Have you had enough of scraping the payment together each month for car insurance? You’re in the same situation as many other drivers in California.
Big-name insurance companies like State Farm and Geico continually hit you with TV and radio ads and it is difficult to see past the geckos and flying pigs and do the work needed to find the best deal.
Smart consumers take time to compare prices occasionally because insurance rates are adjusted regularly by insurance companies. Just because you found the lowest rates six months ago there may be better deals available now. So forget all the misinformation about auto insurance because I’m going to teach you one of the quickest ways to find better rates and still maintain coverage.
If you currently have car insurance, you should be able to reduce your rates substantially using these tips. Finding affordable coverage in Stockton is not that difficult. Nevertheless, California car owners must comprehend how insurance companies sell online and take advantage of how the system works.
Compare Auto Insurance Today
Most major insurance companies like Allstate and Progressive allow you to get prices on their websites. Getting online rates is quite easy as you simply type in your personal and coverage information into the quote form. After the form is submitted, the company’s rating system automatically retrieves your driving and credit reports and gives you a price quote. This makes comparing rates easy, but the process of having to visit different websites and type in the same information can get tiresome after awhile. But it’s absolutely necessary to do this in order to find better auto insurance pricing.
Compare rates the easy way
The easiest way to compare auto insurance pricing requires only one form to return rates from a bunch of companies at once. It saves time, eliminates form submissions, and makes online shopping much easier to do. Once the form is submitted, it is quoted with multiple companies and you can pick your choice of the resulting price quotes.
If the quotes result in lower rates, you can click and sign and purchase the new policy. It only takes a few minutes and you will find out if you’re overpaying now.
In order to find out how much you’re overpaying now, click here to open in a new tab and input your coverage information. If you have a policy now, it’s recommended you input the coverage information as shown on your current policy. Doing this guarantees you will receive rate quotes based on similar coverages.
Are you getting all your discounts?
Properly insuring your vehicles can get expensive, but discounts can save money and there are some available that can drop the cost substantially. A few discounts will automatically apply when you quote, but a few need to be asked for before they will apply.
- Save over 55 – Older drivers may qualify for a small decrease in premiums.
- Military Discounts – Being on active duty in the military could mean lower rates.
- Federal Employees – Simply working for the federal government can earn a discount up to 10% with select insurance companies.
- College Student – Children who attend school more than 100 miles from home and do not have access to a covered vehicle can receive lower rates.
- No Charge for an Accident – A few companies will forgive one accident before hitting you with a surcharge so long as you haven’t had any claims prior to the accident.
- Air Bag Discount – Cars that have air bags can get savings of up to 25% or more.
- Theft Prevention System – Cars that have factory anti-theft systems can help prevent theft and will save you 10% or more.
It’s important to understand that most credits do not apply to the entire cost. Most cut the cost of specific coverages such as comp or med pay. So when it seems like all the discounts add up to a free policy, companies don’t profit that way. But any discount will bring down the cost of coverage.
To see a list of companies with the best auto insurance discounts in California, follow this link.<img class="alignright" style="padding-top:15px" src="https://www.carinsurancediy.com/wp-content/uploads/ci175-33.jpg" alt="Stockton CA car insurance” />
Comparing rates from local agents
Some consumers prefer to visit with an insurance agent and that is just fine! The biggest benefit of comparing insurance prices online is you can get the lowest rates but still work with a licensed agent. Buying from small agencies is especially important in Stockton.
For easy comparison, once you complete this simple form, your coverage information is immediately sent to local insurance agents in Stockton who will battle for your coverage. You won’t need to leave your house since price quotes are sent immediately to your email address. Now that’s easy! You can find better rates and work with a local agent.
Captive and independent Stockton insurance agencies
When looking for a good Stockton insurance agent, you must know there are a couple types of agencies from which to choose. Stockton agents are classified as either independent or captive.
Independent Agencies or Brokers
Independent agencies are not employed by any specific company so they can insure your vehicles with any number of different companies and potentially find a lower price. To transfer your coverage to a different company, the business is moved internally and you won’t have to switch agencies.
When comparison shopping, you should always contact multiple independent agents to have the most options to choose from.
Below is a list of independent insurance agencies in Stockton willing to provide competitive price quotes.
S-K Insurance Svc – 1130 Cypress Run Dr – Stockton, CA 95209 – (209) 955-0255
Cheap Insurance – 5250 Claremont Ave – Stockton, CA 95207 – (209) 951-3110
Agency Captives
Captive insurance agents work for only one company and examples are State Farm, Allstate and AAA. Captives cannot give you multiple price quotes so always compare other rates. Captives are well schooled on the products they sell which helps them sell insurance even at higher premiums.
The following is a short list of captive insurance agencies in Stockton willing to provide rate quotes.
State Farm Insurance – 6838 Pacific Ave – Stockton, CA 95207 – (209) 952-2154
Farmers Insurance Group – 2027 Grand Canal Blvd # 27 – Stockton, CA 95207 – (209) 951-5822
Allstate Insurance – 1151 W Robinhood Dr # B1 – Stockton, CA 95207 – (209) 472-2940
For a complete listing of Stockton captive agencies, view this link.
Choosing an auto insurance agent requires more thought than just the price. These are valid questions to ask:
- Do they make recommendations based only on price?
- Which company do they place the most coverage with?
- Does the agency have a good rating with the Better Business Bureau?
- What insurance companies do they recommend if they are an independent agent?
- How much can you save by raising your physical damage deductibles?
- Do they receive special compensation for putting your coverage with one company over another?
- Do they have advanced training designations such as CPCU, AAI, AIC, or CIC?
- What are the financial ratings for the companies they represent?
Upon getting satisfactory answers to these questions and an affordable coverage quote, you have narrowed it down to an insurance agency that will adequately provide auto insurance.
Lower the Price of Insurance with These Tips
Smart consumers have a good feel for some of the elements that go into determining the price you pay for auto insurance. Having a good understanding of what controls the rates you pay enables informed choices that may reward you with better auto insurance rates.
- Where you reside plays a part – Choosing to live in a small town has it’s advantages when insuring your vehicles. Drivers who live in large cities have congested traffic and longer commutes to work. Less people living in that area translates into fewer accidents and also fewer theft and vandalism claims.
- Males pay more for insurance – Statistics show that women are safer drivers than men. That doesn’t necessarily mean that women are better drivers. They both tend to get into accidents in similar numbers, but the males cause more damage. They also get more serious tickets like reckless driving and DUI. Teenage male drivers are most likely to cause an accident and therefore are the most expensive to insure.
- Higher safety ratings means cheaper insurance – Vehicles with high crash test scores get lower rates. The safest vehicles have better occupant injury protection and better occupant protection means less money paid by your insurance company and thus lower rates.
- You might want pay the small claims yourself – If you file claims often, you can pretty much guarantee either higher rates or even cancellation. Companies in California generally give lower rates to drivers who are claim-free. Car insurance is meant to be used in the event of the large, substantial claims.
- Do you have enough liability coverage? – Liability insurance is the coverage that protects you in the event that you are found to be at fault for damages from an accident. It provides for a legal defense which can cost thousands of dollars. Liability is cheap compared to physical damage coverage, so buy as much as you can afford.
- More miles equals more premium – Driving more miles every year the more you will pay for auto insurance. Almost all companies rate vehicles based on how the vehicle is used. Cars and trucks left parked in the garage qualify for better rates compared to those used for work or business. Make sure your auto insurance coverage is showing the proper vehicle usage.
Final thoughts
When shopping online for auto insurance, you should never buy poor coverage just to save money. There have been many cases where an insured dropped uninsured motorist or liability limits and learned later that it was a big error on their part. The proper strategy is to buy enough coverage at an affordable rate, not the least amount of coverage.
In this article, we covered many ways to reduce auto insurance prices online. The most important thing to understand is the more price quotes you have, the better likelihood of reducing your rate. Consumers could even find that the best price on auto insurance is with a small local company. Smaller companies may cover specific market segments cheaper than their larger competitors like State Farm and Allstate.
Affordable auto insurance can be sourced from both online companies and also from your neighborhood Stockton agents, and you need to price shop both so you have a total pricing picture. Some auto insurance companies may not provide online price quotes and these small insurance companies work with independent agents.
More information is available on the website for the California Department of Insurance found here. California consumers can find out industry alerts, view agent and company licensing information, read consumer alerts, and get help finding coverage.
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