Insurance World

Everyone who owns a car needs auto insurance. This article will give you some tips on lowering your auto insurance costs. You will find a checklist of items to ask your insurance agent that may qualify for discounts. Keep in mind that not all discounts can be applied with all insurance companies in all states.

1. Shop Around

Go to your favorite search engine and type in “free car insurance quotes online”. You’ll see a long list of insurance companies that you may even be familiar with. Visit at least five car insurance websites and look for a link to free quotes. You will then be asked basic information about yourself, your driving history, and your car’s make, model, and year. It just takes a couple of minutes, and shortly thereafter, they will email you a no obligation quote. Write down their website address, their toll free number, and customer service email address.

Each insurance company will ask you generally the same questions, and will give you options about how much coverage you will want. Find your current policy, if you have one, and take note of the coverage you currently have. Always provide the same information and ask for the same coverage at each company so you will be comparing apples to apples. Read the fine print and make sure nothing is excluded from the quote like Rental car coverage, towing, medical, etc…

For the purposes of the quote, the insurance company will not ask you your social security number, but keep in mind your actual cost maybe higher or lower depending on your credit history. If you’re not sure about some of the terminology or coverage, take notes so that you can ask the insurance company about them directly.

Once you have at least five quotes emailed to you, take the lowest two or three quotes and see if they are less than what you are paying now. Most likely at least one of them is much lower. At this point you will want to call them directly to get the most accurate quote by providing additional personal information. For additional discounts, here is a checklist of things you should ask about.

[ ] $500 deductible

[ ] $1,000 deductible

[ ] Paying monthly, semi-annually, or annually

[ ] More than 1 car

[ ] No Accidents in 3 Years

[ ] No Moving Violations in 3 Years

[ ] Driver Training Courses

[ ] Defensive Driving Courses

[ ] Anti-Theft Devices

[ ] Low Annual Mileage

[ ] Air Bags

[ ] Anti-Lock Brakes

[ ] Daytime Running Lights

[ ] Student Drivers with Good Grades

[ ] Auto and Homeowners Coverage with the Same Company

[ ] College Students away from Home

[ ] Long-Time Customer

[ ] Other Discounts

2. Saving Insurance Premium on cars you own outright.

If you own a clear title to your car, meaning there is no bank loan on it, then you may want to consider dropping the collision/comprehensive coverage. As a rule of thumb, if the cars value is less than $3000, it may not make sense for you to pay for this additional coverage. Over time, the cost of the additional insurance premium will exceed the value of the car. It’s pretty simple math.

Check the fair market value of your car either through Edmunds.com or even your local newspaper. See what other people are trying to get for the same car. Keep in mind your cars mileage, condition, and age. Has it been in an accident before? Does it have unusually high mileage in excess of 15,000 miles per year? Does it need new tires? You get the idea. Be realistic, because in the event that this car is in an accident and is damaged beyond repair, it is unlikely you will get the full value of the car.

3. Ask About Insurance Rates in Different Areas

Rates can vary widely even in the same state. Different locals have different accident rates, population, and crime. These all factor in to the final cost. If you are moving to a different area, ask about what the rates are for that town.

4. Ask About Getting Other Insurance Policies Together With Your Auto Insurance

Combining insurance policies with the same company can often give you additional discounts. If you own a home, ask about combining your homeowners insurance with your auto insurance. Also ask about other polices, such as life, health, and business insurance. Most insurance companies cover a wide range of policies and will give substantial discounts when you do business exclusively with them.

5. A Clean Credit History Can Reduce Car Premiums:

Having good credit can also lower your insurance costs. Many insurance companies will use credit information to price auto insurance policies. Drivers with good credit and a clean driving record may qualify as a “preferred” customer with lower risk and will be rewarded with lower premiums.

6. Low Mileage Discounts

Some companies offer discounts to drivers who drive a lower than average number of miles per year. If you car pool, take public transportation like the subway, or work from home, you will most likely drive few miles per year than the average driver.

7. Group Insurance

Some insurers offer discounts to drivers who work for certain companies or belong to professional associations, and alumni groups. Ask your employer, group or clubs that you belong to if they have any special arrangements with different insurance companies.

Using all of these tips can save you hundreds of dollars per year, especially when you have multiple cars and multiple drivers in the same household.

Are your house contents insured? Really? Are you absolutely certain? If you’re under insured, from a legal point of view, you may as well not be insured at all. Your insurer may well simply scale back your claim by the amount you’re under-insured, but they would be within their rights to reject the claim totally.

Many people under-estimate the value of their personal possessions. If you go through your home, room by room, and make a rough mental note of the contents, you may be very surprised at the result. Don’t forget to include portable electrical items, jewellery, designer clothes and paintings and even photograph frames. It’s often the smaller items that are easily stolen in a “smash and grab” type of burglary and these can be the very items which you overlook in your valuation.

When working out the premium for your policy, insurers use your postcode, the size of your home and the claims history of the area. Contents calculators are often available online, which are useful in deciding the level of cover required. There are steps you can take to help to cut premiums and stay safe.

In addition to the normal alarm system, you could think about installing motion-activated lights at the entrances to your house, not only are they a deterrent for the burglar but they’re convenient for your own use too. A security cover inside a letterbox makes sure a thief can’t gain entry by putting a hand or instrument through it to open the door. Fitting all outside doors with efficient key-operated locks and bolts is a good idea.

Inside the house, valuables could be kept in a safe and security fittings could secure any precious works of art. It’s a good idea to use some kind of marking or security code and record serial numbers, where this is relevant. Photographs of your valuables are useful too.

There’s a wide range of policies available. The majority of standard household policies will cover contents of up the Ј75,000. It is normal for items valued at over Ј1,500 to be listed separately. These will be covered inside the home, but would need “personal belongings insurance” if they are to be insured away from home. It is possible to arrange cover for your offspring’s belongings whilst they’re away from home as long as they’re “temporarily” removed and would normally be in your home.

For those who find their contents exceed Ј75,000, there are specialist policies covering “high net worth” clients. The range of cover extends to second homes abroad, which is useful for personal items. On this type of policy there is no need to list items separately as all items are covered.

It is possible to get discounts on insurance if you cover both your home contents and take out buildings cover with the same company.

There are wide-ranging offers and discounts available, with lots of companies vying for your business. Remember you need to insure for the full value of your belongings to avoid the risk of a claim being reduced or rejected, whilst still getting the very best value for money. The easy way to do this is via an on-line insurance broker. They’ll be able to search a wide range of insurers and come up with the right policy to suit your own particular needs. Not to mention the (up to 10%) on-line discount.

Stay safe.