9 Discounts Revere Drivers Forget when Shopping for Car Insurance

Overpriced car insurance can drain your savings account, especially in this economy. Shopping your coverage around is a great way to help make ends meet.

You have so many insurance companies to purchase coverage from, and though it is a good thing to have multiple companies, having more auto insurance companies makes it harder to compare rates and cut insurance costs.

You should make it a habit to take a look at other company’s rates once or twice a year since insurance rates tend to go up over time. Just because you had the best price six months ago a different company probably has better rates today. Starting right now, forget anything you know (or think you know) about car insurance because you’re going to learn the right way to find better rates and still maintain coverage.

This information will tell you how car insurance quotes work. If you have car insurance now, you stand a good chance to be able to reduce your rates substantially using these techniques. But Massachusetts consumers do need to know the way companies market insurance on the web and use this information to your advantage.

Finding Car Insurance in Revere

The are a couple different ways to compare quotes from different in Revereinsurance companies. The fastest way to find the cheapest insurance rates consists of obtaining rate quotes online. It is quite easy and can be accomplished in several different ways.

One of the best ways to get the best comparison quotes is an all-inclusive rate comparison click to view form in new window. This method keeps you from doing separate quote forms for each company. Just one form compares rates from all major companies.
A different way to analyze rates consists of going to the website for every company you want to comare and request a quote. For sake of this example, we’ll assume you want rates from GEICO, Farmers and GMAC. To get each rate you have to visit each site and enter your policy data, and that’s why the first method is more popular. For a list of links to companies insuring cars in Revere, click here.

It’s up to you how you get prices quotes, just ensure you’re using the exact same coverages for every quote you compare. If each company quotes different deductibles it’s not possible to truly determine the lowest rate in Revere. Having just a slight variation in insurance coverages can result in a big premium difference. And when price shopping your coverage, more quotes will increase your chances of finding lower pricing.

Slick advertising tricks that work

Car insurance providers like State Farm and Allstate constantly bombard you with ads on TV and radio. They all make an identical promise of big savings if you switch your coverage to them. How can each company say the same thing? It’s all in the numbers.

All the different companies can use profiling for the type of customer that is profitable for them. For instance, a preferred risk might be profiled as between the ages of 30 and 50, has no prior claims, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. A propective insured who meets those qualifications is entitled to the best price and most likely will save when they switch companies.

Consumers who don’t meet the “perfect” profile will have to pay a more expensive rate which leads to business going elsewhere. Company advertisements say “customers who switch” not “people who quote” save money. That is how insurance companies can make the claims of big savings.

Because of the profiling, it is so important to get as many comparisons as possible. It’s impossible to know which company will have the lowest rates.

Take advantage of discounts

The price of auto insurance can be rather high, but you may find discounts that you may not know about. Certain discounts will be triggered automatically when you purchase, but some may not be applied and must be requested specifically prior to receiving the credit.

Drive Less and Save – Keeping the miles down can earn discounted rates on garaged vehicles.
Air Bag Discount – Factory air bags or automatic seat belts can qualify for discounts up to 30%.
Senior Citizens – If you qualify as a senior citizen, you can possibly qualify for a discount up to 10%.
Anti-theft System – Cars that have factory anti-theft systems prevent vehicle theft and earn discounts up to 10%.
Seat Belt Usage – Drivers who require all occupants to use a seat belt can save 10% or more on the medical payments or PIP coverage costs.
Sign Online – Certain companies will discount your bill up to fifty bucks for buying a policy and signing up online.
Payment Method – If you pay your bill all at once rather than paying monthly you can actually save on your bill.
Multiple Cars – Having all your vehicles on one policy could earn a price break for each car.
No Charge for an Accident – A few companies allow you one accident before hitting you with a surcharge as long as you don’t have any claims for a certain period of time.

A little note about advertised discounts, some of the credits will not apply to the entire cost. Most only cut specific coverage prices like physical damage coverage or medical payments. So when it seems like you could get a free car insurance policy, companies don’t profit that way. But all discounts will reduce your overall premium however.

To see a list of providers with the best car insurance discounts in Revere, click this link.

More information is located on the website for the Massachusetts Division of Insurance through this link. Visitors are able to read consumer alerts, file complaints about a company, and report car insurance fraud.

The coverage is in the details

Understanding the coverages of your car insurance policy helps when choosing which coverages you need for your vehicles. The terms used in a policy can be ambiguous and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording. Below you’ll find the normal coverages offered by car insurance companies.

Comprehensive (Other than Collision)

This coverage pays for damage from a wide range of events other than collision. You need to pay your deductible first then the remaining damage will be covered by your comprehensive coverage.

Comprehensive insurance covers claims like theft, damage from getting keyed, hail damage and vandalism. The maximum payout you’ll receive from a claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if the vehicle’s value is low it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.

Auto liability

This coverage protects you from damage or injury you incur to a person or their property that is your fault. This coverage protects you from legal claims by others, and doesn’t 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. You might see values of 50/100/50 which stand for $50,000 in coverage for each person’s injuries, $100,000 for the entire accident, and $50,000 of coverage for damaged propery. Occasionally you may see one limit called combined single limit (CSL) that pays claims from the same limit without having the split limit caps.

Liability can pay for claims like court costs, bail bonds and medical expenses. How much liability should you purchase? That is a personal decision, but buy as high a limit as you can afford. Massachusetts state law requires minimum liability limits of 20,000/40,000/5,000 but it’s recommended drivers buy more liability than the minimum.

Protection from uninsured/underinsured drivers

This protects you and your vehicle when the “other guys” are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. Covered losses include hospital bills for your injuries and damage to your vehicle.

Since many Massachusetts drivers have only the minimum liability required by law (20/40/5 in Massachusetts), it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is a good idea. Frequently your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages are similar to your liability insurance amounts.

Medical expense insurance

Med pay and PIP coverage reimburse you for expenses for things like ambulance fees, dental work, X-ray expenses and rehabilitation expenses. They can be utilized in addition to your health insurance policy or if there is no health insurance coverage. Medical payments and PIP cover you and your occupants and also covers if you are hit as a while walking down the street. Personal injury protection coverage is not an option in every state and may carry a deductible

Collision insurance

This pays to fix your vehicle from damage from colliding with a stationary object or other vehicle. You have to pay a deductible and then insurance will cover the remainder.

Collision coverage pays for things such as crashing into a building, crashing into a ditch, sideswiping another vehicle, scraping a guard rail and sustaining damage from a pot hole. This coverage can be expensive, so consider removing coverage from vehicles that are 8 years or older. Another option is to raise the deductible to save money on collision insurance.

And the best car insurance company is…

You just read some good ideas how to get a better price on car insurance. The key thing to remember is the more times you quote, the higher the chance of saving money. You may be surprised to find that the lowest premiums are with a small local company. They may cover specific market segments cheaper than the large multi-state companies such as Progressive or GEICO.

As you prepare to switch companies, you should never reduce coverage to reduce premium. In too many instances, consumers will sacrifice physical damage coverage only to regret at claim time that it was a big mistake. The aim is to buy the best coverage you can find at a price you can afford while still protecting your assets.