Tired of being strong-armed each month for car insurance? Your situation is no different than most other car owners in North Dakota.
Because there are so many options, it can be hard to pick the right car insurance company.
It’s important to check auto insurance prices before your policy renews because rates change frequently. If you had the lowest rates two years ago you will most likely find a better rate today. There is a lot of bad information regarding auto insurance online, so by reading this article, you’re going to learn some of the best ways to stop overpaying for insurance.
Do you qualify for discounts?
Properly insuring your vehicles can get expensive, but there could be available discounts to help offset the cost. Some trigger automatically at the time of purchase, but lesser-known reductions have to be requested specifically prior to getting the savings.
- Early Switch Discount – Some insurance companies reward drivers for switching policies before your current policy expires. It’s a savings of about 10%.
- No Charge for an Accident – A handful of insurance companies will allow you to have one accident before raising your premiums so long as you haven’t had any claims for a certain period of time.
- Discount for New Cars – Adding a new car to your policy can cost up to 25% less since new cars are generally safer.
- 55 and Retired – If you’re over the age of 55, you may be able to get a small decrease in premiums.
- Multiple Policy Discount – When you have multiple policies with one insurance company you will save 10% to 20% off each policy.
- Braking Control Discount – Cars that have steering control and anti-lock brakes are safer to drive and earn discounts up to 10%.
- Safe Drivers – Drivers who don’t get into accidents can pay as much as 50% less than drivers with accidents.
- Good Students Pay Less – Getting good grades can earn a discount of 20% or more. The discount lasts until age 25.
- Seat Belts Save more than Lives – Using a seat belt and requiring all passengers to buckle their seat belts can save 10% or more on the medical payments or PIP coverage costs.
As a disclaimer on discounts, some credits don’t apply to the overall cost of the policy. The majority will only reduce individual premiums such as comprehensive or collision. Even though it may seem like you could get a free auto insurance policy, it doesn’t quite work that way. But any discount will reduce the amount you have to pay.
How to Compare Auto Insurance Quotes in Carrington, North Dakota
Most companies such as Progressive, Allstate and Geico allow you to get prices for coverage directly from their websites. Obtaining pricing doesn’t take much effort as you simply type in your required coverages into the quote form. Upon sending the form, their rating system will order your driving and credit reports and quotes a price determined by many factors. This streamlines rate comparisons, but the work required to visit a lot of sites and enter the same data into a form can be a bit tiresome and repetitive. But it’s absolutely necessary to get many rate quotes in order to get the lowest auto insurance rates.
Isn’t there an easier way to compare rates?
The easiest way to lower your auto insurance bill uses one form to return rates from several companies at one time. The form is fast, requires less work, and makes online price comparison a little more enjoyable. As soon as you send your information, it is quoted and you are able to buy any one of the quotes that you receive.
If one or more price quotes are lower than your current rates, you can click and sign and buy the new coverage. It takes less than 15 minutes and may result in a nice savings.
If you want to compare pricing, click here to open in a new tab and complete the simple form. To compare your current rates, we recommend that you enter deductibles and limits as close as possible to your current policy. This helps ensure you will have rate quotes based on identical coverages.<img class="alignright" style="padding-top:15px;" src="https://www.carinsurancediy.com/wp-content/uploads/ci175-118.jpg" alt="North Dakota car insurance prices”/>
Components of your insurance rates
It’s important that you understand some of the elements that come into play when calculating your auto insurance rates. Having a good understanding of what impacts premium levels enables informed choices that could result in big savings.
- The more you drive the more you pay – The more you drive each year the more you’ll pay to insure your vehicle. The majority of insurers price each vehicle’s coverage based on their usage. Autos that are left in the garage get more affordable rates than vehicles that are driven to work every day. Verify your auto insurance policy shows the correct driver usage.
- Men pay higher rates – Statistics demonstrate women tend to be less risk to insure than men. Now that doesn’t mean men are WORSE drivers than women. Women and men tend to get into accidents at a similar rate, but men tend to have more serious accidents. Men also have more aggressive citations such as reckless driving.
- You might want pay the small claims yourself – If you file claims often, you can pretty much guarantee either policy cancellation or increased premiums. Insurance companies in North Dakota generally give discounts to drivers who do not rely on their insurance for small claims. Your insurance policy is intended for the large, substantial claims.
- How credit affects auto insurance rates – Your credit history is a important factor in your rate calculation. Therefore, if your credit history is not that good, you could pay less to insure your by repairing your credit. Drivers with high credit scores tend to file fewer claims and have better driving records as compared to drivers with lower credit scores.
- Better crash test results mean better rates – Vehicles with good safety scores can get you lower premiums. Safe vehicles result in less severe injuries and fewer injuries means less money paid by your insurance company and more competitive rates for policyholders.
- How your age affects price – Teen drivers in North Dakota have a tendency to be careless and easily distracted behind the wheel so auto insurance rates are higher. Parents adding a teenage driver to your auto insurance policy can really hurt. Older drivers are more cautious drivers, tend to cause fewer accidents and receive fewer citations.
- Protect yourself with liability coverage – Liability insurance is the coverage that protects you if a jury decides you are liable for causing damage or personal injury in an accident. It will provide for a legal defense which can cost thousands of dollars. Carrying liability coverage is mandatory and cheap compared to physical damage coverage, so drivers should carry high limits.
- Your car’s features help determine rates – Owning a car with a theft deterrent system can help bring down rates. Anti-theft devices like tamper alarm systems, vehicle immobilizer technology and General Motors OnStar can help prevent your vehicle from being stolen.
But I prefer to buy car insurance from an agent
A small number of people just want to buy from a licensed agent and that is OK! One of the great benefits of getting online price quotes is that you can obtain the lowest rates but also keep your business local. Supporting local businesses is definitely important in Carrington.
To make it easy to find an agent, after completing this simple form, your insurance coverage information is submitted to insurance agents in Carrington who will compete for your business. There is no need to drive around since price quotes are sent to your email. It doesn’t get any easier! It’s the lowest rates AND a local agent.
Types of car insurance agents in Carrington
If you’re trying to find a good insurance agency, there are two different types of agents to choose from. Agents are either independent or captive.
Independent Agents (or Brokers)
These agents are not employed by any specific company so they can insure your vehicles with multiple insurance companies and potentially find a lower price. If your agent finds better pricing, an independent agent can move your coverage and you won’t have to switch agencies.
When comparing rates, it’s recommended you include price quotes from several independent insurance agents to ensure the widest selection of prices.
Listed below are independent agencies in Carrington that can give you price quotes.
Bickett Insurance and Leasing – 320 Highway 281 NE – Carrington, ND 58421 – (701) 652-1775
Mid States Insurance – 56 9th Ave S – Carrington, ND 58421 – (701) 652-2895
Agency Captives
Captive agents work for only one company like AAA, State Farm, Farmers Insurance and Allstate. These agents are not able to give you multiple price quotes so they have to upsell other benefits. These agents are trained well on their company’s products and that can be a competitive advantage.
Choosing an auto insurance agent needs to be determined by more than just the price. Here are some questions to ask:
- Do they have adequate Errors and Ommissions coverage? This protects you if they make a mistake.
- If you have an accident, are you able to get your vehicle repaired at the shop of your choice?
- Is the agency involved in supporting local community causes?
- Is assistance available after office hours?
- Does the agency have a good rating with the Better Business Bureau?
- Are they full-time agents?
- Do you have coverage for a rental car if your vehicle is in the repair shop?
- Can glass repairs be made at your home?
Upon receiving positive responses to any questions you have and an acceptable price quote, you’ve probably found an insurance agency that is a good match to service your policy.
And the best car insurance company is…
We covered a lot of ways to lower your auto insurance rates. The key thing to remember is the more price quotes you have, the higher the chance of saving money. You may be surprised to find that the lowest priced auto insurance comes from a company that doesn’t do a lot of advertising. Smaller companies may often insure only within specific states and give getter rates than the large multi-state companies such as State Farm or Progressive.
The cheapest auto insurance is available online as well as from independent agents in Carrington, so compare prices from both to have the best chance of lowering rates. There are still a few companies who don’t offer online quoting and these small, regional companies work with independent agents.
More information about auto insurance
Additional information can be found on the website for the North Dakota Insurance Department located here. North Dakota consumers can view agent and company licensing information, read industry bulletins, and get help finding coverage.
Other informative sites include this site for rates in North Dakota and this link which helps you find a Carrington agent.