While anyone could be upset about car insurance for one reason or another, the fact of the matter is you can’t complain about prices until you have exhausted all of your options. The internet landscape today provides for a much more competitive pricing world than has ever been around before, and if you simply take a few moments to look at your car policy quotes, you will find that it can be rather easy to get them down even further than an initial quote.
Drive Used Vehicles
While this doesn’t sound luxurious in any such fashion, the fact of the matter is that driving brand new vehicles can be far more costly, according to an article by Money Crashers. If a claim occurs your insurance company will need to replace parts. And, because a brand new vehicle hasn’t had time to depreciate, the company could be on the hook for a much more expensive bill if you have a claim with a brand new vehicle as compared to one that is just a few years older.
Understanding the underwriting point of view will show you that when you can save your insurance company potential money (for example saving them what they have to spend on replacing the vehicle or parts in the event of a claim), then you can see significantly decreased rates. It also will lighten the load on your wallet because you won’t have to buy brand new vehicles every other year.
Shop Around
This may be some of the simplest pieces of advice that anyone can get, but it oftentimes is either ignored entirely or is at least placed on the back burner and is forgotten about. However, while you may not like the idea of shopping around, have you considered how much you can save? If you spend an hour receiving the best auto insurance quotes with CoverHound, then you could drive yourself slightly insane from shopping for rates and making a decision. It’s simple to understand that many people don’t love having to pay for coverage. That being said, even an hour spent where you could save a few hundred dollars means you can earn a salary of over one hundred dollars for that hour!
When you consider how much you make at your day job, taking a single hour to save money is big. It’s not only money you get to put right back in your pocket (after tax dollars), but it’s also money you will save for this year, and the next, and so on. By saving on your quotes now you keep the companies from charging you too much year after year.
Ask For Discounts
While this might sound insane in any other walk of life or business, you need to ask for discounts in the world of policies once you have a quote in hand simply because everyone else is doing it! It might sound unconventional from a business point of view, but the general level of competition that is currently in the insurance world is forcing companies to give discounts for some of the most bizarre reasons around, according to Huffington Post. Still, if you don’t ask for discounts then how can you know you qualify and receive them?
The key to understanding discounts is that you need to remember where they come from. Either you are receiving a discount because a preferred organization has brokered a deal with the company providing you coverage (specific groups, unions, clubs, and etc.), or you are doing something that means you are more responsible and are therefore less likely to be a risk in general (such as a good student discount or a safe driving discount). If you remember it’s all about the people you know and what your behavior is, then you can save some significant cash on your policy with discounts and by partnering with the right companies.
Raise Your Deductibles
While this strategy isn’t seen as an exciting one, it is more of a strategic one in general that needs to be paid attention to. More than anything, if you raise your deductibles then you can save money. It also works mathematically, because if you manage to not have a claim for a long period of time, you could save the money that your bills decreased by every month and put it into a rainy day fund. If you end up having a claim then you can use the savings to come out even. Every dollar beyond what you save will actually be money back into your pocket.
When you consider the competitive landscape that is the car insurance business world these days, you can’t just accept the first offer that comes in front of you. Take the time to obtain competitive quotes and then figure out how you can refine those quotes to make them even more competitive. After all, if you are the one paying the bills then you might as well minimize them.