Getting the best car insurance rate can seem exhausting. This is made even more difficult when you consider that lots of insurance agents are reticent to volunteer information on the discounts and deductibles they have available.
Getting the best car insurance rate, therefore, means arming yourself with the facts.
1) Compare Premiums
The first thing you want to do is compare premiums. The rates in your area might be different from one place to another or one agency to another. Sure, they might not be substantially different, but even a percentage point or two can help to save quite a bit of money for longer term.
Visit different insurance company websites and compare the rates you are offered. In state insurance offices they typically have pricing guides but the categories used by the companies you are considering might not match yours so use a guide yourself to figure out the most cost-effective insurance agents in your area.
2) Family
If you have teens in your family, anyone under 25 to be exact, manage them carefully. Young drivers tend to pay more because they are accident prone. Once they reach 25, statistically this decreases.
That said, if you have kids, encourage them to keep their grades high, at a B average or more, so that they get discounts on car insurance. Students can get between 5{1988d9d489508ec78ab74a3fa170fc3a0f353566b665413f00453621c0c8b81d} and 25{1988d9d489508ec78ab74a3fa170fc3a0f353566b665413f00453621c0c8b81d} saved. Moreover, if they complete approved drivers education courses it can get them a large discount.
Parents of students who spend part of each year at a school which is more than 100 miles from home, and need the family car to do so, might get a break on the costs too.
3) Careful Driving
Kids are not the only ones who need to be careful drivers on the road. Many insurance companies give a discount of 5{1988d9d489508ec78ab74a3fa170fc3a0f353566b665413f00453621c0c8b81d} for anyone who keeps a clean record for three years in a row, and 10{1988d9d489508ec78ab74a3fa170fc3a0f353566b665413f00453621c0c8b81d} for those who go six years without an accident or violation.
You might even get discounts, depending on where it is you live, if you are a female and the only driver in the family, a non-smoker, a senior, or a member of specific profession which is statistically less prone to accidents (usually law or medicine).
Other discounts can be had from taking defensive driving courses, carpooling, or maintaining low miles on your car. If you participate in a data-tracking program, where the insurance companies get to monitor your driving habits, then you can often get a discount for that too.
These rates all vary based on where you are and what company you use. Moreover, you might not qualify for a discount one month, then qualify the next.
You need to keep on top of the insurance company and make sure you are getting the discounts you deserve, because they will not be the ones forthcoming about what ways you can save. Asking about these programs can only help you save, not hurt you. So call your agent today.
