HOW TO CUT AUTO INSURANCE
Some Suggested Tips to Lower Your Auto Insurance Costs 1. Prices vary from company to company, so it pays to shoparound. Get at least three price quotes. 2. You buy insurance to protect you financially and providepeace of mind. It's important to pick a company that isfinancially stable. 3. Don't shop price alone. Ask friends and relatives for theirrecommendations. Contact your state insurance department to findout whether they provide information on consumer complaints bycompany. 4. Before you buy a new or used car, check into insurancecosts. Car insurance premiums are based in part on the car'ssticker price, the cost to repair it, its overall safety record,and the likelihood of theft. 5. Establishing a solid credit history can cut your insurancecosts. Insurers are increasingly using credit information toprice auto insurance policies, check your quote. To protect yourcredit standing, pay your bills on time, don't obtain morecredit than you need and keep your credit balances as low aspossible. 6. Companies offer discounts to policyholders who have not hadany accidents or moving violations for a number of years. Youmay also get a discount if you take a defensive driving course.If there is a young driver on the policy who is a good student,has taken a drivers education course or is at a college out ofthe area without a car, you may also qualify for a lower rate.Here's some more..1. Get an annual review to be sure you are getting all thediscounts you are entitled to with your current carrier,including:multiple vehicle insure your home with same carrier additionalsafety features on vehicle (ABS, anti-theft system, etc) do youneed full coverage? If you vehicle is paid for, over a certainage, is it costing you more to insure than just to replace?increase your deductibles pay for small damages vs. using yourinsurances to risk an increase in rates and lose certaindeductions2. When shopping around for quotes, be wary of giving out SSNs,your FICA score gets hit by 5 points for each inquiry. So askfor a general quote, most reputable agents will do this.3. If you don't own a home, get renters insurance! I cannotstress this enough. It is cheap, like less than $10/month for$100,000 of content coverage, and if your apt/house is in afire, you will be able to replace your stuff.As a former insurance adjuster (15 years in the biz), here aresome more:1. Don't lie on an application. This is about the worst thingyou can possibly do. If you lie, you'll get caught at somepoint. You'll then be cancelled/declined, and that will followyou around for years. You'll notice on each application, thereis a question something along the lines of, "Have you ever beendenied insurance or had a policy cancelled before?"They'll check. They'll also pull your MVR (Motor VehicleReport). They'll also likely run a CARFAX on your vehicle to seeif it has been involved in any prior accidents.2. Pick the highest deductible that you can afford. This isdifficult for many people to comprehend. Many times, people willchoose $500 or $1000 deductibles because it makes the premiumsvery attractive. Unfortunately, when you get into an accident(your fault or not), you then have to pony up the deductible(unless the other carrier pays for your damage). As an adjuster,one of the most common complaints that I'd hear is, "Well, Idon't have $1000 in the bank to repair the car. The accidentwasn't my fault. What are you going to do about it?"Unfortunately, the answer typically is that the adjuster is notgoing to do anything about it, aside from try to get yourdeductible back from the responsible party, either by theprocess of subrogation (one insurance company going afteranother) or a lawsuit if the person is uninsured. Neitherguarantee success, and in most cases, the adjuster is going torequire that your vehicle be fixed prior to taking any actionagainst a responsible party because, if we do it beforehand andthe repairs cost more than the demanded amount, the insurancecompany is out that additional money.So, the rule of thumb is as follows: If you don't normally have$1000 in the bank, then don't take the $1000 deductible. If youreally only have $500 or $250 in the bank at any one time,choose that as your deductible amounts.3. Know the value of your vehicle. Many people throw outthousands of dollars per year on useless insurance. A good andhonest insurance agent will help you determine if you needComprehensive and Collision insurance. A less-than-good agent(not necessarily dishonest, but let's leave it at inexperienced)will write you up any coverage you want without askingmoney-saving questions.In the Internet-shopping environment, many times you don't dealwith sales agents to look out for you. Saying that, most peoplehave no realistic clue on the planet what their vehicle isworth. Check your car.There are several great websites that, forfree, will help you assess the vehicle's value. You have to be realistic when you use these websites,particularly NADA and Kelly Blue Book (KBB). Read thedescriptions, particularly the "Vehicle Condition" descriptionson the website. While you may think your vehicle is in"excellent" condition, it is extremely likely that it isn't. KBBwill help you, if you need it, to accurately determine thecondition of your vehicle.The above websites are what your own insurance company uses tovalue your vehicle in the event it is a total loss. They'll alsolikely use CCC Valuescope, which is not a free site. But, CCCValuescope relies on CARFAX and NADA to do a lot of the dirtywork for them.Realize that mileage is one of the biggest factors indetermining the value of your vehicle. Higher mileage equalslower value.Compare the premium of the Collision and Comprehensiveinsurances to the value of your vehicle, and don't forget totake into account the deductible. If you're carrying a $500deductible on a $1500 vehicle, you're throwing out money. Allyou need is liability insurance, along with whatever uninsuredmotorist protection and medical coverages you need. You don'tneed to be wasting your money on Comp and Collision.Finally, the whole depreciation issue comes to bear.Depreciation is best defined as Replacement Cost (what it wouldcost you to purchase something new at today's price) less anyBetterment (any wear/tear that is associated with the use of theproduct). Let's take tires for an example. If a new tire costs$100 (Replacement Cost), and has a 100,000 mile useful life (notrealistic, and warranty is a seperate issue), and you've put25,000 miles on the tire (betterment), then the depreciatedvalue of the tire is $75. That's all you're going to get fromanyone, unless you have a Replacement Cost policy(extraordinarily rare).Paint, any moving parts, rubber, carpeting, leather, vinyl,lights, etc. all wear out and thus, are depreciated. Mostinsurance companies won't depreciate paint if only a panel ortwo is damaged on your vehicle. But, if the entire car requiresrepainting, you're going to suffer a depreciated payment on topof the deductible that you've already incurred. So, you need tokeep depreciation in mind when you're considering a deductible.To recap, a $500 deductible might wind up being more than thatwhen depreciation is factored into the mix. Sometimes, withengines for instance, the depreciation can be several thousandsof dollars.Learn more about insurance quote: www.insurance-quote-free.com
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