No car owner likes buying auto insurance, especially when they are aware that they are paying too much. There is such a variety of auto insurance companies to pick from, and even though it’s nice to be able to choose, lots of choices makes it harder to compare rates.
All the larger auto insurance companies allow you to get price estimates on their websites. Obtaining pricing is very simple as you simply enter your personal and coverage information on the page. After the form is submitted, their quoting system requests reports for credit and driving violations and generates pricing information based on the data you entered. This makes it simple to compare prices but the work required to visit each company’s website and repetitively fill out multiple forms is a big time waster. But it’s necessary to do this in order to find the best price on auto insurance.
There is an easier way to compare rates
An easier way to find lower prices is to use a quote form that obtains quotes from more than one company. It’s a real time-saver, requires much less work on your part, and makes online price comparison a lot less work. Once the form is submitted, it gets priced and you are able to buy your choice of the resulting price quotes. If one or more price quotes are lower than your current rates, you simply finish the application and buy the policy. It can be completed in less than 10 minutes and you’ll know if lower rates are available.
To save time and find out if lower rates are available, click here to open in new window and submit the form. If you have coverage now, it’s recommended you replicate deductibles and limits exactly as shown on your declarations page. This helps ensure you will be getting rate comparison quotes based on the exact same insurance coverage.
Auto insurance quotes and discounts
Not many people think insurance is cheap, but there could be significant discounts to help bring down the price. Larger premium reductions will be automatically applied at the time you complete a quote, but a few must be requested specifically prior to getting the savings.
- Pay Now and Pay Less – By making one initial payment instead of paying each month you can avoid monthly service charges.
- Good Grades Discount – Being a good student can earn a discount of 20% or more. Most companies allow this discount well after school through age 25.
- More Vehicles More Savings – Buying insurance for multiple cars or trucks on one policy may reduce the rate for each vehicle.
- Mature Driver Discount – If you’re over the age of 55, you are able to get better auto insurance rates.
- Telematics Discount – Drivers who elect to allow driving data submission to spy on where and when they drive through the use of a telematics system such as In-Drive from State Farm or Allstate’s Drivewise system could possibly reduce rates if they are good drivers.
- Resident Student – Kids who are enrolled in higher education away from home and don’t have a car may be able to be covered for less.
- Employee of Federal Government – Active or retired federal employment could qualify for a slight premium decrease with some auto insurance companies.
While discounts sound great, it’s important to understand that most discount credits are not given to your bottom line cost. Most only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as comp or med pay. So even though you would think having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, you aren’t that lucky.
Car insurance companies that have many of the previously listed discounts possibly include:
If you need lower rates, check with all the companies which discounts can lower your rates. All car insurance discounts might not be offered on policies in Seymour. For a list of companies with the best auto insurance discounts in Indiana, click this link.
Make smart decisions and save money
Many things are used in the calculation when pricing auto insurance. Some are pretty understandable such as your driving record, but some are less obvious such as whether you are married or how safe your car is.
The following are a partial list of the pieces used by insurance companies to determine rates.
- Improve your credit score and save – Having a bad credit rating is a big factor in determining premium rates. Therefore, if your credit rating leaves room for improvement, you could save money insuring your vehicle by repairing your credit. Insureds with very high credit ratings tend to be more responsible and file fewer claims as compared to drivers with bad credit.
- Pay more out-of-pocket – Insurance for physical damage, also called ‘full coverage’, insures against damage to your car. Some examples of covered claims are a broken side mirror, flood damage, and windstorm damage. Your deductibles define how much you are required to spend out-of-pocket if a covered claim is submitted. The larger the amount you’re willing to pay, the better rate you will receive.
- Men pay higher prices – Over the last 50 years, statistics have shown women tend to be less risk to insure than men. However, don’t assume that men are worse drivers. Men and women cause fender benders at about the same rate, but the men get into accidents with more damage. Men also statistically get more serious tickets like DUI and reckless driving. Young men ages 16 to 20 are most likely to cause an accident so they pay the highest premiums.
- Claims cost money – Companies in Indiana give the lowest premiums to insureds who are claim-free. If you file a lot of claims you can pretty much guarantee either policy cancellation or increased premiums. Your insurance policy is meant to be used in the event of larger claims.
More tips and info about auto insurance is located at the Indiana Department of Insurance website. Visitors are able to find out industry alerts, read consumer alerts, download brochures, and read enforcement actions against agents and companies.
Also read more on Auto Insurance 101 and this page for help finding agents in Seymour, IN.
Keep this in mind
We just showed you a lot of ways to shop for auto insurance online. The key concept to understand is the more providers you compare, the better chance you’ll have of finding . Drivers may discover the best rates are with the smaller companies. Regional companies may only write in your state and offer lower car insurance rates compared to the large companies like State Farm and Allstate.
When trying to cut insurance costs, it’s a bad idea to buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. In many cases, someone sacrificed uninsured motorist or liability limits to discover at claim time that the small savings ended up costing them much more. The aim is to get the best coverage possible at the lowest possible cost while still protecting your assets.