Did a good deal turn out to be an expensive auto insurance policy? Believe me, many consumers are feeling buyer’s remorse and feel like there’s no way out. Insurance companies such as State Farm, Farmers Insurance, Geico and Allstate increase brand awareness with ads and it can be hard to see through the cute green geckos and mayhem and find the best price available.
Do you qualify for discounts?
Insuring your fleet can be pricey, but you can get discounts to help bring down the price. Certain credits will be shown when you quote, but some may not be applied and must be specially asked for prior to receiving the credit. If you don’t get every credit you deserve, you could be getting lower rates.
- Student in College – living away from home attending college and do not take a car to college may be insured at a cheaper rate.
- Early Signing – A few larger companies allow discounts for signing up prior to your current policy expiration. Ten percent is about the average savings.
- ABS Brakes – Vehicles with ABS and/or traction control are safer to drive and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
- New Car Discount – Insuring a vehicle that is new can be considerably cheaper due to better safety requirements for new vehicles.
- Cautious Driver Discounts – Safe drivers can save up to 40% or more on their than drivers with accidents.
- Defensive Driver Discount – Taking time to complete a driver safety course could cut 5% off your bill depending on where you live.
- E-sign Discounts</strong – A few larger online companies provide a small discount for buying a policy and signing up online.
- Theft Prevention System – Cars and trucks with anti-theft systems have a lower chance of being stolen and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
A little disclaimer on discounts, many deductions do not apply to the overall cost of the policy. Most cut specific coverage prices like physical damage coverage or medical payments. So even though you would think it’s possible to get free car insurance, nobody gets a free ride.
A few popular companies and some of the discounts are included below.
- Progressive includes discounts for multi-policy, multi-vehicle, online quote discount, good student, and online signing.
- The Hartford discounts include defensive driver, bundle, anti-theft, driver training, air bag, and vehicle fuel type.
- Mercury Insurance may include discounts for location of vehicle, multi-policy, low natural disaster claims, age of vehicle, type of vehicle, multi-car, and accident-free.
- Geico offers premium reductions for daytime running lights, anti-lock brakes, military active duty, driver training, anti-theft, and multi-vehicle.
- AAA may have discounts that include multi-policy, pay-in-full, education and occupation, multi-car, good student, and AAA membership discount.
- State Farm offers discounts including multiple autos, Steer Clear safe driver discount, student away at school, driver’s education, good student, and safe vehicle.
Before you buy a policy, ask every prospective company how many discounts you can get. Some credits might not be available to policyholders in your state. 
There are multiple methods to compare auto insurance quotes, but there is one way that is less time-consuming than others. You can waste a few hours (or days) discussing policy coverages with local insurance agents in Centerville, or you could use online quotes to get pricing more quickly.
Most of the larger companies belong to an insurance system where insurance shoppers enter their policy data once, and at least one company provides a quote based on that information. This prevents consumers from doing repetitive form submissions for each company.
To compare rates using this form now click here to start a free quote.
The only downside to getting quotes like this is you cannot specify which carriers to receive prices from. If you prefer to choose from a list of companies to compare prices, we put together a list of low cost auto insurance companies in Iowa. Click here to view list.
It doesn’t matter which method you choose, just compare the same coverage data for each comparison quote. If you are comparing different deductibles it will be very difficult to truly determine the lowest rate in Centerville. Even a minor difference in limits may cause a big price difference. And when price shopping your coverage, obtaining a wide range of quotes increases your odds of finding more affordable rates. Some regional insurers cannot provide rate quotes online, so you also need to get price quotes from them as well.
Cheaper auto insurance is a realistic goal
When getting , it’s a bad idea to reduce coverage to reduce premium. Too many times, drivers have reduced full coverage only to regret that it was a big mistake. Your aim should be to find the BEST coverage at the lowest possible cost, not the least amount of coverage.
Lower-priced auto insurance is attainable on the web and from local insurance agents, and you should compare price quotes from both in order to have the best chance of saving money. A few companies may not provide internet price quotes and usually these regional carriers prefer to sell through independent agents.