Overpriced car insurance can deplete your savings account, especially in this economy. Comparing cost estimates can be a smart way to ensure you are getting the best deal.
Popular companies such as Allstate and Progressive all claim big savings, bombarding you with fancy advertisements and it is difficult to separate fact from fiction and do the work needed to find the best deal.
It’s smart to do price comparisons once or twice a year because insurance prices are variable and change quite frequently. Even if you think you had the best price for Levante insurance two years ago other companies may now be cheaper. You’ll find a ton of advice on car insurance online but in a few minutes you can learn some solid techniques on how to put money back in your pocket.
Performing a rate comparison can be a lot of work if you don’t utilize the fastest way to get free quotes. You can waste a few hours (or days) talking about coverages with insurance companies in your area, or you could save time and use online quotes for quick rates.
Many companies take part in a program that allows shoppers to enter their policy data once, and every company returns a rated price for coverage. This prevents consumers from doing quotation requests for each company.
To find out how much you can save on car insurance click to open in new window.
The one downside to using this type of form is that consumers can’t choose which companies you want to price. If you would rather choose individual companies for rate comparison, we have a page of the cheapest car insurance companies in your area. Click here for list of insurance companies.
You can use whichever method you prefer to find lower rates, just make darn sure you compare exactly the same quote information for every quote you compare. If each company quotes mixed coverages you will not be able to determine which rate is truly the best.
Insurance is neither fun to buy or cheap, but you may qualify for discounts that you may not even be aware of. Some discounts will apply at the time you complete a quote, but some must be asked about before being credited.
It’s important to note that some credits don’t apply to the entire cost. Most only reduce specific coverage prices like physical damage coverage or medical payments. So when the math indicates having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, it just doesn’t work that way.
A list of companies and their possible discounts include:
When getting a coverage quote, ask every company the best way to save money. A few discounts might not be offered on policies in your area. To view companies that offer some of these discounts, click here.
When it comes to buying coverage for your vehicles, there is no one size fits all plan. Everyone’s situation is a little different so your insurance needs to address that. These are some specific questions may help highlight whether or not you may require specific advice.
If you can’t answer these questions but one or more may apply to you, then you may want to think about talking to an agent. If you want to speak to an agent in your area, complete this form or click here for a list of insurance coverage companies in your area. It’s fast, free and can provide invaluable advice.
Understanding the coverages of your policy can be of help when determining the right coverages at the best deductibles and correct limits. Insurance terms can be impossible to understand and reading a policy is terribly boring. Listed below are the normal coverages found on the average insurance policy.
Liability car insurance
This coverage provides protection from damage that occurs to other’s property or people. 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. Your policy might show limits of 100/300/100 which stand for $100,000 bodily injury coverage, a per accident bodily injury limit of $300,000, and a total limit of $100,000 for damage to vehicles and property. Another option is one limit called combined single limit (CSL) which provides one coverage limit rather than limiting it on a per person basis.
Liability coverage pays for claims such as medical expenses, repair bills for other people’s vehicles and structural damage. How much liability coverage do you need? That is up to you, but buy as large an amount as possible.
Coverage for uninsured or underinsured drivers
This protects you and your vehicle from other drivers when they either have no liability insurance or not enough. It can pay for injuries sustained by your vehicle’s occupants as well as your vehicle’s damage.
Since many drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits, it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. That’s why carrying high Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage is a good idea. Most of the time these limits do not exceed the liability coverage limits.
Comprehensive insurance
Comprehensive insurance coverage covers damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. A deductible will apply and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive insurance covers claims like theft, vandalism, a tree branch falling on your vehicle, hail damage and hitting a deer. The maximum payout you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if the vehicle’s value is low consider dropping full coverage.
Collision insurance
This coverage will pay to fix damage to your Levante resulting from a collision with an object or car. You first must pay a deductible then your collision coverage will kick in.
Collision can pay for claims such as scraping a guard rail, sustaining damage from a pot hole, colliding with another moving vehicle, rolling your car and sideswiping another vehicle. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so you might think about dropping it from vehicles that are 8 years or older. You can also raise the deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.
Coverage for medical expenses
Med pay and PIP coverage kick in for immediate expenses for dental work, ambulance fees, doctor visits, prosthetic devices and X-ray expenses. They are often used to cover expenses not covered by your health insurance plan or if you lack health insurance entirely. Medical payments and PIP cover all vehicle occupants and also covers getting struck while a pedestrian. Personal injury protection coverage is only offered in select states but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage