9 Discounts Harvey Consumers Forget when Buying Car Insurance

No one enjoys paying for car insurance, especially when the price is too high. Insurance companies such as Progressive, GEICO and Farmers Insurance constantly bombard you with advertising and it is challenging if not impossible to separate fact from fiction and take the time to shop coverage around.

It’s smart to compare rates on a regular basis because insurance rates change frequently. If you had the best price on your last policy you can probably find a lower rate today. There is a lot of bad information regarding car insurance on the internet, so we’re going to give you some proven techniques to reduce your car insurance bill.

Take advantage of discounts

Properly insuring your vehicles can get expensive, but you may find discounts that many people don’t even know exist. Larger premium reductions will be automatically applied at the time you complete a quote, but some must be asked for in order for you to get them. If you don’t get every credit available, you’re paying more than you need to.

Service Members Pay Less – Having a family member in the military could mean lower rates.
Discount for Life Insurance – Larger companies have a discount if you purchase life insurance from them.
More Vehicles More Savings – Insuring multiple cars or trucks with the same company could earn a price break for each car.
Student in College – Kids in college who are attending college without a vehicle on campus may qualify for this discount.
Memberships – Belonging to certain professional organizations could qualify you for a break on car insurance.
Passive Restraints and Air Bags – Cars that have air bags and/or automatic seat belt systems can qualify for discounts up to 30%.
Discounts for Safe Drivers – Drivers who avoid accidents may receive a discount up to 45% less than drivers with accidents.
Use Seat Belts – Requiring all passengers to use their safety belts can save 10% or more off your medical payments premium.
No Charge for an Accident – Certain companies will forgive one accident without raising rates so long as you haven’t had any claims for a particular time prior to the accident.

It’s important to understand that some credits don’t apply to the entire cost. Some only reduce individual premiums such as collision or personal injury protection. So even though it sounds like having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, you won’t be that lucky. Any qualifying discounts will bring down your overall premium however.

To choose insurers who offer car insurance discounts in North Dakota, follow this link.

Harvey Car Insurance Comparisons

Lowering your car insurance rates is a fairly straight forward process. Just invest a little time getting comparison quotes provided by online insurance companies. This can be accomplished using a couple different methods.

The recommended way to find the lowest comparison rates is an all-inclusive rate comparison click here to open form in new window. This method eliminates the need for separate quotation requests to each individual car insurance company. One form submission will return price quotes from multiple low-cost companies.
Another way to find lower rates requires you to visit each individual company website to complete a price quote. For example, we’ll assume you want comparison quotes from Progressive, Esurance and Farmers. To get rate quotes you would need to spend time on each company’s site and enter your policy data, which is why the first method is quicker. For a list of links to companies insuring cars in Harvey, click here.
The least recommended method to get comparison rates to and from local Harvey insurance agencies. Shopping for car insurance online can eliminate the need for a local agent unless you prefer the trained guidance that only a license agent can provide. It is possible to comparison shop your insurance online but still have the advice of a local agent and we’ll cover that in a bit.

It’s up to you which method you use, but compare exactly the same coverage limits with each company. If your comparisons have different liability limits it’s not possible to decipher which rate is best in Harvey.

Neighborhood insurance agents

A small number of people prefer to buy from a licensed agent and that is a personal choice. Professional agents can help determine the best coverages and help you file claims. The biggest benefit of price shopping on the web is you may find better rates and still have an agent to talk to. And supporting local insurance agencies is important especially in Harvey.

To make it easy to find an agent, after completing this form (opens in new window), your information is emailed to insurance agents in Harvey who will return price quotes for your insurance coverage. You won’t need to drive around as quotes are delivered straight to your inbox. How cool is that?!

Types of insurance agents

When researching local Harvey agents, there are a couple of types of agencies that you can select. Agencies in Harvey are categorized either independent or captive. Both do a good job, but it’s worth mentioning the difference between them since it may influence buying decisions.

Independent Agents (or Brokers)

Independent agencies do not work for one specific company but rather can write business with multiple insurance companies and potentially find a lower price. If your agent finds better pricing, they simply move the coverage in-house and that require little work on your part. When shopping rates, it’s recommended you include at a minimum one independent agency for maximum quote selection.

The following are Harvey independent agents who can help you get pricing information.

West River Insurance – 603 Adams Ave – Harvey, ND 58341 – (701) 567-2912
Frey Insurance – 822 Lincoln Ave – Harvey, ND 58341 – (701) 324-2375

Captive Insurance Agents

This type of agents write business for a single company like American Family, Liberty Mutual and AAA. They generally cannot compare other company’s rates so always compare other rates. Captives are usually quite knowledgeable on their company’s products which can be an advantage.

Listed below is a short list of captive insurance agencies in Harvey that are able to give rate quotes.

American Family Insurance – 713 Lincoln Ave – Harvey, ND 58341 – (701) 324-2888

For a full directory of captive insurance agents in Harvey, visit this link.

Selecting an insurance agency requires more thought than just the bottom line cost. Any agent should have no problem answering these questions:

How much will you save each year by using a higher deductible?
Is the agency involved in supporting local community causes?
Who is covered by the car insurance policy?
Are claim adjusters local or do you have to take your car somewhere else?
Do the coverages you’re quoting properly cover your vehicle?

Upon getting answers to your satisfaction to your questions as well as a affordable price, it’s possible that you found an insurance agency that will service your policy.

Car insurance coverage basics

Understanding the coverages of your policy helps when choosing the best coverages for your vehicles. Policy terminology can be ambiguous and coverage can change by endorsement. These are the normal coverages found on most car insurance policies.

Medical payments coverage and PIP – Med pay and PIP coverage pay for bills for doctor visits, hospital visits, nursing services and chiropractic care. They can be used in conjunction with a health insurance policy or if there is no health insurance coverage. Coverage applies to you and your occupants and also covers if you are hit as a while walking down the street. Personal Injury Protection is only offered in select states and may carry a deductible

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage – This coverage provides protection from other motorists when they are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. It can pay for injuries sustained by your vehicle’s occupants and damage to your vehicle.

Because many people carry very low liability coverage limits (North Dakota limits are 25/50/25), their limits can quickly be used up. For this reason, having high UM/UIM coverages is a good idea. Normally these limits are similar to your liability insurance amounts.

Comprehensive coverage – Comprehensive insurance will pay to fix damage OTHER than collision with another vehicle or object. You first must pay your deductible and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.

Comprehensive coverage protects against claims such as hitting a bird, damage from flooding, theft and damage from a tornado or hurricane. The maximum payout you’ll receive from a claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if the vehicle is not worth much consider dropping full coverage.

Collision – Collision insurance will pay to fix damage to your vehicle from colliding with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. A deductible applies and then insurance will cover the remainder.

Collision can pay for things such as crashing into a ditch, crashing into a building, scraping a guard rail and sideswiping another vehicle. This coverage can be expensive, so you might think about dropping it from vehicles that are older. It’s also possible to increase the deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.

Auto liability – Liability insurance provides protection from damages or injuries you inflict on other’s property or people that is your fault. It protects you against claims from other people. It does not cover your own vehicle damage or injuries.

Coverage consists of three different limits, bodily injury for each person injured, bodily injury for the entire accident and a property damage limit. Your policy might show limits of 25/50/25 which stand for $25,000 bodily injury coverage, a limit of $50,000 in injury protection per accident, and property damage coverage for $25,000. Alternatively, you may have a combined single limit or CSL which limits claims to one amount with no separate limits for injury or property damage.

Liability can pay for things such as attorney fees, medical expenses and loss of income. The amount of liability coverage you purchase is a personal decision, but you should buy as much as you can afford. North Dakota state law requires minimum liability limits of 25,000/50,000/25,000 but it’s recommended drivers buy better liability coverage.

Final considerations

We just covered some good ideas how you can reduce car insurance prices online. The most important thing to understand is the more you quote, the better likelihood of reducing your rate. Consumers could even find that the lowest rates come from a company that doesn’t do a lot of advertising. These companies often have lower prices on specific markets as compared to the big name companies such as Progressive or GEICO.

While you’re price shopping online, it’s not a good idea to skimp on coverage in order to save money. In many instances, someone dropped physical damage coverage to discover at claim time that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. The ultimate goal is to get the best coverage possible for the lowest price while still protecting your assets.

Additional car insurance information is located on the website for the North Dakota Insurance Department located here. North Dakota drivers can view agent and company licensing information, file complaints about an insurance agent or broker, and find disaster information.