Are you drained from not being able to scrape enough together to pay high auto insurance rates every month? You are no different than many other South Dakota consumers. You have multiple insurers to choose from, and although it’s nice to have multiple companies, lots of choices makes it harder to find the lowest rates.
Smart consumers take time to price shop coverage as often as possible because auto insurance prices trend upward over time. Even if you got the best deal at your last renewal you can probably find a lower rate today. Block out anything you think you know about auto insurance because you’re going to get a crash course in the only way to properly buy coverages and cut your premium.
Finding auto insurance in Deadwood
Most larger insurance companies like State Farm, Allstate and Geico allow you to get coverage prices on their websites. Obtaining pricing is pretty painless as you just type in the coverage amounts you desire into the form. After you submit the form the company’s rating system pulls reports for credit and driving violations and generates pricing information based on many factors. This makes it simple to compare prices but the time it takes to visit multiple sites and complete many quote forms can get tiresome after awhile. But it’s very important to get many rate quotes if you are searching for the best price possible.
The easiest way to find cheaper rates utilizes a single form that gets price quotes from several companies at one time. The form is fast, eliminates form submissions, and makes rate comparisons much easier to do. After your information is entered, your coverage is rated and you can select any or none of the resulting price quotes. If the quotes result in lower rates, it’s easy to complete the application and purchase coverage. This process takes 15 minutes at the most and could lower your rates considerably.
To find out if lower rates are available, click here and enter your information. To compare your current rates, we recommend you enter your coverages exactly as shown on your declarations page. This makes sure you are getting rate comparison quotes using the exact same coverages.
Auto insurance savings promises
Respected companies like State Farm, Allstate and Geico seem to constantly run ads on television and other media. They all say the same thing that people will save if you switch your auto insurance coverage to their company. It sounds good, but how can they all claim to save you money? Here is how they do it.
All companies have strict underwriting profiles for the type of driver they prefer to insure. An example of this type of driver could be between the ages of 30 and 50, owns a home, and drives a safe vehicle. Any person who fits those characteristics receives the best rates and will also pay quite a bit less when switching companies.
Insureds who cannot meet this stringent profile will probably be forced to pay a higher rate which translates to business going elsewhere. The ads state “drivers that switch” not “everyone that quotes” save money. That is how insurance companies can confidently make it sound like they have such great premium rates. This really illustrates why you absolutely need to do a price quote comparison at every renewal. Because you never know which company will have the lowest rate quotes.
Decisions you make can lower your costs
Many factors are taken into consideration when you quote your car insurance policy. Some factors are common sense such as traffic violations, but other factors are not quite as obvious like where you live or how safe your car is. When buying auto insurance it’s important to understand the rating factors that help calculate your policy premiums. If you have a feel for what controls the rates you pay, this empowers consumers to make smart changes that will entitle you to lower rates.
- See if your company offers a multi-policy discount – Most larger insurance companies afford discounts to customers who have multiple policies with them in the form of a multi-policy discount. The amount of the discounts can be five, ten or even twenty percent. Even if you already get this discount, it’s in your best interest to get quotes from other companies to help guarantee you have the best rates.
- Cars with good safety ratings cost less to insure – Cars with high safety ratings tend to have better insurance rates. Safe vehicles result in less severe injuries and better occupant protection means lower claim amounts passed on to you as lower rates. If your vehicle scored at minimum an “acceptable” rating on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety website you may qualify for a discount.
- Vocation reflects on premiums – Jobs such as doctors, architects and emergency personnel generally pay higher premium rates in part from high stress levels and incredibly demanding work hours. On the flip side, occupations like professors, engineers and performers have the lowest average rates.
- What type of vehicle do you drive? – The performance of the car you are buying insurance for makes a substantial difference in your car insurance bill. The best insurance prices are generally reserved for smaller low performance passenger cars, but many other things help determine your insurance rates.
- Extra coverages you don’t need – Policies have extra coverages that sound like a good idea at the time but may not be useful. Coverage for things like coverage for rental cars, high-cost glass coverage, and extra equipment coverage may be costing you every month. These coverages may sound good when you first buy your policy, but now you might not need them so eliminate the coverages to reduce your premium.
Earn discounts on South Dakota auto insurance
Buying auto insurance is not cheap, but companies offer discounts that many people don’t even know exist. Some discounts apply automatically at the time of purchase, but a few need to be inquired about in order for you to get them.
- Drive Less and Save – Maintaining low annual mileage may allow you to get lower rates due to less chance of an accident.
- ABS Brakes – Cars, trucks, and SUVs that have steering control and anti-lock brakes can avoid accidents and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
- Good Students Pay Less – Excelling in school may save as much as 25% on a . The discount lasts well after school through age 25.
- Driver’s Ed – Have your child successfully complete driver’s ed class if it’s offered in school.
- Anti-theft System – Vehicles equipped with tracking devices and advanced anti-theft systems are less likely to be stolen and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
- Defensive Driver Discount – Participating in a course that instructs on driving safety may get you a small discount if your company offers it.
- Multi-policy Discount – When you have multiple policies with the same insurance company you could save at least 10 to 15 percent or more.
- Early Renewal Discounts – Some larger companies reward drivers for switching companies prior to your current policy expiring. This can save 10% or more.
- Accident Waiver – This one is not really a discount per se, but a few companies such as Geico, Allstate and Liberty Mutual will allow you to have one accident without getting socked with a rate hike with the catch being you have to be claim-free for a certain period of time.
- College Student – College-age children who live away from home to go to college and do not have access to a covered vehicle may qualify for this discount.
We need to note that many deductions do not apply to the entire cost. Most only cut the price of certain insurance coverages like comprehensive or collision. Just because it seems like adding up those discounts means a free policy, company stockholders wouldn’t be very happy. But all discounts will positively reduce your auto insurance premiums.
If you would like to choose from a list of insurers that offer multiple discounts in Deadwood, click here to view.
Quote often and quote early
Budget-friendly auto insurance is definitely available both online in addition to many Deadwood insurance agents, so get from both of them to have the best selection. Some companies may not have rate quotes online and many times these small, regional companies sell through independent insurance agents.
In this article, we covered some good ideas how to get a better price on auto insurance. The most important thing to understand is the more quotes you get, the better your comparison will be. You may even discover the best price on auto insurance is with a company that doesn’t do a lot of advertising. Some small companies can often provide lower premium rates in certain areas compared to the large companies like Allstate or State Farm.
As you shop your coverage around, it’s a bad idea to buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. There have been many cases where an accident victim reduced liability coverage limits and found out when filing a claim that it was a big mistake. Your focus should be to find the BEST coverage at the lowest possible cost, but do not sacrifice coverage to save money.
Even more information can be found at the South Dakota Division of Insurance website. Visitors are able to find out which companies have the most complaints, find out industry alerts, read enforcement actions against agents and companies, and file complaints about a company.
Other informative sites include this page for auto insurance in South Dakota and this list of insurance agents in Deadwood, SD.