Archive for August, 2009
Some Tips for Insured on Keeping Your Auto Insurance Premium Rates Down
you can use car insurance rates comparison
There are so many ways that you can use to keep your auto insurance rates down and some of them you can use at the same time as other discounts to maximize your savings.
Here are some things that you can ask your auto insurance company for:
- Ask if you can receive a discount if you have more than one type of insurance with their company. For instance, you may find that you can have your auto insurance and your homeowner’s insurance with this company and they will provide you with a combined discount. Carry all of your insurance policies with them, such as auto, home, and life and you may find that you can get even more money off.
- If the driver of the car is a student or is listed as a driver on the car, you may find that you can get a good student discount. This is where the student maintains at least a B average on their report card. You may be required to take that report card to the automobile insurance company each time it comes out, but it really pays off. If grades go down, the discount may disappear until the grades go back up.
- See if there are any safe driver discounts available. When you haven’t had a ticket or an accident, you may find that there are discounts available for you.
- If you are a senior citizen and you’ve not had any accidents in a specific amount of time, there may be discounts available to you.
- You can always raise your deductible to cheaper car insurance premium online from auto insurer. However, you need to keep in mind that doing so will result in a higher out-of-pocket expense if an accident does occur. The standard deductible is $500, but some individuals will go as high as $2,000 to save some money on their premium. If you can pay $2,000 if an accident occurs, then that will work fine. Just make sure your deductible is not higher than what you can afford in case damage is done to your car and you need to pay it.
- You may wish to shop around. You may find a company that offers the same coverage for a lower price. You always want to compare before you make a commitment.
You want to use all of these tips so that you can save yourself quite a bit of money.
How you can compare auto insurance quotes online?
When finding the right company to do business with, it is very important that you compare. You can do this by calling companies and recording the different rates that they quote you. You can also do this by going to their websites and filling out the forms on their websites to receive quotes for the auto insurance you want. This allows you to compare in a much easier way. Take all of that information and make an informed decision.
Unattractive…to Car Insurance Companies
Saved up all your money? Glad that those long nights bartending, giving up all those road trips during university and working two jobs to save enough money for that brand new Honda Civic that you wanted? Walking out of the insurance company perplexed at the difficulty in getting insurance?
Young people, males under the age of 25- are traditionally a very unattractive prospect for car insurance companies. However, there is help available from a small number of companies that provide car insurance for young people…
The main reason that young people have to pay high premiums for car insurance is the statistical likelihood of a claim being made as a result of a number of factors, including; inexperience (as young drivers are more likely to be involved in an accident), the age of the vehicle (madly maintained cars increase the frequency of accidents, and younger people usually buy poorly maintained cars as their first vehicle) and low car ownership amongst young people (which usually means more people in the car and overloading as a result).
The solution to the problem of high quotes for young people car insurance is for you to choose a specialist provider – a company that proactively works within this group to provide the best levels of cover at the best prices.
By providing car insurance to a high quantity of young people in this specific high-risk category, specialist providers are thereby able to provide lower rates of insurance than other mainstream brokers whose main area of interest lies in another market. This is also a common problem in car rentals. Rental companies usually grimace at the thought (cost) of renting a car out to somebody that is under 25.
By definition, young drivers are usually those customers between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five years old. Many large national car rental companies discriminate against young drivers only because of rules and guidelines that restrict car rentals from such drivers nationwide!
So to all those under 25, to rid us of the stigma attached to youths and road safety is a difficult aspiration. Through care, caution, reduction of speed, and driving without consuming alcohol, young people can work to reduce the statistics that have solidly built a case against insuring young drivers.
Affordable or Cheap Car Insurance
There is a difference between affordable or cheap car insurance that depends a lot on your income. What is affordable to you might not be cheap, and what is cheap to others might not be affordable. In that case they have problems!
Seriously though, cheap car insurance is getting more difficult to find, and the terms affordable and cheap are no longer synonymous. So what are the best ways for you to find not only cheap auto car insurance, but very cheap car insurance? The latter, when all is said and done, is what everybody is looking for. It has little to do with affordability but more with paying less.
First, have a good look at your car. How old is it and how much do think you could sell it for? You have two options on your auto insurance policy called collision and comprehensive. Some people are not sure what these refer to. Collision might seem obvious, but it is not as obvious as you might think. For starters the definitions depend on the country you live in.
In the UK and Europe ‘collision’ does not exist. Comprehensive insurance covers all eventualities from fire to theft to collision, irrespective of whether the offending driver is you or another driver, insured or not. In the USA, comprehensive refers everything except collision for some unknown reason. Collision covers collisions with other cars, people and any other objects. In other words, if you hit it then you are covered.
If your car is more than five years old, or worth less that $2,000, then forget the collision and comprehensive cover. Just go with the state minimum whatever that is, but it will cover at least third party to cover you if you cause a collision with another car, person or object. Make sure you check your state minimum, but your insurance company will keep you right on that. That is not negotiable!
There is an area of motor insurance in the USA that differs to that in the UK. Comprehensive cover in the UK covers collision as previously stated, but also makes no distinction whether the other driver is insured or not. You are covered irrespective of the insurance situation of the other driver – not so in the USA. Unless you have a separate uninsured driver’s policy you have to pursue the driver through the courts (Ha! Ha!). That is one option you could do without if you want a cheap affordable policy since although it could happen, it is relatively rare compared to other problems you could face.
If you get your collision, comprehensive and uninsured drivers insurance worked out to your advantage you can then look at other savings you can make. There is the deductible that you pay first before the insurer has to fork out. The higher the deductible, the lower your policy cost. However, that can cost you dearly in the event of you causing a collision. Don’t opt for too high a deductible but the higher you can comfortable afford the nearer you will be to an affordable or cheap car insurance.
There are several other ways of getting your policy price down to give you the most affordable car insurance quote, but they will have to have been in place before you reach the negotiation stage. It is too late then to fit additional safety features or take advanced driver’s courses, but you could mention them, and what your intentions are, and find out what they say.
Your best bet to get an affordable or cheap car insurance policy is to negotiate for a reduction with your existing insurer, and you will likely succeed, especially if you have a clean driver’s license and have made no claims on your policy for the last three years or more.