Sick and tired of not being able to afford to pay your car insurance bill each month? You are in the same boat as the majority of other car owners.
Popular companies such as Allstate, Liberty Mutual and State Farm increase brand awareness with catchy ads and it is challenging if not impossible to sift through the bull and find the best price available.
Car insurance companies don’t always publicize every available discount in a way that’s easy to find, so we break down some of the best known and the harder-to-find savings tricks you should be using.
As a disclaimer on discounts, many deductions do not apply to your bottom line cost. Most cut the price of certain insurance coverages like liability and collision coverage. So when the math indicates all the discounts add up to a free policy, companies wouldn’t make money that way.
For a list of providers offering car insurance discounts, follow this link.
Auto insurance providers like Progressive, Allstate and Geico consistently run ads on television and other media. They all have a common claim of big savings if you change your policy. How do they all claim to save you money? It’s all in the numbers.
Different companies have a preferred profile for the right customer that makes them money. For example, a driver they prefer could be between 25 and 40, has no driving citations, and has great credit. A driver who meets those qualifications receives the best rates and is almost guaranteed to save when they switch companies.
Drivers who fall outside this ideal profile will be charged a higher premium which leads to business going elsewhere. The ad wording is “drivers who switch” but not “drivers who get quotes” save that kind of money. That’s the way insurance companies can confidently make the claims of big savings. That is why you should compare as many rates as you can. It’s impossible to know the company that will provide you with the cheapest Volkswagen GLI insurance rates.
When choosing adequate coverage for your personal vehicles, there really is no one size fits all plan. Your needs are not the same as everyone else’s so your insurance should reflect that For example, these questions could help you determine whether or not you might need professional guidance.
If you don’t know the answers to these questions but one or more may apply to you, you may need to chat with a licensed insurance agent. If you don’t have a local agent, take a second and complete this form or you can go here for a list of companies in your area.
Understanding the coverages of a auto insurance policy can be of help when determining the best coverages and proper limits and deductibles. The terms used in a policy can be confusing and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording. Shown next are the normal coverages offered by auto insurance companies.
Coverage for liability – This protects you from damage that occurs to other’s property or people in an accident. It protects you against claims from other people. 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 liability limits of 50/100/50 that translate to a limit of $50,000 per injured person, $100,000 for the entire accident, and a total limit of $50,000 for damage to vehicles and property.
Liability coverage pays for things like funeral expenses, bail bonds and attorney fees. The amount of liability coverage you purchase is a personal decision, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase as large an amount as possible.
UM/UIM (Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist) coverage – Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage provides protection from other drivers when they either are underinsured or have no liability coverage at all. Covered claims include medical payments for you and your occupants as well as your vehicle’s damage.
Since a lot of drivers carry very low liability coverage limits, it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. So UM/UIM coverage is very important.
Collision – Collision insurance covers damage to your GLI resulting from a collision with an object or car. A deductible applies and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.
Collision coverage protects against things such as hitting a mailbox, crashing into a ditch, scraping a guard rail, hitting a parking meter and colliding with another moving vehicle. This coverage can be expensive, so consider removing coverage from lower value vehicles. Drivers also have the option to increase the deductible to save money on collision insurance.
Comprehensive auto coverage – Comprehensive insurance pays for damage from a wide range of events other than collision. You need to pay your deductible first and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive can pay for things such as hail damage, theft, damage from flooding and fire damage. The maximum payout you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the actual cash value, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value consider dropping full coverage.
Medical payments and PIP coverage – Coverage for medical payments and/or PIP reimburse you for short-term medical expenses for things like funeral costs, nursing services, pain medications, ambulance fees and prosthetic devices. They are often used in conjunction with a health insurance plan or if there is no health insurance coverage. Medical payments and PIP cover both the driver and occupants and also covers getting struck while a pedestrian. Personal injury protection coverage is not available in all states and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay
We covered some good ideas how to get a better price on 2012 Volkswagen GLI insurance. The most important thing to understand is the more companies you get rates for, the higher the chance of saving money. You may even discover the biggest savings come from a small local company. Regional companies may have significantly lower rates on certain market segments as compared to the big name companies such as State Farm and Allstate.
When buying insurance coverage, you should never buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. Too many times, an accident victim reduced liability coverage limits only to regret that a couple dollars of savings turned into a financial nightmare. Your goal should be to find the BEST coverage at an affordable rate, not the least amount of coverage.
Low-cost insurance is possible both online and also from your neighborhood agents, so you should be comparing quotes from both to have the best rate selection. Some companies may not provide online price quotes and most of the time these small insurance companies sell through independent agents.
More tips and info about insurance coverage is located in the articles below: