Are you a victim of high-priced car insurance? Trust us when we tell you you’re not alone.
Insurance companies such as State Farm and Geico constantly bombard you with ad campaigns and it is difficult to see through the deception and effectively compare rates to find the best deal.
You need to price shop coverage at least once a year because rates are rarely the same from one policy term to another. Despite the fact that you may have had the lowest rates a couple years back other companies may now be cheaper. You’ll find quite a bit of inaccurate information about car insurance online but by reading this article, you’re going to learn some great ideas on how to find affordable car insurance.
If you currently have a car insurance policy, you should be able to cut costs considerably using this strategy. Finding the best rates in New York is easy if you know what you’re doing. But New York drivers must know the way insurance companies price online insurance because it can help you find the best coverage.
Get Cheaper Rates by Understanding Pricing
It’s important that you understand the factors that go into determining car insurance rates. Understanding what determines base rates helps enable you to make changes that can help you get much lower annual insurance costs.
Listed below are some of the factors that factor into your rates.
- Equipment add-ons that lower car insurance rates – Choosing a vehicle with an alarm system can help bring down rates. Anti-theft features such as GM’s OnStar, tamper alarm systems and vehicle immobilizers can thwart auto theft.
- Extra add-on coverages are wasting money – There are a lot of extra coverages that can waste your money on your car insurance policy. Coverages for personal injury protection, accident forgiveness and additional equipment coverage may be costing you every month. These may sound like a good investment when talking to your agent, but now you might not need them so eliminate them to save money.
- With age comes lower rates – Older drivers are more cautious drivers, statistically cause fewer accidents and get fewer tickets. Teen drivers have a tendency to be less responsible behind the wheel therefore car insurance rates are much higher.
- Poor driving leads to higher costs – Your driving citation history impacts your car insurance rates tremendously. Just one moving violation can bump up the cost twenty percent or more. Drivers who don’t get tickets get better rates than their less careful counterparts. Drivers who have dangerous citations like DUI or reckless driving may need to file a SR-22 with the DMV in their state in order to prevent a license revocation.
- Your occupation can affect rates – Careers like lawyers, executives and dentists tend to have the highest average rates due to high stress and long work days. Other occupations such as scientists, historians and the unemployed receive lower rates.
- Where you reside plays a part – Living in less populated areas can save you money when talking about car insurance. Drivers in populated areas have to deal with traffic congestion and much longer commute distances. Lower population means reduced accidents as well as less vandalism and auto theft.
- Having a spouse can save you money – Having a spouse can actually save you money when buying car insurance. Marriage is viewed as being more mature and it’s statistically proven that being married results in fewer claims.
- Consolidate policies to earn discounts – Most car insurance companies will give a discount to customers who have multiple policies with them, otherwise known as a multi-policy discount. If you currently are using one company, it’s still a good idea to shop around to confirm you are receiving the best rates possible.
Be sure to get all your discounts
Car insurance can cost a lot, but there are discounts available to reduce the price significantly. Some discounts apply automatically at the time of purchase, but a few must be manually applied before they will apply.
- Accident Free – Drivers with accident-free driving histories pay less when compared to accident-prone drivers.
- Memberships – Being a member of a professional or civic organization could trigger savings on car insurance.
- New Vehicle Savings – Insuring a new car is cheaper compared to insuring an older model.
- Good Student Discount – Getting good grades can be rewarded with saving of up to 25%. This discount can apply until age 25.
- Braking Control Discount – Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles can avoid accidents and earn discounts up to 10%.
- Defensive Driver – Taking a defensive driving course could save 5% or more if you qualify.
- Bundle and Save – If you insure your home and vehicles with one insurance company you may earn approximately 10% to 15%.
- Passive Restraints and Air Bags – Vehicles equipped with air bags can receive discounts of more than 20%.
Drivers should understand that most credits do not apply the the whole policy. Most only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as liability and collision coverage. Just because you may think you can get free auto insurance, it just doesn’t work that way. Any amount of discount will help reduce the amount you have to pay.
To see a list of providers with the best car insurance discounts in New York, click here to view.
Slick advertising tricks that work
Companies like Geico, State Farm and Progressive continually stream television and radio advertisements. All the ads say the same thing of big savings after switching your coverage to them. How do they all make almost identical claims? It’s all in the numbers.
All the different companies are able to cherry pick for the right customer that is profitable for them. A good example of a desirable insured could be over the age of 50, insures multiple vehicles, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. A customer getting a price quote who matches those parameters will get the preferred rates and therefore will pay quite a bit less when switching companies.
Potential customers who don’t measure up to the “perfect” profile will be charged more money and this can result in business not being written. The ads say “drivers who switch” not “everyone that quotes” save that kind of money. This is how insurance companies can confidently make the claims of big savings.
That is why it is so important to get quotes from several different companies. Because you never know the company that will provide you with the cheapest rates.
Learn more today
Much more information about car insurance in New York is located on the website for the New York Department of Financial Services found here. New York drivers can learn about insurance regulations, find a variety of consumer forms, and read state legal mandates and laws.
Additional helpful sites include NAIC.org’s Understanding your Policy and this list of insurance agents in New York.
Smart shoppers get results
As you go through the steps to switch your coverage, never skimp on coverage in order to save money. There have been many situations where an insured cut liability limits or collision coverage and learned later they didn’t have enough coverage. Your strategy should be to find the BEST coverage at the best price while still protecting your assets.
Cost effective car insurance can be purchased on the web and with local New York insurance agents, so you should compare both in order to have the best chance of saving money. There are still a few companies who do not offer online quoting and many times these smaller companies only sell through independent insurance agents.