Do you think you bought overpriced auto insurance? You’re in good company because you’re not the only one. People have so many insurance companies to pick from, and although it’s a good thing to have a selection, it makes it harder to find the best rates.
Locating the cheapest protection in Traverse City is not that difficult. Essentially anyone who is required by state law to have auto insurance stands a good chance to be able to cut their insurance bill. But Michigan vehicle owners should learn the methods companies use to market on the web because it can help you find the best coverage.
Comparing auto insurance rates can be a daunting task if you aren’t aware of the most efficient way to do it. You can waste hours driving to local insurance agents in Traverse City, or you could use online quotes to achieve your goal.
Many of the larger companies participate in an industry program where prospective buyers submit their information once, and each company provides a quote determined by their information. This prevents consumers from doing form submissions to every company.
To get comparison pricing now click here (opens in new window).
The one disadvantage to getting quotes like this is you can’t choose which companies to get pricing from. If you prefer to choose specific providers to receive pricing from, we have a page of auto insurance companies in Michigan. Click to view list.
How you compare quotes is your choice, just be sure to compare nearly identical coverage data for every quote you compare. If you are comparing mixed coverages it will be nearly impossible to make a fair comparison in Traverse City. Having just a slight variation in insurance coverages or limits may result in large price differences. Keep in mind that comparing a wide range of rates will enable you to find a lower rate than you’re paying now. Not every company allows you to get price estimates online, so it’s important to compare quotes on coverage from those companies, too.
Don’t overlook these six auto insurance discounts
Some companies don’t always advertise every disount available very clearly, so below is a list a few of the more common as well as some of the hidden discounts you could be receiving when you .
- Multiple Vehicles – Buying insurance for more than one vehicle on one policy can get a discount for every vehicle.
- Multi-policy Discount – If you can bundle your auto and homeowners insurance and insure them with the same company they may give you a discount of up to 20% off your total premium.
- Paperwork-free – Certain auto insurance companies will provide an incentive for buying your policy on the web.
- Federal Employees – Being employed by or retired from a federal job could provide a small rate reduction depending on your auto insurance provider.
- Passive Restraints and Air Bags – Factory options such as air bags or automatic seat belts could see savings up to 30%.
- Defensive Driver Discounts – Participating in a driver safety class could earn you a small percentage discount if your company offers it.
A little disclaimer on discounts, some credits don’t apply the the whole policy. Most only cut specific coverage prices like comp or med pay. Just because you may think adding up those discounts means a free policy, it’s just not the way it works.
Larger auto insurance companies and the discounts they provide include:
- State Farm policyholders can earn discounts including good driver, accident-free, defensive driving training, driver’s education, multiple autos, multiple policy, and Steer Clear safe driver discount.
- American Family may include discounts for TimeAway discount, defensive driver, bundled insurance, multi-vehicle, Steer into Savings, accident-free, and mySafetyValet.
- AAA has discounts for pay-in-full, multi-car, good student, AAA membership discount, and multi-policy.
- Geico offers discounts for federal employee, good student, daytime running lights, seat belt use, air bags, emergency military deployment, and membership and employees.
- Mercury Insurance may have discounts that include multi-policy, annual mileage, good driver, age of vehicle, and location of vehicle.
- Farmers Insurance includes discounts for business and professional, early shopping, mature driver, electronic funds transfer, and alternative fuel.
- Progressive offers premium reductions for homeowner, continuous coverage, online quote discount, multi-policy, multi-vehicle, good student, and online signing.
Double check with each insurance company what discounts are available to you. All car insurance discounts may not be offered in your area. To view insurers that can offer you the previously mentioned discounts in Traverse City, click this link.
Local insurance agents
Many drivers prefer to talk to an insurance agent and that is not a bad decision A good thing about comparing insurance prices online is the fact that you can find cheap auto insurance quotes and still have an agent to talk to. Buying insurance from local insurance agencies is especially important in Traverse City.
By using this form (opens in new window), the quote information gets sent to agents in your area who will return price quotes for your insurance coverage. There is no need to search for any insurance agencies because prices are sent to the email address you provide. You can find better rates without the usual hassles of price shopping. If you need to get a rate quote from one company in particular, you can always visit that company’s website to submit a rate quote request.
Compare rates from both independent and captive auto insurance agents
If you would like to find a good Traverse City insurance agent, you should know the types of agencies and how they are slightly different. Auto insurance agents may be either independent (non-captive) or captive.
Independent Auto Insurance Agencies or Brokers
Agents that elect to be independent often have affiliation with several companies so they can write business amongst many companies depending on which coverage is best. If they quote lower rates, the business is moved internally and that require little work on your part.
If you are comparing rate quotes, we highly recommend that you get some free quotes from a few independent agents to have the most options to choose from.
Listed below is a list of independent agencies in Traverse City that can give you price quotes.
Doug Baumbardner Agency – 1231 M 37 S – Traverse City, MI 49684 – (231) 943-0340
Mc Nish Agency Inc – 880 Munson Ave # F – Traverse City, MI 49686 – (231) 947-3158
Cincinnati Insurance Co – 2999 Ridge Trail Dr – Traverse City, MI 49684 – (231) 943-0655
Loomis Agency – 616 E 8th St – Traverse City, MI 49686 – (231) 947-0315
C and M Insurance – 335 S Airport Rd W # E – Traverse City, MI 49686 – (231) 946-8300
Captive Insurance Agents
Captive agents generally can only insure with one company such as American Family, State Farm, and Allstate. They usually cannot give you multiple price quotes so they have to upsell other benefits. These agents are highly trained on sales techniques which helps them sell on service rather than price.
Shown below are Traverse City captive agencies that are able to give rate quotes.
State Farm Insurance – 10161 E Pickwick Ct – Traverse City, MI 49684 – (231) 946-8790
Allstate Insurance – 2774 Garfield Rd N – Traverse City, MI 49686 – (231) 947-4400
Farm Bureau Insurance – 3403 Veterans Dr – Traverse City, MI 49684 – (231) 933-1135
To find insurance agencies near you, feel free to see this page of Traverse City auto insurance agencies.
Finding a good auto insurance agent shouldn’t rely on just the premium amount. Any agent should be forthright in answering these questions:
- Do the companies they represent have a solid financial rating?
- How long has their agency been open in Traverse City?
- Is the agent CPCU or CIC certified?
- Does the quote include credit and driving reports?
- Are they able to provide referrals?
- Does their agency support local causes in Traverse City?
- How often do they review policy coverages?
- Are they primarily personal or commercial lines agents?
After you get good answers to any questions you may have as well as an affordable premium quote, chances are good that you have found an auto insurance agent that can properly insure your vehicles. Just keep in mind it’s your coverage and you can cancel a policy whenever you choose to so don’t assume that you’re stuck with a specific agent for the full policy term.
Specific coverage details
Knowing the specifics of your auto insurance policy aids in choosing the right coverages for your vehicles. Policy terminology can be difficult to understand and nobody wants to actually read their policy. Shown next are typical coverages offered by auto insurance companies.
Uninsured or underinsured coverage – Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage gives you protection from other drivers when they either have no liability insurance or not enough. Covered losses include hospital bills for your injuries and damage to your vehicle.
Due to the fact that many Michigan drivers only purchase the least amount of liability that is required (20/40/10), their limits can quickly be used up. That’s why carrying high Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage should not be overlooked. Usually these limits are similar to your liability insurance amounts.
Liability insurance – Liability insurance can cover damages or injuries you inflict on a person or their property by causing an accident. Liability coverage has three limits: bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. You might see policy limits of 50/100/50 that translate to a limit of $50,000 per injured person, a per accident bodily injury limit of $100,000, and $50,000 of coverage for damaged propery. Another option is a combined limit which combines the three limits into one amount and claims can be made without the split limit restrictions.
Liability coverage protects against claims like loss of income, legal defense fees, medical expenses and pain and suffering. How much liability should you purchase? That is up to you, but consider buying as high a limit as you can afford. Michigan requires drivers to carry at least 20,000/40,000/10,000 but it’s recommended drivers buy higher limits.
Collision coverages – Collision coverage pays to fix your vehicle from damage from colliding with a stationary object or other vehicle. You will need to pay your deductible then your collision coverage will kick in.
Collision coverage pays for claims such as driving through your garage door, rolling your car, colliding with another moving vehicle, backing into a parked car and hitting a parking meter. Paying for collision coverage can be pricey, so consider removing coverage from lower value vehicles. Drivers also have the option to increase the deductible to save money on collision insurance.
Comprehensive protection – Comprehensive insurance will pay to fix damage from a wide range of events other than collision. You need to pay your deductible first and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive coverage protects against things like a broken windshield, damage from a tornado or hurricane and falling objects. The highest amount you’ll receive from a claim is the cash value of the vehicle, so if the vehicle is not worth much consider removing comprehensive coverage.
Medical expense coverage – Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance pay for short-term medical expenses for things like dental work, rehabilitation expenses, X-ray expenses, chiropractic care and EMT expenses. They are used to cover expenses not covered by your health insurance plan or if you do not have health coverage. It covers you and your occupants in addition to getting struck while a pedestrian. Personal injury protection coverage is not available in all states and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay
Summing up your auto insurance search
Budget-conscious auto insurance can be found from both online companies in addition to many Traverse City insurance agents, and you should compare price quotes from both in order to have the best chance of saving money. Some insurance providers do not offer rate quotes online and many times these regional carriers prefer to sell through independent agents.
In this article, we presented a lot of techniques to compare auto insurance rates online. It’s most important to understand that the more times you quote, the higher your chance of finding . You may even find the biggest savings come from the smaller companies. These companies may only write in your state and offer lower car insurance rates as compared to the big name companies such as Allstate or State Farm.
More information can be found on the . Click here for link. Visitors are able to read industry bulletins, view a list of available companies, learn about insurance regulations, and discover disciplinary actions.
Other informative sites include this site for rates in Michigan and this list of agents in Traverse City, MI.