Are you overwhelmed by the crazy number of car insurance options in Gainesville? Many other drivers are as well. You have so many options that it can easily become a lot of work to find better rates.
This information will teach you the most effective way to quote insurance. If you have car insurance now, you stand a good chance to be able to lower your premiums substantially using this strategy. But Georgia consumers must comprehend the way companies price online insurance and take advantage of how the system works.
Informed Drivers can Cut Their Rates
An important part of buying insurance is that you know the factors that play a part in calculating the price you pay for car insurance. When you know what positively or negatively impacts premium levels allows you to make educated decisions that could result in lower car insurance prices.
Shown below are a partial list of the pieces companies use to determine premiums.
- Rural vs Urban Areas – Residing in a small town can be a good thing when talking about car insurance. Drivers who live in large cities have much more traffic and longer commute times. Lower population means fewer accidents.
- Don’t cancel a policy without a new one in place – Driving without insurance is illegal and you will pay a penalty because you let your coverage have a gap. Not only will you pay more, but being ticketed for driving with no insurance will get you a steep fine or even jail time.You may need to prove you have insurance by filing a SR-22 with the Georgia DMV.
- Too many car insurance claims drive up costs – Insurance companies in Georgia award discounts to policyholders who are claim-free. If you tend to file frequent claims, you can look forward to higher rates. Car insurance is intended to be relied upon for major claims that would cause financial hardship.
- Safe vehicles cost less to insure – Safer cars get lower rates. The safest vehicles result in less severe injuries and any reduction in injury severity translates into fewer and smaller insurance claims passed on to you as lower rates.
- Is your vehicle built for speed? – The performance level of the vehicle you own makes a substantial difference in determining your rates. Low performance passenger models receive the most favorable rates, but there are many factors that impact the final cost.
- Better credit scores mean better rates – Your credit score is a big factor in determining your rates. Drivers who have high credit scores tend to be better drivers and file fewer claims than those with lower ratings. If your credit score is low, you could pay less to insure your by repairing your credit.
- Do you work long hours in a high stress job? – Jobs such as real estate brokers, social workers and dentists have the highest average rates in part from job stress and lots of time spent at work. Other professions such as scientists, historians and the unemployed get better rates.
- Poor driving leads to higher costs – Your driving record has a huge affect on how much you pay. Good drivers tend to pay less for car insurance than people who have multiple driving citations. Even a single ticket can increase rates forty percent or more. Drivers who get severe violations like DWI, reckless driving or hit and run convictions may be required to submit a SR-22 form to the state department of motor vehicles in order to drive a vehicle legally.
Don’t pay full price with these discounts
Properly insuring your vehicles can get expensive, but companies offer discounts to reduce the price significantly. Larger premium reductions will be automatically applied when you complete an application, but lesser-known reductions have to be manually applied before they will apply.
- Seat Belt Usage – Requiring all passengers to use their safety belts could cut 10% or more off your PIP or medical payments premium.
- Claim Free – Claim-free drivers pay much less when compared with frequent claim filers.
- Paperless Signup – A few companies give back up to $50 simply for signing digitally online.
- Discount for New Cars – Adding a new car to your policy can be considerably cheaper because new vehicles have to meet stringent safety requirements.
- Discount for Good Grades – Getting good grades can save 20 to 25%. This discount can apply up to age 25.
- Safety Course Discount – Taking part in a course in driver safety could cut 5% off your bill if you qualify.
- Passive Restraints – Cars that have air bags or automatic seat belts can get savings of more than 20%.
- Multiple Policy Discount – When you combine your home and auto insurance with one company you could get a discount of at least 10% off all policies.
- Anti-lock Brakes – Cars that have steering control and anti-lock brakes can avoid accidents and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
- Own a Home – Owning a home in Gainesville can help you save on car insurance due to the fact that maintaining a home requires personal responsibility.
As a disclaimer on discounts, most credits do not apply to your bottom line cost. Most only apply to specific coverage prices like liability, collision or medical payments. Just because you may think you could get a free car insurance policy, companies don’t profit that way. Any qualifying discounts will reduce the cost of coverage.
To choose companies offering car insurance discounts in Gainesville, click this link.
But I prefer to buy car insurance from an agent
A small number of people would prefer to talk to a local agent and that is OK! The best thing about comparing rates online is that you can obtain the lowest rates and still choose a local agent. Supporting local insurance agencies is especially important in Gainesville.
To make it easy to find an agent, after completing this short form, the quote information gets sent to agents in your area who will return price quotes for your coverage. You don’t have to visit any agencies since price quotes are sent directly to your email. Now that’s easy! You can find better rates and a licensed agent to work with.
Insurance agent types
When looking for a reliable agent, there are a couple of types of agencies that you can select. Agents are either independent or captive.
Independent Agents (or Brokers)
Independent agencies are not locked into one company but instead can place your coverage with any number of different companies and possibly get better coverage at lower prices. To move your coverage to a new company, they simply move the coverage in-house and you don’t have to find a new agent. When searching for an agent, it’s a good idea to contact at least one independent agent to ensure the widest selection of prices. They also have the ability to place coverage with smaller regional carriers which can save you money.
Below are Gainesville independent agents willing to provide comparison quotes.
- Frank Kubitz Agency – 1362 Juanita Ave – Gainesville, GA 30501 – (770) 538-2939
- Insurance Office Of America – 340 Jesse Jewel Pkwy # 550 – Gainesville, GA 30501 – (678) 450-9191
- Jimmy Wallace Agency Insurance – 250 Dawsonville Hwy – Gainesville, GA 30501 – (770) 534-4735
- Direct General Ins Agency – 125 John W Morrow Jr Pky #1212 – Gainesville, GA 30501 – (770) 534-4766
- Larry Griffin Insurance – 929 Washington St W – Gainesville, GA 30501 – (770) 534-2916
Captive Insurance Agents
These agents write business for a single company and examples are AAA, State Farm, Farmers Insurance and Allstate. Captives cannot give you multiple price quotes so they are skilled at selling on more than just price. Captive agents are trained well on the products they sell which helps them compete with independent agents. Consumers sometimes choose to use a captive agent primarily because of the brand legacy and the convenience of having all coverages with one company.
The following is a short list of captive insurance agents in Gainesville that are able to give price quote information.
- Farm Bureau Insurance – 2405 Lighthouse Manor Dr – Gainesville, GA 30501 – (770) 536-3461
- Liberty Mutual Insurance – 250 John W Morrow Jr Pkwy #116 – Gainesville, GA 30501 – (770) 534-2705
- Allstate Insurance – 810 Jesse Jewell Pkwy SE – Gainesville, GA 30501 – (770) 532-5881
- State Farm Insurance – 3560 Mcever Rd – Gainesville, GA 30504 – (770) 297-9696
For a full directory of captive agencies in Gainesville, please click here.
Choosing an insurance agent shouldn’t rely on just a cheap price. Some important questions to ask are:
- Do clients work directly with the agent or are most inquiries handled by a CSR?
- Do the companies they represent have a solid financial rating?
- Do they have advanced training designations such as CPCU, AAI, AIC, or CIC?
- Which company do they place the most coverage with?
- Does the agency support the community they serve?
- If you are a high risk driver, do they have special markets for your coverage?
Upon receiving satisfactory answers and an acceptable price quote, most likely you have located an insurance agent that can insure your vehicles.
Much more information about car insurance in Georgia can be found on the Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner website located here. Visitors are able to learn about specific coverages, find out industry alerts, and discover disciplinary actions.
More related Gainesville car insurance information:
Affordable insurance is out there
Insureds switch companies for a variety of reasons including delays in paying claims, extreme rates for teen drivers, policy non-renewal or even unfair underwriting practices. It doesn’t matter why you want to switch finding a great new company is not as hard as you think.
We’ve covered a lot of ways to lower your car insurance rates. The key thing to remember is the more you quote, the better your chances of lowering your rates. Consumers could even find that the most savings is with some of the smallest insurance companies.
Cost effective car insurance is definitely available from both online companies and with local Gainesville insurance agents, so you should compare both to have the best rate selection. A few companies do not offer online quoting and usually these small, regional companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.