Sick and tired of scraping the payment together each month for car insurance? Your situation is no different than the majority of other car owners in Louisiana.
Having so many choices, it can be hard to choose the right car insurance company.
Consumers need to take a look at other company’s rates on a regular basis due to the fact that insurance rates trend upward over time. Just because you had the best price last year there may be better deals available now. Don’t believe everything you read about car insurance online, so with this article, you’re going to get some great ideas on how to find cheap car insurance.
Are you getting all your discounts?
Car insurance can cost a lot, but discounts can save money and there are some available to help offset the cost. Certain discounts will be triggered automatically at the time of quoting, but a few must be specifically requested before you will receive the discount.
- New Vehicle Savings – Putting insurance coverage on a new car can be considerably cheaper because new vehicles have to meet stringent safety requirements.
- Student Driver Training – Have your child enroll in driver’s education in school.
- Defensive Driving Course – Completing a course teaching defensive driving skills could cut 5% off your bill if your company offers it.
- Bundle and Save – If you have multiple policies with one insurance company you may save approximately 10% to 15%.
- Sign Early and Save – Some insurance companies reward drivers for buying a policy prior to your current policy expiring. It can save you around 10%.
- Paperless Signup – Certain companies may give you up to $50 for buying a policy and signing up online.
A little note about advertised discounts, most of the big mark downs will not be given to the entire policy premium. The majority will only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as comprehensive or collision. Even though it may seem like adding up those discounts means a free policy, companies wouldn’t make money that way. But all discounts will bring down the cost of coverage.
For a list of companies who offer car insurance discounts in Louisiana, follow this link.
Comprehensive Slidell Car Insurance Comparison Quotes
Comparing car insurance rates is a ton of work if you don’t know the easiest way. You could spend your day talking about coverages with local insurance agents in Slidell, or you could use online quoting to get the quickest rates.
All the larger companies belong to a marketplace where insurance shoppers submit their information once, and each participating company can provide price quotes based on that information. This saves time by eliminating form submissions for each company you want a rate for. To find out what other companies charge click here to start a free quote.
One minor caviat to using this type of system is that you can’t choose the providers to receive prices from. So if you prefer to choose individual companies to compare prices, we have a listing of the cheapest car insurance companies in Louisiana. Click here to view list.
However you get your quotes, compare the exact same coverage limits on every quote you get. If each company quotes mixed coverages it’s impossible to decipher which rate is best in Slidell. Slightly different coverage limits may cause a big price difference. Just remember that comparing a large number of companies helps locate the best price.
But I don’t know anything about car insurance
When it comes to choosing coverage, there really is not a “perfect” insurance plan. Coverage needs to be tailored to your specific needs so this has to be addressed. For instance, these questions can help discover if you might need professional guidance.
- Am I covered when delivering products for my home-based business?
- Can I still get insurance after a DUI?
- Does my vehicle need full coverage?
- Should I buy additional glass protection?
- Exactly who is provided coverage by my policy?
- Why is insurance for a teen driver so high in Slidell?
If you can’t answer these questions but a few of them apply, then you may want to think about talking to a licensed insurance agent. If you don’t have a local agent, complete this form or you can go here for a list of companies in your area.
Car insurance policy specifics
Understanding the coverages of car insurance can help you determine which coverages you need and the correct deductibles and limits. Policy terminology can be impossible to understand and nobody wants to actually read their policy. Listed below are the normal coverages offered by car insurance companies.
Collision coverage
Collision insurance covers damage to your vehicle caused by collision with an object or car. A deductible applies then the remaining damage will be paid by your insurance company.
Collision coverage protects against things such as crashing into a building, sideswiping another vehicle and scraping a guard rail. This coverage can be expensive, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from lower value vehicles. Drivers also have the option to increase the deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.
Insurance for medical payments
Coverage for medical payments and/or PIP pay for bills like surgery, dental work, rehabilitation expenses and hospital visits. They can be utilized in addition to your health insurance plan or if there is no health insurance coverage. They cover not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants and also covers getting struck while a pedestrian. Personal Injury Protection is only offered in select states and may carry a deductible
Liability coverages
Liability coverage protects you from injuries or damage you cause to a person or their property that is your fault. Coverage consists of three different 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, $300,000 for the entire accident, and a limit of $100,000 paid for damaged property. Occasionally you may see one limit called combined single limit (CSL) which combines the three limits into one amount with no separate limits for injury or property damage.
Liability coverage pays for claims such as repair bills for other people’s vehicles, funeral expenses and pain and suffering. How much liability should you purchase? That is a decision to put some thought into, but buy as high a limit as you can afford. Louisiana state minimum liability requirements are 15,000/30,000/25,000 but drivers should carry more liability than the minimum.
Comprehensive coverage (or Other than Collision)
Comprehensive insurance covers damage from a wide range of events other than collision. You first have to pay a deductible and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive coverage protects against things such as hail damage, damage from flooding, falling objects, damage from a tornado or hurricane and vandalism. The maximum amount your car insurance company will pay is the ACV or actual cash value, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value consider dropping full coverage.
Uninsured Motorist or Underinsured Motorist insurance
This protects you and your vehicle’s occupants from other motorists when they are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. It can pay for medical payments for you and your occupants and damage to your vehicle.
Because many people only carry the minimum required liability limits (15/30/25 in Louisiana), their liability coverage can quickly be exhausted. So UM/UIM coverage should not be overlooked. Frequently the UM/UIM limits are similar to your liability insurance amounts.
Shop smart and save
Throughout this article, we presented many ideas to compare car insurance prices online. The key concept to understand is the more quotes you get, the better your comparison will be. Consumers may even find the most savings is with a company that doesn’t do a lot of advertising. Regional companies can often insure niche markets at a lower cost than the large multi-state companies such as Allstate or State Farm.
As you restructure your insurance plan, make sure you don’t reduce coverage to reduce premium. There have been many cases where an insured dropped physical damage coverage to discover at claim time that it was a big mistake. The proper strategy is to buy a smart amount of coverage for the lowest price while still protecting your assets.