Filed under: car insurance — Alston @ 9:05 pm February 13, 2011
It may seem like finding the cheapest car insurance is as easy as taking the time to call one of the phone numbers or to go online to a site mentioned on a TV or radio commercial. Sometimes this is true. Often a local broker can help you find cheaper coverage.
If you shop around and compare rates, you may find that the big name car insurance companies aren’t always cheaper. They often tout how much they are able to save each driver who switched to their companies. However the prices in these commercial offers can be misleading. There may be many more that got quotes from them who stayed with their current broker their prices were too high!
Car insurance rates are based on many factors. Your zip code, your age and the type of cars you drive, your claims history, whether you buy online or off and the motor vehicle record of the drivers you want to insure are all factors. Various discounts that you may or may not qualify also impact the offers the companies might make.
With all of these factors, two drivers who live next door to each other may find that they are offered very different insurance price-quotes. In order to get the best rate for your car insurance policy you really need to shop around and compare different offers yourself.
The insurance companies can take the same data and make different decisions about how many motor vehicle accidents and claims you are likely to have. They will therefore offer different rates to the same people.
You aren’t likely to find the lowest rate by investing just fifteen minutes of your free time. Saving hundreds of dollars each year may take more of an investment and frankly a little more work. However, the money you can save each month by comparing prices and taking with an auto insurance broker can make it worthwhile.
Can one of the auto insurance brokers we work with help you find lower prices for coverage? You can find out more online by requesting free car insurance rate quotes on this site or by calling 877-350-0535.
One key to getting a lower auto insurance rate for a young driver is to do what you can to get all the discounts available. One very important way to lower what you pay is to qualify for the good student discount.
New drivers who have a GPA over 3 will typically qualify for a ten percent discount that is applied to their portion of the rates on their own or their family’s policy. This can mean a lot more money stays in your pocket since the cost for auto insurance for teen drivers is so high.
When you request car insurance quotes online be sure to indicate the GPA of any student you need coverage for on your policy.
When insurance companies insure new young drivers, they can’t assess the risk by using their driving history. Since they are new to the world of driving a vehicle on the road, the carriers have to use other information in order to help determine what rates to charge.
Other pieces of information have to stand in for the driving history. One of those pieces of information is the grades a student gets in school. They offer discounts to better students because they know that these drivers have fewer accidents. Students with better grades tend to be more careful drivers. They tend to cost the company less because they have fewer claims on their auto insurance policies.
There are other tips to help lower your costs on previous posts on this blog. Many readers have saved money on their coverage by using the tips to get better car insurance rates.
Finding cheap car insurance is difficult for all drivers. Finding low cost insurance for a young driver is even harder than finding affordable auto coverage for a mature driver.
Comparison shopping online for a better rate-quote is one way you can start the process of finding the cheapest car insurance for a young driver. Although your taking the time to compare quotes before making a buying decision is a good idea, there are other steps that you should take as well.
If your young driver gets good grades they may be eligible for a discount on their car insurance rates. Learn what GPA is required to have this discount offered to you by the insurance companies in your area.
Your young driver will also be eligible for a driver’s education discount if he or she took an approved course. Approved courses are offered in high schools as well as by companies that will offer driving instruction for a fee.
The car your teenager drives may also have impact on the premiums you will pay. High performance cars can really drive your rates up. The combination of a fast car and a new driver can mean more accidents and higher prices for insurance. The make model and year can make a difference. A safe, cheap car is probably the best type of car to purchase for new drivers.
Being insured on the family auto insurance policy will usually be better than purchasing a separate policy. The overall prices will be lower in most scenarios. However, the driving history of the other family members can impact this. It is important that everyone drive safely to avoid accidents and tickets if you are to get the cheapest car insurance (online or off) for your family.
You are also likely to get a discount by buying your home insurance through the same company that you purchase your auto insurance from.
The most important thing of course is to do what you can to keep your young driver safe. Fortunately doing these things will guide you along the right path. Driving more safely means fewer tickets and that means that it will be easier to find an insurance company that wants to cover you at a cheaper rate.
It may be difficult to get a good price when you’ve had an accident, several tickets, or one serious violation. Your insurance policy may be cancelled. Your rate may have doubled.
What can you do to pay less? You can shop around online for the best high risk auto insurance rates. You may find that there is a big difference in the quotes from different companies. You can wait until your record has improved. You can lower your cost by taking certain actions.
Shopping around can help you find lower car insurance rates. Don’t take it for granted that if one company rejected you or raised your rates that all car insurance companies will do the same. Getting quotes from multiple carriers can only help you. It is easy to get free price-quotes on the Internet.
If you have an accident or ticket that will soon be too old to affect your record, it may make sense to wait before switching insurance carriers. Violations and accidents that are over three years old may be too old to impact your premiums in many circumstances. In many others five years is the time cut off. Different states and different insurance companies have different rules regarding times when violations stop raising your rates and SR22 filings are no longer required.
Get a copy of your motor vehicle record to find out how old your violations are. Check with your insurance agent to see how old your violation has to be before it stops affecting your rate his or her company. Don’t be afraid to ask for auto insurance sample rates even if you don’t want a formal quotation done. His or her services should include advising you and providing you with good information.
Drivers with or without violations can lower their rates by reducing their collision and comprehensive coverage. You should also see what discount you qualify for. You may qualify for a multi-car discount. You may qualify for a multi-policy discount if you also carry your home, condo or renters insurance with the same carrier.
Although it may be difficult to find truly cheap car insurance rates when you have had a recent accident or serious violation, some of the information above can help you save by lowering the premiums you pay for high risk vehicle insurance.
Filed under: car insurance — Alston @ 3:09 am November 24, 2010
If your car is in storage and you have no intention of driving it, you may be able to lower your cost for car insurance. You may want to keep the other than collision coverage only to give you protection against fire damage. You may want to remove all insurance coverage on the car.
You may need to cancel the registration on the vehicle in order to remove the liability insurance. Once the car is no longer legal to drive, the insurance company you should no longer be mandated to insure it.
You can choose to keep the other than collision coverage on the car. This part of the policy pays if the car is in a fire, or is stolen. It doesn’t pay for any damage to persons. It will not pay for damage to any property besides the car itself.
Removing the other coverages and leaving only the other than collision insurance will result in your getting in effect a substantial discount the your auto insurance for your car while it is in storage.
When you are ready to use the car again, you will need to reregister it and reinstate the insurance in order to drive it on the road legally
Filed under: car insurance — Alston @ 12:30 am November 14, 2010
Age is a major rating factor for young inexperienced drivers who need car insurance. The impact of age has less impact on the likelihood of a driver getting into an accident as time goes on.
By thirty the age of a driver’s insurance rates will no longer be affected by his or her youth. With most policies this change happens at a younger age such as 25. An even younger driver may be able to get better rates by getting married.
As a driver gains more experience he or she will build a driving history. That history is a better predictor of whether the driver will get into an accident than his or her birth date. This is one reason why age impacts teen drivers, but not forty-year-old drivers.
Age impacts male drivers more than female drivers. Younger female drivers have fewer accidents than their male counterparts. For this reason they, on average, pay less for coverage.
Filed under: car insurance — Alston @ 8:52 pm November 5, 2010
Liability insurance and comprehensive insurance are two components of the personal auto policy. These two aspects of your PAP pay for different things.
Liability insurance is mandatory. It is mandatory because this is the part of your policy that pays other persons for their injuries and for damage to their property. Every state has a minimum liability limit for policies sold to their state’s residents.
Liability insurance is the part of your car insurance that pays other parties. If you are at fault in a car accident, the liability section of your policy will control how the other driver or other party is paid.
Comprehensive insurance is optional as far as your state’s laws are concerned. However, if you have a lease or a loan against your automobile, your lien holder may require you to have this coverage.
Comprehensive and collision insurance will be mandated by your lien holder’s contract to protect their interest. You may be able to raise your deductible to a certain limit, but you will not be allowed to drop the coverage entirely. This is because a totaled car isn’t very good collateral.
Comprehensive insurance sounds more impressive than it is. The comprehensive part of your policy pays for damage due to falling objects, birds and animals and fire. It also pays if your car is in a fire.
Comprehensive coverage is far from comprehensive. It doesn’t pay other parties. It doesn’t fix your care if you have a collision with another car.
You can get auto insurance quotes from this website and lower your costs for insurance.
Filed under: car insurance — Alston @ 11:23 am November 4, 2010
Teenage drivers and high performance cars do not go well together. You pay more for your insurance policy. Your young driver will likely be exposed to more risk of damage to him or herself.
The combination of a high performance car and an inexperienced driver can raise red flags in your insurance carrier’s underwriting department. You may pay significantly more for your car policy. (And insurance for teens is high enough!)
The more expensive a car your teen drives, the higher the cost of his or her insurance is likely to be if you have physical damage coverage on the car. Physical damage coverage is what pays you if the car is stolen or damaged.
However, even if you do not have physical damage on the car, your premiums may go higher if the car is classified as a high performance auto. The expense of replacing or repairing a car only exposes the insurance company to more risk if the company has to repair or replace it. However, a faster car increases the likelihood of there being an accident and this increases the insurance company’s chances of paying another driver.
Teens that drive high performance cars are subject to a lot of temptation. Their level of maturity combined with their level of inexperience makes for a horrible combination. The additional risk this exposes a young driver too can result in the loss of life or permanent disability.
Filed under: car insurance — Alston @ 10:58 pm October 27, 2010
Your insurance policy will allow you to remove the liability insurance on a car in storage. However, if your car is registered or driven on the road, you will probably be in violation of your state’s laws.
Chances are you will need to maintain liability insurance on your car if there is a lien on it whether it is in storage or driven on the road. If the car is leased or you have a loan on it, the contract you have with your leaser or lender will probably dictate that you maintain both liability insurance and physical damage insurance on your vehicle.
If your car is unregistered and you do not have a lien on it, you should be able to remove the liability insurance protection after you put it in storage or take it off the road. Depending on where the car is garaged you may or may not be able to legally remove the liability protection from your car in storage and still keep the car registered. Laws differ in different areas.
You may want to keep physical damage coverage on the car whether or not you keep the liability protection on it. Physical damage coverage is also known as collision and comprehensive insurance. It protects you if your car is in a fire, stolen or vandalized.
Filed under: car insurance — Alston @ 9:23 pm October 26, 2010
Insuring more than one car on an automobile policy will result in a lower cost than if you insure the two cars separately. A typical discount is 20%.
Other discounts that you might find on a car insurance policy include the multi-policy discount. Many companies will give you a discount if you have your homeowners condo or renters insurance with the same company.
Younger drivers may qualify for discounts by completing a driving instruction course. These courses are often offered in high schools. You can also get approved driving instruction from a private company. This discount is usually greater than the cost of the course.
Younger drivers may also qualify for good student discount. Getting good grades can help lower your car insurance bills.
A defensive driver course can help lower rates for older drivers. When a person takes a course because the court mandated it a discount won’t apply. These courses are inexpensive and can be taken online.
Other discount may be available of your car has antilock brakes. An automobile that stops faster can avoid accidents and save money for you and the insurance company.
Anti-theft devices can also help lower your car insurance bill.