Are you overwhelmed by the number of auto insurance choices in Follansbee? Lot’s of other consumers are too. Consumers have so many choices that it can quickly become a lot of work to find lower rates.
It’s smart to check auto insurance prices yearly since insurance rates are usually higher with each renewal. Even if you think you had the best price a couple years back you can probably find a lower rate today. So just forget all the misinformation about auto insurance because you’re going to get a crash course in the tricks you need to know to properly buy coverages and cut your premium.
If you have car insurance now, you stand a good chance to be able to cut costs considerably using these methods. This information will let you in on the best way to quote coverages and some tricks to saving. Although West Virginia car owners can benefit by having an understanding of the way companies market insurance on the web because it can help you find the best coverage.
Compare Quotes for Follansbee Auto Insurance
There are a lot of ways to shop for auto insurance, but some are less labor-intensive and much quicker. You could waste a few hours discussing policy coverages with insurance agencies in Follansbee, or you could save time and use the internet to achieve your goal.
Many companies are enrolled in a marketplace that enables customers to complete one form, and each participating company provides a quote based on that information. This saves time by eliminating quote requests to each company. To get comparison pricing now click here to open in new window.
The only downside to pricing coverage this way is that you can’t choose which carriers you want pricing from. If you would rather choose specific providers to compare prices, we have a listing of low cost auto insurance companies in West Virginia. Click here to view list.
It’s up to you which method you use, but compare exactly the same deductibles and coverage limits for every quote you compare. If your comparisons have different deductibles it’s impossible to determine the best price in Follansbee. Just a small difference in limits can mean a large discrepancy in price. And when quoting auto insurance, remember that quoting more will enable you to find the best price.
Cut your premium with discounts
Insuring your vehicles can cost a lot, but you may find discounts that you may not even be aware of. Larger premium reductions will be automatically applied when you quote, but some may not be applied and must be manually applied prior to receiving the credit.
- Senior Discount – If you’re over the age of 55, you may qualify for a small decrease in premiums.
- Drive Less and Save – Low mileage vehicles can qualify you for a substantially lower rate.
- Club Memberships – Participating in a qualifying organization could trigger savings when shopping for auto insurance.
- Pay Now and Pay Less – By paying your policy upfront instead of monthly or quarterly installments you could save 5% or more.
- Discount for Good Grades – Getting good grades can be rewarded with saving of up to 25%. This discount can apply until age 25.
- Employee of Federal Government – Employees or retirees of the government can save as much as 8% with select insurance companies.
- Braking Control Discount – Cars that have steering control and anti-lock brakes prevent accidents and earn discounts up to 10%.
- Passive Restraint Discount – Vehicles with factory air bags and/or automatic seat belt systems can get savings of more than 20%.
- Safe Driver Discount – Insureds without accidents may receive a discount up to 45% less than their less cautious counterparts.
- Multi-policy Discount – When you combine your home and auto insurance with the same company you will save at least 10% off all policies.
It’s important to understand that most of the big mark downs will not be given to the entire cost. Most cut individual premiums such as comp or med pay. Just because you may think you can get free auto insurance, it just doesn’t work that way. But any discount will bring down the amount you have to pay.
What impacts Follansbee insurance rates?
It’s important that you understand some of the elements that go into determining your auto insurance rates. Having a good understanding of what influences your rates allows you to make educated decisions that could result in much lower annual insurance costs.
Listed below are a few of the “ingredients” companies use to determine premiums.
- You might want pay the small claims yourself – If you are a frequent claim filer, you can look forward to either a policy non-renewal or much higher rates. Insurance companies in West Virginia award cheaper rates to people who are claim-free. Auto insurance is intended for larger claims.
- Performance makes a difference – The performance level of the vehicle you are buying insurance for makes a big difference in the rate you pay. Small economy passenger models generally have the cheapest insurance rates, but the cost you end up paying is determined by many additional factors.
- Bad driving skills means higher rates – Even a single speeding ticket can bump up the cost by twenty percent. Drivers who don’t get tickets get better rates than bad drivers. Drivers who get serious violations such as DUI or reckless driving may be required to file a proof of financial responsibility form (SR-22) with the DMV in their state in order to continue driving.
- Males pay more for insurance – The statistics show that women are safer drivers than men. However, don’t assume that women are BETTER drivers than men. Both sexes cause accidents at about the same rate, but the male of the species cause more damage and cost insurance companies more money. Men also tend to have more aggressive citations such as reckless driving.
Buying auto insurance from a local agent
A small number of people just want to buy from a licensed agent and that is just fine! The best thing about getting online price quotes is you can get the lowest rates but also keep your business local. Buying from local insurance agencies is especially important in Follansbee.
Upon completion of this simple form, the quote information gets sent to local insurance agents in Follansbee who will give you bids for your insurance coverage. There is no need to drive around as quotes are delivered to the email address you provide. How’s that for easy! It’s the lowest rates and a licensed agent to work with.
The different types of insurance agents
When searching for a good Follansbee insurance agent, you must know there are a couple different agency structures from which to choose. Agents are classified as either captive or independent.
Independent Insurance Agents
Independent agents are not employed by any specific company but instead can place your coverage with multiple insurance companies depending on which coverage is best. If you are not satisfied with one company, the business is moved internally and you won’t have to switch agencies.
When comparison shopping, we recommend you include at a minimum one independent agency for maximum quote selection. They often place coverage with smaller regional carriers who may have lower rates.
Shown below are independent agencies in Follansbee willing to provide comparison quotes.
- Drexler Insurance – 1202 Main St – Follansbee, WV 26037 – (304) 527-4544
- Prudential Insurance Co – 929 Main St – Follansbee, WV 26037 – (304) 527-4200
Captive Insurance Agents
Captive agencies can only place business with one company and examples are Liberty Mutual, State Farm, Allstate and AAA. These agents are unable to provide prices from multiple companies so they have to upsell other benefits. These agents receive extensive training on their products and sales techniques which helps them compete with independent agents. Consumers often buy insurance from these agents primarily because of loyalty to the company and strong financial ratings.
Below is a short list of captive insurance agencies in Follansbee that are able to give price quotes.
- State Farm Insurance – 1028 Main St – Follansbee, WV 26037 – (304) 527-2175
For a complete listing of Follansbee captive insurance agencies, click here to link.
Selecting a car insurance agent should depend on more than just a cheap price. Agents should be asked these questions:
- Is working in the agency their full-time job?
- Does the agency provide any after hours assistance?
- Do they have advanced training designations such as CPCU, AAI, AIC, or CIC?
- How long have they worked with personal auto insurance coverage?
- Which company do they place the most coverage with?
Upon getting satisfactory answers to these questions and a good coverage price, you have narrowed it down to an insurance agency that meets your needs to properly service your auto insurance policy.
Additional information is located on the West Virginia Insurance Commission website found here. Consumers can read enforcement actions against agents and companies, report car insurance fraud, and find disaster information.
Keep this in mind
Cheaper auto insurance can be purchased online and with local Follansbee insurance agents, so you should be comparing quotes from both to have the best chance of lowering rates. Some companies do not offer you the ability to get quotes online and most of the time these small insurance companies sell through independent agents.
You just learned a lot of ways to get a better price on auto insurance. The most important thing to understand is the more rate comparisons you have, the higher your chance of finding lower rates. Drivers may discover the most savings is with some of the lesser-known companies.
While you’re price shopping online, don’t be tempted to sacrifice coverage to reduce premiums. Too many times, consumers will sacrifice collision coverage and learned later that the small savings ended up costing them much more. Your focus should be to get the best coverage possible at the best price.