If shopping for auto insurance online is new to you, you may be confused by the large number of auto insurance companies competing for business in Espanola.
If you are insured now or are just looking to switch companies, you can use these techniques to find the best rates and possibly find even better coverage. Pricing the cheapest protection in Espanola is easy if you know what you’re doing. New Mexico consumers only need an understanding of the tricks to compare company rates online.
Lower your Espanola Auto Insurance Rates
Smart consumers have a good feel for the different types of things that play a part in calculating auto insurance rates. Knowing what controls the rates you pay empowers consumers to make smart changes that can help you get much lower annual insurance costs.
- Liability coverage protects you – Liability coverage provides coverage if ever a court rules you are at fault for damages caused by your negligence. Liability provides legal defense coverage up to the limits shown on your policy. This coverage is very inexpensive when compared with rates for comp and collision, so drivers should carry high limits.
- Are you male or female? – Statistics show women are more cautious behind the wheel. However, this does not mean women are BETTER drivers than men. They both cause accidents in similar percentages, but the males have costlier accidents. They also receive more costly citations like DUI and reckless driving. Youthful male drivers are the most expensive to insure and therefore have the most expensive auto insurance rates.
- Traffic citations inflate rates – Even one ticket can bump up the cost twenty percent or more. Drivers who don’t get tickets receive lower rates than bad drivers. If you have serious violations such as DUI or reckless driving may find they need to submit a SR-22 form with their state DMV in order to continue driving.
- Save money with special equipment – Owning a car with a theft deterrent system can get you a discount on your auto insurance. Anti-theft features like vehicle immobilizer systems, General Motors OnStar and LoJack tracking systems can help prevent your car from being stolen.
- Adjust deductibles and save – Physical damage insurance, commonly called comprehensive (or other-than-collision) and collision coverage, is used to repair damage to your car. Some instances where coverage would apply would be colliding with a building, vandalism, or theft. Deductibles for physical damage are how much you are required to spend before a claim is paid by your company. The more you are required to pay out-of-pocket, the bigger discount you will receive.
- Teen drivers pay high rates – Young drivers in New Mexico are statistically proven to be careless and easily distracted when driving so they pay higher auto insurance rates. Adding a teenage driver onto a policy can be very expensive. More mature drivers are more cautious drivers, statistically cause fewer accidents and tend to be better behind the wheel.
Verify you’re getting all your discounts
Companies offering auto insurance do not list all their discounts in a way that’s easy to find, so here is a list both the well known and the harder-to-find auto insurance savings. If you aren’t receiving every discount possible, you’re just leaving money on the table.
- Paperless Signup – A few companies will discount your bill up to fifty bucks for buying a policy and signing up online.
- Early Signing – A few companies offer discounts for buying a policy before your current expiration date. This can save 10% or more.
- Anti-lock Brakes – Cars that have steering control and anti-lock brakes are safer to drive and will save you 10% or more.
- Memberships – Participating in a qualifying organization could qualify you for a break on your policy.
- Resident Student – Kids in college who are attending college and do not have a car may qualify for this discount.
As a disclaimer on discounts, some of the credits will not apply to the overall cost of the policy. The majority will only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like collision or personal injury protection. So despite the fact that it appears you would end up receiving a 100% discount, you’re out of luck.
For a list of providers with the best auto insurance discounts in Espanola, click here to view.
What happened to insurance agents?
A small number of people would prefer to sit down with an agent and that is just fine! Professional agents can point out coverage gaps and help in the event of a claim. One of the great benefits of getting online price quotes is you can get the lowest rates and still choose a local agent.
Once you complete this form (opens in new window), your insurance coverage information is emailed to participating agents in Espanola who will compete for your insurance coverage. There is no reason to even leave your home since price quotes are sent to the email address you provide. How cool is that?!
Selecting an provider should depend on more than just the premium amount. Agents should be asked these questions:
- What is the agency’s Better Business Bureau rating?
- If you have an accident, will your rates go up?
- Which company do they place the most coverage with?
- How much can you save by raising your physical damage deductibles?
- Is vehicle damage repaired with OEM or aftermarket parts?
- Are they full-time agents?
- What insurance companies do they recommend if they are an independent agent?
If you wish to view licensed agents in Espanola, go to this page.
After receiving positive responses and an affordable coverage quote, you have narrowed it down to an insurance company that can properly insure your vehicles.
Can you really save $402 a year?
Consumers constantly see and hear ads for car insurance savings from the likes of 21st Century, Allstate and State Farm. They all seem to make an identical promise of big savings if you change your coverage to them.
How do they all make the same claim? It’s all in the numbers.
All the different companies have a preferred profile for the type of driver that makes them money. For instance, a profitable customer could be between 30 and 50, a clean driving record, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. Any new insured who matches those parameters will get very good rates and is almost guaranteed to pay quite a bit less when switching companies.
Potential customers who don’t measure up to these standards will be charged more money and ends up with business not being written. The ads state “people who switch” not “people who quote” save that much money. This is how companies can make those claims. That is why you absolutely need to compare many company’s rates. It’s impossible to know which auto insurance company will fit your personal profile best.
Additional consumer information websites
More detailed New Mexico auto insurance information is available at the New Mexico Insurance Division website. Visitors are able to find disaster information, find a variety of consumer forms, and get help finding coverage.
Do the work, save more money
People who switch companies do it for any number of reasons including not issuing a premium refund, extreme rates for teen drivers, high prices and delays in paying claims. Regardless of your reason for switching companies, choosing a new company is less work than it seems.
As you shop your coverage around, it’s not a good idea to reduce needed coverages to save money. In too many instances, an insured dropped full coverage only to regret at claim time that it was a big error on their part. Your focus should be to buy the best coverage you can find at an affordable rate, not the least amount of coverage.
Affordable auto insurance can be sourced on the web and also from your neighborhood Espanola agents, and you should be comparing both so you have a total pricing picture. Some insurance companies may not provide online quoting and these regional insurance providers work with independent agents.