Confused by the crazy number of car insurance options in Bixby? You’re not the only one! You have so many options that it can turn into a big hassle to find the lowest price.
Consumers should take time to get comparison quotes periodically since insurance rates change regularly. Even if you think you had the best price on your last policy a different company probably has better rates today. Ignore everything you know about car insurance because we’re going to demonstrate how to use online quotes to find the best coverage while lowering your premiums.
If you currently have car insurance, you will be able to lower your premiums substantially using these tips. The purpose of this post is to introduce you to how to get online quotes and some tricks to saving. But Oklahoma consumers do need to learn how companies price online insurance and use this information to your advantage.
Don’t pay full price with these discounts
Insurance can cost an arm and a leg, but companies offer discounts that many people don’t even know exist. Certain discounts will be triggered automatically when you get a quote, but some must be specially asked for before you will receive the discount.
- Auto/Home Discount – If you insure your home and vehicles with one company you may save 10% to 20% off each policy.
- Low Mileage – Fewer annual miles can earn a substantially lower rate.
- Military Rewards – Being on active duty in the military could mean lower rates.
- Claim Free – Drivers who don’t have accidents pay much less as compared to frequent claim filers.
- Club Memberships – Participating in a civic or occupational organization could qualify you for a break when shopping for car insurance.
- Anti-theft Discount – Anti-theft and alarm systems are stolen less frequently and earn discounts up to 10%.
- No Charge for an Accident – Certain companies allow you one accident before hitting you with a surcharge if you are claim-free prior to the accident.
- Senior Citizens – If you qualify as a senior citizen, you may receive a discount up to 10%.
- Own a Home – Owning a home in Bixby can save you money because owning a home demonstrates responsibility.
- Employee of Federal Government – Being employed by or retired from a federal job may qualify you for a discount with a few car insurance companies.
Keep in mind that many deductions do not apply to all coverage premiums. Most only apply to the price of certain insurance coverages like comp or med pay. Just because it seems like all those discounts means the company will pay you, car insurance companies aren’t that generous. But any discount will bring down the amount you have to pay.
To choose insurance companies who offer car insurance discounts in Oklahoma, click here.
How insurance companies determine rates
An important part of buying insurance is that you know the factors that come into play when calculating the price you pay for car insurance. Having a good understanding of what influences your rates empowers consumers to make smart changes that may reward you with much lower annual insurance costs.
The list below includes some of the factors used by your company to calculate rates.
- Don’t let your coverage lapse – Letting your insurance expire will be a sure-fire way to bump up your car insurance costs. Not only will you pay more, getting caught without coverage may earn you a license revocation or jail time.
- Cautious drivers pay less – Only having one citation may increase your cost by twenty percent. Drivers with clean records have lower premiums than bad drivers. Drivers with serious tickets like hit and run, DWI or reckless driving convictions are required to submit a SR-22 or proof of financial responsibility with their state DMV in order to continue driving.
- One company can mean more discounts – Most car insurance companies give discounts to policyholders who carry more than one policy, otherwise known as a multi-policy discount. Even though this discount sounds good, you still need to shop around to verify if the discount is saving money.
- Extra coverages can waste money – There are many add-on coverages that can waste your money on your policy. Coverages like rental car reimbursement, accident forgiveness and motor club memberships may be costing you every month. These may sound like a good investment initially, but if you don’t need them get rid of them and save.
- Younger drivers pay higher rates – More mature drivers are more cautious drivers, statistically cause fewer accidents and get fewer tickets. Youthful drivers have a tendency to get distracted easily when driving therefore car insurance rates are much higher.
- Higher safety ratings means cheaper insurance – Vehicles with high crash test scores get lower rates. These vehicles have better occupant injury protection and fewer injuries means less money paid by your insurance company passed on to you as lower rates.
The fine print in car insurance ads
Car insurance providers like State Farm and Allstate constantly bombard you with television and radio advertisements. They all have a common claim that you can save if you switch your coverage to them. But how can every company make almost identical claims? It’s all in the numbers.
Insurance companies have a preferred profile for the right customer they prefer to insure. An example of a desirable insured might be a mature driver, owns a home, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. Any driver that hits that “sweet spot” will get the preferred rates and therefore will save when they switch companies.
Drivers who don’t meet the requirements will have to pay a higher premium and this can result in the driver buying from a lower-cost company. The ad wording is “customers who switch” not “people who quote” save that much money. That’s the way insurance companies can advertise the way they do.
Because of the profiling, it’s extremely important to get as many comparisons as possible. It’s not possible to predict which car insurance company will have the lowest rates.
Additional car insurance information is available on the Oklahoma Insurance Department website through this link. Oklahoma consumers can read enforcement actions against agents and companies, find a variety of consumer forms, find out which companies have the most complaints, and learn about specific coverages.
Also read more on these car insurance answers and this list of insurance agents in Bixby.
Better coverage you can count on
When buying insurance coverage, don’t be tempted to skimp on coverage in order to save money. There are a lot of situations where an insured dropped physical damage coverage only to find out that they should have had better coverage. The aim is to get the best coverage possible for the lowest price.
Affordable car insurance can be sourced from both online companies and also from your neighborhood Bixby agents, so compare prices from both to have the best chance of lowering rates. Some companies may not provide online price quotes and most of the time these smaller companies sell through independent agents.
You just learned a lot of tips how to shop for car insurance online. The key thing to remember is the more providers you compare, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. Consumers may even find the best price on car insurance is with the least-expected company.