Are you tired of scraping the payment together to pay your car insurance bill each month? Your situation is no different than the majority of other car owners in Tennessee. Big-name insurance companies like State Farm, Geico and Farmers Insurance persitently shower you with ads and it is difficult to ignore the flashy ads and take the time to shop coverage around.
Learn How to Lower your Rates
Consumers need to have an understanding of some of the elements that come into play when calculating the price you pay for car insurance. Understanding what impacts premium levels empowers consumers to make smart changes that could result in lower car insurance prices.
The list below includes some of the items used by your company to calculate premiums.
- Extra add-on coverages are wasting money – There are a ton of extra coverages you can purchase on your policy. Coverages for vanishing deductibles, better glass coverage and membership fees may be costing you every month. They may seem good at first, but your needs may have changed so eliminate them to save money.
- Older drivers pay less – Youthful drivers in Tennessee tend to be more careless when behind the wheel so car insurance rates are higher. Older insureds are viewed as being more responsible, tend to file fewer claims and receive fewer citations.
- More claims means more premium – If you file claims often, you can pretty much guarantee either policy cancellation or increased premiums. Insurance companies in Tennessee give better rates to people who do not rely on their insurance for small claims. Your insurance policy is meant to be used in the event of the large, substantial claims.
- Adjust deductibles and save – Coverage for physical damage, commonly called comprehensive (or other-than-collision) and collision coverage, protects your car from damage. Some examples of claims that would be covered could be colliding with a building, damage caused by hail, and windstorm damage. Deductibles for physical damage are the amount of money you are required to spend out-of-pocket if you file a covered claim. The more expense the insured has to pay upfront, the bigger discount you will receive.
- Better credit means lower rates – Credit score is a important factor in determining what you pay for car insurance. So if your credit is lower than you’d like, you could pay less to insure your by improving your credit score. Consumers who have high credit scores tend to be less risk to insure as compared to drivers with poor credit.
- Being married can save on car insurance – Having a wife or husband can get you a discount on car insurance. Having a spouse is viewed as being more responsible it has been statistically shown that married drivers get in fewer accidents.
How to Buy Chattanooga Car Insurance Online
All the larger car insurance companies quote insurance quotes online. Getting online rates is pretty easy as you just enter your coverage preferences as detailed in the form. After you submit the form their system requests credit information and your driving record and provides a quote based on these and other factors. This makes comparing rates easy, but the work required to visit many different websites and fill out multiple forms is monotonous and tiresome. But it’s very important to compare as many rates as possible in order to find the lowest price.
The easiest way to lower your car insurance bill uses one simple form to obtain quotes from a lot of companies. The form is fast, requires less work, and makes online shopping a lot less work. As soon as the form is sent, it gets priced with multiple companies and you can pick your choice of the returned quotes. If the quotes result in lower rates, you can click and sign and buy the new coverage. This process can be completed in a matter of minutes and can result in significant savings.
In order to get comparison pricing now, click here to open in a new tab and enter your vehicle and coverage information. If you have your current policy handy, we recommend that you enter the coverages identical to your current policy. This way, you will get a fair comparison for exact coverage.
Discounts can save BIG
Companies offering auto insurance don’t always publicize all available discounts in an easy-to-find place, so the following is a list of some of the best known and the more hidden car insurance savings. If they aren’t giving you every credit possible, you’re just leaving money on the table.
- New Vehicle Savings – Buying coverage on a new vehicle is cheaper because new vehicles have to meet stringent safety requirements.
- Low Mileage Discounts – Keeping the miles down could be rewarded with lower rates on the low mileage vehicles.
- Multi-car Discount – Insuring more than one vehicle with the same company qualifies for this discount.
- Defensive Driving Course – Successfully completing a defensive driving course can save you 5% or more and easily recoup the cost of the course.
- Drive Safe and Save – Insureds without accidents may receive a discount up to 45% less than their less cautious counterparts.
- Auto/Life Discount – Some companies give a break if you buy a life insurance policy as well.
As a disclaimer on discounts, most credits do not apply to the entire policy premium. Some only reduce specific coverage prices like comprehensive or collision. So when the math indicates adding up those discounts means a free policy, you’re out of luck.
To see a list of insurers who offer car insurance discounts in Chattanooga, click this link.
Neighborhood agents for car insurance
Some consumers prefer to visit with an insurance agent and that is just fine! Insurance agents can point out coverage gaps and give you peace of mind. The biggest benefit of price shopping on the web is that you can obtain lower rates but also keep your business local.
Once you complete this simple form, your insurance coverage information is submitted to local insurance agents who will return price quotes for your business. There is no need to leave your computer due to the fact that quote results will go immediately to your email address. How cool is that?!
Picking an insurer needs to be determined by more than just a low price. These questions are important to ask:
- If you have an accident, will your rates go up?
- Do they assist clients in filing claims?
- Do they specialize in personal lines coverage?
- Do clients work directly with the agent or are most inquiries handled by a CSR?
- Are there any hidden costs in their price quote and does it include driving and credit history?
Compare rates from both independent and captive car insurance agents
When finding local Chattanooga agents, there are a couple of types of insurance agents that differ in how they can insure your vehicles. Chattanooga agents are classified as either independent (non-captive) or captive. Both insure your vehicles, but it’s worth learning the difference between them because it can impact the type of agent you choose
Captive Insurance Agents
These agents are contracted to one company like Liberty Mutual, State Farm, Allstate and AAA. These agents are unable to give you multiple price quotes so they are skilled at selling on more than just price. Captive agents are well schooled on their products and sales techniques and that can be a competitive advantage.
Below is a short list of captive agencies in Chattanooga willing to provide price quote information.
Farmers Insurance Group – 2 Northgate Park # 409 – Chattanooga, TN 37415 – (423) 870-7850
Allstate Insurance Co – 5805 Lee Hwy – Chattanooga, TN 37421 – (423) 624-6787
Shelter Insurance – 6172 Airways Blvd – Chattanooga, TN 37421 – (423) 892-6489
Farm Bureau Insurance – 7953 E Brainerd Rd # 400 – Chattanooga, TN 37421 – (423) 892-6211
State Farm Insurance – 241 Signal Mountain Rd # 3 – Chattanooga, TN 37405 – (423) 265-8580
Liberty Mutual Insurance – 2030 Hamilton Place Blvd – Chattanooga, TN 37421 – (423) 894-1237
American Family Institute Corp – 1314 Chamberlain Ave – Chattanooga, TN 37404 – (423) 265-6747
Independent Agents
Independent agents are not required to write business for one company so they can insure your vehicles with any number of different companies enabling the ability to shop coverage around. If your agent finds better pricing, an independent agent can move your coverage without you having to go to a different agency. When shopping rates, you should always include at a minimum one independent agency for the best price selection.
Listed below is a list of independent agencies in Chattanooga that are able to give comparison quotes.
Phil Smartt Insurance – 515 Airport Rd # 103 – Chattanooga, TN 37421 – (423) 894-0057
Direct General Ins Agency – 5813 Lee Hwy # 2 – Chattanooga, TN 37421 – (423) 899-8200
Huffaker and Trimble Agency Inc – 735 Broad St # 100 – Chattanooga, TN 37402 – (423) 756-0711
All About Insurance – 7610 Lee Hwy # 105 – Chattanooga, TN 37421 – (423) 892-2302
Direct General Ins Agency – 3758 Ringgold Rd – Chattanooga, TN 37412 – (423) 622-2921
For a full directory of insurance agents in Chattanooga, please click here.
Once you have satisfactory answers to any questions you have in addition to an acceptable price estimate, you’ve probably found an auto insurance agent that can properly service your car insurance policy.
Even more information can be read at the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance website. Tennessee drivers can learn about insurance regulations, read enforcement actions against agents and companies, view a list of available companies, and view agent and company licensing information.
Additional helpful sites include this link for Tennessee car insurance quotes and this page where you can also get Chattanooga car insurance quotes.
Keep this in mind
Budget-conscious car insurance can be found online and also from your neighborhood Chattanooga agents, so compare prices from both in order to have the best chance of saving money. Some insurance companies may not provide online quoting and these small insurance companies work with independent agents.
As you go through the steps to switch your coverage, you should never buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. In many cases, consumers will sacrifice uninsured motorist or liability limits only to regret at claim time that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. Your focus should be to purchase a proper amount of coverage at an affordable rate while still protecting your assets.