Auto Insurance in Pottsville – 7 Discounts Consumers are Losing Out On

Tired of paying out the nose each month for car insurance? You are in the same boat as most other car owners in Pennsylvania. You have multiple car insurance companies to insure vehicles with, and even though it’s nice to have a selection, having more insurance companies makes it harder to compare rates.

It’s a good idea to compare rates periodically since insurance rates go up and down regularly. Despite the fact that you may have had the best deal two years ago you can probably find a lower rate today. Forget anything you know (or think you know) about auto insurance because you’re about to find out the fastest way to buy cheaper auto insurance.

Finding affordable coverage in Pottsville is quite easy. If you have a policy now or are just looking to switch companies, you can use this information to find better prices and still get good coverage. Pennsylvania consumers just need to understand the proper methods to compare company rates over the internet.

More discounts equal less premium

Auto insurance companies don’t list all available discounts in an easy-to-find place, so the following is a list of both the well known and also the lesser-known discounts you could be receiving. If they aren’t giving you every credit you deserve, you are throwing money away.

• Lower Rates for Military – Being on active duty in the military may qualify for rate reductions.
• Passive Restraints – Factory air bags or motorized seat belts can get savings of more than 20%.
• Discounts for Safe Drivers – Safe drivers can get discounts for up to 45% lower rates than drivers with accident claims.
• Auto/Life Discount – Companies who offer life insurance give better rates if you take out life insurance.
• More Vehicles More Savings – Having multiple cars or trucks on one policy could earn a price break for each car.
• Homeowners Pay Less – Being a homeowner can help you save on auto insurance due to the fact that maintaining a home requires personal responsibility.
• Organization Discounts – Being a member of a civic or occupational organization may earn a discount when shopping for auto insurance.

Drivers should understand that most credits do not apply the the whole policy. Some only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like comp or med pay. Just because it seems like you can get free auto insurance, companies wouldn’t make money that way.

For a list of insurance companies who offer auto insurance discounts in Pennsylvania, click here to view.

How to Compare Auto Insurance in Pottsville

Reducing your insurance rates is actually quite simple. You just need to spend a few minutes to compare rate quotes provided by online insurance companies. This can be accomplished in a couple of different ways.

• One of the simplest ways to get quotes is an all-inclusive rate comparison click to view form in new window. This method prevents you from having to do repetitive form entry for each company. One form submission will return quotes from multiple companies.
• A more time consuming way to shop for auto insurance online consists of visiting each company website to complete a price quote. For examples sake, we’ll assume you want to compare rates from Allstate, Esurance and State Farm. You would have to spend time on each company’s site and enter your policy data, which is why most consumers use the first method.

  For a list of links to companies insuring cars in Pottsville, click here.

Which method you use is up to you, but compare the exact same coverage information with every price quote. If you enter mixed coverages it will be impossible to make an equal comparison in Pottsville.

Auto insurance coverages and their meanings

Knowing the specifics of auto insurance can be of help when determining appropriate coverage for your vehicles. The coverage terms in a policy can be confusing and reading a policy is terribly boring. Below you’ll find typical coverages found on most auto insurance policies.

Liability coverages

Liability insurance can cover damages or injuries you inflict on other’s property or people. Liability coverage has three limits: bodily injury for each person injured, bodily injury for the entire accident and a property damage limit. Your policy might show limits of 50/100/50 which means $50,000 bodily injury coverage, a per accident bodily injury limit of $100,000, and property damage coverage for $50,000.

Liability insurance covers things such as medical expenses, loss of income, emergency aid and medical services. How much coverage you buy is a personal decision, but you should buy as much as you can afford. Pennsylvania requires drivers to carry at least 15,000/30,000/5,000 but you should think about purchasing better liability coverage.

Auto collision coverage

This coverage will pay to fix damage to your vehicle caused by collision with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. You will need to pay your deductible and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.

Collision coverage pays for claims like driving through your garage door, scraping a guard rail and colliding with another moving vehicle. Paying for collision coverage can be pricey, so consider dropping it from older vehicles. Another option is to bump up the deductible to bring the cost down.

Med pay and Personal Injury Protection (PIP)

Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance provide coverage for immediate expenses for things like X-ray expenses, doctor visits, rehabilitation expenses and dental work. They are utilized in addition to your health insurance policy or if there is no health insurance coverage. Medical payments and PIP cover not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants as well as any family member struck as a pedestrian. PIP is not universally available but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM)

Your UM/UIM coverage protects you and your vehicle’s occupants from other drivers when they 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.

Since a lot of drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits (15/30/5), it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. So UM/UIM coverage is very important.

Comprehensive insurance

Comprehensive insurance pays to fix your vehicle from damage OTHER than collision with another vehicle or object. You first must pay your deductible then your comprehensive coverage will pay.

Comprehensive coverage pays for things like damage from a tornado or hurricane, hitting a bird, fire damage and rock chips in glass. The maximum payout you’ll receive from a claim is the ACV or actual cash value, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible consider removing comprehensive coverage.

Smart consumers save more

The cheapest auto insurance can be bought both online and with local Pottsville insurance agents, so you should be comparing quotes from both in order to have the best price selection to choose from. Some auto insurance companies do not offer the ability to get a quote online and most of the time these small, regional companies sell through independent agents.

We just covered a lot of information how to reduce auto insurance prices online. It’s most important to understand that the more companies you get rates for, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. Drivers may discover the lowest rates come from a small mutual company. Some small companies can often provide lower rates in certain areas as compared to the big name companies such as Allstate or State Farm.