Finding the lowest cost Urbandale auto insurance online may be difficult for consumers not familiar with buying insurance online. With dozens of companies in the marketplace, how can anyone effectively compare the different rates to find the best available price?
Smart consumers take time to get comparison quotes periodically because rates trend upward over time. Even if you think you had the lowest price a year ago there is a good chance you can find better rates now. There is too much inaccurate information about auto insurance on the internet, so we’re going to give you the easiest ways to quit paying high auto insurance rates.
Don’t pay full price with these ten discounts
Car insurance can cost a lot, but you may find discounts that you may not even be aware of. Most are applied at the time of purchase, but less common discounts must be asked about prior to getting the savings.
- Senior Discount – Older drivers may qualify for better auto insurance rates.
- Discount for Swiching Early – Some insurance companies reward drivers for buying a policy before your current policy expires. The savings is around 10%.
- Resident Student – Kids in college who attend school more than 100 miles from home and do not have a car can be insured at a reduced rate.
- Anti-theft System – Vehicles with anti-theft systems help deter theft and earn discounts up to 10%.
- Life Insurance Discount – Larger companies have a discount if you purchase a life insurance policy as well.
- Military Discounts – Having a family member in the military could be rewarded with lower premiums.
- Bundle and Save – When you have multiple policies with the same company you could get a discount of approximately 10% to 15%.
- Discount for New Cars – Putting insurance coverage on a new car can be considerably cheaper compared to insuring an older model.
- Driver Safety – Taking part in a defensive driving course can save you 5% or more if your company offers it.
- Club Memberships – Affiliation with certain professional organizations may earn a discount when buying auto insurance.
Drivers should understand that most discounts do not apply to your bottom line cost. The majority will only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as medical payments or collision. So even though it sounds like all those discounts means the company will pay you, you won’t be that lucky. Any qualifying discounts will help reduce the cost of coverage.
For a list of companies offering auto insurance discounts in Iowa, follow this link.
How to Lower Your Auto Insurance Cost in Urbandale, IA
There are a lot of ways to shop for auto insurance, but one way is less labor-intensive and much quicker. You can waste hours talking to insurance agencies in Urbandale, or you can stay home and use online quoting to get rates in a matter of minutes.
Many insurance companies are enrolled in a marketplace where prospective buyers only type in their quote data once, and each participating company then gives them pricing based on the submitted data. This system prevents you from having to do repetitive form submissions to each individual auto insurance company.
To get comparison pricing now click here (opens in new window).
The one disadvantage to using this type of system is you are unable to specify which companies you want to price. So if you prefer to pick specific providers to request quotes from, we have a page of auto insurance companies in Iowa. View list of Iowa insurance companies.
Which method you use is up to you, but ensure you are comparing the exact same coverage information on every quote you get. If you are comparing higher or lower deductibles you can’t possibly determine which rate is truly the best in Urbandale. Having just a slight variation in insurance coverages could mean much higher rates. And when comparing auto insurance rates, know that quoting more will increase your chances of finding a lower rate.
Car insurance coverage information
Knowing the specifics of auto insurance helps when choosing appropriate coverage at the best deductibles and correct limits. The coverage terms in a policy can be impossible to understand and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording.
Collision coverage protection
Collision insurance will pay to fix damage to your vehicle from colliding with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. A deductible applies then the remaining damage will be paid by your insurance company.
Collision insurance covers claims such as scraping a guard rail, driving through your garage door, colliding with another moving vehicle and crashing into a building. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so you might think about dropping it from lower value vehicles. You can also increase the deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.
Medical expense insurance
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage kick in for expenses like nursing services, pain medications, EMT expenses, prosthetic devices and ambulance fees. The coverages can be used to cover expenses not covered by your health insurance plan or if you do not have health coverage. They cover both the driver and occupants and also covers being hit by a car walking across the street. PIP coverage is not an option in every state but can be used in place of medical payments coverage
Liability insurance
Liability coverage can cover damages or injuries you inflict on people or other property that is your fault. It protects YOU against other people’s claims, and does not provide coverage for damage to your own property or vehicle.
Coverage consists of three different limits, bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. As an example, you may have policy limits of 50/100/50 which means a $50,000 limit per person for injuries, a per accident bodily injury limit of $100,000, and a limit of $50,000 paid for damaged property. Some companies may use a combined limit which limits claims to one amount and claims can be made without the split limit restrictions.
Liability coverage pays for things such as repair bills for other people’s vehicles, court costs and repair costs for stationary objects. How much liability coverage do you need? That is a decision to put some thought into, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase higher limits if possible. Iowa requires drivers to carry at least 20,000/40,000/15,000 but you should think about purchasing more coverage.
Protection from uninsured/underinsured drivers
Your UM/UIM coverage protects you and your vehicle’s occupants when other motorists either are underinsured or have no liability coverage at all. This coverage pays for hospital bills for your injuries as well as your vehicle’s damage.
Because many people only carry the minimum required liability limits (20/40/15), their limits can quickly be used up. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is important protection for you and your family. Most of the time the UM/UIM limits are identical to your policy’s liability coverage.
Comprehensive (Other than Collision)
This pays to fix your vehicle from damage that is not covered by collision coverage. You need to pay your deductible first then your comprehensive coverage will pay.
Comprehensive coverage pays for things such as theft, fire damage and a broken windshield. The maximum amount you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value consider removing comprehensive coverage.
Quote often and quote early
Consumers switch companies for many reasons like denial of a claim, delays in responding to claim requests, delays in paying claims and policy non-renewal. No matter why you want to switch, switching auto insurance companies is easier than you think.
As you restructure your insurance plan, it’s a bad idea to buy less coverage just to save a little money. In many cases, drivers have reduced uninsured motorist or liability limits only to find out that the savings was not a smart move. Your aim should be to buy a smart amount of coverage at an affordable rate.
We just showed you a lot of tips how to shop for auto insurance online. The most important thing to understand is the more price quotes you have, the better chance you’ll have of finding lower rates. You may even find the lowest rates come from the least-expected company.