5 Guaranteed Methods to Cut Car Insurance Costs in Royal Oak, MI

Are you intimidated by the wide range of car insurance options in Royal Oak? Lot’s of other consumers are too. Drivers have so many options that it can easily become a challenge to find lower rates.

If you are insured now or need a new policy, you can use these techniques to reduce the price you pay while maintaining coverages. Locating the best car insurance in Royal Oak is easy if you know what you’re doing. Michigan drivers just need to learn how to compare prices online.

Royal Oak Car Insurance Quote Comparison

Most companies provide coverage price quotes online. This process is pretty painless as you simply enter your coverage preferences as detailed in the form. When the form is submitted, their rating system requests your driving record and credit report and provides a quote.

Being able to quote online helps simplify price comparisons, but the time it takes to visit several different sites and enter the same data into a form is monotonous and tiresome. But it is imperative to do this if you are searching for the lowest car insurance rates.

Rate comparisons made easy

A quicker way to compare rates uses one simple form to return rates from many companies. The form is fast, helps eliminate reptitive entry, and makes online shopping much more enjoyable. Immediately after you send the form, it is rated and you can select any one of the quotes that you receive. If you find a better price it’s easy to complete the application and buy the policy. The whole process only takes a few minutes and you will know how your current rates stack up.

To find out if lower rates are available, click here and input your coverage information. To compare your current rates, we recommend that you enter as shown on your current policy. This makes sure you are getting rate comparison quotes for similar insurance coverage.

How can Allstate and Progressive save drivers who switch?

Michigan consumers constantly see and hear ads for car insurance savings from the likes of Allstate and Progressive. They all seem to make the same claim that you’ll save big if you change your coverage to them.

But how can every company make almost identical claims? This is how they do it.

Insurance companies have a certain “appetite” for the type of driver that makes them money. A good example of a profitable customer could possibly be between 30 and 50, has no prior claims, and drives less than 7,500 miles a year. A customer that hits that “sweet spot” will get the preferred rates and is almost guaranteed to save when switching.

Drivers who do not match these standards will be quoted higher rates which leads to business going elsewhere. The ads state “people who switch” but not “drivers who get quotes” save money. That’s the way insurance companies can advertise the way they do. This emphasizes why it is so important to get quotes from several different companies. It’s not possible to predict which company will fit your personal profile best.

More discounts equal less premium

Car insurance companies don’t list every available discount in a way that’s easy to find, so we took the time to find some of the more common and the more hidden ways to save on car insurance. If you aren’t receiving every discount possible, you are throwing money away.

• Good Student Discount – Getting good grades can be rewarded with saving of up to 25%. Earning this discount can benefit you up until you turn 25.
• Clubs and Organizations – Being a member of a qualifying organization could trigger savings when shopping for car insurance.
• Passive Restraint Discount – Vehicles equipped with air bags or motorized seat belts may earn rate discounts up to 30%.
• Safe Drivers – Insureds without accidents may save up to 50% more than drivers with accident claims.
• More Vehicles More Savings – Insuring multiple cars or trucks on the same car insurance policy could earn a price break for each car.

Drivers should understand that some credits don’t apply to the overall cost of the policy. Some only apply to individual premiums such as comprehensive or collision. Just because you may think it’s possible to get free car insurance, companies don’t profit that way.

For a list of providers with discount car insurance rates in Michigan, click this link.

It’s not one size fits all

When it comes to choosing proper insurance coverage for your personal vehicles, there really is no “best” method to buy coverage. Everyone’s needs are different.

For example, these questions may help highlight whether your personal situation might need an agent’s assistance.

• Does my policy pay for OEM or aftermarket parts?
• Does medical payments coverage apply to all occupants?
• Do I need higher deductibles?
• When should I not file a claim?
• At what point should I drop full coverage?
• Do I need added coverage for expensive stereo equipment?
• Do I need rental car coverage?
• When would I need additional glass coverage?
• I have good health insurance, so how much medical payments coverage do I need?
• Can my teen driver be rated on a liability-only vehicle?

If it’s difficult to answer those questions then you might want to talk to an insurance agent. If you want to speak to an agent in your area, simply complete this short form. It’s fast, free and can provide invaluable advice.

Car insurance coverage information

Knowing the specifics of a car insurance policy can help you determine appropriate coverage for your vehicles. The terms used in a policy can be difficult to understand and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording.

Comprehensive coverage (or Other than Collision)

This pays to fix your vehicle from damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. You need to pay your deductible first then the remaining damage will be covered by your comprehensive coverage.

Comprehensive coverage protects against things such as theft, damage from getting keyed, rock chips in glass, vandalism and falling objects. The maximum amount you’ll receive from a claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.

Coverage for collisions

Collision coverage pays for damage to your vehicle resulting from colliding with another car or object. You will need to pay your deductible and then insurance will cover the remainder.

Collision insurance covers claims like hitting a mailbox, damaging your car on a curb and hitting a parking meter. Paying for collision coverage can be pricey, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from lower value vehicles. You can also bump up the deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.

Liability car insurance

This coverage protects you from damage that occurs to other’s property or people in an accident. It consists of three limits, bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. As an example, you may have values of 100/300/100 which means a limit of $100,000 per injured person, $300,000 for the entire accident, and $100,000 of coverage for damaged propery.

Liability can pay for things like medical expenses, structural damage, repair bills for other people’s vehicles and emergency aid. The amount of liability coverage you purchase is your choice, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase as large an amount as possible. Michigan requires drivers to carry at least 20,000/40,000/10,000 but you should think about purchasing better liability coverage.

Insurance for medical payments

Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage pay for immediate expenses for things like EMT expenses, prosthetic devices and surgery. They are utilized in addition to your health insurance policy or if you do not have health coverage. Medical payments and PIP cover all vehicle occupants and also covers being hit by a car walking across the street. Personal Injury Protection is not universally available but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage

Uninsured Motorist or Underinsured Motorist insurance

Your UM/UIM coverage provides protection when the “other guys” either have no liability insurance or not enough. Covered claims include medical payments for you and your occupants and also any damage incurred to your vehicle.

Due to the fact that many Michigan drivers carry very low liability coverage limits (20/40/10), it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. So UM/UIM coverage is very important.

Additional detailed information is available at the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation website. Visitors are able to find out which companies have the most complaints, view agent and company licensing information, and read consumer alerts.

Other informative sites include this page for car insurance prices in Michigan and this list of insurance agents in Royal Oak.

Summing up your car insurance search

Affordable car insurance is attainable both online and with local Royal Oak insurance agents, so you should compare both to have the best chance of lowering rates. There are still a few companies who do not offer online price quotes and most of the time these regional insurance providers sell through independent agents.

As you prepare to switch companies, it’s very important that you do not sacrifice coverage to reduce premiums. There are a lot of situations where an insured dropped liability limits or collision coverage only to find out that they should have had better coverage. Your aim should be to get the best coverage possible at the best price while still protecting your assets.

In this article, we covered a lot of ways to compare car insurance prices online. The key concept to understand is the more rate comparisons you have, the better chance you’ll have of finding lower rates. Consumers may even find the biggest savings come from a company that doesn’t do a lot of advertising.