If you’re searching for lower-cost insurance on the web, do you get confused by the dozens of auto insurance choices in Maple Valley? You’re not alone. You have so many choices to choose from that it is a challenge to compare premium rates. If you live there, you know that Maple Valley is a wonderful place to live, but high auto insurance premiums can make it hard for many residents to pay for enough auto insurance coverage.
Decisions you make can impact your premiums
Lots of factors are part of the equation when you get your auto insurance bill. Some are obvious like an MVR report, but other criteria are less obvious such as whether you are married or how financially stable you are. An important part of buying insurance is that you know some of the factors that go into determining your policy premiums. When consumers understand what controls the rates you pay, this allows you to make good choices that may reward you with cheaper rates.
The itemized list below are some of the most common factors companies use to determine your rate level.
- Higher prices for auto insurance lapses – Allowing your auto insurance policy to lapse will be a guaranteed way to increase your auto insurance rates. Not only will rates go up, not being able to provide proof of insurance may earn you fines or a revoked license.
- Is your vehicle theft-ready? – Choosing to buy a car with a theft deterrent system can help lower your premiums. Theft prevention features such as GM’s OnStar, tamper alarm systems and vehicle immobilizers can help prevent your car from being stolen.
- Compare rates if you bundle your policies – Many companies will give lower prices to policyholders who carry more than one policy such as combining an auto and homeowners policy. The amount of the discounts can be ten or even fifteen percent. Even with this discount applied, drivers will still want to shop around to help guarantee you have the best rates.There is a good possibility that you can find lower rates by insuring with multiple companies.
- Premiums for males may be higher – Statistics have proven that women are safer drivers than men. However, this does not mean men are worse drivers. Both sexes are in accidents in similar numbers, but the men cause more damage and cost insurance companies more money. Not only are claims higher, but men get higher numbers of serious violations like DUI and reckless driving.
- Drivers with excellent credit save on auto insurance – Your credit score will be a significant factor in your rate calculation. People that have very high credit ratings tend to be more responsible as compared to drivers with poor credit scores. So if your credit rating is low, you could pay less to insure your vehicle by improving your credit score.
- Buy a safe car and pay less – Cars with five star safety ratings can get you lower premiums. Vehicles engineered for safety reduce injuries and reduced instances of injuries means lower claim amounts passed on to you as lower rates.
- Expect high rates for teens – Older drivers are viewed as being more responsible, file fewer claims and are safer drivers.Teenage drivers have been known to be inattentive when at the wheel of a vehicle and because of this, their auto insurance rates are much higher.
- Rural vs Urban Areas – Choosing to live in less populated areas of the country is a good thing when talking about auto insurance. Drivers who live in large cities tend to have traffic congestion and more time behind the wheel. Fewer drivers on the road translates into fewer accident claims in addition to fewer liability claims.
Most of the larger companies such as Allstate, Geico and Progressive give pricing on the web. Getting prices online is easy for anyone as you just type in the amount of coverage you want on the page. After you submit the form the quote system automatically retrieves your driving record and credit report and returns pricing information based on the data you entered.
Online price quotes makes comparing rates easy, but the time required to go to several different sites and complete many quote forms gets old quite quickly. But it’s absolutely necessary to get many rate quotes if you are searching for the lowest auto insurance rates.
Quote rates the easy way
The preferred way to locate the lowest prices requires only one form that analyzes rates from a bunch of companies at once. This type of form saves time, reduces the work, and makes comparison shopping a lot less work. Once the form is submitted, it gets priced with multiple companies and you can pick any one of the price quotes you receive.
If you find a better price it’s easy to complete the application and buy the new coverage. This process only takes a few minutes and could lower your rates considerably.
To compare rates now, click here and input your coverage information. If you currently have coverage, we recommend that you enter the limits and deductibles as close as possible to your current policy. This makes sure you will receive an apples-to-apples comparison for similar insurance coverage.
The ad said I’d save $451 a year!
Consumers in Washington constantly see and hear ads that claim the cheapest rates from the likes of Allstate, Geico and Progressive. They all seem to say the same thing that people will save just by switching your auto insurance policy to them.
How do they all charge less that you’re paying now?
Companies provide the lowest rates for the type of insured that will be a good risk. For example, a desirable insured may be over the age of 50, carries high limits, and drives a car with an anti-theft system. Anybody who meets those qualifications will get a cheap rate quote and therefore will save when they switch companies.
Potential customers who may not quite match those standards may be forced to pay higher rates and this can result in the customer buying from a different company. The ads state “people that switch” not “everyone who quotes” save that much money. That’s why companies can claim big savings.
Because of this risk profiling, drivers must get a wide range of price quotes. Because you never know with any certainty which company will have the lowest rates for your situation.
Are you qualifying for every discount?
Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, but you may qualify for discounts that you may not even know about. Most are applied when you purchase, but a few must be manually applied before being credited.
- Military Deployment Discount – Being deployed in the military can result in better premium rates.
- ABS Braking Discount – Cars with anti-lock braking systems are safer to drive and will save you 10% or more.
- Driver’s Ed – Make teen driver coverage more affordable by requiring them to enroll in driver’s education in high school.
- Sign Online – Many larger companies will provide an incentive on their website.
- Cautious Driver Discount – Insureds without accidents can get discounts for up to 45% lower rates compared to accident prone drivers.
- Telematics Data – Maple Valley drivers who agree to allow driving data collection to look at where and when they drive by using a telematics device in their vehicle such as Snapshot from Progressive or Drivewise from Allstate might see lower rates if they show good driving skills.
- Discount for Life Insurance – If the company offers life insurance, you could get a break if you buy life insurance from them.
- Discount for Multiple Policies – When you have multiple policies with one insurance company they may give you a discount of approximately 10% to 15%.
- Defensive Driver Discount – Taking part in a course teaching defensive driving skills could possibly earn you a 5% discount and also improve your driving technique.
- Discounts for Federal Employees – Simply working for the federal government can save as much as 8% depending on your company.
One thing to note about discounts is that most of the big mark downs will not be given to the overall cost of the policy. Most cut specific coverage prices like physical damage coverage or medical payments. Even though the math looks like you could get a free auto insurance policy, that’s just not realistic.
A list of companies and some of the discounts can be found below.
- Geico has discounts for membership and employees, good student, federal employee, five-year accident-free, daytime running lights, and emergency military deployment.
- Travelers offers discounts for continuous insurance, hybrid/electric vehicle, good student, IntelliDrive, and multi-car.
- Nationwide includes discounts for Farm Bureau membership, good student, defensive driving, business or organization, anti-theft, accident-free, and easy pay.
- Farmers Insurance policyholders can earn discounts including youthful driver, business and professional, multi-car, electronic funds transfer, teen driver, mature driver, and distant student.
- Esurance offers discounts including multi-policy, multi-car, renters, safety device, defensive driver, and Switch & Save.
- State Farm has savings for accident-free, anti-theft, driver’s education, multiple policy, passive restraint, Drive Safe & Save, and Steer Clear safe driver discount.
- Progressive discounts include continuous coverage, good student, homeowner, multi-vehicle, and online signing.
- Mercury Insurance may have discounts that include good driver, professional/association, anti-theft, good student, annual mileage, and multi-policy.
If you want , ask every company what discounts are available to you. Discounts may not apply to policies in your state. If you would like to see a list of insurers that offer discounts in Maple Valley, click here.
Auto insurance is available from your local insurance agencies
Many drivers would rather sit down and talk to an agent and we recommend doing that Good agents can make sure you are properly covered and give you someone to call. One of the great benefits of price shopping on the web is you can get cheaper prices and still buy from a local agent. And buying from small agencies is important particularly in Maple Valley.
To help locate an agent, after submitting this quick form, your coverage information is transmitted to companies in Maple Valley that can provide and help you find cheaper coverage. It simplifies rate comparisons since you won’t have to do any legwork since price quotes are sent directly to you. If you want to get a price quote from a particular provider, you just need to go to their quote page and submit a quote form there.
Car insurance agents in Maple Valley come in two varieties
If you are searching for a good Maple Valley insurance agent, it’s helpful to know the different types of agencies and how they can quote your rates. Maple Valley agents can either be independent or captive depending on the company they work for. Both sell and service auto insurance coverage, but it’s worth learning why they differ since it could factor into which agent you choose.
Independent Agencies or Brokers
Agents that choose to be independent are not restriced to one company and that gives them the ability to insure with a variety of different insurance companies and possibly get better coverage at lower prices. If you want to switch companies, they simply move your policy to a different company and you won’t have to switch agencies.
If you are comparing auto insurance prices, we recommend you include several independent agencies in order to compare the most rates. Most can insure with additional companies that you may not be familiar with that can offer cheaper rates than bigger companies.
Listed below is a partial list of independent insurance agencies in Maple Valley that can give you comparison quotes.
- Beckler Insurance – 23615 Maple Valley Hwy SE – Maple Valley, WA 98038 – (425) 432-1246
Captive Agents
Captive agencies generally can only insure with one company such as Allstate, State Farm and Farm Bureau. These agents are not able to provide prices from multiple companies so keep that in mind. Captive agencies are well schooled in insurance sales and that allows them to sell at a higher price point. Consumers frequently purchase coverage from captives primarily because of the prominence of the brand rather than low rates.
Listed below are Maple Valley captive agencies that are able to give price quotes.
- Allstate Insurance – 23745 225th Way SE # 205 – Maple Valley, WA 98038 – (425) 413-5292
To contact insurance agents in your neighborhood, view this list of Maple Valley Washington insurance agencies.
Selecting an insurance agency should include more criteria than just the quoted price. Get answers to these questions too.
- Is insurance their full-time profession?
- Are claim adjusters local or do you have to take your car somewhere else?
- Is assistance available after office hours?
- Do they have any clout with companies to ensure a fair claim settlement?
- Is the quote a firm price?
- Does their agency support local causes in Maple Valley?
- Is the agent CPCU or CIC certified?
After talking to the agent and getting positive feedback to your questions and an acceptable price quote, most likely you have located an auto insurance agent that meets the criteria to adequately provide auto insurance.
More information is located on the website for the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner found here. Visitors are able to find out industry alerts, read enforcement actions against agents and companies, file complaints about a company, and discover disciplinary actions.
Other informative sites include QuoteClickInsure.com and QuoteClickSave.com.
Compare but don’t skimp
We just presented many ideas to compare auto insurance car insurance rates online. The key thing to remember is the more quotes you get, the higher your chance of finding . You may even discover the lowest car insurance rates come from the smaller companies.
When buying insurance coverage, never buy poor coverage just to save money. There have been many cases where someone dropped uninsured motorist or liability limits only to regret at claim time they didn’t have enough coverage. Your goal should be to get the best coverage possible at an affordable rate, not the least amount of coverage.
Some insurance providers may not provide price quotes online and many times these smaller providers provide coverage only through independent agencies. Lower-priced auto insurance is available from both online companies as well as from independent agents in Maple Valley, and you should compare rates from both in order to have the best chance of saving money.