6 Must-Know Techniques When Shopping for Bay City Michigan Car Insurance

Feel like you’re a prisoner to an underperforming, overpriced car insurance policy? Trust us when we tell you there are many people just like you. Companies like State Farm, Farmers Insurance, GEICO and Allstate all promote huge savings with ads and it is challenging if not impossible to ignore the promise of big savings and effectively compare rates to find the best deal.

How to Lower your Car Insurance Rates

It’s important that you understand the different types of things that play a part in calculating the rates you pay for car insurance. When you know what positively or negatively impacts premium levels helps enable you to make changes that will entitle you to big savings.

Shown below are a partial list of the pieces that factor into prices.

  • More people means more accidents – Being located in small towns and rural areas is a positive aspect when insuring your vehicles. Drivers in populated areas tend to have more traffic problems and a longer drive to work. Lower population means fewer accidents.
  • Save money with special equipment – Purchasing a vehicle that has an advanced theft prevention system can help bring down rates. Theft prevention devices like GM’s OnStar, tamper alarm systems and vehicle immobilizers all aid in stopping your car from being stolen.
  • Extra coverages can waste money – There are a lot of extra coverages you can purchase when buying car insurance. Coverages for vanishing deductibles, better glass coverage and membership fees may be costing you every month. These coverages may sound good at first, but your needs may have changed so eliminate them to save money.
  • Lower rates come with age – Teenage drivers in Michigan are statistically proven to be more careless in a vehicle so car insurance rates are higher. Mature drivers are viewed as being more responsible, tend to file fewer claims and get fewer tickets.
  • Marriage brings a discount – Having a wife or husband actually saves money when buying car insurance. Marriage means you’re more mature and responsible and statistics show being married results in fewer claims.
  • Drive less and save money – The more miles you rack up on your car every year the higher your rate. Most insurance companies price each vehicle’s coverage determined by how the vehicle is used. Cars and trucks used primarily for pleasure use get more affordable rates than those used for commuting. Double check that your car insurance policy properly reflects how each vehicle is driven.
  • Bump up deductibles to save – Coverage for physical damage, termed comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy, is used to repair damage to your car. Some instances where coverage would apply are running into the backend of another car, damage from fire, and rolling your vehicle. Physical damage deductibles are how much you are required to spend out-of-pocket if you file a covered claim. The higher the amount you are required to pay out-of-pocket, the less your company will charge you for insurance.

Fast and Easy Bay City Car Insurance Quotes

There are multiple methods to compare car insurance prices but there is one way that is easier and takes less work. You can spend your afternoon talking about coverages with insurance companies in Bay City, or you could use online quotes to achieve your goal.

Most major companies participate in an industry program that allows shoppers to enter their policy data once, and each company can give them a price based on that information. This prevents consumers from doing repetitive form submissions for every car insurance company.

To compare pricing click to open in new window.

The one downside to doing it this way is that you can’t choose the insurers to receive prices from. If you wish to select specific insurance companies to compare rates, we have a listing of low cost car insurance companies in Michigan. Click here for list of insurance companies in Michigan.<img class="alignright" style="padding-top:15px;" src="https://www.findnewcarinsurance.com/wp-content/uploads/ci175-66.jpg" alt="Bay City Michigan car insurance“/>

It doesn’t matter which method you choose, just be sure to compare apples-to-apples information for every company. If you have unequal deductibles or liability limits you will not be able to determine the best price in Bay City.

Lots of discounts mean lots of savings

Car insurance is not cheap, but you may find discounts to help bring down the price. Some trigger automatically when you complete an application, but some may not be applied and must be asked for before you get the savings. If you’re not getting every credit you qualify for, you’re paying more than you need to.

  • No Charge for an Accident – Certain companies will allow you to have one accident before hitting you with a surcharge so long as you haven’t had any claims for a certain period of time.
  • Sign Online – A handful of insurance companies will discount your bill up to fifty bucks for buying a policy and signing up on their website.
  • Pay Now and Pay Less – By paying your policy upfront instead of paying each month you can actually save on your bill.
  • Theft Prevention Discount – Vehicles equipped with anti-theft or alarm systems are stolen less frequently and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
  • Discount for Life Insurance – Select insurance companies reward you with a break if you buy a life insurance policy as well.

Consumers should know that most discount credits are not given to the overall cost of the policy. Some only apply to the cost of specific coverages such as comp or med pay. Even though it may seem like having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, you’re out of luck. Any qualifying discounts will help reduce the cost of coverage.

To see a list of providers with the best car insurance discounts in Michigan, click here.

Situations that might require an agent

When choosing the best car insurance coverage, there is no “best” method to buy coverage. Your needs are not the same as everyone else’s so this has to be addressed. Here are some questions about coverages that might point out if you would benefit from an agent’s advice.

  • Does my car insurance cover rental cars?
  • Do no-fault laws apply in Michigan?
  • Will I be non-renewed for getting a DUI or other conviction?
  • Should I put collision coverage on all my vehicles?
  • Is my babysitter covered when using my vehicle?
  • Should I buy only the required Michigan minimum liability coverage?

If you don’t know the answers to these questions then you might want to talk to a licensed agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, fill out this quick form or you can also visit this page to select a carrier It only takes a few minutes and can help protect your family.

Much more information about car insurance in Michigan can be read on the website for the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation. Click here for link. Consumers can read industry bulletins, get help finding coverage, and learn about insurance regulations.

Bay City Michigan car insurance

Also read more on this page for car insurance prices in Michigan and this link where you can get more info about Bay City coverage.

In the end, you save

We’ve covered many tips how you can lower your car insurance rates. The most important thing to understand is the more providers you compare, the better likelihood of reducing your rate. Drivers may discover the lowest priced car insurance comes from a small mutual company. Regional companies may cover specific market segments cheaper compared to the large companies like Progressive and GEICO.

When you buy insurance online, never buy poor coverage just to save money. There have been many cases where consumers will sacrifice full coverage only to find out that a couple dollars of savings turned into a financial nightmare. The ultimate goal is to find the BEST coverage for the lowest price, not the least amount of coverage.