Scraping up a payment for overpriced car insurance can overdraw your bank account, especially in this economy. Shopping your coverage around is free, only takes a few minutes, and is a good way to slash your bill and have more diposable income. With so many insurance companies to choose from, it is hard for the average consumer to locate the most cost effective insurer.
It’s important to get comparison quotes on a regular basis because insurance rates change regularly. Just because you found the lowest rates a couple years back you can probably find a lower rate today. There is a lot of bad advice regarding car insurance on the web, but we’re going to give you some proven techniques to quit paying high car insurance rates.
The purpose of this post is to instruct you on how to get online quotes and some tips to save money. If you are paying for car insurance now, you should be able to lower your premiums substantially using these tips. Alaska vehicle owners just need to learn how to shop on the web.
Comprehensive Seward Car Insurance Comparison
Most companies such as Progressive, Allstate and Geico quote insurance quotes online. Getting quotes is quite easy as you just type in your coverage preferences as requested by the quote form. After you complete the form, their system collects information on your driving record and credit history and generates a price determined by many factors. Online price quotes simplifies rate comparisons, but having to visit several different sites and enter the same data into a form is repetitive and time-consuming. But it’s absolutely necessary to have as many quotes as possible if you are searching for the lowest price.
A more efficient way to compare rates makes use of a single form to obtain quotes from several different companies. The form is fast, eliminates repetitive work, and makes online price comparison much more enjoyable and efficient. As soon as the form is sent, it gets priced and you can select any or none of the returned quotes.
If you find a better price you can click and sign and buy the policy. This process can be completed in less than 10 minutes and could lower your rates considerably.
To compare rates using this form now, click here and enter your information. If you have a policy now, it’s recommended you complete the form with the coverage information exactly as shown on your declarations page. Using the same limits helps guarantee you will get an apples-to-apples comparison for the exact same coverage.
These nine discounts can slash car insurance rates
Properly insuring your vehicles can get expensive, but there are discounts available that you may not even be aware of. Some trigger automatically when you complete an application, but some may not be applied and must be inquired about before being credited. If you don’t get every credit possible, you’re just leaving money on the table.
- Auto/Home Discount – If you have multiple policies with the same company you will save 10% to 20% off each policy.
- Anti-theft Discount – Vehicles with anti-theft systems are stolen less frequently and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
- Claim Free – Good drivers with no accidents can save substantially when compared with accident-prone drivers.
- College Student – Youth drivers who are attending college without a vehicle on campus may be able to be covered for less.
- Senior Citizens – If you qualify as a senior citizen, you may be able to get better car insurance rates.
- Air Bag Discount – Vehicles with factory air bags and/or automatic seat belt systems can qualify for discounts of 20% or more.
- Service Members Pay Less – Having a deployed family member could be rewarded with lower premiums.
- Payment Method – If you pay your entire premium ahead of time rather than paying monthly you can actually save on your bill.
- Memberships – Affiliation with a qualifying organization could trigger savings when shopping for car insurance.
It’s important to understand that most of the big mark downs will not be given to the entire policy premium. The majority will only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like comp or med pay. So even though it sounds like all the discounts add up to a free policy, it just doesn’t work that way. Any amount of discount will reduce the cost of coverage.
To see a list of insurance companies with the best car insurance discounts in Seward, click here to view.
Car insurance policy specifics
Learning about specific coverages of your policy can help you determine which coverages you need and the correct deductibles and limits. The coverage terms in a policy can be confusing and nobody wants to actually read their policy. Listed below are the usual coverages found on most car insurance policies.
Comprehensive protection
Comprehensive insurance coverage pays for damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. A deductible will apply and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive insurance covers things such as a tree branch falling on your vehicle, hitting a deer and fire damage. The maximum payout a car insurance company will pay at claim time is the market value of your vehicle, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value consider dropping full coverage.
Liability auto insurance
Liability insurance provides protection from damage that occurs to a person or their property in an accident. It protects YOU from legal claims by others. Liability doesn’t cover your own vehicle damage or injuries.
It consists of three limits, bodily injury for each person injured, bodily injury for the entire accident and a property damage limit. As an example, you may have limits of 25/50/25 that translate to a limit of $25,000 per injured person, a limit of $50,000 in injury protection per accident, and property damage coverage for $25,000. Some companies may use a combined single limit or CSL which provides one coverage limit without having the split limit caps.
Liability insurance covers things like loss of income, legal defense fees, medical expenses, funeral expenses and bail bonds. How much liability coverage do you need? That is a personal decision, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase as large an amount as possible. Alaska state minimum liability requirements are 50,000/100,000/25,000 but drivers should carry more liability than the minimum.
Uninsured or underinsured coverage
This coverage provides protection from other drivers when they either have no liability insurance or not enough. Covered claims include injuries sustained by your vehicle’s occupants and also any damage incurred to your vehicle.
Because many people carry very low liability coverage limits (Alaska limits are 50/100/25), it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. For this reason, having high UM/UIM coverages is important protection for you and your family. Normally these limits do not exceed the liability coverage limits.
Collision coverage protection
Collision insurance pays to fix your vehicle from damage caused by collision with a stationary object or other vehicle. You will need to pay your deductible then the remaining damage will be paid by your insurance company.
Collision coverage protects against claims like sustaining damage from a pot hole, sideswiping another vehicle, crashing into a building, rolling your car and backing into a parked car. Paying for collision coverage can be pricey, so consider dropping it from lower value vehicles. Drivers also have the option to bump up the deductible to bring the cost down.
Medical expense coverage
Med pay and PIP coverage pay for immediate expenses for things like ambulance fees, X-ray expenses and EMT expenses. They are often used to fill the gap from your health insurance program or if there is no health insurance coverage. Medical payments and PIP cover not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants in addition to if you are hit as a while walking down the street. Personal Injury Protection is not universally available and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay
Consumer car insurance information in Alaska
Much more information about car insurance in Alaska is available on the website for the Alaska Division of Insurance through this link. Alaska drivers can report car insurance fraud, find out which companies have the most complaints, and find disaster information.
Additional helpful sites include FindNewCarInsurance.com and this link where you can make Seward car insurance comparisons.