If price shopping is new to you, most likely you are bewildered thanks to the huge assortment local agents and online companies that all promise to save you money.
Reducing your insurance rates is not a difficult process. The only thing you need to do is take the time comparing rate quotes to find the company with . It’s really simple and can be done in a couple of different ways.
- Hands down the most simple method to find the lowest comparison rates is an all-inclusive rate comparison click to view form in new window. This quick form prevents you from having to do repetitive form submissions for every prospective company. A single form gets coverage cost estimates from many national carriers. It’s definitely the quickest method.
- A different way to get comparison quotes requires you to visit the website for each individual company and complete a new quote form. For examples sake, let’s assume you want to get rates from USAA, Allstate and American Family. To find out each rate you need to navigate to each company’s site and type in your information over and over, which can take a lot of time.
For a handy list of car insurance company links in Petal, click here.
Which method you use is up to you, but do your best to use identical coverage data on every price quote you get. If you compare mixed coverages it will be very difficult to make an equal comparison in Petal.
Auto insurance companies offer many types of discounts
The cost of insuring your cars can be expensive, but you might be missing out on some discounts that you may not even be aware of. Larger premium reductions will be automatically applied at the time of purchase, but a few need to be specifically requested prior to receiving the credit. If you do not double check each discount possible, you’re just leaving money on the table.
- Good Grades Discount – Maintaining excellent grades can be rewarded with saving of up to 25%. This discount can apply until age 25.
- Theft Deterent System – Cars and trucks equipped with tracking devices and advanced anti-theft systems have a lower chance of being stolen and will save you 10% or more.
- Savings for New Vehicles – Buying a new car model can be considerably cheaper since new model year vehicles have better safety ratings.
- Resident Student – Youth drivers who are enrolled in higher education away from home and leave their car at home could qualify for this discount.
- Air Bag Discount – Cars that have air bags or motorized seat belts may qualify for discounts of 20 to 30 percent.
- Claim-Free Discount – Petal drivers who stay claim-free pay less when compared with insureds who have frequent claims or accidents.
- Senior Citizen Rates – Seniors may receive lower premium rates.
As is typical with insurance, most discounts do not apply to the overall cost of the policy. The majority will only reduce individual premiums such as physical damage coverage or medical payments. Just because you may think adding up those discounts means a free policy, you aren’t that lucky. Any qualifying discounts will positively reduce your overall premium however.
The best auto insurance companies and the discounts they provide can be read below.
- State Farm offers discounts for multiple autos, safe vehicle, Steer Clear safe driver discount, good student, good driver, and multiple policy.
- Liberty Mutual may include discounts for safety features, multi-policy, exclusive group savings, hybrid vehicle, new vehicle discount, and newly retired.
- American Family policyholders can earn discounts including defensive driver, accident-free, air bags, mySafetyValet, early bird, Steer into Savings, and good driver.
- Progressive may have discounts that include good student, online quote discount, multi-policy, continuous coverage, and multi-vehicle.
- Farmers Insurance has discounts for switch companies, teen driver, business and professional, homeowner, and distant student.
- Auto-Owners Insurance may offer discounts for anti-lock brakes, teen driver, paperless, multi-policy, student away at school, and paid in full.
- SAFECO offers premium reductions for homeowner, teen safety rewards, multi-car, anti-theft, anti-lock brakes, and teen safe driver.
When quoting, ask every insurance company what discounts are available to you. Some discounts listed above may not be offered in Petal.
Even more information can be read at the Mississippi Insurance Department website. Mississippi consumers can view agent and company licensing information, find out industry alerts, and read consumer alerts.
Other useful links include Auto Insurance 101 and this list of insurance agents in Petal.
What is YOUR best insurance company?
A few companies do not provide online quoting small, regional companies provide coverage only through independent agents. Cheaper auto insurance is definitely available online and from local agencies, and you need to comparison shop both to get a complete price analysis.
You just learned a lot of techniques to lower your auto insurance rates. The most important thing to understand is the more price quotes you have, the better your chances of lowering your car insurance rates. Consumers could even find that the best rates are with some of the lesser-known companies.
Drivers change insurance companies for a variety of reasons including lack of trust in their agent, policy non-renewal, questionable increases in premium and not issuing a premium refund. It doesn’t matter what your reason, switching auto insurance companies is actually quite simple.