10 Things to Know for Best Cheap Auto Insurance Coverage

Insuring a vehicle can be like working with a double-edged sword at times. If you load a policy up you can end up with an above budget premium. However, not buying the coverage you need may cause you serious losses when you have an accident. You may not get compensated for all losses or all the liability claims against you may not be discharged leaving you exposed against compensation demands from third parties. So, here are a few things you should know to arrange best cheap car insurance like a pro.

First of all, you need to know how it works to avoid making mistakes that will cost you dearly now or later. You may think that you cannot learn enough about a policy and how the prices work in a short time and don’t bother even attempting. However, that would be the first mistake. There are plenty information online and you can always ask brokers and agents. Furthermore, knowing a few basic facts may be enough to make the right decisions. Let’s run it down and see if we are going to be any wiser at the end.

   1. Decide What to Definitely Include and What May Be Left Out

The trick is to make sure that you are properly covered for the losses you cannot handle on your own. And you can take a view on smaller damages like Rental Reimbursement. It would be an inconvenience not to be able to get a replacement car while yours is being repaired after a crash but it wouldn’t ruin you financially. On the other hand, buying the basic state required liability policy may cause all sorts of problems if you ever cause a big crash involving several injured people and damaged expensive automobiles.

Get the priorities right if you want to avoid paying too much. Small things influence many people when they are trying to figure out which auto insurance is better. That is why many companies load up their policies with many features to sway applicants. They may look great on the paper but what are the chances of needing them one day? It is always best to cover the essential areas like liability, collision and comprehensive first and worry about the other additions next.

For example, a recent survey showed that about 40% of people are looking for policies with low deductibles. It is fine to look for them but don’t let these small issues overcrowd the scene, hide the big picture and prevent you from getting good and affordable auto insurance.

   2. Don’t Be Scared About the Costs until You Get the Quotes

policy costsDon’t make the mistake of settling with less than satisfactory coverage because you are worried that it will cost you too much. Often motorists get scared to ask for quotes with different levels of protection when they see how expensive basic state required liability is. However, you can get cheap quotes for full coverage. You probably know the difference between those two options.

For example, the price may be $400 for minimum that doesn’t even offer you enough liability, let alone offering any protection for own losses. When you look at this you may think that increasing it to half a million dollars and covering the car properly with collision and comprehensive would cost you well over $1,000. However, the reality is that you shouldn’t be surprised to be quoted less than $700. It becomes easier to find best cheap vehicle insurance if you know these little tricks.

   3. Don’t Believe Myths until You Test Them

Here are some facts you should know about insuring autos. There are too many myths and they can hold you back or lead to wrong choices. For example there are couple of myths that are not necessarily correct. People assume or heard that “cheaper cars are cheaper to insure”. It even sounds so convincing that less valuable or hybrid automobiles should be more economical but it is not necessarily true.

An economy range automobile cannot withstand accidents that they may be totalled after a small crash while bigger cars will only sustain dents in a similar accident. They also cause a lot more injuries to drivers and passengers. Overall owners of such automobiles are more likely to make bigger claims. Similarly, reports show that it costs more to repair hybrid autos because their parts are more expensive and rare.

There is nothing stopping you to get automobile insurance quotes with VIN number if you are serious about buying a particular automobile. You shouldn’t base a car buying decisions on myths but real information that help you reduce costs. Vehicles play a very important role in premium calculations that you don’t want to buy the wrong one especially for the wrong reasons.

   4. Don’t Tell Fibs when You Fill a Proposal Form

Unfortunately, people approach filling quote forms the same way as job applications. They don’t see problems with telling few lies thinking that companies wouldn’t know or check. They may actually not check and offer you more affordable rates based on the information you provided. Remember always that you can have affordable and good car insurance without the need to tell lies.

Carriers have the habit of investigating deeper into policyholders’ lives when they have a sizeable claim and something doesn’t add up. They start checking motor vehicle records, home address and any previous incidents, accidents and compensations. You can see that you will run into serious troubles if they find you lied on the application. They can refuse to pay it, offer partial settlements or demand additional premium calculated from the inception date. If this happens you are left totally to their mercy. They have sufficient grounds to do whatever they want and you have to pay the additional premiums since you have already made a claim. You cannot just cancel and get away with it.

   5. Preventative Measures for Lower Premiums 

Traffic tickets can be costly more ways than you think. It will keep effecting rates. Do you know how long does a ticket stay on record? So, try to avoid them by driving carefully. Today, you can buy GPS devices that tell you when you break the speed limit, just in case you had a momentary loss of concentration. Claims affect rates the same way as well. If you have a small damage that you can settle out of pocket you might just want to keep it to yourself and keep the bonus.

   6. Uninterrupted Vehicle Insurance Coverage Is Important

Today, most of them would want to see that you have had continuous coverage before they calculate the premium. If you have been cancelling policies, letting them cancelled by not making payments or dropping it all together you will have to declare it. You cannot hide it as there is a question asking about previous situation. Besides, they share such information that telling a fib will get you in trouble in the worst possible time.

You should always try to keep it and switch properly if you want best cheap automobile insurance. You may have been building a nice history for a long time and have had no problems. Nonetheless, having a few months gap in a policy can make you lose all good driving and no claim history. They have no way of knowing why you didn’t have it at that time. It may be because you have been refused. Unknowns scare underwriters and they are only happy to offer discounts when they can see a continuous and checkable history.

   7. Not Checking for Alternative Quotes Costs You

More than half of American policyholders don’t check alternatives when the renewal is due. This means that they have no idea about the current market conditions. This isn’t the way to get good and affordable vehicle insurance. If they are really lucky they may be getting a pretty good deal. But it is more than likely that they are losing out on savings. Many studies show that loyal policyholders lose out in the long run.

You should always find out what the alternative providers will offer you by getting 3 – 5 quotes. There is no harm in knowing what is out there even you don’t intend to switch at this stage for whatever reason. Many people managed to get their insurers reduce premiums after getting lower quotes from a competitor. And a lot more switched after finding how low their premiums can go with a little effort. It may be alright if you want a trustworthy provider and you had no problems with yours. But shopping around is essential to find reliable and economical auto insurance. Besides, who says the new company is going to be worse than what you have.

   8. Driving History Isn’t the Only Factor Considered

Traditionally, all you needed was long, clean history and no claim to get the lowest rates. However, a lot have been changing in the way premiums are calculated within the last 20 years. Companies are now looking at many different factors starting with background and ending with financial credibility. They look at education, profession, membership with certain work related associations and even the university you graduated can affect rates along with zip code, the car model and marital status.

Therefore, you still have a good chance of getting cheap and best automobile insurance even you have one or two blemishes. For example, you can get away with one speeding ticket or small claim, if you have more than 5 years driving history. Most of them will not make a big deal out of it when they see that you are a good enough driver except this one mistake.

You should make sure that all qualifications have been taken into account and you are getting all the discounts you qualify. Here are some of the well-known discounts you can ask for to increase the savings or reduce the effects of a recent incident or ticket. You should also try to keep a good credit score.

   9. You Need Good and Cheap Car Insurance Companies

We have already discussed how to determine the best coverage at the beginning. And we discussed how to find better quotes from various sources in the middle. Now it is time to learn how to find the auto insurers with lowest prices. If you check that post you will see the ones who currently have great offers for each category of drivers. You should also get a few from sources that aren’t listed there to make a decent comparison.

When we combine all these together we can summarize what we need to do to get great rates; you need to choose the right coverage, get a few quotes from reputable names and choose the one that meets requirements the best.

   10. You May Be Able to Claim More Money

Depending on where you live and who was at fault you may be able to claim for consequential losses too. For example, when someone else causes an accident you can demand more than just repair costs from the third party insurer. When a car is repaired after an accident it is recorded and anyone checks the history of a car can find out about it. This will definitely reduce the sale value of it. Therefore, you can include value depreciation as well especially in third party claims. This provision may not be available when you apply to your carrier that you may need to consider to which one you will submit it.

In addition, you may be able to add the registration of the new vehicle and taxes when a car is totalled. You wouldn’t have to buy a new auto if yours wasn’t totalled and therefore registration and tax are the consequential expenses that should be included. Depending on which state you live you may be able to settle without the need to buy a new car or you may need to wait until you buy a replacement vehicle.

You try to get great coverage at reasonable price so that you spend as little as possible now and you get the maximum pay-out when you have a claim. So, it is important to know what you can and cannot demand too.