Auto Insurance in Portland, OR – 9 Discounts You Might be Missing

Tired of paying out the nose to pay your car insurance bill each month? You’re in the same situation as many other Oregon consumers. Many insurers vie for your insurance dollar, and it can be difficult to compare rates to get the cheapest price

Don’t overlook these nine discounts

Car insurance companies do not list all their discounts in a way that’s easy to find, so we took the time to find some of the more common as well as the least known ways to save on auto insurance. If you aren’t receiving every discount you qualify for, you are paying more than you should be.

• Multi-car Discount – Buying insurance for more than one vehicle on one policy may reduce the rate for each vehicle.
• No Accidents – Good drivers with no accidents pay much less as compared to drivers who are more careless.
• New Car Discount – Putting insurance coverage on a new car can be considerably cheaper since new cars are generally safer.
• Anti-lock Brake System – Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles can reduce accidents and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
• Save over 55 – If you’re over the age of 55, you may be able to get a small decrease in premiums.
• Student Driver Training – Have your child take driver’s ed class if offered at their school.
• Drive Safe and Save – Drivers who don’t get into accidents may receive a discount up to 45% less than their less cautious counterparts.
• Lower Rates for Military – Being on active duty in the military can result in better rates.
• Accident Waiver – Some insurance companies will forgive one accident before your rates go up if you are claim-free for a set time period.

Keep in mind that most of the big mark downs will not be given to the overall cost of the policy. Most only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as comp or med pay. So when it seems like having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, companies wouldn’t make money that way.

For a list of companies who offer auto insurance discounts in Portland, click this link.

How to Compare Portland Auto Insurance Rates

There are a variety of methods you can shop for auto insurance but one way is less time-consuming than others. You can spend your afternoon driving to local insurance agents in Portland, or you could save time and use online quoting to get rate comparisons in just a few minutes.

Most major companies are enrolled in a marketplace that enables customers to only type in their quote data once, and at least one company returns a competitive quote based on the submitted data. This eliminates the need for quotation requests to each individual auto insurance company.

To use this form to compare rates click here to open in new window.

The single downside to comparing rates this way is buyers cannot specifically choose which carriers you will receive quotes from. So if you prefer to pick specific insurance companies for rate comparison, we put together a list of the cheapest auto insurance companies in Oregon. Click here to view list.

It’s your choice how you get your quotes, but be sure to compare exactly the same coverage information for each price quote. If you compare mixed coverages then you won’t be able to decipher which is the cheapest car insurance in Portland.

Car insurance coverages

Understanding the coverages of a auto insurance policy can help you determine the right coverages at the best deductibles and correct limits. Auto insurance terms can be difficult to understand and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording. Listed below are the normal coverages offered by auto insurance companies.

Collision – Collision coverage pays to fix your vehicle from damage resulting from colliding with a stationary object or other vehicle. You have to pay a deductible then your collision coverage will kick in.

Collision insurance covers things such as driving through your garage door, colliding with a tree and rolling your car. This coverage can be expensive, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from vehicles that are older. You can also raise the deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.

UM/UIM (Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist) coverage – This coverage provides protection from other motorists when they are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. Covered losses include hospital bills for your injuries and damage to your vehicle.

Since many Oregon drivers carry very low liability coverage limits (Oregon limits are 25/50/20), their limits can quickly be used up. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is very important.

Medical payments and PIP coverage – Coverage for medical payments and/or PIP reimburse you for short-term medical expenses like doctor visits, pain medications and rehabilitation expenses. They are used to fill the gap from your health insurance policy or if you lack health insurance entirely. They cover both the driver and occupants as well as getting struck while a pedestrian. Personal injury protection coverage is not available in all states but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage

Comprehensive auto coverage – This pays for damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. You need to pay your deductible first then your comprehensive coverage will pay.

Comprehensive coverage pays for things such as hail damage, damage from flooding, hitting a bird, a tree branch falling on your vehicle and theft. The maximum payout you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value consider removing comprehensive coverage.

Liability coverages – This coverage provides protection from damage that occurs to a person or their property. This coverage protects you from claims by other people. Liability doesn’t cover damage to your own property or vehicle.

Liability coverage has three limits: bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. As an example, you may have values of 25/50/25 which stand for a limit of $25,000 per injured person, a limit of $50,000 in injury protection per accident, and $25,000 of coverage for damaged propery.

Liability insurance covers things like structural damage, emergency aid and bail bonds. How much liability should you purchase? That is a decision to put some thought into, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase as large an amount as possible. Oregon state law requires minimum liability limits of 25,000/50,000/20,000 but it’s recommended drivers buy more liability than the minimum.

Final considerations

As you prepare to switch companies, never buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. In many cases, someone sacrificed full coverage and learned later they didn’t purchase enough coverage. The proper strategy is to purchase plenty of coverage at the best price while not skimping on critical coverages.

In this article, we presented quite a bit of information on how to compare auto insurance prices online. The key concept to understand is the more you quote, the better your chances of lowering your rates. Consumers may even find the best price on auto insurance is with some of the smallest insurance companies. Smaller companies may only write in your state and offer lower rates compared to the large companies like GEICO and State Farm.