No one looks forward to buying car insurance, especially when they are paying too much.
Consumers have many insurance companies to choose from, and although it’s nice to be able to choose, too many choices makes it more difficult to compare rates and find the lowest cost car insurance.
It is always a good idea to compare rates occasionally since insurance rates are rarely the same from one policy term to another. Despite the fact that you may have had the best deal two years ago a different company probably has better rates today. You can find a lot of misleading information regarding car insurance on the internet, so with this article, you’re going to get a bunch of ideas how to reduce your car insurance bill.
Finding the best rates in Miami Beach is not rocket science. If you currently have car insurance, you should be able to cut costs considerably using this strategy. But Florida vehicle owners need to have an understanding of how big insurance companies market insurance on the web because it can help you find the best coverage.
How to Lower Your Car Insurance Cost in Miami Beach, FL
All the larger car insurance companies allow you to get coverage price quotes on the web. This process doesn’t take a lot of time as you simply enter your required coverages into a form. Behind the scenes, their rating system automatically retrieves your driving record and credit report and provides a quote based on these factors. This simplifies rate comparisons, but the time required to go to several different sites and enter the same data into a form is repetitive and time-consuming. But it’s absolutely necessary to compare as many rates as possible if you want to find the best price possible.
A less time-consuming method to find lower prices is to use a quote form that gets price quotes from several companies at one time. This type of form saves time, eliminates repetitive work, and makes online shopping much more enjoyable. Immediately after you send the form, it is rated and you can choose any or none of the price quotes you receive. If a lower price is quoted, you can click and sign and purchase the new policy. The whole process can be completed in a matter of minutes and may result in a nice savings.
To quickly fill out one form to compare multiple rates now, click here and begin entering your coverage information. If you have your current policy handy, we recommend you type in the limits and deductibles just like they are on your policy. Using the same limits helps guarantee you will have a fair comparison for similar coverage.
Lots of discounts mean lots of savings
Car insurance companies do not advertise all available discounts very clearly, so we break down some of the more common as well as the least known discounts you could be receiving.
- Memberships – Being a member of a professional or civic organization could qualify you for a break when buying car insurance.
- Theft Prevention Discount – Cars that have factory anti-theft systems are stolen less frequently and earn discounts up to 10%.
- Passive Restraint Discount – Factory air bags and/or automatic seat belt systems can qualify for discounts of 20% or more.
- Multiple Cars – Having all your vehicles on one policy may reduce the rate for each vehicle.
- Resident Student – Youth drivers who live away from home and do not have a car can be insured at a reduced rate.
- Use Seat Belts – Using a seat belt and requiring all passengers to use their safety belts can save 10% or more off your medical payments premium.
Drivers should understand that some of the credits will not apply to the overall cost of the policy. Most only cut specific coverage prices like liability, collision or medical payments. Just because it seems like it’s possible to get free car insurance, companies wouldn’t make money that way.
Save Money with These Tips
Smart consumers have a good feel for the rating factors that play a part in calculating the rates you pay for car insurance. Having a good understanding of what influences your rates helps enable you to make changes that can help you get much lower annual insurance costs.
Shown below are some of the factors that factor into your rates.
- Multi-policy discounts can save money – Many car insurance companies will give a discount to policyholders who consolidate policies with them in the form of a multi-policy discount. If you currently are using one company, you may still want to comparison shop to verify if the discount is saving money.
- Special features that cut premiums – Purchasing a vehicle with anti-theft technology or alarm system can save you a little every year. Theft prevention features such as LoJack tracking devices, vehicle tamper alarm systems or GM’s OnStar system all aid in stopping your vehicle from being stolen.
- What type of vehicle do you drive? – The performance of the car you drive makes a substantial difference in how high your rates are. Low performance passenger vehicles receive the most favorable rates, but other factors influence the final cost greatly.
- No coverage gaps is important – Allowing your coverage to lapse will be a fast way to bump up your car insurance costs. Not only will you pay more, but being ticketed for driving with no insurance can result in a license revocation or jail time.
- Pleasure use saves money – The more miles you rack up on your car every year the higher your rates will be. Most companies apply a rate based upon how you use the vehicle. Cars and trucks used primarily for pleasure use receive lower rates than vehicles that are driven to work every day. Double check that your car insurance policy is showing how each vehicle is driven, because improper ratings can cost you money.
- Safer cars are cheaper to insure – Safer cars tend to have better insurance rates. The safest vehicles reduce injuries and any reduction in injury severity translates into savings for insurance companies and lower rates for you.
- Little extras can really add up – There are a lot of add-on coverages that you can buy on your policy. Coverages like vanishing deductibles, towing coverage and additional equipment coverage may be costing you every month. These may sound like a good investment when talking to your agent, but now you might not need them so get rid of them and save.
Even more information is located at the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation website. Florida consumers can file complaints about an insurance agent or broker, find out which companies have the most complaints, and find disaster information.
Compare but don’t skimp
When you buy insurance online, do not reduce coverage to reduce premium. In too many instances, an accident victim reduced liability coverage limits only to regret at claim time that the savings was not a smart move. The aim is to buy a smart amount of coverage at an affordable rate.
In this article, we presented many ways to lower your car insurance rates. The key concept to understand is the more rate quotes you have, the better your chances of lowering your rates. Consumers could even find that the best price on car insurance is with some of the lesser-known companies. Some small companies can often provide lower rates in certain areas than the large multi-state companies such as State Farm, Geico and Nationwide.
Discount car insurance is attainable on the web in addition to many Miami Beach insurance agents, so you should be comparing quotes from both in order to have the best chance of saving money. Some companies do not provide the ability to get a quote online and many times these small, regional companies only sell through independent insurance agents.