Purchasing the lowest cost Costa Mesa car insurance might appear somewhat intimidating for comparing rates online. With literally dozens of companies, how are we expected to have a chance to compare all the different companies and get the cheapest rates?
It’s a great practice to compare prices yearly since insurance prices are adjusted regularly by insurance companies. If you had the lowest quotes a couple years back you will most likely find a better rate today. There are a lot of ways to save on car insurance online but I’m going to show you some tested techniques to reduce your car insurance bill.
Finding the best car insurance in Costa Mesa is quite easy. If you are insured now or are just looking to switch companies, you can use these techniques to get lower rates while maintaining coverages. California consumers just need to learn the most effective way to compare company rates online.
Seven tips to get lower Costa Mesa car insurance rates
Many different elements are considered when premium rates are determined. Some are pretty understandable like your driving record, but other criteria are more obscure like where you live or your financial responsibility. Smart consumers have a good feel for the rating factors that help determine car insurance rates. When you understand what positively or negatively impacts your premiums, this enables informed choices that can earn you lower rates.
The following are a few of the “ingredients” car insurance companies consider when setting your prices.
- Cheaper car insurance rates for prior coverage – Not having insurance can get your license suspended and companies may charge more for letting your insurance lapse for non-payment. In addition to paying higher rates, getting caught without coverage will get you fines and jail time.
- Gender is a factor – Statistics show that men are more aggressive behind the wheel. However, this does not mean females are better drivers. They both cause accidents in similar numbers, but the males cause more damage. They also get higher numbers of serious violations such as DWI and reckless driving.
- Car insurance liability limits – A critical coverage on your policy, liability insurance will protect you when you are responsible for damages from an accident. Your liability coverage provides legal defense coverage up to the limits shown on your policy. Carrying liability coverage is mandatory and cheap compared to insuring for physical damage coverage, so drivers should make sure they buy enough to cover all assets.
- With age comes lower prices – Young drivers in California tend to be inattentive behind the wheel therefore car insurance rates are much higher. Older drivers are more cautious drivers, cause fewer claims and accidents and get fewer tickets.
- Excellent credit means lower prices – Credit score is a large factor in determining premium rates. So if your credit history can use some improvement, you could save money insuring your vehicle by repairing your credit. Drivers with high credit ratings tend to be better drivers and file fewer claims as compared to drivers with poor credit scores.
- Cautious drivers pay better premiums – Just one speeding ticket can increase rates by as much as twenty percent. Good drivers receive lower rates than people who have multiple driving citations. People who have careless violations like DUI or reckless driving may find they need to file a SR-22 with their state in order to drive a vehicle legally.
- Choose high safety ratings and save – Cars with high safety ratings get lower rates. Vehicles engineered for safety reduce the chance of injuries and fewer serious injuries translates into fewer and smaller insurance claims and more competitive rates for policyholders.
Getting a cheaper price on insurance isn’t really that difficult. All that’s required is to take a few minutes getting comparison quotes online from several insurance companies. You can get a good selection of rate quotes by using one of the methods below.
- One of the best ways to get quotes for comparison would be an industry-wide quote request form (click to open form in new window). This style of form keeps you from doing separate quotes for each company. A single, simple form will get you price quotes from many national carriers. This is perfect if you don’t have a lot of time.
- A slightly less efficient method to compare prices consists of visiting the website of each company and get a separate price quote. For sake of this example, we’ll pretend you want to compare prices for Auto-Owners, Esurance and Allstate. To find out each rate you need to spend time on each company’s site and enter your policy data, which is why the first method is more popular. For a list of companies in Costa Mesa, click here.
However you get your quotes, compare equivalent coverages and limits for every quote you compare. If you enter different deductibles it’s impossible to determine the best price in Costa Mesa.
Is there deception in advertising?
California drivers can’t ignore all the ads that promise big savings from companies such as Progressive, Allstate and Geico. All the ads convey the message that you’ll save big just by moving to them.
It sounds good, but how can they all have lower policy pricing? You have to listen carefully.
Companies have a preferred profile for a prospective insured that will be a good risk. For instance, a desirable risk may be between the ages of 40 and 55, has never had a claim, and has great credit. Any new insured who fits that profile will get low prices and as a result will probably save when they switch companies.
People who don’t measure up to this ideal profile will probably have to pay more expensive rates and ends up with the customer not buying. The ads say “drivers who switch” not “all people who quote” save money. That is how insurance companies can confidently advertise the savings.
Because of this risk profiling, drivers must compare rate quotes every year. It is just not possible to predict the company that will have better auto insurance rates than you’re paying now.
Cheap California car insurance rates with discounts
Car insurance companies do not advertise every discount they offer in an easy-to-find place, so the list below gives a summary of a few of the more common and also the more inconspicuous credits that may apply to you.
- Distant College Student Discount – who live away from home to go to college and do not take a car to college could qualify for this discount.
- Accident Waiver – This isn’t a discount exactly, but companies like Allstate, Progressive, and Geico will allow you to have one accident without the usual rate increase with the catch being you have to be claim-free prior to being involved in the accident.
- Driver Safety – Successfully completing a defensive driver course can save you 5% or more if you qualify.
- Include Life Insurance and Save – Insurance companies who offer life insurance give a break if you buy some life insurance too.
- Sign Online – Certain insurance companies will provide an incentive just for signing your application over the internet.
- Claim Free – Good drivers with no accidents can earn big discounts in comparison to policyholders that have many claims.
- Passenger Safety Discount – Cars that have air bags and/or automatic seat belt systems can receive discounts of 20% or more.
- Telematics Discount – Insureds who allow their insurance company to study their driving habits by using a telematics device like Drivewise from Allstate or In-Drive from State Farm could see a rate decrease if they are good drivers.
Discounts reduce rates, but you should keep in mind that some credits don’t apply to all coverage premiums. Most only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as medical payments or collision. So even though it sounds like you can get free auto insurance, it just doesn’t work that way.
Car insurance companies who might offer these discounts possibly include:
When quoting, ask every prospective company which discounts they offer. Some discounts might not apply in Costa Mesa. To see companies that can offer you the previously mentioned discounts in California, click here.
Tailor your car insurance coverage to you
When it comes to choosing the best car insurance coverage for your vehicles, there really is not a “best” method to buy coverage. Coverage needs to be tailored to your specific needs.
These are some specific questions could help you determine whether your personal situation will benefit from professional help.
- Is my babysitter covered when using my vehicle?
- What are California no-fault laws?
- Do I need roadside assistance coverage?
- Are my tools covered if they get stolen from my vehicle?
- What happens if I owe more than my vehicle is worth?
- Am I covered when driving in Canada or Mexico?
- At what point should I drop full coverage?
If you can’t answer these questions but a few of them apply, you may need to chat with a licensed insurance agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, take a second and complete this form. It is quick, free and you can get the answers you need.
More information is located on the through this link. Consumers can learn about insurance regulations, find disaster information, find out industry alerts, and read consumer alerts.
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Summing up your car insurance search
Drivers switch companies for a variety of reasons including an unsatisfactory settlement offer, delays in responding to claim requests, policy cancellation or denial of a claim. It doesn’t matter why you want to switch finding a new company is less work than it seems.
You just learned some good ideas how you can get a better price on car insurance. It’s most important to understand that the more companies you get auto insurance rates for, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. Consumers may even find the lowest priced car insurance comes from some of the smallest insurance companies.
As you restructure your insurance plan, never skimp on critical coverages to save a buck or two. There have been many situations where someone sacrificed liability limits or collision coverage only to regret that they should have had better coverage. Your goal should be to buy a smart amount of coverage at a price you can afford, but do not sacrifice coverage to save money.