insurance savings by State Farm, Allstate and Geico. All the ads say the same thing of big savings after switching to their company.
How do they all claim to save you money? This is how they do it.
All the different companies can use profiling for the type of driver that is profitable for them. For instance, a preferred risk could possibly be between the ages of 30 and 50, has no driving citations, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. Any driver that hits that “sweet spot” is entitled to the best price and as a result will probably save when switching.
Potential insureds who are not a match for these standards will have to pay higher premiums which leads to the customer not buying. The ad wording is “customers who switch” but not “drivers who get quotes” save that kind of money. That’s why companies can truthfully advertise the way they do. Because of the profiling, it is so important to get quotes from several different companies. It is impossible to predict the company that will have the lowest rates.<img class="alignright" style="padding-top:15px" src="https://www.carinsurancediy.com/wp-content/uploads/ci175-13.jpg" alt="Bardstown KY car insurance prices” />
Discounts can save BIG
Companies that sell car insurance do not advertise every available discount in a way that’s easy to find, so we researched both well-publicized and the more hidden ways to save on car insurance. If you aren’t receiving every discount available, you’re just leaving money on the table.
- No Claims – Drivers with accident-free driving histories can earn big discounts compared to drivers who are more careless.
- Braking Control Discount – Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles can avoid accidents and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
- 55 and Retired – If you’re over the age of 55, you may receive a discount up to 10%.
- Military Discounts – Having a deployed family member could be rewarded with lower premiums.
- College Student – Any of your kids living away from home attending college and don’t have a car can receive lower rates.
- Early Signing – Some insurance companies reward drivers for switching policies prior to your current policy expiration. This can save 10% or more.
- Drive Safe and Save – Drivers who avoid accidents can get discounts for up to 45% lower rates than less cautious drivers.
- Multiple Policy Discount – When you have multiple policies with the same company you may earn at least 10% off all policies.
- Anti-theft Discount – Vehicles with anti-theft systems are stolen less frequently and earn discounts up to 10%.
It’s important to note that many deductions do not apply to your bottom line cost. Most only apply to specific coverage prices like medical payments or collision. So even though they make it sound like you could get a free car insurance policy, car insurance companies aren’t that generous.
To see a list of providers who offer car insurance discounts in Kentucky, follow this link.
Car insurance coverages and their meanings
Learning about specific coverages of car insurance helps when choosing the right coverages and the correct deductibles and limits. Car insurance terms can be ambiguous and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording. Listed below are the usual coverages found on most car insurance policies.
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) – This coverage protects you and your vehicle when other motorists are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. This coverage pays for injuries sustained by your vehicle’s occupants and damage to your vehicle.
Due to the fact that many Kentucky drivers have only the minimum liability required by law (Kentucky limits are 25/50/10), their liability coverage can quickly be exhausted. For this reason, having high UM/UIM coverages is important protection for you and your family.
Coverage for liability – Liability insurance provides protection from damage or injury you incur to other people or property in an accident. This insurance protects YOU from claims by other people, and doesn’t cover your injuries or vehicle damage.
It consists of three limits, bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. As an example, you may have limits of 25/50/25 that means you have $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 insurance covers claims like structural damage, attorney fees, legal defense fees and repair bills for other people’s vehicles. How much coverage you buy is your choice, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase as high a limit as you can afford. Kentucky requires minimum liability limits of 25,000/50,000/10,000 but you should consider buying higher limits.
Med pay and Personal Injury Protection (PIP) – Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance kick in for bills for things like doctor visits, dental work, pain medications and hospital visits. They are often utilized in addition to your health insurance policy or if you lack health insurance entirely. Medical payments and PIP cover you and your occupants and also covers any family member struck as a pedestrian. PIP coverage is only offered in select states and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay
Comprehensive insurance – Comprehensive insurance covers damage from a wide range of events other than collision. You first must pay your deductible and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive coverage protects against claims such as hail damage, damage from getting keyed, vandalism, a broken windshield and damage from flooding. The most a car insurance company will pay at claim time is the actual cash value, so if the vehicle is not worth much consider dropping full coverage.
Collision coverages – This coverage pays for damage to your vehicle resulting from a collision with another car or object. A deductible applies and then insurance will cover the remainder.
Collision insurance covers things like backing into a parked car, colliding with a tree and crashing into a building. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so you might think about dropping it from older vehicles. You can also increase the deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.
Final considerations
Throughout this article, we presented many ideas to compare car insurance prices online. It’s most important to understand that the more times you quote, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. You may even discover the most savings is with the least-expected company. Regional companies may cover specific market segments cheaper compared to the large companies like Allstate or State Farm.
Lower-priced car insurance can be sourced online in addition to many Bardstown insurance agents, and you should be comparing both to have the best chance of lowering rates. Some insurance providers do not provide the ability to get a quote online and many times these smaller companies only sell through independent insurance agents.
More tips and info about car insurance is located at the Kentucky Department of Insurance website. Kentucky consumers can find out industry alerts, view a list of available companies, find disaster information, and learn about insurance regulations.