Trying to come up with a payment for pricey car insurance can empty your personal savings, especially in this economy. Performing a price comparison can be a smart way to slash your bill and have more diposable income.
Big companies like Geico, 21st Century and Progressive all claim big savings with ads and it is difficult to ignore the propoganda and do the work needed to find the best deal.
These discounts can lower your car insurance rates
Some insurers don’t always advertise all available discounts in an easy-to-find place, so the list below contains both well-publicized in addition to some of the lesser obvious credits that may apply to you.
- Service Members Pay Less – Being deployed with a military unit may qualify for rate reductions.
- Anti-theft Discount – Anti-theft and alarm system equipped vehicles are stolen less frequently and can earn a small discount on your policy.
- ABS Brakes – Vehicles with anti-lock braking systems can stop better under adverse conditions and earn discounts up to 10%.
- Professional Organizations – Belonging to qualifying employment or professional organizations may earn a discount on your next car insurance statement.
- Fewer Miles Equal More Savings – Driving less could earn substantially lower premium rates.
- Onboard Data Collection – Insureds that choose to allow their company to study driving patterns by installing a telematics device like Allstate’s Drivewise may get a rate reduction if they have good driving habits.
- Life Insurance Discount – If the company offers life insurance, you could get a small discount if you purchase a life insurance policy as well.
- Bundle and Save – If you can combine your home and auto policy and place coverage with the same company you could earn a discount of up to 20% and get you .
- Claim-Free Discount – Claim-free drivers are rewarded with significantly better rates on as opposed to policyholders that have many claims.
- College Student – Children who are enrolled in higher education away from home without a vehicle on campus may qualify for this discount.
Don’t be shocked that some credits don’t apply to your bottom line cost. The majority will only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like physical damage coverage or medical payments. If you do the math and it seems like you could get a free car insurance policy, you won’t be that lucky.
The best car insurance companies and their offered discounts are shown below.
- Geico offers discounts including seat belt use, multi-vehicle, air bags, anti-lock brakes, five-year accident-free, and defensive driver.
- USAA policyholders can earn discounts including good student, vehicle storage, military installation, annual mileage, and safe driver.
- Progressive may have discounts that include multi-policy, multi-vehicle, good student, homeowner, online signing, and continuous coverage.
- American Family discounts include bundled insurance, accident-free, early bird, good driver, multi-vehicle, good student, and defensive driver.
- Esurance offers discounts for Switch & Save, emergency road assistance, good student, multi-car, claim free, and good driver.
- Farmers Insurance offers premium reductions for switch companies, youthful driver, teen driver, electronic funds transfer, multi-car, alternative fuel, and bundle discounts.
- State Farm may offer discounts for defensive driving training, accident-free, multiple policy, anti-theft, and good driver.
When getting , it’s a good idea to every prospective company to give you their best rates. Some discounts listed above might not apply in Monroe. To see a list of companies with significant discounts in Monroe, click here.
Cutting your car insurance rates is a fairly straight forward process. You just have to spend a few minutes to get quotes from some recommended companies. Price comparisons can be done using one of these methods.
The most recommended method to find the lowest comparison rates would be an industry-wide quote request form like this one (opens in new window). This easy form saves time by eliminating repetitive form submissions for each price estimate. A single, simple form gets you coverage quotes from several companies.
A different way to get comparison quotes consists of going to the website for every company you want to comare and complete a new quote form. For sake of this example, we’ll pretend you want to compare rates from Allstate, Geico and GMAC. In order to compare rates, you need to spend time on each company’s site to input your insurance information, which is why first method is reommended. To view a list of companies in Monroe, click here.
If you have time to kill, the last way to get rate quotes is driving around to insurance agents’ offices. Shopping for car insurance online reduces the need to sit down with an agent unless you have a need for the personal advice only provided by licensed Monroe agents. Although, it is possible get prices online and still use a local agent.
Take whichever approach you prefer, but do your best to use exactly the same coverages for every company. If each company quotes different values for each quote it’s impossible to make a fair rate comparison in Monroe.
When should I discuss my situation with an agent?
When it comes to choosing proper insurance coverage for your personal vehicles, there really is no cookie cutter policy. Your needs are not the same as everyone else’s so your insurance should reflect that For example, these questions might help in determining if your situation could use an agent’s help.
- Who is covered when they drive my vehicle?
- Am I getting all the discounts available?
- Does my personal auto insurance policy cover using my vehicle for business use?
- What can I do if my company won’t pay a claim?
- Do I have coverage for damage caused while driving under the influence?
- Are rental cars covered under my policy?
- Is my vehicle covered by my employer’s policy when using it for work?
- Does liability extend to a camper or trailer?
If you don’t know the answers to these questions, then you may want to think about talking to a licensed insurance agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, fill out this quick form or you can go here for a list of companies in your area. It only takes a few minutes and you can get the answers you need.
Buy online or local, you save
In this article, we covered many tips how you can lower your car insurance premium rates. The key thing to remember is the more times you quote, the better likelihood of getting . Drivers may discover the lowest premium rates are with a small local company. These smaller insurers may cover specific market segments cheaper than the large multi-state companies such as Allstate or State Farm.
When searching for , it’s not a good idea to sacrifice coverage to reduce premiums. There are too many instances where an insured cut liability limits or collision coverage to discover at claim time that a couple dollars of savings turned into a financial nightmare. Your goal is to buy enough coverage for the lowest price and still be able to protect your assets.