Feel like you’re a prisoner to an underperforming, overpriced auto insurance policy? Trust us when we tell you you’re not the only one.
Insurance companies such as Allstate, Liberty Mutual and State Farm all promote huge savings with ad campaigns and it is challenging if not impossible to ignore the flying pigs and cute green geckos and do the work needed to find the best deal.
Some insurers don’t always publicize every possible discount in a way that’s easy to find, so the list below contains both well-publicized and the more hidden credits that you can use to lower your rates. If you do not check that you are getting every discount you deserve, you are just wasting money.
One thing to note about discounts is that some of the credits will not apply to your bottom line cost. A few only apply to the price of certain insurance coverages like liability, collision or medical payments. Even though it appears you can get free auto insurance, it just doesn’t work that way.
A few of the larger companies and a partial list of their discounts can be found below.
If you want affordable insurance coverage quotes, ask each insurance company which credits you are entitled to. Discounts may not apply to policies everywhere. If you would like to choose from a list of companies that offer many of these discounts, click here.
All major car insurance companies allow you to get pricing on the web. Doing online price comparisons is quite easy as you just enter your personal and coverage information into the quote form. When the form is submitted, their rating system automatically retrieves information on your driving record and credit history and returns pricing information based on these and other factors. Online quotes streamlines rate comparisons, but the time it takes to visit each company’s website and repetitively type in the same information is a waste of time. But it’s also necessary to get many rate quotes if you want to get better prices.
The easy way to compare rates
A more efficient way to compare car insurance pricing utilizes a single form to get prices from several different companies. It saves time, helps eliminate reptitive entry, and makes comparison shopping much easier. After sending the form, your coverage is rated with multiple companies and you can pick any or none of the quote results. If one or more price quotes are lower than your current rates, you simply finish the application and purchase the new policy. The entire process takes 15 minutes at the most and could lower your rates considerably.
If you want to fill out one form to compare multiple rates now, click here to open in a new tab and input your coverage information. If you currently have coverage, we recommend you type in exactly as they are listed on your policy. Doing this guarantees you will have a rate comparison for similar insurance coverage.
When choosing proper insurance coverage for your vehicles, there really is no perfect coverage plan. Every situation is different so this has to be addressed. These are some specific questions can help discover whether your personal situation might need an agent’s assistance.
If you’re not sure about those questions but one or more may apply to you, then you may want to think about talking to a licensed agent. If you don’t have a local agent, simply complete this short form or you can also visit this page to select a carrier
Understanding the coverages of a car insurance policy aids in choosing appropriate coverage and proper limits and deductibles. The coverage terms in a policy can be difficult to understand and nobody wants to actually read their policy. These are typical coverage types found on the average car insurance policy.
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) – Your UM/UIM coverage provides protection when other motorists either are underinsured or have no liability coverage at all. This coverage pays for injuries sustained by your vehicle’s occupants and also any damage incurred to your Mazda 5.
Since a lot of drivers only purchase the least amount of liability that is required, it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. So UM/UIM coverage is very important.
Comprehensive insurance – Comprehensive insurance will pay to fix damage that is not covered by collision coverage. You first must pay your deductible and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive can pay for things such as a broken windshield, hitting a bird, hail damage, damage from getting keyed and hitting a deer. The maximum payout your car insurance company will pay is the cash value of the vehicle, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.
Collision – Collision coverage pays to fix your vehicle from damage caused by collision with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. A deductible applies then the remaining damage will be paid by your insurance company.
Collision insurance covers claims such as scraping a guard rail, hitting a mailbox and damaging your car on a curb. This coverage can be expensive, so you might think about dropping it from vehicles that are 8 years or older. You can also bump up the deductible to bring the cost down.
Med pay and Personal Injury Protection (PIP) – Coverage for medical payments and/or PIP pay for short-term medical expenses like ambulance fees, nursing services and EMT expenses. The coverages can be used to fill the gap from your health insurance plan or if you lack health insurance entirely. Coverage applies to both the driver and occupants as well as getting struck while a pedestrian. Personal Injury Protection is not available in all states but can be used in place of medical payments coverage
Coverage for liability – This coverage can cover injuries or damage you cause to people or other property that is your fault. This insurance protects YOU against claims from other people. Liability doesn’t cover damage sustained by your vehicle in an accident.
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 100/300/100 which stand for a $100,000 limit per person for injuries, $300,000 for the entire accident, and property damage coverage for $100,000.
Liability insurance covers claims such as pain and suffering, loss of income, medical expenses and emergency aid. The amount of liability coverage you purchase is up to you, but buy as high a limit as you can afford.
When buying insurance coverage, you should never buy less coverage just to save a little money. In many cases, an accident victim reduced full coverage only to discover later that the savings was not a smart move. Your strategy should be to buy a smart amount of coverage at the best cost, but do not sacrifice coverage to save money.
We covered a lot of techniques to reduce 2008 Mazda 5 insurance car insurance rates online. It’s most important to understand that the more companies you get premium rates for, the higher your chance of finding inexpensive insurance coverage. You may even discover the lowest priced insurance coverage comes from a small local company. They may cover specific market segments cheaper than the large multi-state companies such as State Farm, Geico and Nationwide.