Are you sick and tired of not being able to afford to pay your car insurance bill each month? You are no different than the majority of other car owners in Mississippi. Insurance companies such as State Farm, Farmers Insurance, GEICO and Allstate constantly bombard you with advertising and it can be hard to ignore the propoganda and find the best price available.
Save money by taking advantage of these discounts
The price of auto insurance can be rather high, but there could be available discounts that you may not even be aware of. Some trigger automatically when you complete an application, but a few need to be asked about before being credited. If you’re not getting every credit available, you are throwing money away.
- Safe Driver Discount – Safe drivers may save up to 50% more than their less cautious counterparts.
- Multiple Cars – Having all your vehicles on one policy may reduce the rate for each vehicle.
- Organization Discounts – Being a member of certain professional organizations could qualify you for a break on auto insurance.
- Anti-lock Brake Discount – Vehicles with anti-lock braking systems can reduce accidents and will save you 10% or more.
- Pay Upfront and Save – If you pay your entire premium ahead of time instead of paying each month you can actually save on your bill.
- Service Members Pay Less – Being on active duty in the military could mean lower rates.
Consumers should know that some credits don’t apply to the entire policy premium. Some only apply to individual premiums such as medical payments or collision. So even though they make it sound like all those discounts means the company will pay you, it just doesn’t work that way. But any discount will cut the cost of coverage.
What determines how much you pay?
An important part of buying insurance is that you know the rating factors that go into determining auto insurance rates. Understanding what impacts premium levels allows you to make educated decisions that will entitle you to lower auto insurance prices.
- Pay less if you’re married – Getting married can actually save you money on your policy. Having a significant other usually means you are more responsible it has been statistically shown that married couples file fewer claims.
- Drive less and save money – The more you drive in a year the higher your rates will be. The majority of insurers apply a rate determined by how the vehicle is used. Cars left parked in the garage get more affordable rates as compared to vehicles used primarily for driving to work. Make sure your auto insurance policy is showing the correct driver usage.
- Safer occupants lowers premiums – Safer cars tend to have better insurance rates. The safest vehicles have better occupant injury protection and lower injury rates means lower claim amounts and thus lower rates.
- Your credit rating is important – Your credit score is a huge factor in your rate calculation. So if your credit score is lower than you’d like, you could pay less to insure your by improving your credit score. People with high credit ratings tend to be more responsible than those with poor credit.
- No coverage gaps is important – Allowing your coverage to lapse is a sure-fire way to pay more for auto insurance. Not only will rates go up, but not being able to provide proof of insurance will get you a license revocation or jail time.
- Keep rates low by being claim-free – If you file claims often, you can pretty much guarantee either policy cancellation or increased premiums. Auto insurance companies in Mississippi generally give cheaper rates to policyholders who do not file claims often. Your insurance policy is intended for the large, substantial claims.
- Policy add-ons can waste money – There are quite a few add-on coverages that you can buy on your policy. Coverages like vanishing deductibles, towing coverage and additional equipment coverage may be costing you every month. These coverages may sound good initially, but now you might not need them so get rid of them and save.
When should I use an insurance agent?
When it comes to choosing coverage for your personal vehicles, there really is no “perfect” insurance plan. Every insured’s situation is different and a cookie cutter policy won’t apply. For example, these questions could help you determine if you could use an agent’s help.
- Is business property covered if stolen from my car?
- Are all vehicle passengers covered by medical payments coverage?
- Am I covered by my spouse’s policy after a separation?
- Where can I get insurance after a DUI in Mississippi?
- How much liability do I need to cover my assets?
- What happens if I owe more than my vehicle is worth?
- Is my nanny covered when driving my vehicle?
- Does my policy cover me when driving someone else’s vehicle?
- Do no-fault laws apply in Mississippi?
If you can’t answer these questions but a few of them apply, you may need to chat with a licensed insurance agent. If you don’t have a local agent, fill out this quick form or you can go here for a list of companies in your area. It only takes a few minutes and you can get the answers you need.
To learn even more about auto insurance
Additional auto insurance information can be read on the website for the Mississippi Insurance Department located here. Mississippi consumers can find out which companies have the most complaints, find a variety of consumer forms, download brochures, and read state legal mandates and laws.
Cheaper insurance is a realistic goal
While you’re price shopping online, do not buy less coverage just to save a little money. There are a lot of situations where an accident victim reduced liability limits or collision coverage only to regret at claim time that the small savings ended up costing them much more. The proper strategy is to buy a smart amount of coverage at an affordable rate.
In this article, we covered many tips how you can lower your auto insurance rates. The most important thing to understand is the more companies you get rates for, the better your chances of lowering your rates. Drivers may discover the best price on auto insurance is with a company that doesn’t do a lot of advertising. Regional companies may often insure only within specific states and give getter rates than the large multi-state companies such as Allstate, GEICO and Progressive.
Affordable auto insurance can be bought both online in addition to many Jackson insurance agents, and you should be comparing both in order to have the best chance of saving money. There are still a few companies who do not provide online quoting and these small insurance companies work with independent agents.