Getting the Best Auto Insurance Quotes

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With close to $2,000 in yearly premiums per car, we can safely say that car insurance makes up for a consistent part of the budget in a lot of American households. If you aren’t shopping around carefully or availing all possible discounts, you may be leaving money on the table right now. This website will serve you as a short guide to getting the best car insurance premiums.

Compare quotes

Whatever you may be shopping for, cross-comparison is always a good way to save money. You should analyze as many offerings as possible and make an educated decision on the best price vs. quality ratio. You will want to compare quotes offered by various insurers, as well as different plans offered by the same company.

Compare quotes between companies

Build a list of the active insurance carriers in your area and get quotations from each and every one of them. You will want to query at least half a dozen companies to get a good understanding of the general price level and what rate you should be aiming at.

Rather than querying each company individually, you can use a car insurance comparison tool to get quotes from many insurers at the same time. This saves you time, because you only have to fill in one form and the system will take care of the rest. It also assures you that you are comparing apples to apples – the results you are going to get are a head to head comparison on the exact same level of coverage.

Compare quotes for packages offered by the same company

You may sometimes find that an increase of less than $50 a month in premiums can get you a lot more coverage. Evaluate your budget, work the numbers, do some what-if scenarios with an insurance calculator and see what you come up with – you might want to spend a bit more money to get a much higher level of protection.

Evaluate your insurance needs

Do you need a comprehensive or collision policy, or will liability suffice? Do you need high liability limits or can you go with the minimum state mandated ones?

Minimums aren’t always the cheapest

A lot of states ask for some outrageously low liability lower limits. The minimum mandatory property damage insurance in Ohio, for instance, is of $7,500 and in New Jersey it’s only $5,000 – you may have to pay more if you rear-end a shiny new Porsche!

If the damages cost more than the insurer agreed to cover, you will be liable for the difference. You will be sued and be asked to provide the remaining amounts.

Increase or decrease the deductibles

Comprehensive and collision policies are subject to a deductible, i.e. an amount you agree to pay upfront if you file a claim for an insurable event, before the insurer shells out the repair costs.

Evaluate how much money you could afford to spend if you had an accident tomorrow, and set that as your deductible. An increase of only a few hundred dollars can lead to savings between 25% and 40% in the yearly premium, because the insurer will pay less, on average, in claims and, therefore, will bill you less.

Don’t go with an outrageously high deductible though, just to get a low premium. If you are going to charge the deductible on your credit card, for instance, the interests you are going to pay might be higher than the savings in the insurance premium.

Monitor your driving record

A poor driving record is the main factor that contributes to insurance surcharges. It’s not only accidents and serious offenses that count, but also a couple of measly speeding tickets you may already have forgotten about.

If you have demerit points that are about to expire, it would be advisable not to buy a new policy until your driving record becomes clean. Depending on your state of residence, points stay on your driving record between six and eighteen months, and can be cleared sooner if you take a defensive driving course. If your current policy is about to expire, you may want to get a temporary policy or not drive at all by the time your record becomes clean.

Insurance for safe vs. unsafe drivers

The gap in premiums for safe vs. unsafe drivers is quite consistent. Drivers with a stained record will get surcharges on the next year, while those without any claims can get discounts of up to 50%. Let’s take the example of two drivers who bought a $2,000 policy and the first one had an accident. Upon renewal:

Driver 1 gets a 30% surcharge, the new yearly price will be $2,000 * 130% = $2,600;
Driver 2 gets a 25% no-claims bonus; the new yearly premium is going to be of $2,000 * 75% = $1,500.
As you can see from this example, a single accident can incur additional charges of $1,100.

About the accident forgiveness program

Insurance companies understand that accidents can happen to everybody, including the best drivers, and this is why most players on today’s market introduced the so-called “accident forgiveness program”. This insurance option guarantees that your premium won’t go up if you are found at-fault in an accident – it’s a “get out of jail free card” you can use once every five years. The option can usually be used on every insured driver in your household, but may be used only one time per policy.

Take action

You don’t have to believe or disbelieve what you read on this site, as the mere belief that these tips work won’t put money in your pockets. Once you are done with reading, don’t just sigh “wow, these guys seem to know their stuff”, then sit down with a beer and a bag of popcorn and watch Big Bang Theory reruns.

Get a quote right now – it’s free of charge, it only takes a few minutes and doesn’t come with any obligations. It can show whether or not what you are paying at the moment is alright or your current insurance carrier is ripping you off. Type in your name, email address and zip code and let us do our magic for you!

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