Monthly Archives: June 2012

Everyone wants to save on car insurance. You must be insured to legally drive but it is a hassle to get and can be expensive. For this reason, drivers are always looking for ways to save money on annual premiums. One of the best ways to save on insurance is to get as many discounts as possible.

Drivers who take advantage of discounts benefit in the long run with lower rates. Various discounts are available that can help drivers save money. Each has eligibility criteria that must be met to qualify for the rate reduction.

Auto Safety

If your vehicle has certain safety features, you may be eligible for a safety discount. Examples of safety features that may qualify you for lower rates include anti-lock brakes, automatic seatbelts, airbags, and security systems. You may even get a reduction if you complete a defensive driver course. The exact discounts you may get depend on the state in which you reside and your particular insurance company.

Safe Driving Record

Clearly safety is a huge rate factor for insurance companies. And a driving record that demonstrates your safe driving habits can benefit you. To qualify, you should have no tickets for driving violations. If you are involved in a car accident and you are at fault, you will not be eligible for this discount. Insurance providers require drivers to have anywhere between three and five consecutive years of spotless driving history to qualify for the safe driver discount.

Customer Loyalty

This is becoming a popular discount as the insurance competitive landscape continues to flourish. Insurance companies actively seek new customers. As a result, your current insurance provider may give you a discount for remaining with them. The longer you remain a customer you may be eligible for even more customer loyalty discounts, especially if you have never submitted a claim.

Multiple Policies

Most insurance providers offer discounts if you have more than one policy with them. Other policies include homeowner’s insurance, rental insurance, business insurance, life insurance, and even health insurance. You can also get discounts if you have multiple vehicles to insure.

These are just some of the discounts you can get to reduce the cost of your car insurance. Knowing about discounts can help you get good car insurance without breaking your budget. Ask your insurance provider about other discounts you may qualify for to get the lowest rate possible.

You see the commercials on tv all the time “Cheap car insurance”, or “Disappearing deductibles”. Even as you are trolling on the internet to find reliable auto insurance quotes there are advertisements flashing in the sidebar for you to compare the rates with the xyz company who promises to get you started for only $20.00 down payment. Stop, don’t click, you can’t even fill up the tank of rider mower for $20 so don’t be expecting great things from the $20 down payment.

Insurance is risk management. You have to have some means to cover any financial burden you could cause another if you caused them personal harm or property damage. Insurance is the legally accepted way to do that. Most folks don’t have a bank account just sitting there waiting for the bad day, so we pay a premium and hope we never have to collect. The insurance companies take our premiums, invest them, and make money on it, all the while hoping they never have to pay out. Accidents do happen, and they do pay out; so they collect data to understand who and what is more likely to be a payout situation.

Armed with this data before you go looking for a car, you have a much better assessment of what your auto insurance quotes for the car will be like. You can go to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety website. There you can learn how this nonprofit organizations runs another organization called the Highway Loss Data Institute, which has the job of collecting and review everything about accident statistics regarding the costs of the accident. (To the insurance industry, these numbers represent monetary loss).

You can freely review the data on accident losses. It is grouped by: Two-Door, Four-door, Luxury, Sports, SUV’s, Pickups, Station wagons/minivans. Then broken down again where applicable like: micro, mini, small, midsize and large. Then listed by make, It breaks down personal injury, medical payments, property damage and more giving you easy to read ratings like “substantially better than average” and “substantially worse than average”. Picking a car in rated substantially better than average will get you auto insurance quotes that are reasonable. Pick a model that you love but it is in the substantially worse than average and it probably doesn’t matter how many quotes you compare it will be expensive to insure. After reviewing the data you might just change your mind and find a car that suits your needs better.

Insurance is betting you never have a bad day. The industry is based on calculated risk management. A lot of mathematics, science, and guts go into the algorithms that determine risk. You may think that they are just out to make money off you, and you are right. Surprisingly though, they make the most money when they have loyal customers who come back year after year, and who trust them to take care of you when something goes wrong. If they have to spend all their profits chasing new customers, they don’t make any money.

The economy is very tight right now for everyone. Many people are looking to save money anywhere they can, and cut corners wherever possible. Sometimes, you might be inclined to go with whatever the state has deemed as the minimum liability insurance. Before you do, think about what that insurance is supposed to cover, and what you have to fill in the gaps is you do have an accident.

Things to consider when choosing the level of liability insurance are your own personal assets. No one in their right mind heads out on the highway looking to create an accident, but if you are in an accident, and you are at fault it can cost you over and above what your insurance is going to pay out. If you own property, or have assets that are in excess of what you have covered by your policy then you may be at risk of having to pay out the difference. Basic coverage n New Jersey is: bodily injury $10,000 for all persons, and $5000 for property damage. If you’re at fault and the accident totals the other person’s car valued at $15,000 and their medical bills pile up over $10,000 (and they do not have coverage for underinsured driver) you will need to find some way to pay the bill. The accident victim’s attorney will put a lien against assets, like your house or bank accounts. Saving a few dollars, a year on your auto insurance is not a smart reason to be left living in your car.

When comparing auto insurance quotes make sure you are looking at liability levels that match you level of assets. If your home is worth $250,000 and your other combines assets put you over $300,000 then $300,00 is the minimum you should be carrying. Knowing what is at risk for you can help you make the best decision on your coverage.

Like many things today, it seems as though the cost of insurance is rising. Since all drivers are required to have insurance, more often than not they prefer cheap car insurance. When looking for affordable insurance, there are recommendations you can follow to find the very best coverage at the lowest rates.

How to find Cheap Car Insurance

Take Advantage of Membership Benefits

Being a member of certain organizations has its perks, including lower rates on insurance. Several memberships are particularly beneficial to drivers. These include AAA and AARP which offer significant discounts on auto insurance. Even membership in chambers of commerce or warehouse chains like Costco can save you money on insurance.

Manage Mileage

The less you drive your car, the better insurance rates you can get. This is because the chances of you becoming involved in an accident are reduced. You may even want to consider pay-as-you-drive insurance programs which track your mileage and bill you accordingly. Insurance companies are more than willing to give you reduced rates in exchange for being on the road less frequently.

Look for Discounts

It is possible to save over 50% on your insurance costs with discounts. All insurance companies offer discounts of some sort. The most common types include safe driver, good student, and senior discounts. But there are many more that your insurance provider offers. It is your responsibility to make sure you receive all discounts you are eligible to receive.

Consider Where You Live

Your location is a major factor when it comes to cost savings. Not only your actual neighborhood but also the state in which you live can impact your premiums. Certain states are simply cheaper. States with fewer people, such as North Dakota, offer some of the lowest insurance rates in the country. Living in states that are more populated, including Florida and New York, will result in higher premiums.

These are just some of the ways you can get cheap car insurance. It merely takes a little work on your part to compare policies offered by multiple insurance companies by requesting free quotes from all who provide cheap car insurance policiies.