Are you baffled by the wide range of auto insurance sources available to you? Maine vehicle owners have such a large number of options that it is a real hassle to locate the lowest auto insurance rates. Oakland is a great place to live, but budgeting for expensive auto insurance makes it difficult to affordably buy enough coverage.
Consumers should take time to do rate comparisons as often as possible due to the fact that insurance prices fluctuate regularly. Even if you think you had the best rates a year ago there may be better deals available now. Forget anything you know (or think you know) about auto insurance because I’m going to let you in on the secrets to the right way to properly buy coverages while reducing your premium.
If you have insurance now or need new coverage, you can learn to reduce the price you pay and possibly find even better coverage. Locating affordable auto insurance in Oakland can be fairly easy. Maine vehicle owners just need to understand how to shop for auto insurance online.
How to compare auto insurance quotes in Oakland
Shopping for lower auto insurance rates can be challenging if you don’t understand the fastest way to get free quotes. You can waste hours driving to agents in Oakland, or you can stay home and use online quotes to get rates in a matter of minutes.
Many companies are enrolled in a marketplace where insurance shoppers send in one quote, and at least one company can give them a price based on that data. This saves time by eliminating form submissions for every auto insurance company.
To enter your information into the quoting system, click here to start a free quote.
The one downside to doing it this way is you are unable to specify the providers you want pricing from. So if you prefer to pick specific providers to compare rates, we have a listing of auto insurance companies in Maine. Click here to view list.
Compare rates however you want, just be sure you’re using equivalent coverages and limits for each comparison quote. If your comparisons have differing limits it will be very difficult to determine the lowest rate in Oakland.
More affordable rates by receiving discounts
Auto insurance companies do not advertise every possible discount in a way that’s easy to find, so below is a list both the well known in addition to some of the lesser obvious auto insurance savings.
- Military Rewards – Being deployed in the military can result in better rates.
- Driver Safety – Successfully completing a defensive driving course can save you 5% or more and easily recoup the cost of the course.
- Discount for Low Mileage – Keeping the miles down may enable drivers to earn lower prices due to less chance of an accident.
- Telematics Data Discounts – Oakland drivers who agree to allow their auto insurance company to look at driving patterns remotely such as Drivewise from Allstate or Snapshot from Progressive could save a few bucks if they are good drivers.
- Discount for Good Grades – Performing well in school may save as much as 25% on a . Most companies allow this discount up until you turn 25.
- Accident Forgiveness Coverage – This one is not really a discount per se, but some insurance companies will forgive one accident before they charge you more for coverage so long as you haven’t had any claims for a particular time prior to the accident.
- Savings for New Vehicles – Insuring a new car can be considerably cheaper because new vehicles keep occupants safer.
- Oakland Homeowners Discount – Just owning your own home can get you a discount since owning and maintaining a home requires personal responsibility.
Consumers should know that most of the big mark downs will not be given to all coverage premiums. A few only apply to individual premiums such as liability and collision coverage. So when the math indicates having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, insurance companies wouldn’t stay in business. But all discounts will definitely reduce the amount you pay for coverage.
Car insurance companies that may have these discounts include:
Before you buy a policy, ask all the companies what discounts are available to you. Some of the earlier mentioned discounts might not be available to policyholders in your area.
Your auto insurance coverage should be tailored to you
When choosing coverage, there isn’t really a best way to insure your cars. Everyone’s situation is a little different.
Here are some questions about coverages that might point out if your situation would benefit from an agent’s advice.
- Is pleasure use cheaper than using my vehicle to commute?
- Which companies will insure high-risk drivers?
- When do I need to add a new car to my policy?
- Do I have coverage when pulling a U-Haul trailer?
- Does my personal auto insurance policy cover using my vehicle for business use?
- What can I do if my company won’t pay a claim?
- Can I get a multi-policy discount for packaging my home and auto coverage?
- Do I need higher deductibles?
- Can I afford to buy a different vehicle if my vehicle is totaled?
- Who is covered by my policy?
If you’re not sure about those questions but you think they might apply to your situation then you might want to talk to a licensed insurance agent. If you don’t have a local agent, simply complete this short form. It’s fast, doesn’t cost anything and can help protect your family.
Four factors that affect insurance prices
Lots of things are part of the calculation when quoting car insurance. Some of the criteria are obvious such as your driving record, but others are more transparent like where you live or your commute time.
Listed below are a few of the “ingredients” used by companies to determine prices.
- Only buy what you need – There are a lot of additional extra coverages you can purchase but may not be useful. Coverages like coverage for rental cars, death and dismemberment, and motor club memberships may be wasting your money. They may seem good when buying your policy, but now you might not need them so get rid of them and save.
- More traffic means higher claims – Living in small towns and rural areas has definite advantages when insuring your vehicles. Fewer drivers translates into fewer accidents and a lower car theft rate. Drivers who live in large Maine cities tend to have more traffic problems and longer commutes to work. Longer commute distances means more chance of being in an accident.
- Are you male or female? – Over the last 50 years, statistics have shown that women are safer drivers than men. This data doesn’t prove that females are better at driving than males. Females and males are in at-fault accidents at about the same rate, but guys get into accidents with more damage. They also get more serious tickets like reckless driving and DUI.
- Better auto insurance rates on vehicles with better crash test results – Vehicles that have high safety ratings tend to have better insurance rates. The safest vehicles result in less severe injuries and lower injury rates means less claims paid and more competitive rates for policyholders. If your car or truck is rated at least an “acceptable” rating on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety website or four stars on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website you may pay a lower rate.
Can you really save $428 a year?
Maine drivers get pounded daily by advertisements that promise big savings for switching from companies such as State Farm, Allstate and Geico. All the companies convey the message about saving some big amount if you just switch your coverage.
Is it even possible that every company can charge lower premium rates? It’s all in the wording.
All companies require specific criteria for the type of driver that makes them money. One example of this type of risk profile could possibly be a married male, insures multiple vehicles, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. Any new insured who fits that profile may get the lowest prices in Oakland as well as save if they switch.
Drivers who do not meet those standards may receive higher premiums and this results in business going elsewhere. The ad wording is “customers who switch” not “everybody who quotes” save the amount stated. That’s the way companies can truthfully claim big savings.
This emphasizes why it is so important to compare rate quotes every year. Because you cannot predict with any certainty which company will fit you best based on your risk profile.
Quote often and quote early
In this article, we covered quite a bit of information on how to shop for auto insurance online. The key concept to understand is the more rate comparisons you have, the higher your chance of finding . You may be surprised to find that the lowest prices come from a lesser-known regional company.
Insureds who switch companies do it for many reasons like being labeled a high risk driver, questionable increases in premium, policy non-renewal and even denial of a claim. Regardless of your reason for switching companies, finding a new company is pretty simple and you could end up saving a buck or two.
Lower-priced auto insurance can be found on the web and from local insurance agents, and you need to comparison shop both in order to have the best price selection to choose from. Some auto insurance companies may not provide rates over the internet and usually these small, regional companies work with independent insurance agents.
More information can be found on the found here. Consumers can read enforcement actions against agents and companies, report car insurance fraud, learn about specific coverages, and find disaster information.
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