5 Ways To Lower Your Car Insurance Costs
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Why pay more when you can pay less? This is valid for car insurance as well as for many other things in life.
Shop around
About one month before your current insurance expires, start asking for quotes. Shopping around is good. You might find out that some insurers who were pricey last year are now among the cheapest. The crisis was tough for many companies. Insurance was one of the most affected areas, as people had to direct their money towards basic needs like food and bills.
Another reason you want to compare multiple quotes is that various discounts may apply, according to factors such as age or gender. Indeed, I’ve seen insurers who give discounts for women drivers. That’s not because they are prettier than male drivers, it’s because statistics show females file less claims and cause less severe accidents than men.
Even if you had no accidents during the previous year and your current insurer will give you a no claim bonus, you still should check out what others are offering. Surprises are not uncommon and anyway, asking for quotes is free and takes very little time.
Re-assess your insurance coverage needs
When the car is new, you might be happy to insure it for a bigger value, so you’ll be happy to pay the extra money for that. However, as your car gets older, it might not be that attractive to thieves anymore, so you could be happier to insure it for less and reduce the value of the premiums. You can’t set the car value yourself, though, there are rules for that. There are catalogs with all makes and models of cars and with their current value depending on the manufacturing year. Auto insurance companies usually use such books to determine the value of your car. However, here’s what happened to me: my car figured in those books with a value about 20% higher than what I actually paid for it. In the first three years I liked that. I thought that if my car was to be stolen, I’d get more money from insurance than needed to buy a similar one. In the fourth year, though, I thought it wasn’t worth to pay that much anymore, because the risk of getting it stolen was much lower. When I asked the insurance agent to value it for less, because it was overpriced in their book, he said that would be applicable only if I showed them the invoice. It’s good I had it, I showed it, then I got to pay lower premiums for the full coverage I wanted for my car.
Here’s another example of how I managed to lower my car insurance premiums:
In the first year after buying my car, I was a fan of off-road trips. This option comes with an extra cost, if you want your insurance to cover those roads as well. I was willing to pay for it as long as I was using it. When I decided I don’t want to do that anymore, I asked the agent to cut it from the list, so I got cheaper insurance.
Higher deductibles will also help you pay less. For instance, if you keep your car in the garage, there’s a lower probability to find it hit in the parking place. You can then agree to pay more in case you file a claim, because you think the probability of doing it is rather low.
Drive carefully
Having a good driving record will keep you away from the “high risk drivers” category. Insurance companies love clients who just pay and not claim any money ever. The more convictions or tickets you had, the higher the risk that you’ll get involved in accidents and file claims for amounts that exceed the insurance premiums you pay.
Install an anti-theft device
Such devices will qualify you for a bonus with some insurance companies. Anyway, it’s a good idea to protect your car. Some anti-theft systems are quite cheap, so it’s worth taking a look into this.
Maintain a good credit score
Having a good credit history won’t bring you discounts on your car insurance. However, a poor credit history could make you pay more. That is again a fact confirmed by statistics: people with bad credit history are more prone to get involved in car accidents.
Do you know any other ways to get cheaper auto insurance? You can get free quotes online by clicking here and entering your zip code in the form. This service is free and you get several quotes instantly.
admin @ May 20, 2011