Overpriced car insurance can empty your personal savings, especially in this economy. Doing a price comparison is free, only takes a few minutes, and is a good way to help make ends meet. Insurance companies such as Progressive, Geico and Farmers Insurance persitently shower you with TV and radio ads and it is challenging if not impossible to sift through the bull and effectively compare rates to find the best deal.
Cut your premium with discounts
Companies that sell car insurance don’t list all their discounts in an easy-to-find place, so we researched some of the best known and the harder-to-find discounts you could be receiving. If they aren’t giving you every credit you deserve, you are paying more than you should be.
- Homeowners Savings – Owning a house in Plano may earn you a small savings because maintaining a house shows financial diligence.
- Senior Citizens – If you’re over the age of 55, you may receive a discount up to 10%.
- Multi-car Discount – Insuring more than one vehicle on one policy qualifies for this discount.
- Discount for New Cars – Insuring a new car is cheaper compared to insuring an older model.
- Paperwork-free – Certain companies will discount your bill up to fifty bucks for buying your policy digitally online.
As a disclaimer on discounts, most credits do not apply the the whole policy. Most only apply to specific coverage prices like liability, collision or medical payments. So even though it sounds like you can get free auto insurance, you’re out of luck.
To see a list of companies who offer car insurance discounts in Plano, follow this link.
Buy Cheaper Car Insurance with These Tips
Smart consumers have a good feel for the factors that go into determining the price you pay for car insurance. Understanding what determines base rates allows you to make educated decisions that will entitle you to much lower annual insurance costs.
- Bad driving skills means higher rates – Drivers with clean records tend to pay less for car insurance than their less careful counterparts. Even a single citation may increase your cost by as much as thirty percent. Drivers who have dangerous citations such as hit and run, DWI or reckless driving convictions may need to submit a SR-22 form with their state motor vehicle department in order to prevent a license revocation.
- Do you need those extra coverages? – There are a ton of add-on coverages that can waste your money on your policy. Coverages for personal injury protection, accident forgiveness and motor club memberships may be costing you every month. They may seem good when you first buy your policy, but if you don’t need them eliminate them to save money.
- Higher deductibles cost less – Physical damage deductibles represent how much money you are willing to pay out-of-pocket in the event of a claim. Insurance for physical damage to your car, commonly called comprehensive (or other-than-collision) and collision coverage, covers damage that occurs to your car. Some examples of claims that would be covered would be colliding with a building, damage from fire, or theft. The more expense the insured has to pay upfront, the bigger discount you will receive.
- How your age affects price – More mature drivers are viewed as being more responsible, file fewer claims and receive fewer citations. Young drivers are known to get distracted easily when driving therefore car insurance rates are much higher.
- Discounts for married couples – Having a spouse can get you a discount on your car insurance policy. Having a spouse is viewed as being more mature and responsible it has been statistically shown that married drivers get in fewer accidents.
- Women pay lower rates – Statistics have proven that women are safer drivers than men. That doesn’t necessarily mean that women are BETTER drivers than men. Both sexes have accidents in similar percentages, but the male of the species cause more damage. Men also tend to get cited for more serious violations like DUI and reckless driving. Male drivers age 16 to 19 are most likely to cause an accident and therefore are the most expensive to insure.
What is the best insurance coverage?
When it comes to choosing adequate coverage for your personal vehicles, there really is not a one size fits all plan. Everyone’s situation is unique so your insurance should reflect that For example, these questions might help in determining if your situation could use an agent’s help.
- Can I afford low physical damage deductibles?
- Does my vehicle need full coverage?
- Is my vehicle covered for flood damage?
- Can I afford to buy a different vehicle if my vehicle is totaled?
- At what point should I drop full coverage?
- Am I covered by my spouse’s policy after a separation?
- Does my vehicle qualify for pleasure use?
If you don’t know the answers to these questions, you might consider talking to a licensed agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, take a second and complete this form or you can also visit this page to select a carrier It’s fast, doesn’t cost anything and can provide invaluable advice.
Additional Texas car insurance resources
More tips and info about car insurance can be read at the Texas Department of Insurance website. Texas consumers can find out industry alerts, find out which companies have the most complaints, and get help finding coverage.
These articles may also be worth reading.
- Basics to Finding a Car Insurance Agent in Plano
- Learn How to Cut Costs on Plano Auto Insurance
- New Strategies for Buying Plano Auto Insurance for Less Money
Final considerations
When you buy insurance online, you should never buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. There are many occasions where an insured dropped liability coverage limits and learned later that the small savings ended up costing them much more. Your focus should be to purchase a proper amount of coverage at an affordable rate.
In this article, we covered many tips how you can lower your car insurance rates. It’s most important to understand that the more companies you get rates for, the better chance you’ll have of finding lower rates. You may even discover the best prices are with a lesser-known regional company. Smaller companies may have significantly lower rates on certain market segments than their larger competitors like Allstate, Geico and Progressive.