Are you tired of trying to scrape together enough money to pay your car insurance bill each month? You’re in the same situation as many other Colorado consumers. Drivers have multiple auto insurance companies to insure vehicles with, and although it’s a good thing to have a selection, too many choices makes it more difficult to compare rates and cut insurance costs.
It is always a good idea to compare rates occasionally due to the fact that insurance rates fluctuate regularly. Just because you found the best deal last year other companies may now be cheaper. Starting right now, forget anything you know (or think you know) about auto insurance because it’s time to teach you how to use online quotes to lower your annual insurance bill.
How insurance companies determine rates
It’s important that you understand the different types of things that go into determining auto insurance rates. Knowing what influences your rates enables informed choices that could result in much lower annual insurance costs.
- Tickets mean higher rates – Just one speeding ticket can increase rates by as much as thirty percent. Good drivers tend to pay less for car insurance than people who have multiple driving citations. Drivers who have severe citations such as DWI, reckless driving or hit and run convictions may need to file a SR-22 with their state DMV in order to drive a vehicle legally.
- Do you know you’re credit rating? – Credit history is a important factor in determining what you pay for auto insurance. So if your credit history is not that good, you could be paying less to insure your by improving your rating. Consumers who have high credit scores tend to be less risk to insure as compared to drivers with lower credit scores.
- Proper usage rating affects rates – The higher the mileage driven every year the more you will pay for auto insurance. Almost all companies rate vehicles based on their usage. Vehicles used primarily for pleasure use qualify for better rates than vehicles that are driven to work every day. Double check that your auto insurance declarations sheet is rated on the correct usage for each vehicle.
- Increase deductibles and save – Physical damage insurance, commonly called comprehensive (or other-than-collision) and collision coverage, protects your car from damage. Examples of covered claims are a windshield shattered by a rock, damage caused by hail, or theft. The deductibles are the amount of money you are willing to pay out-of-pocket before a claim is paid by your company. The more you’re willing to pay, the bigger discount you will receive.
- Extra coverages can waste money – There are quite a few extra coverages you can purchase if you aren’t careful. Coverages for personal injury protection, better glass coverage and motor club memberships may be wasting your money. These may sound like a good investment when you first buy your policy, but if you don’t need them eliminate them to save money.
- Type of vehicle determines base rates – The type of vehicle you drive makes a significant difference in the rate you pay. The most favorable rates are for economy passenger cars, but the cost you end up paying is determined by many additional factors.
- Better crash test results mean better rates – Safer cars get lower rates. Safe vehicles protect occupants better and fewer injuries means lower claim amounts and thus lower rates.
Northglenn Auto Insurance Prices Online
Comparing auto insurance rates can be a daunting task if you don’t know the most efficient way to do it. You can waste a few hours (or days) talking to local insurance agents in Northglenn, or you could use online quoting to get the quickest rates.
Many of the larger companies belong to a marketplace where insurance shoppers enter their policy data once, and each participating company then gives them pricing. This system prevents you from having to do quote requests for each company you want a rate for.
To compare pricing click here to start a free quote.
The only drawback to getting quotes like this is you are unable to specify which companies you want pricing from. So if you want to choose specific providers for rate comparison, we have a listing of companies who write auto insurance in Colorado. View list of Colorado insurance companies.
It’s your choice how you get your quotes, but double check that you are using identical information on every quote you get. If you compare different values for each quote it will be impossible to find the best deal in Northglenn.
Policy discounts you shouldn’t miss
Properly insuring your vehicles can get expensive, but you may find discounts to cut the cost considerably. A few discounts will automatically apply when you get a quote, but a few must be manually applied before they will apply. If you don’t get every credit available, you’re paying more than you need to.
- No Accidents – Claim-free drivers pay less when compared with bad drivers.
- Federal Employees – Active or retired federal employment can save as much as 8% depending on your company.
- Anti-lock Brake System – Cars that have steering control and anti-lock brakes prevent accidents and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
- Early Switch Discount – A few companies offer discounts for buying a policy prior to your current policy expiration. It’s a savings of about 10%.
- No Charge for an Accident – Certain companies will forgive one accident without raising rates so long as you haven’t had any claims for a particular time prior to the accident.
- Multiple Cars – Buying insurance for all your vehicles on the same auto insurance policy may reduce the rate for each vehicle.
- Auto/Home Discount – If you have multiple policies with the same insurance company you will save 10% to 20% off each policy.
- Seat Belts Save more than Lives – Buckling up and requiring all passengers to use a seat belt could cut 10% or more off your PIP or medical payments premium.
Keep in mind that most credits do not apply to your bottom line cost. A few only apply to individual premiums such as liability, collision or medical payments. So even though it sounds like it’s possible to get free car insurance, companies don’t profit that way. But any discount will bring down your overall premium however.
Additional auto insurance information can be read on the website for the Colorado DORA Division of Insurance located here. Consumers can view agent and company licensing information, file complaints about a company, and find out industry alerts.
Other useful links include QuoteClickInsure.com and this page of insurance agents in Northglenn.
More comparisons equals lower rates
Affordable auto insurance is attainable from both online companies and with local Northglenn insurance agents, and you need to price shop both in order to have the best price selection to choose from. A few companies do not offer you the ability to get quotes online and many times these regional insurance providers only sell through independent insurance agents.
While you’re price shopping online, it’s very important that you do not reduce needed coverages to save money. There are a lot of situations where drivers have reduced full coverage only to regret that it was a big error on their part. Your focus should be to purchase plenty of coverage for the lowest price.