Are you tired of scraping the payment together to make your car insurance payment? You have the same problem as many other Wisconsin consumers. Due to the fact that there are so many companies and agents to choose from, it is hard for the average consumer to pick the most affordable insurance company.
It’s important to compare prices yearly due to the fact that insurance prices change regularly. Just because you had the best price two years ago other companies may now be cheaper. Forget anything you know (or think you know) about car insurance because you’re going to learn the easiest way to find better rates and still maintain coverage.
Take advantage of every car insurance discount
Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, but you can get discounts that can dramatically reduce your bill. Certain discounts will be triggered automatically at the time you complete a quote, but lesser-known reductions have to be requested specifically before you will receive the discount.
- Auto/Life Discount – Insurance companies who offer life insurance give lower prices if you buy a life policy as well.
- ABS and Traction Control Discounts – Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles can avoid accidents and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
- College Student – Any of your kids who are enrolled in a college that is more than 100 miles from home and don’t have a car can be insured at a reduced rate.
- Air Bags and Passive Restraints – Cars that have air bags and/or automatic seat belt systems may earn rate discounts of up to 25% or more.
- Telematics Data – People who choose to allow their insurance company to monitor driving manner by installing a telematics device such as Snapshot from Progressive or Drivewise from Allstate could possibly reduce rates if their driving habits are good.
- Full Payment Discount – If you pay your bill all at once as opposed to paying monthly you could save up to 5%.
- Savings for New Vehicles – Buying a new car instead of a used car can be considerably cheaper since new model year vehicles have better safety ratings.
- Theft Prevention System – Cars optioned with advanced anti-theft systems prevent vehicle theft and earn discounts up to 10% off your .
- E-sign Discounts
- Defensive Driver Discount – Completing a course that instructs on driving safety is a good idea and can lower rates and easily pay for the cost of the class.
You should keep in mind that most discounts do not apply the the whole policy. Most only apply to specific coverage prices like collision or personal injury protection. Despite the appearance that adding up those discounts means a free policy, insurance companies wouldn’t stay in business.
Companies and a summarized list of policyholder discounts can be found below.
- Geico policyholders can earn discounts including anti-theft, military active duty, driver training, multi-vehicle, five-year accident-free, and anti-lock brakes.
- Travelers may have discounts that include continuous insurance, multi-policy, IntelliDrive, multi-car, and student away at school.
- Nationwide offers discounts for multi-policy, easy pay, family plan, Farm Bureau membership, and defensive driving.
- Farmers Insurance may include discounts for mature driver, electronic funds transfer, teen driver, homeowner, and multi-car.
- Esurance offers premium reductions for Switch & Save, good driver, multi-car, defensive driver, claim free, emergency road assistance, and anti-theft.
- State Farm includes discounts for Steer Clear safe driver discount, good student, Drive Safe & Save, passive restraint, and defensive driving training.
- Progressive may offer discounts for homeowner, online quote discount, multi-policy, good student, and continuous coverage.
- Mercury Insurance has savings for age of vehicle, multi-car, low natural disaster claims, ease of repair, professional/association, good student, and accident-free.
When getting a coverage quote, ask each company how you can save money. Some of the discounts discussed earlier might not be offered in Chippewa Falls. 
The best way to compare car insurance company rates is to take advantage of the fact all the major auto insurance companies provide online access to give rate comparisons. All you need to do is provide information like how much school you completed, your credit rating estimate, whether you are single or married, and coverage limits. Your rating data gets transmitted to multiple car insurance providers and they provide comparison quotes instantly.
To start a quote now, click here and complete the quick form.
You have control over your car insurance premiums
Many factors are taken into consideration when premium rates are determined. Some are pretty understandable such as your driving history, although others are more obscure like your vehicle usage or your commute time. A large part of saving on car insurance is knowing some of the factors that help calculate the price you pay for car insurance. When consumers understand what determines base rates, this helps enable you to make changes that could help you find lower rates.
The following are some of the things utilized by car insurance companies to help set your prices.
- Always have car insurance – Driving with no insurance is against the law and you may have a hard time finding new coverage because you let your insurance expire. In addition to paying higher rates, getting caught without coverage could earn you a fine, jail time, or a revoked license. You may then be required to file a SR-22 with the Wisconsin department of motor vehicles.
- More performance means more cost – The make and model of the vehicle you are buying insurance for makes a significant difference in your premium level. Lower cost passenger models usually are quite affordable to insure, but many other things help determine your insurance rates.
- High credit means lower costs – Credit score will be a significant factor in determining what you pay. Insureds that have excellent credit scores tend to file fewer claims as compared to drivers with poor credit. If your credit leaves room for improvement, you may save money insuring your vehicle by improving your rating.
- Alarm systems lower rates – Buying a car with anti-theft technology or alarm system can earn a premium discount. Theft prevention features such as OnStar found on GM vehicles, advanced tracking like LoJack, and vehicle immobilization systems all help prevent vehicle theft.
- Insurance companies don’t like frequent claims – If you file a lot of claims you can expect higher premiums or even policy non-renewal. Insurance companies in Wisconsin give most affordable rates to people who do not rely on their insurance for small claims. Insurance coverage is intended to be relied upon for the bigger claims that can’t be paid out-of-pocket.
- Know your vehicle’s crash test rating – Vehicles with good safety scores get lower rates. Safe vehicles reduce the chance of injuries and fewer serious injuries means your insurance company pays less and cheaper rates on your policy. If your car or truck has at least four stars on Safercar.gov or an “acceptable” rating on iihs.org it is probably cheaper to insure.
- Pleasure use or commuting – The more you drive every year the higher the price you pay to insure it. A lot of insurance companies rate vehicles partially by how you use the vehicle. Cars and trucks that have low annual miles receive better premium rates than cars that get driven a lot. Make sure your car insurance policy correctly shows annual mileage, because improper ratings can cost you money.
Save $451 a year! What?
Car insurance companies such as State Farm, Geico and Progressive endlessly run ads on TV and radio. All the companies try to convey promises that people will save just by switching your car insurance coverage to their company. How do they all make the same claim? It’s all in the numbers.
Many companies have underwriting criteria for the type of insured that will be a good risk. An example of a preferred risk could possibly be between the ages of 30 and 50, owns a home, and drives a vehicle with a low ISO rating. A customer that hits that “sweet spot” will probably get cheap auto insurance rates and most likely will save some money.
Consumers who don’t qualify for these standards must pay higher rates and the customer buying from a different company. If you pay attention, the ads say “people who switch” but not “all drivers who get quotes” save that much money. That’s why insurance companies can make the claims of big savings. Because each company has a different risk profile, it’s extremely important to quotes as often as possible. Because without a comparison, you cannot know with any certainty which company will have the best auto insurance rates at this point in time.
Leave no stone unturned
We’ve covered a lot of tips how to get a better price on car insurance. The key concept to understand is the more rate comparisons you have, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. Consumers could even find that the most savings is with an unexpected company. Smaller companies may have significantly lower auto insurance rates on certain market segments than the large multi-state companies such as Progressive or Geico.
Low-cost car insurance can be sourced both online and from local agencies, and you should compare rates from both to have the best chance of lowering rates. There are still a few companies who may not offer online price quotes and most of the time these smaller providers provide coverage only through local independent agents.
To learn even more about car insurance
More tips and info about car insurance is available at the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance website. Consumers can find a variety of consumer forms, get help finding coverage, report car insurance fraud, and file complaints about an insurance agent or broker.