Motorists often have a done once, put away and now nicely renewing automatically attitude towards their auto insurance. Then, they don’t even look for ways of saving money or getting more suitable coverage. If you have an older vehicle and you haven’t looked at your alternatives since you first insured it you may be due for a review of your policy arrangements and see what else available in the market.
You would think that your current carrier would be keeping a tab on the value of your vehicle and adjusting premiums accordingly. However, this notion doesn’t really pan out in real life. You may have bought it a few years back and it may now be an old car, which should be cheap to insure. Nonetheless, most owners would confirm that their rates haven’t really come down and they are now paying higher premiums than they used to when they bought it as new. This may suggest that it is time to update your policy details and perhaps replace the provider.
Not everyone wants to get rid of their trusty runners. If it is the case, you should try to deal with the problem of paying too much premiums. You could always talk to your current carrier and see what they say about it. However, it is best to know a little bit about your options when it comes to insuring an older auto. This way, you would know what to ask and say and where to find good deals.
If you have a solid runner you probably don’t have to pay much for it. If they were the top of the range back in the day they probably have good security, airbag and smart seat belts. Then you may be able to find affordable quotes for used autos. If it is extinct now that you cannot find parts (or expensive), easy to break into and one of the most stolen types, you may find that premiums are higher.
First of all, let’s have a look at possible policy options and decide if you need to keep full coverage or it is time to drop Collision and Comprehensive.
Liability Coverage: As a general rule you should buy a sufficient level of Liability protection, regardless of what type of automobile you drive. It pays for injuries and damages you cause to third parties and therefore, it doesn’t matter what it is you are driving. Besides, this part isn’t really optional and you have to buy at least the minimum required in your state.
Collision and Comprehensive Coverage: A clunker may not be worth as much as you think, so check Kelley Blue Book for its current value. This would help you avoid overstating it. The maximum amount you can be paid if it is totalled is its market value. When you take this, deductibles and premiums into account you may find that it might be alright not to include Collision and Comprehensive coverage.
Generally, you should consider dropping these covers if it is worth below $5,000. Another option is to increase deductibles so that you can bring down the vehicle insurance premium to affordable levels. You would pay more out of pocket money if you have a claim with higher deductibles but this option may allow you to avoid dropping protection. So, it is a give and take practice and it is sensible to carry it out.
If you still have a loan on it, you may be required to pay it off so that you can drop Gap, Collision and Comprehensive Coverage or increase deductibles over $500. Otherwise, you could talk to your lender and see if they would allow you to reduce any of them.
Technically, your car insurance company isn’t taking much of a risk when offering full coverage for your well-aged ride that they may actually charge very little additional premium for this portion. It is worth updating the current value of your automobile with your carrier or agent and asking for new quotes for full coverage and Liabilities only. This will make it easier to choose.
Indeed, you can do this yourself online using one of the many auto insurance comparison websites. This way, you could really check the rates every which way without feeling guilty about taking someone’s time. You could check different levels of deductibles and coverage and see which way works out better for you.
Another thing to consider is how it is used these days. If it isn’t the everyday car and you have another vehicle you use most of the time, you may actually buy a multi-car insurance policy and save a lot of money. Remember, you can only drive one of them at a time and this is the reason why you can expect to pay much less overall.
Alternatively, you may check and declare the proper mileage you do every year with it. If it is less than 7,000 miles you would qualify for a large low mileage discount. When people have an old automobile, they are unlikely to take it for a long ride or road trips. They may be used only locally and that doesn’t add up to many miles.
Also, consider who is driving it lately. If your family has already grown up and they have their own cars and insurance they probably don’t drive the old car and it may be time to drop them off your policy to get cheaper rates. And it can actually work the other way around if you have a teenage driver in the house. You can insure the youngster with the old car and for basic coverage and drop him/her off your other policies and save money.
These are some of the examples and every person has different circumstances. The main message here is to keep probing the issue and look at it from various angles. You may find that you may not even need to insure it for a while if it isn’t being driven at the moment and just sitting in your yard but you still want to keep it. You can declare it off-road with the DMV until the day you decide to use it again.
Spare a little time to consider your current needs and usage and find yourself a good comparison website to check the costs for all the options you consider. These platforms are free, quick and very easy to use. You can keep a favorite automobile even though its good years are behind. But you need to make sure that older auto insurance doesn’t become too burdensome to a point that you cannot enjoy owning it without feeling guilty about the costs.