No one likes paying for car insurance, in particular when their premiums are through the roof.
Many insurance companies compete for your insurance dollar, and because of this it can be hard to compare insurance companies to find the absolute cheapest price
You should make it a habit to do rate comparisons every six months because prices fluctuate regularly. Even if you got the best deal for Taurus insurance a few years ago there is a good chance you can find better rates now. Forget anything you know (or think you know) about car insurance because I’m going to let you in on the secrets to the only way to eliminate unnecessary coverages and save money.
Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, but companies offer discounts that can drop the cost substantially. Certain discounts will be applied when you get a quote, but lesser-known reductions have to be asked for before you get the savings.
Keep in mind that most discount credits are not given to the entire policy premium. Some only reduce individual premiums such as comprehensive or collision. Even though it may seem like adding up those discounts means a free policy, companies wouldn’t make money that way. Any qualifying discounts will bring down the amount you have to pay.
Car insurance companies that possibly offer these discounts include:
It’s a good idea to ask each company what discounts are available to you. All car insurance discounts might not be offered everywhere.
The method we recommend to compare insurance rates from multiple companies is to know most of the larger companies have advanced systems to give you rate quotes. To start a quote, the only thing you need to do is provide information such as if your license is active, if a SR-22 is required, what your job is, and if you’re married. The rating information is sent automatically to multiple top-rated companies and they return quotes very quickly.
It’s important that you understand the factors that help determine the price you pay for insurance. Having a good understanding of what controls the rates you pay helps enable you to make changes that may reward you with big savings.
When choosing the best auto insurance coverage, there isn’t really a “best” method to buy coverage. Every situation is different so this has to be addressed. For instance, these questions might help in determining whether your personal situation might need an agent’s assistance.
If you’re not sure about those questions but you know they apply to you, you may need to chat with an agent. If you don’t have a local agent, complete this form or click here for a list of auto insurance companies in your area.
Insurance providers like State Farm, Geico and Progressive consistently run television and radio advertisements. They all say the same thing of big savings if you change your coverage to them. How does each company say the same thing?
All the different companies have a certain “appetite” for the type of customer that makes them money. For example, a profitable customer might be profiled as between 25 and 40, has no prior claims, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. A driver who meets those qualifications gets the lowest rates and as a result will probably save quite a bit of money when switching.
Drivers who are not a match for the requirements will have to pay higher premiums and this can result in the driver buying from a lower-cost company. Company advertisements say “customers who switch” not “everyone that quotes” save that kind of money. That’s the way companies can state the savings.
Because of the profiling, drivers must get as many comparisons as possible. You cannot predict the company that will have the lowest Ford Taurus insurance rates.
Knowing the specifics of your car insurance policy aids in choosing which coverages you need for your vehicles. The terms used in a policy can be difficult to understand and nobody wants to actually read their policy. Below you’ll find typical coverages offered by car insurance companies.
Med pay and Personal Injury Protection (PIP) – Coverage for medical payments and/or PIP pay for immediate expenses for things like prosthetic devices, EMT expenses and surgery. They are often used to fill the gap from your health insurance policy or if you lack health insurance entirely. Medical payments and PIP cover you and your occupants and will also cover getting struck while a pedestrian. Personal Injury Protection is not universally available and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay
Collision coverages – Collision insurance covers damage to your Taurus resulting from a collision with an object or car. You have to pay a deductible then your collision coverage will kick in.
Collision insurance covers claims such as scraping a guard rail, driving through your garage door, crashing into a ditch and hitting a mailbox. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so consider dropping it from older vehicles. You can also raise the deductible to bring the cost down.
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) – Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage protects you and your vehicle when other motorists are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. Covered claims include hospital bills for your injuries and damage to your Ford Taurus.
Since a lot of drivers have only the minimum liability required by law, their liability coverage can quickly be exhausted. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is a good idea. Usually your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages are similar to your liability insurance amounts.
Liability coverage – This coverage can cover injuries or damage you cause to a person or their property by causing an accident. This coverage protects you from legal claims by others. Liability doesn’t cover damage sustained by your vehicle in an accident.
Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: per person bodily injury, per accident bodily injury, and a property damage limit. As an example, you may have values of 100/300/100 which stand for a limit of $100,000 per injured person, a per accident bodily injury limit of $300,000, and $100,000 of coverage for damaged propery. Occasionally you may see a combined limit which combines the three limits into one amount without having the split limit caps.
Liability coverage pays for claims such as loss of income, repair costs for stationary objects and repair bills for other people’s vehicles. How much liability should you purchase? That is up to you, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase as large an amount as possible.
Comprehensive insurance – Comprehensive insurance coverage pays for damage OTHER than collision with another vehicle or object. You need to pay your deductible first and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive can pay for things such as hitting a bird, falling objects and hitting a deer. The most a car insurance company will pay at claim time is the ACV or actual cash value, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value it’s not worth carrying full coverage.
As you go through the steps to switch your coverage, it’s not a good idea to sacrifice coverage to reduce premiums. There are too many instances where an accident victim reduced uninsured motorist or liability limits only to discover later they didn’t have enough coverage. Your strategy should be to buy enough coverage at a price you can afford while not skimping on critical coverages.
We covered some good ideas how to lower your 2013 Ford Taurus insurance rates. The most important thing to understand is the more providers you compare, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. Consumers may even find the lowest rates come from a small local company. These smaller insurers can often provide lower rates in certain areas than their larger competitors like Allstate, Geico and Progressive.
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