People who are new to comparison shopping online could find finding affordable Redmond car insurance is harder than they anticipated.
If you have car insurance now, you should be able to save some money using these methods. Locating the lowest cost car insurance coverage in Redmond is easy if you know what you’re doing. Although Washington car owners must understand how companies sell insurance online and take advantage of how the system works.
Companies offer discounts so take them!
Companies don’t always advertise every available discount in a way that’s easy to find, so we break down some of the best known as well as the least known discounts you could be receiving.
- Federal Employees – Employees or retirees of the government may qualify you for a discount depending on your company.
- Discount for Good Grades – Performing well in school can earn a discount of 20% or more. The good student discount can last up until you turn 25.
- Safe Drivers – Drivers who don’t get into accidents can get discounts for up to 45% lower rates than drivers with accidents.
- Multi-car Discount – Having more than one vehicle on one policy could earn a price break for each car.
- Safety Course Discount – Taking part in a course teaching defensive driving skills can save you 5% or more and easily recoup the cost of the course.
- One Accident Forgiven – A handful of insurance companies permit an accident without raising rates so long as you haven’t had any claims for a set time period.
- Drivers Ed for Students – Cut your cost by having your teen driver successfully complete driver’s ed class in high school.
- Seat Belts Save more than Lives – Using a seat belt and requiring all passengers to use their safety belts can save 10% or more off your PIP or medical payments premium.
- Auto/Home Discount – When you have multiple policies with the same insurance company you will save approximately 10% to 15%.
It’s important to understand that most discount credits are not given the the whole policy. Most cut the cost of specific coverages such as medical payments or collision. So when it seems like adding up those discounts means a free policy, you’re out of luck.
Where Can I Get Cheap Redmond Car Insurance?
All the larger car insurance companies quote prices for coverage on the web. This process is quite simple as you just enter your personal and coverage information into a form. After you complete the form, their rating system obtains information on your driving record and credit history and gives you a price quote.
This helps simplify price comparisons, but having to visit many different websites and type in the same information gets old quite quickly. But it is imperative to perform this step if you are searching for a lower rate.
There is a better way!
A quicker way to compare car insurance pricing is to use a quote form that analyzes rates from several different companies. This type of form saves time, eliminates repetitive work, and makes quoting online much simpler. After sending the form, it is rated and you can select your choice of the quotes returned. If one or more price quotes are lower than your current rates, you can simply submit the application and purchase the new policy. The whole process takes 15 minutes at the most and may result in a nice savings.
If you want to compare pricing, click here to open in new window and submit your coverage information. If you have coverage now, it’s recommended you copy the insurance coverages identical to your current policy. Doing this guarantees you are getting rate comparison quotes based on similar coverages.
Educated Consumers Know How to Buy Car Insurance Cheaper
Smart consumers have a good feel for the factors that come into play when calculating the rates you pay for car insurance. When you know what positively or negatively determines base rates helps enable you to make changes that may reward you with lower car insurance prices.
- Bad driving skills means higher rates – A bad driving record has a lot to do with how much you pay for insurance. Even one speeding ticket can boost insurance rates twenty percent or more. Careful drivers receive lower rates than bad drivers. If you have serious violations such as reckless driving, hit and run or driving under the influence may find they need to file a proof of financial responsibility form (SR-22) with their state DMV in order to continue driving.
- High crash test scores lower rates – Vehicles with good safety scores tend to have better insurance rates. The safest vehicles have better occupant injury protection and fewer injuries means less money paid by your insurance company and lower rates for you.
- Allowing your policy to lapse raises rates – Having an insurance coverage lapse will be a quick way to increase your car insurance rates. And not only will insurance be more expensive, but being ticketed for driving with no insurance can result in a license revocation or jail time.
- Rural vs Urban Areas – Residing in a rural area can save you money when it comes to car insurance. Drivers who live in large cities have to deal with traffic congestion and much longer commute distances. Lower population means a lower chance of having an accident as well as less vandalism and auto theft.
- One company can mean more discounts – Some insurance companies give discounts to insureds who have multiple policies with them, otherwise known as a multi-policy discount. Even if you’re getting this discount it’s in your best interest to compare rates to ensure the best deal.
- Battle of the sexes – Statistics show women are more cautious behind the wheel. Now that doesn’t mean men are WORSE drivers than women. Women and men tend to get into accidents in similar numbers, but men tend to have more serious accidents. Men also get more serious tickets like reckless driving and DUI.
- Bump up deductibles to save – Physical damage coverage, termed comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy, is used to repair damage to your car. Some instances where coverage would apply could be running into the backend of another car, collision with an animal, and burglary. The deductibles are how much you are willing to pay out-of-pocket in the event of a claim. The more money you are required to pay out-of-pocket, the less your company will charge you for insurance.
- Marriage brings a discount – Getting married helps lower the price when buying car insurance. It means you’re more mature and it’s statistically proven that drivers who are married are more cautious.
Do I just need basic coverages?
When it comes to choosing coverage, there really is no best way to insure your cars. Your needs are not the same as everyone else’s.
Here are some questions about coverages that may help highlight whether or not you would benefit from an agent’s advice.
- Am I covered when using my vehicle for business?
- What vehicles should carry emergency assistance coverage?
- What are the financial responsibility laws in Washington?
- Do I have coverage when pulling a U-Haul trailer?
- Do I need rental car coverage?
- Why am I required to get a high-risk car insurance policy?
- Am I covered when driving on a suspended license?
- How much liability coverage do I need in Washington?
- What is high-risk coverage and where do I buy it?
If you don’t know the answers to these questions then you might want to talk to a licensed insurance agent. If you don’t have a local agent, fill out this quick form.
Do drivers who switch really save?
Car insurance providers like Allstate and Progressive constantly bombard you with television and radio advertisements. They all make an identical promise of big savings if you switch to them. How does each company make the same claim?
All the different companies have a preferred profile for the right customer that makes them money. For example, a driver they prefer might be profiled as between 30 and 50, a clean driving record, and drives newer vehicles. A driver who matches those parameters receives the best rates and is almost guaranteed to save a lot of money.
Potential customers who do not match this ideal profile will have to pay a higher premium and this can result in the customer not buying. The ad wording is “customers that switch” not “people who quote” save that kind of money. This is how insurance companies can confidently advertise the savings. Because of the profiling, it is so important to quote coverage with many companies. It’s not possible to predict the company that will give you the biggest savings.
Smart consumers save more
Cheaper car insurance can be found from both online companies in addition to many Redmond insurance agents, and you need to comparison shop both in order to have the best chance of saving money. There are still a few companies who do not provide online quoting and most of the time these smaller companies sell through independent agents.
Insureds who switch companies do it for many reasons like not issuing a premium refund, extreme rates for teen drivers, lack of trust in their agent and unfair underwriting practices. It doesn’t matter what your reason, switching car insurance companies is less work than it seems.
Throughout this article, we presented a lot of tips how to shop for car insurance online. The key thing to remember is the more rate quotes you have, the better likelihood of reducing your rate. You may be surprised to find that the lowest priced car insurance comes from a small local company.
Additional reading for car insurance information
Even more information can be read at the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner website. Consumers can find out which companies have the most complaints, report car insurance fraud, and learn about insurance regulations.