Have you had enough of trying to scrape together enough money to buy car insurance? Your situation is no different than most other car owners.
Companies like State Farm, Progressive and Geico constantly bombard you with catchy ads and it can be hard to see through the cute green geckos and mayhem and do the work needed to find the best deal.
If you have car insurance now, you stand a good chance to be able to reduce your rates substantially using this information. Finding affordable coverage is quite easy. Although consumers need to have an understanding of how the larger insurance companies price insurance differently and use this information to your advantage.
There are a lot of ways to compare auto insurance prices but some are less time-consuming than others. You could spend your day driving to insurance agencies in your area, or you could use the internet to achieve your goal.
Most major companies participate in a marketplace where prospective buyers enter their policy data once, and each company then returns a price quote based on the submitted data. This saves time by eliminating repetitive form submissions to each company.
To find out how much you’re overpaying now click here (opens in new window).
The one downside to using this type of form is you cannot specify which providers you want pricing from. If you would rather choose specific providers for rate comparison, we have assembled a list of the cheapest auto insurance companies in your area. Click to view list.
It’s your choice how you get your quotes, but be sure to compare the exact same coverage limits and deductibles for every quote you compare. If each company quotes differing limits it will be very difficult to determine which rate is truly the best. Having just a slight variation in coverage limits can make a big difference in price. Keep in mind that comparing more company’s prices helps locate lower pricing.
The cost of insuring your cars can be expensive, but there are discounts available to reduce the price significantly. Some trigger automatically at quote time, but lesser-known reductions have to be specifically requested before you will receive the discount.
Consumers should know that many deductions do not apply to the overall cost of the policy. Most only cut the price of certain insurance coverages like liability, collision or medical payments. Even though it may seem like you could get a free auto insurance policy, companies don’t profit that way. But any discount will bring down your premiums.
To see a list of providers with the best auto insurance discounts, click this link.
When it comes to choosing the best auto insurance coverage for your vehicles, there really is not a single plan that fits everyone. Coverage needs to be tailored to your specific needs and a cookie cutter policy won’t apply. These are some specific questions can aid in determining if your situation would benefit from an agent’s advice.
If you don’t know the answers to these questions but you know they apply to you then you might want to talk to a licensed insurance agent. If you don’t have a local agent, simply complete this short form or you can go here for a list of companies in your area.
Having a good grasp of insurance aids in choosing the right coverages at the best deductibles and correct limits. Insurance terms can be ambiguous and nobody wants to actually read their policy. These are typical coverage types offered by insurance companies.
Collision coverage protection
Collision coverage pays to fix your vehicle from damage from colliding with a stationary object or other vehicle. You will need to pay your deductible then your collision coverage will kick in.
Collision can pay for things such as crashing into a building, sideswiping another vehicle and sustaining damage from a pot hole. This coverage can be expensive, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from lower value vehicles. It’s also possible to bump up the deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.
Auto liability insurance
This can cover damage that occurs to people or other property in an accident. It protects YOU from legal claims by others. Liability doesn’t cover damage sustained by your vehicle in an accident.
It consists of three limits, per person bodily injury, per accident bodily injury, and a property damage limit. You commonly see liability limits of 25/50/25 that translate to a limit of $25,000 per injured person, a per accident bodily injury limit of $50,000, and a total limit of $25,000 for damage to vehicles and property. Some companies may use a combined limit which provides one coverage limit without having the split limit caps.
Liability coverage pays for things like medical services, funeral expenses, repair bills for other people’s vehicles, legal defense fees and emergency aid. How much liability coverage do you need? That is up to you, but consider buying as large an amount as possible.
Comprehensive or Other Than Collision
This coverage will pay to fix damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. A deductible will apply then your comprehensive coverage will pay.
Comprehensive coverage pays for things such as hail damage, a tree branch falling on your vehicle, theft, a broken windshield and damage from a tornado or hurricane. The maximum amount you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the cash value of the vehicle, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value consider removing comprehensive coverage.
Medical costs insurance
Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance kick in for expenses such as doctor visits, nursing services, hospital visits and rehabilitation expenses. They are often used to cover expenses not covered by your health insurance policy or if you do not have health coverage. It covers not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants and will also cover any family member struck as a pedestrian. PIP coverage is not an option in every state and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay
UM/UIM Coverage
Your UM/UIM coverage protects you and your vehicle’s occupants when other motorists 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 Buick Century.
Since a lot of drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits, it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. For this reason, having high UM/UIM coverages should not be overlooked. Most of the time the UM/UIM limits do not exceed the liability coverage limits.
As you go through the steps to switch your coverage, it’s not a good idea to skimp on critical coverages to save a buck or two. There are a lot of situations where drivers have reduced liability limits or collision coverage to discover at claim time that it was a big error on their part. Your focus should be to buy a smart amount of coverage at the best price, not the least amount of coverage.
You just read many ways to get a better price on 1997 Buick Century insurance. It’s most important to understand that the more rate comparisons you have, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. You may even discover the lowest premiums are with some of the smallest insurance companies. They often have lower prices on specific markets than their larger competitors like State Farm, Geico and Nationwide.