Are you drained from scraping the payment together to pay high auto insurance rates every month? You’re in the same situation as millions of other vehicle owners. Vehicle owners have so many insurance companies to buy insurance from, and even though it’s nice to have a selection, it can be more difficult to find a good deal.
Smart consumers take time to do rate comparisons every six months due to the fact that insurance prices are rarely the same from one policy term to another. Even if you think you had the best rate six months ago you can probably find a better premium rate now. Forget all the misinformation about auto insurance because we’re going to demonstrate the tricks you need to know to find better coverage at a better price.
Comparing auto insurance rates can take time and effort if you don’t understand the most efficient way. You can spend countless hours discussing policy coverages with local insurance agents in Lindenhurst, or you can stay home and use the web to get rate comparisons in just a few minutes.
Most car insurance companies participate in a marketplace where insurance shoppers submit their information once, and every company provides a quote. This system prevents you from having to do repetitive form submissions to each individual auto insurance company. To compare pricing click here to start a free quote.
The single downside to getting quotes like this is buyers cannot specifically choose the insurers to get pricing from. If you wish to select specific providers for rate comparison, we have assembled a list of the cheapest auto insurance companies in New York. Click here for list of insurance companies in New York.
You can use whichever method you prefer to find lower rates, just compare the same deductibles and coverage limits on every quote. If you have mixed coverages it will be nearly impossible to determine the lowest rate in Lindenhurst. Even a minor difference in insurance coverages could throw off the whole comparison. And when price shopping your coverage, more quotes increases the change that you will find more affordable rates. Some smaller insurers to not give rate quotes online, so it’s recommended that you also compare price quotes from them, too.
Affordable New York auto insurance quotes with discounts
Auto insurance is not cheap nor is it fun to buy but discounts can save money and there are some available to cut the cost considerably. Some of these disounts will be visible at the time of quoting, but lesser-known reductions have to be inquired about before being credited.
- ABS Brakes – Vehicles with ABS braking systems or traction control can reduce accidents and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
- Responsible Driver Discounts – Accident-free drivers could pay up to 40% less than less cautious drivers.
- Government Employees – Simply working for the federal government can save as much as 8% with a few auto insurance companies.
- Sign Online – Many auto insurance companies will give a small break for buying a policy and signing up on your computer.
- Active Military Service – Having a family member in the military may lower your premium rates slightly.
You can save money using discounts, but most credits do not apply to the overall cost of the policy. Most only apply to specific coverage prices like physical damage coverage or medical payments. Even though the math looks like you would end up receiving a 100% discount, nobody gets a free ride.
A few of the larger companies and a partial list of their discounts are outlined below.
- State Farm discounts include driver’s education, multiple policy, passive restraint, Steer Clear safe driver discount, and anti-theft.
- Nationwide offers discounts including accident-free, good student, defensive driving, business or organization, and easy pay.
- Geico policyholders can earn discounts including driver training, military active duty, five-year accident-free, emergency military deployment, membership and employees, anti-lock brakes, and multi-vehicle.
- AAA may include discounts for good driver, anti-theft, multi-policy, education and occupation, pay-in-full, and AAA membership discount.
- 21st Century includes discounts for defensive driver, student driver, early bird, air bags, and driver training.
- The Hartford may have discounts that include bundle, vehicle fuel type, defensive driver, good student, air bag, and anti-theft.
Check with every insurance company how many discounts you can get. Some discounts listed above may not apply everywhere. To see a list of insurance companies that offer some of these discounts in New York, click here to view.
Independent and captive car insurance agents
A lot of people would rather sit down and talk to an agent and that is OK! One of the great benefits of comparing auto insurance online is the fact that you can find lower rates but also keep your business local.
To find an agent, once you fill out this quick form, the coverage information is sent to insurance agents in Lindenhurst who will give competitive quotes for your insurance coverage. You don’t have to do any legwork since rate quotes are delivered to you directly. You can find better rates without a big time investment. If you wish to get a rate quote from a specific auto insurance provider, just search and find their rate quote page and fill out their quote form.
Finding the right provider shouldn’t rely on just the bottom line cost. These are valid questions to ask:
- Do they make recommendations based only on price?
- If you have an accident, are you able to get your vehicle repaired at the shop of your choice?
- Do they offer claims assistance after hours?
- Which members of your family are coverage by the policy?
- Is the agent properly licensed in New York?
In order to help you locate a licensed insurance agent near you, you can link to this list of auto insurance agents in Lindenhurst.
After you get answers to your satisfaction to your questions and a low price estimate, chances are good that you have found a company that meets the criteria to adequately provide auto insurance. Just keep in mind you are entitled to cancel your coverage at any point so don’t feel that you are permanently stuck with any specific company for the entire policy term.
Everyone needs different auto insurance coverages
When it comes to buying proper insurance coverage for your vehicles, there really is no “best” method to buy coverage. Everyone’s situation is unique and a cookie cutter policy won’t apply. These are some specific questions may help you determine whether you would benefit from professional advice.
- When should I not file a claim?
- What can I do if my company denied a claim?
- What is covered by UM/UIM coverage?
- What if I total my vehicle and owe more than it’s worth?
- Does my insurance cover damage caused when ticketed for reckless driving?
- Do no-fault laws apply in New York?
- Can I drive in Mexico and have coverage?
- Is my vehicle covered for flood damage?
- Do I need special endorsements for business use of my vehicle?
- Do I qualify for additional discounts?
If it’s difficult to answer those questions but a few of them apply, you may need to chat with an agent. If you don’t have a local agent, take a second and complete this form or click here for a list of auto insurance companies in your area.
Even more information is located at the New York Department of Financial Services website. Consumers can learn about insurance regulations, learn about specific coverages, find a variety of consumer forms, and find disaster information.
Other informative sites include this page for auto insurance in New York and CarInsuranceDIY.com.
Car insurance 101
Knowing the specifics of a auto insurance policy can be of help when determining appropriate coverage and proper limits and deductibles. The coverage terms in a policy can be ambiguous and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording. Shown next are typical coverages found on the average auto insurance policy.
Comprehensive (Other than Collision)
This coverage will pay to fix damage that is not covered by collision coverage. You first must pay your deductible then the remaining damage will be covered by your comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive coverage protects against things such as damage from getting keyed, a broken windshield and hail damage. The maximum payout you’ll receive from a claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if the vehicle’s value is low consider dropping full coverage.
Protection from uninsured/underinsured drivers
This coverage protects you and your vehicle’s occupants from other motorists when they do not carry enough liability coverage. It can pay for injuries to you and your family and also any damage incurred to your vehicle.
Since many New York drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits (25/50/10 in New York), their limits can quickly be used up. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is a good idea.
Collision insurance
Collision insurance pays for damage to your vehicle from colliding with an object or car. You will need to pay your deductible then the remaining damage will be paid by your insurance company.
Collision can pay for things like crashing into a building, damaging your car on a curb, colliding with a tree and colliding with another moving vehicle. This coverage can be expensive, so you might think about dropping it from older vehicles. It’s also possible to increase the deductible to save money on collision insurance.
Liability coverages
Liability coverage will cover injuries or damage you cause to other people or property. Coverage consists of three different limits, bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. Your policy might show policy limits of 100/300/100 that means you have a limit of $100,000 per injured person, $300,000 for the entire accident, and $100,000 of coverage for damaged propery.
Liability can pay for things like pain and suffering, loss of income and court costs. How much liability should you purchase? That is a decision to put some thought into, but you should buy as large an amount as possible. New York requires minimum liability limits of 25,000/50,000/10,000 but you should think about purchasing more liability than the minimum.
Medical expense insurance
Coverage for medical payments and/or PIP pay for expenses like nursing services, funeral costs, doctor visits and prosthetic devices. They can be utilized in addition to your health insurance policy or if you lack health insurance entirely. It covers both the driver and occupants as well as any family member struck as a pedestrian. Personal Injury Protection is not an option in every state and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay
Better coverage you can count on
As you restructure your insurance plan, do not reduce needed coverages to save money. In many cases, an insured dropped liability limits or collision coverage only to regret at claim time that the savings was not a smart move. The ultimate goal is to purchase plenty of coverage at an affordable rate while not skimping on critical coverages.
Throughout this article, we presented a lot of techniques to compare auto insurance rates online. The key concept to understand is the more quotes you get, the higher the chance of saving money. You may be surprised to find that the most savings is with some of the smallest insurance companies. Smaller companies often have lower car insurance rates on specific markets as compared to the big name companies such as State Farm, Geico and Nationwide.