Wednesday, March 27, 2024

How To Get Lower Car Insurance

Don't Miss

Improve Your Credit Rating

Explained: How to Get a Lower Car Insurance Rate

A drivers record is obviously a big factor in determining auto insurance costs. After all, it makes sense that a driver who has been in a lot of accidents could cost the insurance company a lot of money. However, folks are sometimes surprised to find that insurance companies may also consider when determining insurance premiums.

Why is your credit rating considered? Michael Barry, senior vice president and head of media relations of the Insurance Information Institute, puts it this way:

Many insurers use credit-based insurance scores. Its a contentious issue in certain statehouses… insurers will say their studies show that if youre responsible in your personal life, youre less likely to file claims.

Regardless of whether thats true, be aware that your credit rating can be a factor in figuring insurance premiums, and do your utmost to keep it high.

Choose A Cheaper Car To Save On Car Insurance

One of the major factors that affects your car insurance costs is the type of vehicle you drive.

If you are in the market for a new vehicle, its essential that you consider how much it will cost to insure.

Its also important to remember that the cheapest vehicle is not always the least expensive to insure.

Generally, the more expensive the car is to repair, the higher your car insurance costs.

You can save on car insurance if you choose one of these vehicle models, since they are known to be cheaper to insure:

  • Subaru Outback.

Older cars are not always cheaper to insure. It all depends on the make and model of the vehicle that you are looking to buy.

Before investing in an older car, be sure to check the insurance rates for that vehicle.

Think About A Black Box Policy

AKA , a black box policy rewards good drivers which includes you right? A small device about the size of a mobile phone is installed in your car, or you downloadan app to your phone which monitors aspects of your driving like acceleration, braking, cornering and the time of day you drive. Theyre often popular with , but dont assume telematics policies cant help older age groups save cash.

One more thing. You could receive a discount on your premium for good driving but be warned, your premium could also increase due to bad driving.

Recommended Reading: How To Get A Duplicate Car Title

Take Advantage Of Car Insurance Discounts

Every insurance company offers special ways to save on your car insurance premium. To make sure youre getting all the discounts youre entitled to, check out your insurers discounts page and ask your agent to review your possible savings.

Our car insurance discounts page gives more details on what insurers offer different discounts. But remember to compare quotes based on your own situation. Just because an insurer offers multiple discounts doesnt mean it offers the lowest overall price.

Shop Around For Car Insurance

Get a lower auto insurance rate and save! Go to LowerMyBills and ...

Be sure to get several quotes online, or even from a local insurance agent.

Keep in mind that the cheapest insurance isn’t always the best. Focus on the coverage you need and make sure you’re getting quotes that reflect that. If you think a cheap car insurance quote is too good to be true, it likely is.

If you find a good deal, you’ll want to learn more about .

You May Like: How To Buff A Car

Tip : Dont Set Your Mileage Too Low

Another way to get cheaper car insurance is to double check your mileage. This surprised me when I first tried this, but it works.

If most of your driving is to work and back, you can work out how many miles it is, double it for the return journey, then multiply by the number of days you do in a year.

Limiting milg n b an effective way t reduce your insurance premiums. Agin, it nt worth lying about it rltivl easy t vrif.

If you set your mileage at 1000 or 2000 miles a year youre actually going to be paying more. The Insurance companies see you as higher risk because you arent getting the experience on the road.

Obviously dont set it lower than the number of miles than you actually do, but over 12000 miles will tend to be quite expensive, whereas around 5000 miles seems to be the happy point. This means you wont have to worry about the number of miles youre putting on your car. A win-win!

With this quote below we saved another £40 by increasing the mileage to 5000.

Seek Out All Available Discounts

While you may be aware of some of the discounts offered by car insurance companies such as multi-car policy discounts or good driving discounts, some companies also offer discounts for owning a car with anti-theft devices or specific safety features. They may also offer discounts if you drive a reduced amount of mileage each year or set up an automatic payment for your premium. Talk to the car insurance agent to determine what discounts are available to you for lower car insurance costs.

Don’t Miss: How Long Is A Car Battery Good For

What Type Of Car Insurance Should You Get

The type of car insurance you should buy depends on your states requirements and your specific situation. Insurance is not a one-size-fits-all product. Evaluate the coverage and limits that work best for you..

How much car insurance you need will be different if you have a new, financed car and want the best policy possible versus if you have an older car and want just the required basics to be drive legally. Here are the primary types of car insurance and limit information:

Check For Car Insurance Discounts

How to Lower Car Insurance Premiums : Car Insurance

Car insurance discounts could help you lower your car insurance costs. Discounts exist for a number of different reasons and vary from company to company. As an example, here are some of the ways you could save with Direct Auto.

  • Good student discount: If youre a high school or college student making good grades, you could save on auto coverage.
  • Military discount: If youre an active duty service member, you could save on your car insurance.
  • Senior citizen discount: If youre over the age of 55, you could score a discount on coverage.
  • Homeowner discount: If you own a home and its the same as your primary address for the vehicle on your policy, you could save.
  • Safe driver discount: If youve been accident or violation free for the time period required in your state, you could save on auto insurance.
  • DynamicDrive discount: If you join the DynamicDrive program and download the Routely app to share your driving insights, you could save immediately on coverage and even more at renewal.
  • Vehicle equipment discounts: If you own a new car with excellent anti-theft or safety features, you could secure a discount on auto coverage.

Direct offers additional ways to save, so be sure to look at our complete list of discounts.

Read Also: When Should You Change Your Car Battery

How To Lower Your Car Insurance: Negotiate With These 4 Steps

Car insurance rates are rising by a lot.

Learning how to lower car insurance premiums is more important for consumers than ever. To help, I want to go over my system to do exactly that lower your car insurance in just 4 steps as well as give you 10 great scripts to use to uncover even more savings.

Tips For Comparing Car Insurance Quotes And Companies To Reduce Costs

One of the best ways to reduce car insurance costs is shopping around for personalized quotes from at least three different car insurance companies. When comparing quotes, you want to look at the coverage, see how much the deductible is and evaluate available discounts.

  • Make sure the car insurance quote is for the same coverage across the board. Liability versus full coverage or even varying amounts on full coverage policies can result in different quotes. The quote should be for the same type of coverage to ensure they are comparable.
  • Look at the available deductibles for the coverage in your insurance quote. Raising the deductible could result in lower costs.
  • Ask about all available discounts offered by each car insurance company. These can dramatically reduce car insurance costs.
  • Remember to ask for and compare quotes on the same day. Insurance rates fluctuate frequently, so you want to get quotes at the same time to ensure a fair comparison.
  • Compare Auto Insurance Rates

    Ensure you are getting the best rate for your car insurance. Compare quotes from the top insurance companies.

    Saving money on your car insurance is possible with a little time and effort. Start by shopping around for car insurance quotes, and check out the various ways you can reduce your car insurance costs. You could receive lower costs before your next premium is due.

    Related Car Insurance Topics

    Don’t Miss: How To Get The Best Price On A Used Car

    How To Lower Car Insurance: 7 Tips To Help You Save Now

    Drivers can lower their car insurance premiums by exploring discounts, improving credit scores, shopping around and driving cars that are cheaper to insure.

    If youre asking yourself why car insurance is so expensive, youre not alone. Auto insurance rates are on the rise and J.D. Power, a global data analytics and consumer insights firm, found that consumers are increasingly shopping for new insurance policies because of rate increases.

    The largest drivers of new policy shopping for retained and switched shoppers are proactive price checking and rate increases , according to a May 2022 J.D. Powers report. The report found that among people who are shopping for a new policy because of a rate increase, 64% experienced a price increase of 11% or higher.

    A perfect storm of record-high replacement costs, increased frequency and severity of collisions and an economic outlook that suggests this situation wont change anytime soon is forcing a major industry disruption, said Marty Ellingsworth, in a statement.

    In the near term, that disruption is manifesting itself in very low customer satisfaction with price and high rates of new policy shopping. Longer-term, this may be the catalyst to significant adoption of usage-based insurance, which may be the only way insurers can navigate the financial realities while still managing to engage with customers and build loyalty by meeting their specific needs.

    Consider A Telematics Or Black Box Policy

    How to lower your car insurance â no matter the insurance company

    A telematics policy calculates your insurance costs based on how, when and how much you drive.

    There could be some restrictions on how you use your car with a black box, though. For example, driving curfews or mileage caps. But if you drive safely and responsibly and avoid late-night driving, you may get cheaper car insurance prices.

    Don’t Miss: How To Get A Car Title

    Choose Your Car Carefully

    The car you drive is one of the key factors insurers focus on when setting premiums. A large, powerful, flash, coveted, expensive model will cost more to insure than a basic, inexpensive runaround. While you might hanker after a zooped-up VW Golf or a BMW 3, these cars will cost a lot more than a Ford Fiesta, for example.

    While wed all like to drive an impressive model, you could end up paying through the nose for the privilege. The classier your car is, the more itll stand out and attract thieves and vandals.

    Expensive cars cost more to repair, which explains why they are so expensive to insure. Also, they are quicker and more powerful, which means they tend to be in more expensive accidents.

    Before you buy a car, whether on finance or not, check what itll cost to insure first compared to a smaller, less powerful model.

    Skip Comprehensive And Collision Coverage For An Older Car

    Collision coverage pays to repair the damage to your vehicle from another car or an object such as a fence. Comprehensive coverage pays to repair vehicle damage from weather, animal crashes, floods, fire and vandalism. It also covers car theft. But the maximum payout under either policy is limited by the value of the car if its totaled or stolen. If your car is older and has a low market value, it may not make sense to shell out for these types of coverage.

    » MORE: Understanding collision and comprehensive insurance

    Recommended Reading: How Much Is A Rental Car

    Improve Your Credit Score And Driving Record

    Car insurance companies often use your as one item of consideration when assessing your risk as a policyholder. They also consider your driving record.

    Suppose you have several accidents or moving violations on your record or many missed payments. In that case, your insurance company may increase the amount you pay for your premium each month to cover this additional risk.

    You cant go back in time and change what has been done, but you can take action moving forward to improve your credit and safe driving record. Focus on paying your bills on time and following road laws.

    Install Safety & Security Devices

    How to Lower Car Insurance for New Drivers

    While safety features like anti-lock brakes and air bags are now required by law in the U.S. for all new cars, be sure your insurer knows if your older car has such safety devicesit could save you some cash. Security devices may also help you cut your bill. GEICO offers a discount of up to 25 percent off the comprehensive portion of premiums to customers who install anti-theft alarm systems.

    Don’t Miss: How Do You Keep Mice Out Of Your Car

    Buy Your Homeowners And Auto Coverage From The Same Insurer

    Many insurers will give you a break if you buy two or more types of insurance. You may also get a reduction if you have more than one vehicle insured with the same company. Some insurers reduce the rates for long-time customers. But it still makes sense to shop around! You may save money buying from different insurance companies, compared with a multipolicy discount.

    Ways To Lower Your Car Insurance Rate

    You may be wondering, why is my car insurance so expensive and how can I lower it?

    These reasons range from the value of your vehicle to your driving habits, and lots of factors in between.

    Some things are out of your control, such as rising costs to fix your vehicle or increasing medical costs and fraud.

    The good news is, there are some things you might be able to do to lower your insurance rate if it seems too expensive.

    Here are some ways to save on car insurance1

  • Bundle your policies
  • Recommended Reading: How To Paint A Car

    Choose The Right Coverage

    One of the biggest factors influencing your car insurance premiums is the type of coverage you have. Check with the laws and requirements of your state because you will pay less for a bare-bones policy than you will for collision and comprehensive coverage. You can also choose a plan with a higher deductible to lower your car insurance premiums.

    Choosing a different plan is a great way to reduce your costs, but remember that reducing your coverage or switching to a high-deductible plan can also increase your risk. If you take this approach, understand that you may have to pay more out of pocket if you make a claim.

    Dont forget you can compare car insurance rates from various companies before you decide on a policy.

    Move To Another City Or State

    Ways to Lower Car Insurance Beautiful 73 Best Car Insurance Telematics ...

    You probably wont plan a move just to save on insurance, but the area you live in significantly affects your rates. Less densely populated neighborhoods with fewer cars and less crime put you at lower risk for accidents, theft, and collisions with injuries. And if you live in an area that is especially prone to certain natural disasters, youre probably more likely to file a claim at some point.

    Also Check: How Do Car Auctions Work

    Think About What Vehicle Is Best For You

    Cars which have a small engine are more likely to be in a low insurance group and tend to have lower premiums. For example, a 1.1 litre hatchback would be cheaper than an SUV with a large engine.

    Road tax on a smaller engine vehicle should also be cheaper.

    Every insurer will treat every sort of vehicle differently though. For example, some classic cars are very affordable to cover as insurers recognise the love that owners put into them and you may find a discount through an owners’ club.

    Pay Based On How Much You Drive

    Our app also allows us to price your coverage based on the number of miles you actually drive.

    If you have a 90-minute daily commute, youre likely to pay more than someone who only cruises around on the weekends. This makes sense, since someone who puts 50,000 miles on their car every year is much more likely to get in a crash than a low mileage driver who only logs 5,000 miles on her odometer.

    TIP: If you have a long commute and youre hoping to lower your premiums, look into taking public transportation one or twice a week, or carpool with a friend. Reduce your premiums while reducing your carbon footprint? Win-win.

    Don’t Miss: How To Remove Ants From Car

    Dont Let Your Car Insurance Lapse

    A car insurance lapse is when you own a registered car but it doesnt have insurance coverage. Even a car insurance lapse of a day can hurt your car insurance rates.

    A lapse in car insurance can happen when you:

    • Were a few days late paying your monthly premium
    • Have missed several payments
    • Canceled your auto insurance premium without securing a new policy
    • Forgot to renew your policy

    A lapse in car insurance will affect your car insurance rates for about six months, but some drivers may feel its effects for much longer. The time it hangs around on your record depends entirely on your insurance company.

    Depending on how long you let your car insurance lapse, you might find it difficult to secure insurance in the future. Insurers will view you as a high-risk driver, and youll have higher insurance rates for some time.

    More articles

    Popular Articles