How to Save Money on Car Insurance – 20 Tips

You can ensure you don’t spend a dime more than you should on premiums by learning how to get cheap rates. There are a few savings offered by most carriers. Which of these discounts you can bag determines how much you spend. Most motorists should be able to qualify at least several of these since a few of them have nothing to do with driving and easy to qualify. So, here is how to save on auto insurance.

  1. Avoid Tickets When You Can

Careless driving can cost you more than just traffic fines. If you want to know how much does insurance go up after a ticket, click the link. When you get a speeding or reckless driving ticket all may not be lost yet if this is the first ticket. Depending on where you live you may be offered to either attend a traffic school or accept the points on license. If this happens consider yourself lucky and take the course to avoid getting a ticket and points on license. This is our first tip because a ticket can affect premium for at least three years.

  1. Look for Ways to Avoid Accidents

When you start getting a few accidents and near misses you should seriously consider taking an advanced course. This will show them that you are serious about improving and may land you rate reduction. Do you know how much does insurance go up after accident? Read the post to find out.

Another thing you could do is to find out if there are any courses offered by the carrier. Usually, these courses aren’t difficult to take and are online. If you can complete it successfully you can get around 10% discount. On the other hand, it may go up if you fail.

Also, advanced courses can be a great tool to get the most affordable policy for teenage drivers. There aren’t many saving opportunities when you are a teen and the premium is probably very high. So, you can keep hundreds of dollars in your pocket by completing one of these courses and improve driving that reduces the chances of having accidents.

  1. Compare Costs of Insuring before You Buy a Vehicle

You can keep rates low for years to come by buying an less risky auto. The type of vehicle you have affects costs more than you may expect. Premiums are based partly on value of automobiles, cost of repairs, and its safety and security records. You get discounts with automobiles that reduce the risks of injuries or theft.

This point cannot be highlighted enough when you are buying the first car for a teenage driver. It is one of the best ways to bring the costs down no matter how old or experienced is the listed drivers. But choosing a cheap to insure automobile is definitely one of the most important decisions you make if you want cheap coverage for young drivers.

  1. Switch Cars to Save Money

It is highlighted above just how important it is to have a car that is cheap. You may have missed the boat on your last vehicle purchase but it may not be too late to change it, especially when you need to add a young or new driver to policy. You may even be forced to switch it for a more modest one if you have a sports car. The current provider would certainly increase the premium a lot as soon as they know you have a teenager living with you. They may even refuse certain automobiles.

  1. Good Credit Helps You Economize

Credit score may be as important as records with some. It is not easy to find insurers who don’t check credit in most states, except California, Massachusetts and Hawaii where they aren’t allowed to check for credit. Credit rating is widely used and can affect rates as much as 20%.

There are a few simple things you could do to improve credit score and make sure that it remains good. One of the first things is to make sure you don’t miss bills. You can also avoid applying for too many credit cards and loans and maxing out credit cards.

  1. Look for Low Mileage Discounts

You may be traveling only few miles for many reasons like retirement, working from home or commuting by public transport. If the automobile is mostly sitting at home you can get cheaper rates for low mileage. You can save a lot of money if you travel less than 3,000, 7,500 or even 10,000 miles a year. Alternatively, check pay per mile insurance offered by few of them. Again, pay per mile policies are good for people who travel less than 10,000 miles pa.

  1. Consider Pay-As-You-Go Policiessaving tips

Pay as you go car insurance is a bit different than mileage based discounts because companies don’t only look at mileage but check how good you are before. If you are good with sensible driving patterns you may be able to reduce cost even though you travel more than 10,000 miles a year.

  1. Bundle Home and Auto

Buying more than one type of policy from the same company usually lowers overall payment by about 10 – 15%. Most common bundle is home and auto coverage but other combinations are offered too. Bundling is another option since you are buying them anyway.

  1. Increase the Deductible if It Reduces Premium Enough

Increasing the deductible can reduce the cost of Collision and Comprehensive Coverage. In most cases, you should expect to economize around couple of hundred dollars by increasing the deductible from $500 to $1000. If you are confident about it or not driving much anyway this may be a good example to how to reduce auto insurance when you are a good motorist.

  1. Don’t Make Small Claims

Many people have the wrong idea about claims especially small ones. Yes, it is your right to make a claim when you suffer a loss. But each claim raises alarms and this can be a serious problem when you have several claims in the last three years. Also, many policyholders don’t calculate the deductible when they are making a claim. For example, if the deductible is $500 and you are making a claim for a $900 loss you are only going to get $400 and they may raise renewal more than $400 because you made this small claim.

  1. Buy Liability Only Coverage for Older Cars

After a certain age its value drops to a level that insuring it may not be worth. Then, it may be wise to drop Collision and Comprehensive coverage and set aside the money you economize for down payment on the next car. Collision and Comprehensive coverage together pays for damages to your vehicle and it may not be worth making repair claims if you take out deductible. When vehicles are near the end of their economic life it is best to start thinking about your next auto instead of getting it repaired. That is why liability only vehicle insurance may make sense.

  1. Look for Group Discounts

Some companies like GEICO offer lower rates to people who participate in a group plan from their employers, through professional, business and alumni groups or from other associations. If you can fit into any of those groups you can enjoy savings. For example, GEICO offer savings to over 250 groups. AAA may be able to offer you membership bonuses as well.

  1. Settle in a Low Auto Insurance Zip Code

Today, underwriters are sophisticated and allocate different rating for almost every zip code because risks of auto theft, traffic accidents and vandalism vary from one community to another. This is more so when you compare a small town to a large city where there are more traffic accidents and auto crimes. That is why cities are more expensive. Further variables that goes into zoning are weather conditions, auto repair costs and so on. You can quickly check how much the difference will be between two locations you are considering moving into.

Also, the distance between home and work is important since it is used to determine how many miles you will commute every year. So, living closer to work can help you save.

  1. Park off-street

Another thing you should look for is private parking especially in high risk zip codes. When you leave the vehicle off the street and in a private parking the chances of something happening to it is lower and therefore they usually give a good reduction for off-street parking.

  1. Look for Multi Vehicle Discounts

Another simple and effective way is to cover more than one car with the same company. Quite a few offer lower prices even though different family members may own each vehicle and separate arrangements may be needed, as long as they share the same address. This is a good way of ensuring all family members benefit. You can also look for multi-vehicle policies that afford lower rates when you include all the vehicles under one schedule.

  1. Get the Best Automobile Insurance for College Students

If you are at the college and have taken the car you can check for the companies that have special offers for college students or for your college. You can also check for student discounts and see if you qualify. If you are parent and your college student child is listed on the policy you can check for companies that will give you large cut for a college student who is far away from home.

  1. Pay the Premium at Once

If you can afford to pay at once you may be able to get further 5% saving.. Also, you avoid paying installment fee and interest for deferred payments because you are getting credit when you ask for an installment plan.

  1. Cut Car Insurance Premium by Shopping

Comparison-shopping is arguably the easiest and most effective ways of economizing. Quotes for the same coverage can vary by hundreds of dollars. You should at least get several quotes once a year from varies types and sizes of companies. You can compare quotes online quickly or ask an agent to do it for you if you are pressed for time.

There is really no other way of knowing how quotes will pan out. For example, a carrier may appear to be offering a few different discounts but it doesn’t mean that their quote is going to work out cheaper.

  1. Check Policy for Unnecessary Add-ons

Buying policies that come with all the bells and whistles may sound great but do you really need them? Don’t forget that every extra cover cost you money. For example, do you need towing if you are already member of a roadside recovery service? Or do you need rental reimbursement if you have another vehicle you can use in case you need to leave it in repair shop after accidents?

  1. Look for Special Discounts like Switch and Save

Many of them are creative in the way they qualify people. Look for the latest special promotions online. You may even get 10% off just for liking their Facebook profile. These are easy ones and one of the more common ones is switch and save that can get you about 5% cheaper premium for switching. If switching makes sense you may as well get the most out of it.

Arranging the right coverage is important for peace of mind and in case of future claims. If you are currently paying too much it will naturally scare you off from looking for more. But knowing how to economize will help you get great value for money. Remember that you are in charge when it comes to getting the most affordable.