Expensive car insurance can eat up your savings account and put the squeeze on your family’s finances. Having so many choices of insurance companies, it’s nearly impossible to find the cheapest insurer.
It’s a great practice to get comparison quotes once or twice a year because prices change quite often. Despite the fact that you may have had the lowest rates two years ago you can probably find a lower rate today. Forget anything you know (or think you know) about car insurance because it’s time to teach you how to use the internet to find lower rates on car insurance.
The are a couple different ways to obtain and compare prices from different companies. One of the best ways to find the cheapest insurance rates is to use the internet to compare rates. It’s really quite simple and can be done in several different ways.
- One of the simplest ways to compare a lot of rates at once is to use a rate comparison form click here to open form in new window. This style of form keeps you from doing separate quotation requests to each individual car insurance company. Taking the time to complete one form gets rate comparisons from multiple low-cost companies.
- A slightly less efficient method to compare prices consists of visiting each company website and fill out their own quote form. For example, let’s say you want to view quotes from Nationwide, Esurance and Geico. You would need to visit each site and repeatedly enter your information, which explains why we recommend starting with the first method. For a handy list of car insurance company links in Marsing, click here.
- The old school way to get rate quotes is going to different Marsing agent offices. The ability to get quotes online makes this unnecessary unless you want the advice and guidance of a local agency. Although, it is possible comparison shop your insurance online but purchase the actual policy in an agency.
Which method you use is up to you, but make sure you use identical information for each comparison quote. If your comparisons have different values for each quote it will be next to impossible to determine the best price in Marsing. Slightly different limits can mean a large discrepancy in price. And when comparison shopping, comparing a wide range of rates will improve the odds of getting a better price. Not every company provides prices over the internet, so you should also compare price estimates on coverage from those companies, too.
Informed consumers can reduce your rates
Lots of factors are used when you get your auto insurance bill. Some of the criteria are obvious like an MVR report, but other criteria are not quite as obvious like your vehicle usage or your commute time.
- Vocation can influence premiums – Do you work in a high-stress field? Jobs like doctorsairline pilots and stock brokers tend to have the highest rates because of high stress and long work hours. Conversely, jobs like farmers, students and the unemployed generally pay rates lower than average.
- Drive less and get lower premiums – The more you drive every year the higher your rate. Most insurance companies charge to insure your cars determined by how the vehicle is used. Autos left parked in the garage receive better premium rates than cars that get driven a lot. It’s always a good idea to double check that your car insurance policy reflects the correct driver usage, because improper ratings can cost you money.
- Women pay lower rates – Over the last 30 years, statistics show women are more cautious behind the wheel. It does not mean men are worse drivers. Men and women are responsible for at-fault accidents at about the same rate, but the males have costlier accidents. In addition to higher claims, males also have more aggressive citations like driving under the influence (DUI). Male teenagers are several times more likely to be in an accident and therefore are the most expensive to insure.
- Raising coverage deductibles lowers prices – Physical damage deductibles state the amount of money you are required to spend if a covered claim is submitted. Insurance for physical damage to your car, commonly called comprehensive (or other-than-collision) and collision coverage, insures against damage to your car. Some examples of covered claims would be colliding with a stationary object, damage from fire, or theft of your vehicle. The more the insured has to pay upfront, the lower your rates will be.
- Extra policy coverages can waste money – There are a lot of extra bells and whistles you can purchase but may not be useful. Insurance for rental car reimbursement, better glass coverage, and extra equipment coverage are probably not needed. They may sound like good ideas when talking to your agent, but if you have no use for them remove them from your policy.
- Buy as much liability coverage as you can afford – Liability insurance will provide protection in the event that you are ruled to be at fault for personal injury or accident damage. Your liability coverage provides legal defense coverage which can cost a lot. This coverage is very inexpensive compared to physical damage coverage, so do not cut corners here.
- Discounts for multiple policies – Lots of insurers provide lower prices to people who consolidate policies with them such as combining an auto and homeowners policy. The amount of the discounts can be ten or even up to twenty percent in some cases. Even if you’re getting this discount it’s in your best interest to check prices from other companies to ensure the best deal.There is a chance you can find lower rates by insuring with multiple companies.
- More people means more accidents – Residing in less populated areas of the country has definite advantages when it comes to car insurance. Urban drivers have more road rage incidents and much longer commute distances. Less people living in that area means a lower chance of having an accident as well as less vandalism and auto theft.
Car insurance discounts are available to cut your rates
Not too many consumers would say car insurance is affordable, but there may be some discounts that can drop the cost substantially. Most are applied when you quote, but some discounts are required to be manually applied before they will apply.
- Full Payment Discount – By making one initial payment as opposed to paying monthly you may reduce your total bill.
- Discount for Good Grades – A discount for being a good student can be rewarded with saving of up to 25%. The good student discount can last until age 25.
- Telematics Devices – People who choose to allow their car insurance company to monitor when and where they use their vehicle by using a telematics device such as Progressive’s Snapshot and State Farm’s In-Drive could save a few bucks as long as the data is positive.
- Savings for New Vehicles – Adding a new car to your policy can be considerably cheaper because new vehicles keep occupants safer.
- Marsing Homeowners Pay Less – Just owning your own home may trigger a policy discount on car insurance because it demonstrates responsibility.
- Drive Less and Save – Keeping the miles down can earn lower premium rates due to less chance of an accident.
- Resident Student – Children who are enrolled in higher education away from home and do not have a car could qualify for this discount.
It’s important to understand that most of the big mark downs will not be given the the whole policy. A few only apply to the cost of specific coverages such as liability, collision or medical payments. Even though it may seem like it’s possible to get free car insurance, you won’t be that lucky.
Some of the insurance companies that may offer policyholders most of these discounts possibly include:
If you want , ask every company which discounts can lower your rates. Some of the discounts discussed earlier may not apply to policies in your state. 
There’s no such thing as the perfect car insurance policy
When it comes to choosing coverage for your vehicles, there really is not a perfect coverage plan. Every situation is different and your policy should reflect that. These are some specific questions can help discover whether you might need an agent’s assistance.
- Will I lose any money if I cancel my policy before it expires?
- Does my policy cover me when driving someone else’s vehicle?
- Am I covered when pulling a rental trailer?
- Can I afford to buy a different vehicle if my vehicle is totaled?
- What can I do if my company denied a claim?
- Am I covered by my employer’s commercial auto policy when driving my personal car for business?
- Do I have coverage when making deliveries for my home business?
- When should my teen driver be added to my policy?
- How much liability do I need to cover my assets?
If you’re not sure about those questions but one or more may apply to you, you may need to chat with an insurance agent. If you want to speak to an agent in your area, simply complete this short form or go to this page to view a list of companies.
Shop online but buy locally
Some consumers still like to visit with an insurance agent and we recommend doing that One of the benefits of comparing insurance prices online is that you can obtain the lowest rates and still have a local agent. Buying from and supporting local insurance agents is important particularly in Marsing.
To find an agent, once you fill out this simple form, the coverage information is transmitted to local insurance agents in Marsing that can give you for your car insurance coverage. There is no reason to contact an agency due to the fact that quote results will go directly to you. You can get cheaper car insurance rates and an insurance agent to talk to. In the event you want to get a price quote for a specific company, you just need to navigate to their website and give them your coverage information.
If you need to find a reputable insurance agent or broker, there are a couple of different types of agencies and how they operate. Car insurance agencies are either independent (non-captive) or captive.
Independent Car Insurance Agencies
Agents of this type are not required to write business for one company so they have the ability to put coverage with an assortment of companies and possibly get better coverage at lower prices. If your agent finds better pricing, they simply move the coverage in-house and you stay with the same agent.
If you are comparing rate quotes, you will definitely want to include a couple of independent agencies for maximum quote selection.
Below are Marsing independent agents who can help you get competitive price quotes.
Haken Insurance – 7 Reich St – Marsing, ID 83639 – (208) 896-4154
Captive Insurance Agencies
Agents in the captive channel can only write with one company and examples are Farmers Insurance, State Farm, or Allstate. Captive agents are unable to give you multiple price quotes so if the price isn’t competitive there isn’t much they can do. They receive extensive training on their company’s products and that allows them to sell at a higher price point.
Finding the right insurance agency requires you to look at more than just the price. Any agent should be forthright in answering these questions:
- Is the agency covered by Errors and Omissions coverage?
- Who is covered by the car insurance policy?
- Do they have advanced training designations such as CPCU, AAI, AIC, or CIC?
- Are they full-time agents?
- How long have they worked with personal auto insurance coverage?
- Do they assist clients in filing claims?
One last thing
You just learned many ways to save on car insurance. The key concept to understand is the more rate comparisons you have, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. Consumers could even find that the most savings is with some of the smallest insurance companies. Regional companies may often insure only within specific states and give getter rates as compared to the big name companies such as Progressive and Geico.
When buying insurance coverage, make sure you don’t reduce needed coverages to save money. In many cases, someone dropped comprehensive coverage or liability limits and learned later that the savings was not a smart move. Your objective should be to buy enough coverage for the lowest cost and still be able to protect your assets.
Additional car insurance information is available on the found here. Idaho consumers can learn about insurance regulations, find disaster information, and view a list of available companies.