If you’ve never shopped for , you may be baffled by the diversity of auto insurance companies that all promise the best rates.
It’s smart to compare prices quite often since prices tend to go up over time. Despite the fact that you may have had the lowest rates two years ago other companies may now be cheaper. Forget anything you know (or think you know) about auto insurance because you’re about to learn the fastest and easiest way to properly buy coverages while reducing your premium.
Finding the best rates in Bonner Springs is not that difficult. Essentially anyone who buys auto insurance should be able to find lower rates. But Kansas drivers need to learn the way insurance companies price insurance differently and apply this information to your search.
The method we recommend to compare policy rates is to realize most larger insurance companies allow for online access to give rate comparisons. To begin a comparison, all you need to do is provide a small amount of information including if you have a valid license, what you do for a living, if the vehicle is leased, and how old drivers are. The rating information is then submitted to all major companies and they return quotes very quickly.
To compare rates for your car now, click here and find out if lower rates are available.
Auto insurance advertising gotchas
Popular auto insurance providers such as 21st Century, Allstate and State Farm continually stream ads on TV and radio. They all seem to make an identical promise about savings if you just switch your coverage to them. It sounds good, but how can they all say the same thing? Here is the trick they use.
Insurance companies are able to cherry pick for the type of driver that will add to their bottom line. For instance, a desirable insured may be a female over age 40, has never had a claim, and has a high credit rating. Any new insured who matches those parameters will probably get cheap premium rates and is almost guaranteed to save a lot if they switch.
People who fall short of those criteria must pay more expensive rates and this results in the customer buying from someone else. The ads say “people who switch” but not “everyone who gets a quote” can save as much as they claim. That is how insurance companies can make those claims. Different companies use different criteria so you should quotes from several different companies. It is impossible to guess which auto insurance company will have better prices than you’re paying now.
Do you qualify for discount auto insurance?
Auto insurance is not cheap nor is it fun to buy but there are discounts available that many people don’t even know exist. A few discounts will be applied when you quote, but once in a while a discount must be specially asked for prior to receiving the credit.
- ABS and Traction Control Discounts – Cars with ABS braking systems or traction control can avoid accidents and earn discounts up to 10%.
- Student Discount for Driver Training – Teen drivers should take driver’s ed class in high school.
- Bundle and Save – If you insure your home and vehicles with the same company you could get a discount of at least 10% off all policies.
- Passive Restraint Discount – Vehicles equipped with air bags could see savings of 20 to 30 percent.
- Payment Discounts – If paying your policy premium upfront rather than spreading payments over time you may reduce your total bill.
- Multi-car Discount – Buying insurance for multiple cars on the same auto insurance policy may reduce the rate for each vehicle.
- Theft Prevention Discount – Anti-theft and alarm system equipped vehicles prevent vehicle theft and can earn a small discount on your policy.
- Organization Discounts – Belonging to a civic or occupational organization in Bonner Springs may earn a discount when shopping for auto insurance.
- Save with a New Car – Buying a new car instead of a used car can save you some money because new model year vehicles are generally safer.
- Auto/Life Discount – Insurance companies who offer life insurance give a discounted premium rate on car insurance if you buy life insurance.
You can save money using discounts, but most discount credits are not given to the overall cost of the policy. Most only cut the price of certain insurance coverages like liability and collision coverage. If you do the math and it seems like all those discounts means the company will pay you, companies don’t profit that way.
A few of the larger companies and their offered discounts can be read below.
- 21st Century has discounts for air bags, driver training, anti-lock brakes, student driver, homeowners, and early bird.
- Progressive may have discounts that include online signing, multi-vehicle, homeowner, multi-policy, good student, continuous coverage, and online quote discount.
- State Farm policyholders can earn discounts including anti-theft, student away at school, multiple autos, passive restraint, and good student.
- Nationwide offers discounts including multi-policy, anti-theft, good student, business or organization, Farm Bureau membership, and defensive driving.
- Esurance offers discounts for multi-policy, paid-in-full, safety device, good driver, Pac-12 alumni, emergency road assistance, and good student.
- The Hartford discounts include anti-theft, defensive driver, vehicle fuel type, air bag, driver training, and bundle.
If you need lower rates, check with all the companies to give you their best rates. All car insurance discounts may not be offered in Bonner Springs.
More detailed Kansas auto insurance information can be read at the Kansas Insurance Department website. Kansas consumers can read industry bulletins, file complaints about a company, find out industry alerts, and find out which companies have the most complaints.
Auto insurance savings summarized
Drivers who switch companies do it for many reasons like denial of a claim, delays in responding to claim requests, policy non-renewal or questionable increases in premium. Regardless of your reason, finding a new company is pretty simple and you could end up saving a buck or two.
We just covered many ways to shop for auto insurance online. The key thing to remember is the more times you quote, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. You may be surprised to find that the most savings is with the smaller companies.
When trying to cut insurance costs, it’s not a good idea to reduce needed coverages to save money. There are many occasions where someone dropped full coverage and found out when filing a claim that saving that couple of dollars actually costed them tens of thousands. The ultimate goal is to buy the best coverage you can find at the best price, but do not sacrifice coverage to save money.