Car insurance can be one of the highest bills you have to pay every month. Finding a lower car insurance rate is not necessarily easy to do, but there are a couple of ways to get a lower rate that go beyond the typical “bundle your policies together” advice. Try the following techniques to get a lower rate on your auto insurance.
Find discounts for stuff you already do. Auto insurance companies are known for offering discounts to people who haven’t been in an accident for a while, but they also offer a lot of different discounts for behaviors that you wouldn’t normally think of as qualifying for a discount. Currently, insurance companies are offering discounts for a number of activities such as wearing a seat belt or garaging your car at night. Some of these activities are very common, but few people know about these discounts because insurance companies rarely advertise them. Often they are used only to entice new customers, so you have to ask the insurance agent what you qualify for. Negotiate with the insurance agent to get the best discounts that he or she has to offer. Don’t be afraid to state that you’ll go to a cheaper company. Auto insurance companies do a lot to keep your business, but they want to make as much profit as they can.
Buy a car that is cheap to insure. Surprisingly, this might not mean buying a cheaper car. Generally speaking, auto insurance rates are usually based on the amount of risk that the insurance company believes it is taking on with every vehicle. Usually, the more expensive cars cost the most to replace and repair. Because of this, they usually cost more to insure. This also means that insurance premiums for a “family” car are almost always cheaper than the insurance premium for sports cars.
There are a lot of studies that illustrate why people who drive certain brands of cars are the most likely to be in and cause accidents. Surprisingly, there are exceptions to the rule that these cars are all expensive vehicles. In many cases, lower end sports cars cost their owners a lot more in insurance than cars or minivans that cost four or five times more. Before trading in your car, ask your insurance company what makes and models of cars have lower insurance rates. You should also get an insurance quote for any vehicle that you are thinking about purchasing.
Finally, think about garaging your car in a lower risk area. As a general rule, drivers who garage or store their cars in high-population urban areas will pay about twice what drivers in low population rural areas will typically pay for their auto insurance. Think about where you park your car at night, and consider if you can park somewhere else. Even storing your car in a garage or a covered car port can save a lot of money on your insurance. If you’re moving, ask your car insurance company for a quote of how much your insurance will run in your new neighborhood.