Have you finally had enough of scraping nickels together to buy car insurance? You are in the same boat as many other people in Wisconsin. Popular companies such as Allstate, Liberty Mutual and State Farm persitently shower you with ad campaigns and consumers find it hard to sift through the bull and do the work needed to find the best deal.
Car insurance policy discounts
Car insurance companies do not advertise all their discounts very clearly, so the list below details some of the best known as well as the least known discounts that you may qualify for.
- Claim-Free Discount – Insureds with no claims or accidents can earn big discounts in comparison to drivers who are more careless.
- Include Life Insurance and Save – Larger car insurance companies have a small discount if you purchase some life insurance too.
- Student Driver Training – Require your teen driver to take driver’s ed class in school.
- E-sign Discounts</strong – Some of the larger companies will discount your bill up to fifty bucks for signing up on the internet.
- Early Switch Discount – Some larger companies give discounts for switching policies before your current expiration date. It’s a savings of about 10%.
- Discounts for Multiple Vehicles – Drivers who insure primary and secondary vehicles on one policy can reduce the rates for all insured vehicles.
- Own a Home and Save – Being a homeowner can help you save on car insurance because owning a home demonstrates responsibility.
- Lower Rates for Military – Being on active deployment in the military can result in better rates.
- Defensive Driving Course – Passing a driver safety course is a good idea and can lower rates if you qualify.
- Club Memberships – Affiliation with a qualifying organization may earn a discount when shopping for car insurance.
A little note about advertised discounts, most discount credits are not given to the entire policy premium. Some only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like liability and collision coverage. If you do the math and it seems like all the discounts add up to a free policy, insurance companies wouldn’t stay in business. But all discounts should definitely cut the cost of coverage.
The best car insurance companies and their offered discounts are:
- State Farm may have discounts that include student away at school, Steer Clear safe driver discount, multiple policy, multiple autos, and anti-theft.
- Nationwide may offer discounts for good student, business or organization, easy pay, defensive driving, multi-policy, anti-theft, and accident-free.
- Geico has savings for membership and employees, air bags, defensive driver, daytime running lights, and good student.
- AAA discounts include anti-theft, AAA membership discount, good driver, pay-in-full, and good student.
- 21st Century offers discounts for automatic seat belts, theft prevention, air bags, driver training, and student driver.
- The Hartford policyholders can earn discounts including defensive driver, anti-theft, vehicle fuel type, good student, air bag, bundle, and driver training.
It’s a good idea to ask every company the best way to save money. Discounts may not apply in Onalaska. If you would like to view providers who offer online car insurance quotes in Onalaska, click this link.
Finding car insurance in Onalaska, Wisconsin
Many insurance companies such as 21st Century, Allstate and State Farm provide coverage price quotes direct online. Getting online rates can be done by anyone as you simply type in into the form. Once you submit the form, the quote system automatically orders your driving and credit reports and generates pricing information based on the data you entered. This helps simplify price comparisons, but having to visit multiple sites and fill out multiple forms can be a bit repetitive. But it’s necessary to compare as many rates as possible in order to find lower prices.
A less time-consuming method to lower your car insurance bill utilizes a single form to get prices from a lot of companies. It saves time, reduces the work, and makes quoting online much easier. After sending the form, your coverage is rated and you can select any or none of the pricing results. If you find a better price you can simply submit the application and purchase coverage. The whole process can be completed in a matter of minutes and you will find out if you’re overpaying now.
To save time and find out what other companies charge, click here to open in a new tab and begin entering your coverage information. If you have your current policy handy, we recommend you duplicate the insurance coverages just like they are on your policy. This makes sure you are getting comparison quotes for exact coverage.
Should I talk to an insurance agency?
Many drivers would prefer to buy from a local agent and that can be a great decision A good thing about getting online price quotes is you may find lower rates and still have a local agent.
For easy comparison, once you complete this form (opens in new window), the coverage information is sent to local insurance agents who want to provide quotes for your coverage. There is no need to leave your computer due to the fact that quote results will go to you directly. It’s the lowest rates without requiring a lot of work. If for some reason you want to quote rates from a specific company, you would need to find their quoting web page and give them your coverage information.
Choosing an company shouldn’t rely on just a cheap quote. The following questions are important to ask.
- Is the agency covered by Errors and Omissions coverage?
- When do they do policy reviews?
- Can you get a list of referrals?
- Who are their largest clients?
- Do they receive special compensation for putting your coverage with one company over another?
Captive agents vs. Independent agents
If you would like to find a good Onalaska insurance agent, it’s helpful to know the types of insurance agents and how they operate. Car insurance policy providers are classified as either captive or independent.
Captive Car Insurance Agencies
Agents of this type are contracted to one company and examples are State Farm, AAA, Farmers Insurance or Allstate. They generally cannot provide rate quotes from other companies so always compare other rates. Captives are well schooled on sales techniques which helps them sell insurance even at higher premiums.
Listed below are captive insurance agencies in Onalaska willing to provide rate quotes.
American Family Insurance – 507 Sand Lake Coulee Rd – Onalaska, WI 54650 – (608) 783-2197
Allstate Insurance – 1289 County Road Ph – Onalaska, WI 54650 – (608) 783-1289
State Farm Insurance – 1288 Rudy St # 101 – Onalaska, WI 54650 – (608) 783-3999
Independent Car Insurance Agents
Independent agencies do not write with just one company and that enables them to quote your coverage with lots of companies and help determine which has the cheapest rates. If they find a cheaper price, they simply move the coverage in-house without you having to go to a different agency.
When searching for an agent, we recommend you get insurance quotes from a few independent agents to have the best price comparison.
The following are independent insurance agencies in Onalaska who can help you get comparison quotes.
Bottelberghe Agency – 103 10th Ave S – Onalaska, WI 54650 – (608) 781-3370
Emery Insurance – 507 Sand Lake Coulee Rd – Onalaska, WI 54650 – (608) 783-7070
Geyer Insurance – 1923 Evenson Dr – Onalaska, WI 54650 – (608) 781-1122
To choose from more licensed insurance agents in Onalaska, please see this page of Onalaska, WI car insurance providers.
Auto insurance 101
Understanding the coverages of car insurance can help you determine the right coverages and proper limits and deductibles. The terms used in a policy can be impossible to understand and reading a policy is terribly boring. Below you’ll find the normal coverages offered by car insurance companies.
Liability auto insurance
This coverage protects you from damage or injury you incur to other people or property. This coverage protects you against claims from other people, and does not provide coverage for your own vehicle damage or injuries.
Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: bodily injury for each person injured, bodily injury for the entire accident and a property damage limit. You might see values of 50/100/50 that translate to a limit of $50,000 per injured person, a limit of $100,000 in injury protection per accident, and a total limit of $50,000 for damage to vehicles and property.
Liability coverage pays for claims such as legal defense fees, pain and suffering and structural damage. How much coverage you buy is a decision to put some thought into, but you should buy higher limits if possible. Wisconsin state law requires minimum liability limits of 50,000/100,000/55,000 but you should consider buying better liability coverage.
Uninsured and underinsured coverage
This provides protection from other drivers when they do not carry enough liability coverage. Covered losses include medical payments for you and your occupants as well as your vehicle’s damage.
Due to the fact that many Wisconsin drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits (50/100/55 in Wisconsin), it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. So UM/UIM coverage is a good idea.
Collision coverage protection
This coverage will pay to fix damage to your vehicle resulting from a collision with another car or object. You first must pay a deductible then the remaining damage will be paid by your insurance company.
Collision can pay for claims such as hitting a parking meter, backing into a parked car, driving through your garage door and crashing into a ditch. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so consider dropping it from older vehicles. Another option is to increase the deductible to bring the cost down.
Coverage for medical payments
Med pay and PIP coverage provide coverage for bills such as prosthetic devices, funeral costs, rehabilitation expenses, dental work and surgery. They are often used to fill the gap from your health insurance policy or if there is no health insurance coverage. Medical payments and PIP cover you and your occupants and also covers any family member struck as a pedestrian. PIP is only offered in select states but can be used in place of medical payments coverage
Comprehensive coverages
Comprehensive insurance coverage covers damage that is not covered by collision coverage. You first have to pay a deductible and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive insurance covers things like a tree branch falling on your vehicle, hitting a deer, vandalism, hail damage and damage from getting keyed. The most your car insurance company will pay is the ACV or actual cash value, so if the vehicle is not worth much it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.
A little work can save a LOT of money
When trying to cut insurance costs, you should never buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. There have been many situations where an accident victim reduced comprehensive coverage or liability limits only to discover later that the savings was not a smart move. Your goal is to purchase plenty of coverage at the best price while not skimping on critical coverages.
Some car insurance companies may not offer price quotes online and usually these small, regional companies only sell coverage through independent agents. Low-cost car insurance can be sourced from both online companies and from local agencies, so compare prices from both to get a complete price analysis.
We just showed you quite a bit of information on how to get a better price on car insurance. The key thing to remember is the more rate quotes you have, the higher your chance of finding . You may be surprised to find that the lowest prices come from an unexpected company. They may cover specific market segments cheaper as compared to the big name companies such as Allstate or State Farm.
Additional consumer information websites
Additional detailed information can be found at the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance website. Consumers can find disaster information, read consumer alerts, and read industry bulletins.
Other informative sites include QuoteClickInsure.com and this page where you can research Onalaska insurance agents.