Perplexed by the dozens of car insurance company choices in Poultney? Lot’s of other consumers are too. There are so many choices that it can easily become a challenge to find lower rates.
You should take the time to compare rates quite often because rates are adjusted regularly by insurance companies. Just because you found the best price a few years ago there may be better deals available now. Starting now, forget anything you know (or think you know) about car insurance because you’re about to learn the quickest way to remove unneeded coverages and save money.
Make smart decisions and save
An important part of buying insurance is that you know the factors that help determine car insurance rates. Understanding what impacts premium levels helps enable you to make changes that may reward you with lower car insurance prices.
The following are a partial list of the pieces that factor into rates.
- Keep rates low by being claim-free – If you tend to file frequent claims, you can look forward to either a policy non-renewal or much higher rates. Companies in Vermont generally give lower rates to people who are claim-free. Auto insurance is intended for larger claims.
- Credit scores impact car insurance rates – A driver’s credit rating is a big factor in your rate calculation. Drivers who have high credit scores tend to be better drivers and file fewer claims than those with lower credit ratings. So if your credit can use some improvement, you could potentially save money when insuring your by improving your rating.
- Add-on coverages can add up – There are a lot of extra coverages that can waste your money if you aren’t careful. Insurance for rental car reimbursement, accident forgiveness and motor club memberships are some examples. They may seem good when talking to your agent, but if you don’t need them eliminate the coverages to reduce your premium.
- Where you live is a factor – Choosing to live in small towns and rural areas has it’s advantages when insuring your vehicles. Drivers who live in large cities regularly have congested traffic and longer commutes to work. Lower population means a lower chance of having an accident.
- Men fork out a little more – Statistics have proven that women are safer drivers than men. Now that doesn’t mean men are worse drivers. Women and men are in accidents at about the same rate, but men tend to have more serious accidents. Men also get cited for more serious violations such as reckless driving.
Don’t overlook these discounts
The price of auto insurance can be rather high, but discounts can save money and there are some available to help bring down the price. Certain discounts will be applied at the time you complete a quote, but a few must be specially asked for prior to getting the savings.
- Drive Safe and Save – Insureds without accidents can get discounts for up to 45% lower rates than drivers with accidents.
- Good Student – A discount for being a good student can save 20 to 25%. The discount lasts up to age 25.
- Multiple Vehicles – Buying coverage for multiple vehicles on one policy could earn a price break for each car.
- Pay Now and Pay Less – If paying your policy premium upfront instead of monthly or quarterly installments you could save 5% or more.
- Homeowners Discount – Owning a home in Poultney can save you money due to the fact that maintaining a home demonstrates responsibility.
- Anti-lock Brakes – Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles prevent accidents and earn discounts up to 10%.
- Passive Restraints – Factory air bags or automatic seat belts can receive discounts of 20% or more.
As a disclaimer on discounts, most discount credits are not given the the whole policy. Most only apply to the cost of specific coverages such as medical payments or collision. So despite the fact that it appears it’s possible to get free car insurance, it just doesn’t work that way. Any qualifying discounts will cut your overall premium however.
To choose providers with the best car insurance discounts in Poultney, follow this link.
Drivers who switch save $441 a year? Really?
Allstate and Progressive consistently run ads on television and other media. All the companies have a common claim about savings if you change your policy. How does each company claim to save you money?
All the different companies are able to cherry pick for the driver that earns them a profit. For example, a driver they prefer could be over the age of 40, has no tickets, and has a high credit rating. Any driver that hits that “sweet spot” is entitled to the best price and most likely will pay quite a bit less when switching companies.
Potential customers who are not a match for the “perfect” profile will have to pay more money and this can result in business not being written. Company advertisements say “customers that switch” not “everyone that quotes” save that kind of money. This is how companies can truthfully make the claims of big savings.
Because of the profiling, drivers must compare many company’s rates. It’s just too difficult to predict the company that will give you the biggest savings.
Additional information is located on the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation website located here. Vermont consumers can view agent and company licensing information, view a list of available companies, find out which companies have the most complaints, and report car insurance fraud.
Other informative sites include III.org’s auto insurance page and this link where you can get more info about Poultney coverage.
A little work can save a LOT of money
Throughout this article, we presented a lot of techniques to save on car insurance. The key thing to remember is the more quotes you get, the better likelihood of reducing your rate. Drivers may discover the biggest savings come from a company that doesn’t do a lot of advertising.
Drivers switch companies for a number of reasons such as policy cancellation, extreme rates for teen drivers, an unsatisfactory settlement offer and even high prices. Whatever your reason, finding a new company is easier than you think.
Cheap car insurance is attainable on the web and with local Poultney insurance agents, so you should compare both in order to have the best price selection to choose from. A few companies do not offer online quoting and most of the time these smaller companies sell through independent agents.