When looking for lower-priced insurance, are you confused by the dozens of car insurance providers in Oak Park? Illinois consumers have such a vast assortment of providers available that it can easily turn into a difficult challenge to find better prices. If you’ve ever been there, you know that Oak Park is an excellent city in which to live, but high car insurance premiums can make it nearly impossible to afford coverage.
You need to price shop coverage before your policy renews because car insurance rates trend upward over time. Even if you think you had the best deal six months ago there may be better deals available now. Ignore everything you know about car insurance because you’re going to get a crash course in the best way to properly buy coverages and cut your premium.
What impacts Oak Park car insurance prices?
Many things are taken into consideration when pricing auto insurance. Some are obvious like a motor vehicle report, but other criteria are not as apparent like your continuous coverage or your commute time.
The following are some of the items used by your company to calculate your rates.
- Car plus home equals more savings – Some insurers afford discounts to buyers who have multiple policies with them such as combining an auto and homeowners policy. Even if you’re getting this discount you still need to compare other company rates to ensure the best deal.
- Choose high IIHS safety ratings and save – Vehicles with high crash test scores tend to have better insurance rates. The safest vehicles have better occupant injury protection and fewer injuries translates directly to fewer claims passed on to you as lower rates.
- Get a ticket, pay higher costs – Getting just one ticket could increase your next policy renewal by as much as thirty percent. Drivers who don’t get tickets have lower premiums compared to bad drivers. Drivers who get license-revoking violations like DUI or reckless driving are required to file a SR-22 with their state’s department of motor vehicles in order to prevent their license from being revoked.
- Guys pay higher premiums – The statistics show that women are safer drivers than men. Now that doesn’t mean men are WORSE drivers than women. Females and males tend to get into accidents in similar percentages, but guys cause more damage. Men also tend to get more serious tickets like DUI and reckless driving. Teenage male drivers are the most expensive to insure and thus pay the highest rates.
- Lower deductibles cost more – Insurance for physical damage, otherwise known as comp (or other than collision) and collision, is used to repair damage to your car. Examples of some claims that would be covered would be a broken windshield, damage from fire, and damage caused by flying debris. The deductibles you choose are how much you are willing to pay if a covered claim is submitted. The higher the amount the insured is willing to pay, the better rate you will receive.
- Do you really need the incidental coverages? – There are a ton of extra coverages that you can buy on your car insurance policy. Coverages for roadside assistance, accident forgiveness, and term life insurance may be wasting your money. These coverages may sound good when talking to your agent, but if you don’t need them remove them and pocket the money.
- Fast cars cost more to insure – The performance level of the car, truck or SUV you own makes a substantial difference in determining your rates. Small economy passenger models usually have the lowest rates, but there are many factors that impact the final cost.
- Married drivers pay less – Your spouse may save some money on your car insurance bill. It demonstrates that you tend to be more mature and insurance companies like that drivers who are married file infrequent claims.
Finding cheap car insurance prices is actually quite simple. You just have to spend a few minutes on the computer comparing to find out which insurance company has . Comparing prices online can be done in several different ways.
- The fastest way to get quotes for comparison is an all-inclusive rate comparison click here to open form in new window. This type of form saves time by eliminating a different quote for every company. Taking the time to complete one form gets insurance cost estimates from all major companies.It’s the quickest way to get rates.
- A more time consuming way to analyze rates is spending the time to visit each company website to complete their respective quote request forms. For examples sake, let’s say you want rates from Farmers, Liberty Mutual and GMAC. You would need to go to each individual site and type in your information over and over, and that explains why we recommend the first method.
To view a list of companies in Oak Park, click here.
You can choose any of those ways to find more affodable coverage, but make darn sure you compare nearly identical coverages and limits on every quote you get. If the quotes have unequal deductibles or liability limits you can’t possibly determine which rate is truly the best in Oak Park.
Cheaper rates with these discounts
Car insurance is not cheap nor is it fun to buy but you can get discounts to help bring down the price. Certain discounts will be applied when you get a quote, but a few need to be asked about in order for you to get them.
- Oak Park Homeowners Pay Less – Being a homeowner can earn you a little savings because of the fact that having a home shows financial diligence.
- Discounts for Safe Drivers – Drivers without accidents can save as much as half off their rates than drivers with accident claims.
- Clubs and Organizations – Having an affiliation with a qualifying organization can get you a small discount on car insurance.
- Full Payment Discount – By paying your policy upfront instead of paying each month you could save up to 5%.
- Safety Course Discount – Passing a class that teaches driver safety techniques can save you 5% or more if your company offers it.
- Switch and Save Discount – A few insurance companies offer discounts for switching to them prior to the expiration date on your current policy. This discount can save up to 10%.
- Discounts for Government Workers – Active or former government employment could provide a small rate reduction with certain companies.
- Driving Data Discount – Insureds that choose to allow companies to spy on where and when they drive through the use of a telematics system such as Progressive’s Snapshot could see a rate decrease if they are good drivers.
- Accident Forgiveness Coverage – but a few companies such as Libery Mutual, Geico and Allstate will let one accident slide before hitting you with a surcharge if you have no claims prior to being involved in the accident.
- Theft Prevention Discount – Cars, trucks, and SUVs with anti-theft systems are stolen with less frequency and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
Discounts reduce rates, but you should keep in mind that most discounts do not apply to the entire cost. Most cut the cost of specific coverages such as comp or med pay. Even though it appears adding up those discounts means a free policy, nobody gets a free ride.
The best car insurance companies and a partial list of their discounts can be read below.
- Progressive may have discounts that include online quote discount, multi-policy, online signing, homeowner, good student, and multi-vehicle.
- Farmers Insurance includes discounts for multi-car, switch companies, youthful driver, electronic funds transfer, and early shopping.
- Farm Bureau offers discounts including good student, driver training, 55 and retired, multi-policy, multi-vehicle, renewal discount, and safe driver.
- State Farm may include discounts for Drive Safe & Save, anti-theft, multiple policy, passive restraint, Steer Clear safe driver discount, and multiple autos.
- Geico has savings for military active duty, anti-lock brakes, membership and employees, anti-theft, good student, and multi-policy.
- SAFECO offers premium reductions for teen safety rewards, accident prevention training, anti-lock brakes, bundle discounts, homeowner, anti-theft, and teen safe driver.
- Liberty Mutual may offer discounts for safety features, good student, new vehicle discount, newly retired, and exclusive group savings.
If you need , ask every prospective company the best way to save money. Discounts may not apply to policies in Oak Park. To locate companies that offer many of these discounts in Oak Park, click here to view.
More tips and info about car insurance is located at the Illinois Department of Insurance website. Illinois consumers can view a list of available companies, read consumer alerts, and read industry bulletins.
The following articles may also be useful.
Cheaper car insurance is a realistic goal
Insureds switch companies for any number of reasons including not issuing a premium refund, an unsatisfactory settlement offer, policy non-renewal and even denial of a claim. No matter why you want to switch, finding the right car insurance provider can be less work than you think.
Affordable car insurance can be found from both online companies in addition to local insurance agencies, and you should be comparing both so you have a total pricing picture. Some insurance companies don’t offer price quotes online and many times these small insurance companies only sell through local independent agencies.
We just covered many ways to compare car insurance premium rates online. The key thing to remember is the more price quotes you have, the better your chances of lowering your prices. You may even discover the best price on car insurance is with some of the smallest insurance companies.