Purchasing cheap Minden auto insurance over the internet is intimidating for consumers not familiar with comparing rates online. With dozens of insurance companies available, how can you even start to compare every company to locate the best available price?
Companies offer discounts so take them!
Insuring your fleet can be pricey, buy you may qualify for discounts to cut the cost considerably. Certain discounts will be triggered automatically when you quote, but less common discounts must be inquired about in order for you to get them.
- Pay Upfront and Save – If you pay your entire premium ahead of time instead of paying each month you can actually save on your bill.
- Clubs and Organizations – Being a member of certain professional organizations could trigger savings on auto insurance.
- Drivers Education – Make teen driver coverage more affordable by requiring them to successfully complete driver’s ed class if it’s offered in school.
- Save with a New Car – Insuring a new car can save up to 30% compared to insuring an older model.
- Homeowners Savings – Being a homeowner can help you save on auto insurance due to the fact that maintaining a home is proof that your finances are in order.
It’s important to note that most discount credits are not given to the entire policy premium. A few only apply to the cost of specific coverages such as liability and collision coverage. So when it seems like you can get free auto insurance, auto insurance companies aren’t that generous. But all discounts will bring down the amount you have to pay.
Comprehensive Auto Insurance Comparison in Minden, LA
Performing a rate comparison can take hours if you don’t understand the easiest way. You could spend the better part of a day talking about coverages with insurance companies in Minden, or you could save time and use the web to get the quickest rates.
Most major companies enroll in a system where prospective buyers enter their policy data once, and each participating company can provide price quotes. This prevents consumers from doing quote forms for every auto insurance company.
To compare pricing click here (opens in new window).
The one downside to using this type of form is that consumers can’t choose the insurers you want pricing from. If you wish to select specific insurance companies to receive pricing from, we put together a list of auto insurance companies in Louisiana. Click to view list.
Whichever method you choose, compare apples-to-apples coverages for every quote you compare. If you enter higher or lower deductibles it’s impossible to find the best deal in Minden. Having just a slight variation in insurance coverages could mean much higher rates. And when quoting auto insurance, remember that obtaining a wide range of quotes will improve the odds of getting better pricing.
Many Things Influence your Rates
An important part of buying insurance is that you know the factors that come into play when calculating your auto insurance rates. When you know what positively or negatively controls the rates you pay allows you to make educated decisions that will entitle you to much lower annual insurance costs.
- Don’t skimp on liability – The liability section of your policy provides coverage if ever a court rules you are at fault for damages from an accident. Liability provides you with a defense in court starting from day one. This coverage is very inexpensive compared to insuring for physical damage coverage, so do not skimp.
- Your location affects your rates – Residing in a small town can be a good thing when buying auto insurance. Drivers who live in large cities regularly have much more traffic and longer commute times. Fewer people means reduced accidents and a lower car theft rate.
- No coverage gaps is important – Driving your car without having proper coverage is against the law and you will pay a penalty because you let your insurance lapse. And not only will insurance be more expensive, but not being able to provide proof of insurance might get you a steep fine or even jail time.
- Consolidate policies to earn discounts – Many insurance companies give discounts to people who consolidate policies with them. It’s known as a multi-policy discount. Discounts can add up to 10 percent or more. Even if you’re getting this discount you may still want to compare rates to verify if the discount is saving money.
- Car features impact rates – Choosing a vehicle with anti-theft technology or alarm system can help bring down rates. Theft prevention devices like GM’s OnStar, tamper alarm systems and vehicle immobilizers can thwart your vehicle from being stolen.
- Are you male or female? – Statistics have proven women tend to be less risk to insure than men. However, this does not mean women are BETTER drivers than men. Men and women cause accidents at a similar rate, but the male of the species have costlier accidents. Men also tend to have more aggressive citations such as reckless driving. Young males are several times more likely to be in an accident and are penalized with high auto insurance rates.
- Extra coverages can waste money – There are a ton of extra coverages that can waste your money on your policy. Things like rental car reimbursement, accident forgiveness and term life insurance may be costing you every month. These may sound like a good investment at first, but if they’re wasting money remove them from your policy.
Switch companies and save? Really?
Companies like State Farm, Geico and Progressive regularly use television and radio advertisements. All the ads have a common claim that you’ll save big if you move to them. How can each company make the same claim? It’s all in the numbers.
Insurance companies have a preferred profile for the right customer that is profitable for them. For example, a preferred risk could be over the age of 50, owns a home, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. A driver that hits that “sweet spot” will get very good rates and is almost guaranteed to save when they switch companies.
Potential customers who don’t qualify for this ideal profile will be quoted more money and this can result in business going elsewhere. The ad wording is “people who switch” not “everybody who quotes” save money. This is how companies can state the savings.
This emphasizes why drivers should compare many company’s rates. Because you never know which company will fit your personal profile best.
A little work can save a LOT of money
We covered a lot of tips how to save on auto insurance. The most important thing to understand is the more rate quotes you have, the higher your chance of finding lower rates. You may be surprised to find that the most savings is with an unexpected company.
Low-cost auto insurance is possible both online in addition to many Minden insurance agents, and you should be comparing both to have the best chance of lowering rates. Some companies do not provide online quoting and these small, regional companies work with independent agents.
As you restructure your insurance plan, it’s not a good idea to reduce coverage to reduce premium. Too many times, consumers will sacrifice collision coverage and discovered at claim time that the small savings ended up costing them much more. Your strategy should be to buy a smart amount of coverage for the lowest price, not the least amount of coverage.
Additional auto insurance information can be found on the Louisiana Department of Insurance website through this link. Consumers can file complaints about a company, find disaster information, view agent and company licensing information, and discover disciplinary actions.