Tired of scraping the payment together each month for car insurance? You are no different than many other Kansas consumers. You have multiple insurers to insure vehicles with, and although it’s nice to have multiple companies, so many choices can make it hard to compare rates and cut insurance costs.
The purpose of this post is to help you learn how to effectively get price quotes. If you have car insurance now, you stand a good chance to be able to lower your premiums substantially using these techniques. Kansas drivers just need to know the proper methods to shop on the web.
Cheap Arkansas City Auto Insurance Comparisons
Getting better auto insurance pricing is a fairly straight forward process. All you need to do is take time to get quotes provided by online insurance companies. It is quite easy and can be accomplished in a couple of different ways.
- Probably the best way consumers can analyze rates is to use a rate comparison form (click to open form in new window). This easy form saves time by eliminating a different quote for each company you want a rate for. Just one form will get you rate comparisons from multiple companies.
- Another way to get comparison quotes is to manually visit each individual company website and complete a new quote form. For sake of this example, let’s assume you want rates from State Farm, Allstate and GMAC. You would have to take the time to go to each site and enter your policy data, and that’s why the first method is more popular. For a handy list of car insurance company links in Arkansas City, click here.
Whichever method you choose, double check that you are using the exact same deductibles and coverage limits for each price quote. If the quotes have different deductibles it’s impossible to determine the best price in Arkansas City.
Save money by taking advantage of these 5 discounts
Insurance can cost an arm and a leg, buy you may qualify for discounts to cut the cost considerably. A few discounts will automatically apply when you purchase, but some may not be applied and must be asked for prior to receiving the credit. If you don’t get every credit available, you are throwing money away.
- Accident Waiver – Certain companies will allow you to have one accident before hitting you with a surcharge so long as you haven’t had any claims for a set time period.
- Payment Method – If you pay your entire premium ahead of time instead of paying each month you could save up to 5%.
- Homeowners Discount – Owning a house in Arkansas City can save you money because of the fact that having a home demonstrates responsibility.
- Passive Restraints – Cars that have air bags may earn rate discounts of up to 25% or more.
- Distant Student – Children living away from home attending college and don’t have a car can be insured at a reduced rate.
Keep in mind that most discounts do not apply to the entire policy premium. Most only apply to individual premiums such as physical damage coverage or medical payments. So despite the fact that it appears having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, it just doesn’t work that way. Any qualifying discounts will bring down your premiums.
To see a list of providers with discount auto insurance rates in Kansas, click this link.
When should I use an insurance agent?
When it comes to buying coverage, there is no cookie cutter policy. Everyone’s situation is unique so this has to be addressed. For instance, these questions can help discover whether you might need professional guidance.
- Do I have coverage when using my vehicle for my home business?
- Do I have any recourse if my insurance company denies a claim?
- Am I covered if I wreck a rental car?
- What is covered by UM/UIM coverage?
- Do I qualify for additional discounts?
- If my vehicle is totaled, can I afford another vehicle?
- I have good health insurance, so how much medical payments coverage do I need?
- When do I need to add a new car to my policy?
- Do I benefit by insuring my home with the same company?
- Exactly who is provided coverage by my policy?
If you’re not sure about those questions but you think they might apply to your situation then you might want to talk to an agent. To find an agent in your area, complete this form or click here for a list of auto insurance companies in your area. It’s fast, doesn’t cost anything and can help protect your family.
Slick advertising tricks that work
Kansas consumers can’t get away from ads for cheaper car insurance by companies like State Farm and Allstate. All the companies make the same claim of big savings after switching to them.
How can each company make almost identical claims? This is how they do it.
Insurance companies can use profiling for the type of driver that is profitable for them. An example of a preferred risk could be over the age of 40, has no prior claims, and has a short commute. Any driver who fits that profile gets the lowest rates and is almost guaranteed to save quite a bit of money when switching.
Drivers who don’t qualify for the “perfect” profile will be quoted higher rates which usually ends up with business going elsewhere. The ad wording is “customers who switch” not “everyone that quotes” save that kind of money. That’s the way insurance companies can advertise the way they do.
This emphasizes why you need to get a wide range of price quotes. It’s impossible to know the company that will have the lowest rates.
What auto insurance coverages do you need?
Learning about specific coverages of your policy helps when choosing the right coverages and the correct deductibles and limits. The coverage terms in a policy can be ambiguous and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording. Listed below are the usual coverages available from auto insurance companies.
Comprehensive auto coverage
Comprehensive insurance pays for damage OTHER than collision with another vehicle or object. You first must pay your deductible and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive insurance covers things like damage from a tornado or hurricane, theft and a tree branch falling on your vehicle. The maximum amount you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible it’s not worth carrying full coverage.
Medical payments and PIP coverage
Med pay and PIP coverage provide coverage for short-term medical expenses like rehabilitation expenses, X-ray expenses, EMT expenses and funeral costs. They can be used in conjunction with a health insurance plan or if you lack health insurance entirely. They cover you and your occupants and also covers if you are hit as a while walking down the street. PIP is not available in all states and may carry a deductible
Liability coverages
Liability coverage will cover injuries or damage you cause to a person or their property in an accident. This insurance protects YOU against other people’s claims, and doesn’t cover damage to your own property or vehicle.
It consists of three limits, bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. You might see policy limits of 100/300/100 that translate to $100,000 in coverage for each person’s injuries, a total of $300,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and a limit of $100,000 paid for damaged property. Another option is one number which is a combined single limit which combines the three limits into one amount and claims can be made without the split limit restrictions.
Liability insurance covers claims such as pain and suffering, bail bonds, structural damage and medical services. How much coverage you buy is a decision to put some thought into, but buy as high a limit as you can afford. Kansas state minimum liability requirements are 25,000/50,000/10,000 but drivers should carry more liability than the minimum.
Coverage for collisions
This coverage covers damage to your vehicle resulting from a collision with an object or car. You will need to pay your deductible and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.
Collision coverage protects against claims like rolling your car, crashing into a building, colliding with a tree, driving through your garage door and backing into a parked car. Paying for collision coverage can be pricey, so consider dropping it from vehicles that are 8 years or older. Drivers also have the option to bump up the deductible to bring the cost down.
UM/UIM (Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist) coverage
Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage gives you protection from other motorists when they are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. Covered losses include injuries to you and your family and damage to your vehicle.
Due to the fact that many Kansas drivers only purchase the least amount of liability that is required (which is 25/50/10), it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. That’s why carrying high Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage is very important. Usually these coverages are similar to your liability insurance amounts.
Compare but don’t skimp
The cheapest auto insurance is attainable online as well as from independent agents in Arkansas City, and you should compare price quotes from both to have the best selection. Some insurance providers don’t offer online quoting and most of the time these regional insurance providers sell through independent agents.
Throughout this article, we presented many ways to save on auto insurance. The most important thing to understand is the more times you quote, the higher your chance of finding lower rates. You may even find the lowest rates come from some of the lesser-known companies. These smaller insurers may often insure only within specific states and give getter rates compared to the large companies like Progressive or Geico.
When you buy insurance online, it’s a bad idea to skimp on critical coverages to save a buck or two. In many instances, drivers have reduced liability limits or collision coverage and learned later they didn’t purchase enough coverage. Your goal should be to find the BEST coverage at an affordable rate.
Kansas auto insurance information
Additional auto insurance information can be found on the website for the Kansas Insurance Department through this link. Consumers can view agent and company licensing information, read state legal mandates and laws, read consumer alerts, and learn about insurance regulations.