Comparison shopping for cheap Snoqualmie auto insurance can seem to be slightly frustrating for beginners to buying insurance online. With dozens of online companies available, it can easily be a burden to find cheaper prices in Washington.
Reduce Your Rates with these tips
An important part of buying insurance is that you know the factors that are used to determine your policy premiums. When you know what positively or negatively controls the rates you pay, this enables you to make decisions that may reward you with cheaper rates.
- Battle of the sexes – Over time, data shows women tend to be less risk to insure than men. This data doesn’t prove that females are better drivers. Both sexes are in auto accidents in similar numbers, but the males have accidents that have higher claims. Men also tend to get cited for more serious violations like DWI (DUI) or reckless driving.
- Higher prices for specific occupations – Careers like lawyers, architects and stock brokers generally have the highest rates in part from intense work situations and lengthy work days. Conversely, occupations like professors, engineers and performers have the lowest average rates.
- Being married brings a discount – Walking down the aisle may cut your premiums when shopping for auto insurance. It means you’re more mature and it’s proven that drivers who are married are more cautious.
- What’s your car’s safety rating? – Safe vehicles can get you lower premiums. These vehicles protect occupants better and lower injury rates means less claims paid and cheaper rates on your policy.
- Liability is critical – Liability insurance kicks in when you are found liable for physical damage or personal injury to other. Liability insurance provides legal defense which can be incredibly expensive. Liability is cheap when compared to the cost of physical damage coverage, so buy as much as you can afford.
- Raising deductibles saves money – Your deductibles define the amount the insured will be required to pay if the claim is covered. Protection for physical damage, also called ‘full coverage’, is used to repair damage to your car. Some examples of covered claims would be rearending another vehicle, fire damage, and damage caused by road hazards. The more of the claim you’re willing to pay, the lower your rates will be.
- Do you really need roadside assistance? – Insurance companies have many extra bells and whistles that can add up if you don’t pay attention. Coverages like rental car reimbursement, towing, and extra life insurance coverage may be costing you every month. These may sound like a good investment when deciding what coverages you need, but if you don’t need them eliminate the coverages to reduce your premium.
- Teenage driver insurance premiums – Inexperience drivers are statistically proven to be inattentive and easily distracted behind the wheel so auto insurance rates are higher. Older drivers are more cautious drivers, tend to file fewer claims and tend to be get fewer driving tickets.
Discounts for cheaper auto insurance rates
Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, but you might already qualify for some discounts that can drop the cost substantially. Certain credits will be shown when you purchase, but occassionally some discounts must be manually applied before you get the savings.
- Life Insurance Discount – Larger companies have a lower price if you buy auto and life insurance together.
- No Accidents – Snoqualmie drivers who stay claim-free have much lower rates when compared with policyholders that have many claims.
- Own a Home – Owning a house in Snoqualmie may trigger a policy discount on auto insurance since owning and maintaining a home is proof that your finances are in order.
- Cautious Driver Discount – Insureds without accidents can pay as much as 50% less than their less cautious counterparts.
- Club Memberships – Belonging to a qualifying organization is a good way to get lower rates when shopping for auto insurance.
- Onboard Data Collection – Insureds who allow driving data submission to spy on when and where they use their vehicle by using a telematics device in their vehicle such as Snapshot from Progressive or Drivewise from Allstate could save a few bucks as long as they are good drivers.
- Auto/Home Discount – When you have multiple policies with one company you will save up to 20% and get you .
- Sign Online – Some insurance companies will discount your bill up to fifty bucks for buying a policy and signing up on their website.
A quick disclaimer, most of the big mark downs will not be given to your bottom line cost. Most cut specific coverage prices like medical payments or collision. So despite the fact that it appears all those discounts means the company will pay you, you aren’t that lucky. Any qualifying discounts will cut the cost of coverage.
A list of companies and a partial list of their discounts are detailed below.
- Esurance has savings for good driver, renters, paid-in-full, Switch & Save, multi-policy, emergency road assistance, and anti-theft.
- The Hartford includes discounts for air bag, good student, defensive driver, bundle, and anti-theft.
- AAA offers discounts for pay-in-full, education and occupation, anti-theft, good student, and good driver.
- Geico policyholders can earn discounts including emergency military deployment, military active duty, five-year accident-free, good student, seat belt use, federal employee, and air bags.
- State Farm discounts include good student, multiple autos, accident-free, Drive Safe & Save, good driver, defensive driving training, and safe vehicle.
It’s a good idea to ask each company to give you their best rates. A few discounts may not be available in Snoqualmie. For a list of insurance companies that offer many of these discounts in Washington, click this link.
Even more information is available at the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner website. Visitors are able to view agent and company licensing information, get help finding coverage, and read state legal mandates and laws.
Additional helpful sites include this resource for Washington auto insurance prices and this list of insurance agents in Snoqualmie, WA.
One last thing
In this article, we presented some good ideas how to lower your auto insurance prices. The key concept to understand is the more rate comparisons you have, the higher your chance of finding . You may even find the lowest prices are with a lesser-known regional company.
Budget-conscious auto insurance can be bought both online in addition to many Snoqualmie insurance agents, and you need to price shop both in order to have the best price selection to choose from. Some insurance providers do not provide rate quotes online and these regional insurance providers only sell coverage through local independent agencies.
As you go through the steps to switch your coverage, you should never buy poor coverage just to save money. There are a lot of situations where consumers will sacrifice liability limits or collision coverage and found out when filing a claim that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. The aim is to get the best coverage possible at the best cost but still have enough coverage for asset protection.