Are you tired of paying out the nose to insure your vehicles every month? You are no different than many other drivers in Michigan.
With consumers having so many online and local companies to choose from, it is very difficult to locate the lowest cost provider.
Choosing the best insurance company for you in Holland is easy if you know what you’re doing. Essentially everyone who shops for auto insurance will more than likely be able to reduce their rates. Although Michigan drivers do need to understand the way companies market on the web and use this information to your advantage.
Finding Auto Insurance Deals in Holland, Michigan
Performing a rate comparison can take time and effort if you don’t know the most efficient way. You can waste hours driving to insurance companies in Holland, or you can stay home and use the internet to get prices fast.
Many insurance companies belong to a marketplace that allows shoppers to submit their information once, and each company can give them a price based on that information. This prevents consumers from doing quote requests to each individual auto insurance company.
To enter your information into the quoting system, click to open in new window.
The single downside to using this type of form is buyers cannot specifically choose which providers to get quotes from. If you would rather choose individual companies to compare rates, we put together a list of auto insurance companies in Michigan. Click to view list.
Whichever way you use, ensure you’re using identical deductibles and coverage limits for every company. If you have different limits and deductibles on each one it will be very difficult to determine the best price in Holland. Just a small difference in insurance coverages can result in a big premium difference. It’s important to know that getting more free quotes gives you a better chance of getting the best rates.
How much can you save with discounts?
Companies don’t necessarily list every available discount in an easy-to-find place, so here is a list some of the more common and the more hidden savings tricks you should be using.
- Student Driver Training – Require your teen driver to enroll in driver’s education if it’s offered in school.
- Early Switch Discount – Select companies give a discount for signing up prior to your current policy expiration. It’s a savings of about 10%.
- Paperwork-free – A few companies will give a small break for buying your policy online.
- Life Insurance – Companies who offer life insurance give better rates if you take out auto and life insurance together.
- Driver Safety – Taking part in a course in driver safety could save 5% or more depending on where you live.
- Employee of Federal Government – Active or retired federal employment could cut as much as 10% off depending on your company.
- Anti-theft Discount – Vehicles equipped with anti-theft or alarm systems help deter theft and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
- Anti-lock Brake Discount – Cars that have steering control and anti-lock brakes can avoid accidents and earn discounts up to 10%.
- Homeowners Savings – Simply owning a home may trigger a auto insurance policy discount because of the fact that having a home demonstrates responsibility.
- Safe Driver Discount – Insureds without accidents can pay as much as 50% less than drivers with accidents.
Consumers should know that most credits do not apply the the whole policy. Most cut individual premiums such as medical payments or collision. So even though they make it sound like all those discounts means the company will pay you, it doesn’t quite work that way.
To see a list of companies with discount auto insurance rates in Michigan, click here to view.
Are insurance agents obsolete?
Some people just want to get advice from a local agent and that is just fine! The best thing about getting online price quotes is you can get lower rates but also keep your business local.
To make it easy to find an agent, after completing this quick form, the coverage information is immediately sent to local insurance agents who will battle for your coverage. There is no need to visit any agencies because quoted prices will be sent directly to your email. How cool is that?! Get lower rates and a licensed agent to work with.
Deciding on a company requires more thought than just a low price. Agents should be asked these questions:
- Are there any hidden costs in their price quote and does it include driving and credit history?
- If they are an independent agency, which companies do they recommend?
- How much can you save by raising your physical damage deductibles?
- Does the agent have professional designations like CIC, CPCU or AIC?
- How many years of experience in personal lines insurance coverages do they have?
- Does the agency have a good rating with the Better Business Bureau?
- Do they review policy coverages at every renewal?
- Are they full-time agents?
Types of insurance agents
When looking for a good insurance agency, there are a couple of types of insurance agents from which to choose. Agencies in Holland are either independent or captive.
Agency Captives
Captive insurance agents write business for a single company and examples are Allstate, Farmers Insurance, State Farm and AAA. They usually cannot compare other company’s rates so it’s a take it or leave it situation. Captives are very knowledgeable on their company’s products which helps them compete with independent agents.
Below is a short list of captive insurance agencies in Holland who can help you get price quotes.
Allstate Insurance – 330 N River Ave – Holland, MI 49424 – (616) 392-6997
State Farm Insurance – 12930 James St – Holland, MI 49424 – (616) 786-0143
Farm Bureau Insurance – 477 Chicago Dr – Holland, MI 49423 – (616) 396-3333
Independent Agencies or Brokers
Independent insurance agents are not required to write business for one company but instead can place your coverage with any number of different companies depending on which coverage is best. To move your coverage to a new company, the agent simply finds a different carrier and that require little work on your part.
When shopping rates, it’s recommended you include at least one independent agent to ensure the widest selection of prices.
The following is a short list of independent insurance agencies in Holland who can help you get rate quotes.
WILK and Son Insurance Inc – 573 E 8th St – Holland, MI 49423 – (616) 392-3455
Lighthouse Insurance Group – 877 E 16th St – Holland, MI 49423 – (616) 392-6900
Wolbrink Agency – 86 W 8th St – Holland, MI 49423 – (616) 396-5207
Cindy L Boeve Agency – 32 E Lakewood Blvd – Holland, MI 49424 – (616) 392-3136
Buursma Agency – 728 E 8th St # 4 – Holland, MI 49423 – (616) 392-2105
To view a full list of auto insurance agents in Holland, visit this site.
Upon getting acceptable answers and a low price estimate, it’s possible that you found an insurance agency that is a good match to adequately provide auto insurance.
Factors that affect insurance rates
An important part of buying insurance is that you know some of the elements that go into determining your auto insurance rates. Knowing what controls the rates you pay helps enable you to make changes that may reward you with much lower annual insurance costs.
- Extra add-on coverages are wasting money – There are a lot of additional coverages that you can buy when buying auto insurance. Things like vanishing deductibles, towing coverage and additional equipment coverage are some examples. They may seem good when you first buy your policy, but now you might not need them so remove them from your policy.
- Your spouse saves you money – Being married can actually save you money on your policy. Having a spouse means you’re more mature and responsible and it’s statistically proven that married couples file fewer claims.
- With age comes lower rates – Teenage drivers in Michigan are statistically proven to be careless and easily distracted when behind the wheel so they pay higher auto insurance rates. Older insureds are more cautious drivers, tend to file fewer claims and tend to be better behind the wheel.
- How’s your driving record? – Drivers with clean records have lower premiums compared to drivers with tickets. Only having one speeding ticket may increase your cost by as much as thirty percent. Drivers who get flagrant violations like hit and run, DWI or reckless driving convictions may be required to submit a SR-22 or proof of financial responsibility to the state department of motor vehicles in order to keep their license.
- Where you reside plays a part – Living in small towns and rural areas can save you money when talking about auto insurance. Drivers who live in large cities have to deal with traffic congestion and much longer commute distances. Less people living in that area means a lower chance of having an accident.
- Are you male or female? – The statistics show women tend to be less risk to insure than men. However, don’t assume that men are worse drivers. Both sexes have accidents in similar percentages, but the men cause more damage and cost insurance companies more money. Men also statistically get more serious tickets such as DWI and reckless driving.
- Liability coverage is peace of mind – Liability coverage will protect you if ever you are found to be at fault for causing damage or personal injury in an accident. Liability provides legal defense starting from day one. This coverage is very inexpensive when compared with rates for comp and collision, so drivers should carry high limits.
Shop smart and save
As you restructure your insurance plan, do not skimp on coverage in order to save money. There are many occasions where consumers will sacrifice uninsured motorist or liability limits and discovered at claim time that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. Your goal should be to find the BEST coverage at the best price.
We just covered some good ideas how you can compare auto insurance prices online. The most important thing to understand is the more quotes you get, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. You may be surprised to find that the biggest savings come from a small local company. Smaller companies may cover specific market segments cheaper compared to the large companies like Allstate, Geico and Progressive.
More tips and info about auto insurance can be found at the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation website. Michigan drivers can read state legal mandates and laws, get help finding coverage, and view a list of available companies.
Other useful links include QuoteClickInsure.com and this link which helps you find a Holland agent.