Are you intimidated by the crazy number of auto insurance companies in Dillingham? You have a lot of company. You have so many options available that it can be a big hassle to locate the lowest price.
Consumers need to check auto insurance prices once or twice a year because prices change frequently. Just because you found the best price a couple years back you can probably find a lower rate today. Starting now, forget all the misinformation about auto insurance because we’re going to show you the proper way to lower your annual insurance bill.
Shopping for affordable auto insurance coverage in Dillingham is easy if you know what you’re doing. If you have a current auto insurance policy or are just looking to switch companies, you can learn to find the best rates while maintaining coverages. Alaska vehicle owners just need to understand how to compare rates over the internet.
Finding Auto Insurance Deals in Dillingham
Most major insurance companies give price estimates on their websites. Getting online rates is fairly straightforward as you just type in your required coverages as detailed in the form. Upon sending the form, their system sends out for reports for credit and driving violations and returns pricing information based on many factors.
Online price quotes simplifies rate comparisons, but the time it takes to visit different websites and complete many quote forms is repetitive and time-consuming. Unfortunately, it is important to do this if you are searching for a lower rate.
Quote rates the easy way
The smarter way to lower your auto insurance bill makes use of a single form to return rates from several different companies. It saves time, requires less work, and makes online price comparison much more enjoyable. As soon as you send your information, it is quoted and you are able to buy any one of the pricing results.
If the quotes result in lower rates, it’s easy to complete the application and buy the new coverage. It just takes a couple of minutes and you will know how your current rates stack up.
To quickly find out how much you’re overpaying now, click here to open in new window and submit the form. If you have coverage now, it’s recommended you enter deductibles and limits as shown on your current policy. This ensures you will get a fair comparison based on identical coverages.
Cut your auto insurance rates with discounts
Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, buy you may qualify for discounts to help bring down the price. Some trigger automatically at the time you complete a quote, but some may not be applied and must be asked about in order for you to get them. If you don’t get every credit possible, you are throwing money away.
- No Claims – Drivers with accident-free driving histories pay less compared to frequent claim filers.
- Resident Student – Kids in college who live away from home and do not have a car can be insured at a reduced rate.
- Pay Now and Pay Less – By paying your policy upfront instead of monthly or quarterly installments you could save up to 5%.
- Driver’s Ed – Make teen driver coverage more affordable by requiring them to successfully complete driver’s ed class in school.
- Paperless Signup – A handful of insurance companies give back up to $50 for buying your policy on their website.
- Multiple Policy Discount – If you have multiple policies with the same company you could get a discount of 10% to 20% off each policy.
- Senior Citizens – Mature drivers can possibly qualify for a discount up to 10%.
- Homeowners Savings – Simply owning a home may trigger a auto insurance policy discount because owning a home shows financial diligence.
Drivers should understand that most discount credits are not given the the whole policy. Most cut the price of certain insurance coverages like liability, collision or medical payments. Just because it seems like all the discounts add up to a free policy, companies don’t profit that way. Any amount of discount will reduce the cost of coverage.
To see a list of companies with the best auto insurance discounts in Dillingham, follow this link.
How your Dillingham rates are determined
Smart consumers have a good feel for the rating factors that come into play when calculating auto insurance rates. Knowing what controls the rates you pay helps enable you to make changes that may reward you with lower auto insurance prices.
- Performance level impacts rates – The make and model of the vehicle you own makes a huge difference in the rate you pay. Low performance passenger cars generally have the cheapest insurance rates, but there are many factors that impact the final cost.
- Don’t buy coverages you don’t need – There are a lot of add-on coverages you can purchase if you aren’t careful. Insurance for roadside assistance, better glass coverage and membership fees are examples of these. They may seem good at first, but your needs may have changed so eliminate the coverages to reduce your premium.
- Please use or commuting – The more you drive every year the higher your rate. Almost all companies apply a rate based on how the vehicle is used. Cars and trucks that are left in the garage receive lower rates as compared to vehicles used primarily for driving to work. Verify your auto insurance policy is rated on the correct driver usage, because improper ratings can cost you money.
- Increase deductibles and save – Your deductibles represent how much money you are required to spend if you file a covered claim. Physical damage insurance, termed comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy, protects your car from damage. Examples of covered claims would be colliding with a building, damage caused by hail, or theft. The more you’re willing to pay, the less your company will charge you for insurance.
- Where you live can impact rates – Being located in small towns and rural areas can save you money when buying auto insurance. Fewer people translates into fewer accidents as well as less vandalism and auto theft. Drivers who live in large Alaska cities tend to have traffic congestion and longer commutes to work. Longer commute distances means higher likelihood of an accident.
Are auto insurance companies telling the truth?
Consumers get pounded daily by advertisements that promise big savings from companies such as State Farm, Allstate and Geico. They all say the same thing that you’ll save big if you switch your policy.
How does each company make the same claim?
All companies have a certain “appetite” for the driver they prefer to insure. For example, a profitable customer might be profiled as between 30 and 50, insures multiple vehicles, and has excellent credit. Any new insured who meets those qualifications will get the preferred rates and most likely will cut their rates substantially.
Potential customers who don’t meet these standards will have to pay a more expensive rate which leads to business not being written. The ad wording is “customers that switch” not “everyone that quotes” save that kind of money. This is how companies can state the savings.
Because of the profiling, it’s extremely important to get as many comparisons as possible. It’s not possible to predict the company that will give you the biggest savings.
A tidy conclusion
While you’re price shopping online, it’s a bad idea to buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. Too many times, an insured dropped physical damage coverage only to discover later that saving that couple of dollars actually costed them tens of thousands. Your focus should be to get the best coverage possible for the lowest price while not skimping on critical coverages.
Cheap auto insurance can be found both online as well as from independent agents in Dillingham, and you should be comparing both to get a complete price analysis. Some insurance companies don’t offer the ability to get a quote online and usually these regional insurance providers provide coverage only through local independent agents.
You just read some good ideas how to shop for auto insurance online. The most important thing to understand is the more you quote, the higher the chance of saving money. You may even find the biggest savings come from a company that doesn’t do a lot of advertising.
More Alaska auto insurance information
Additional auto insurance information is available on the Alaska Division of Insurance website located here. Visitors are able to learn about specific coverages, read enforcement actions against agents and companies, view agent and company licensing information, and read industry bulletins.