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

Using the web to shop for Sammamish auto insurance may seem to be difficult if you’ve never compared online price comparisons. Don’t let that stop you because we’re going to show you how.

Buying cheaper auto insurance in Sammamish is not that difficult. In a nutshell, every vehicle owner who has to buy auto insurance stands a good chance to be able to reduce their rates. Nevertheless, Washington vehicle owners need to have an understanding of how insurance companies sell online.

Compare Sammamish Auto Insurance Costs

All major auto insurance companies such as State Farm, Allstate and GEICO allow you to get insurance quotes on their websites. Getting quotes is pretty painless as you just enter your personal and coverage information into the quote form. Behind the scenes, the company’s rating system will obtain information on your driving record and credit history and returns a price quote.

Online price quotes helps simplify price comparisons, but the work required to visit several different sites and fill out multiple forms is monotonous and tiresome. Unfortunately, it is important to compare as many rates as possible if you are searching for a lower rate.

The easy way to compare rates

The smarter way to find lower prices makes use of a single form to return rates from a lot of companies. The form is fast, eliminates form submissions, and makes online price comparison much simpler. After sending the form, it gets priced with multiple companies and you can pick any or none of the resulting price quotes.

If one or more price quotes are lower than your current rates, you can simply submit the application and buy the policy. The entire process can be completed in less than 10 minutes and you’ll know if lower rates are available.

If you want to find out how much you can save on auto insurance, simply click here to open in new window and enter your vehicle and coverage information. If you have your current policy handy, we recommend you copy deductibles and limits identical to your current policy. This way, you will have rate comparison quotes using the same coverage and limits.

Don’t listen to company ads

Auto insurance companies such as State Farm, Allstate and GEICO continually stream ads on television and other media. They all seem to make an identical promise about savings after switching to them. But how can every company claim to save you money?

Different companies have a certain “appetite” for the type of driver that earns them a profit. A good example of a desirable insured might be profiled as between the ages of 40 and 55, owns a home, and has excellent credit. A propective insured who fits that profile will get very good rates and is almost guaranteed to pay quite a bit less when switching companies.

Potential customers who do not match the “perfect” profile will be quoted higher rates and ends up with the customer not buying. The ads state “drivers who switch” but not “drivers who get quotes” save money. This is how companies can advertise the way they do.

This emphasizes why you should compare as many rates as you can. Because you never know which company will provide you with the cheapest rates.<img class="alignright" style="padding-top:15px" src="https://www.findnewcarinsurance.com/wp-content/uploads/ci175-69.jpg" alt="lower rates in Sammamish WA” />

Discounts are basically free money

The price of auto insurance can be rather high, but you may find discounts that many people don’t even know exist. Some discounts apply automatically when you purchase, but some must be specially asked for prior to getting the savings.

  • Use Seat Belts – Drivers who require all occupants to buckle their seat belts can save up to 15% off the personal injury premium cost.
  • Drivers Education – Have your child successfully complete driver’s ed class if it’s offered in school.
  • Save over 55 – Older drivers may be able to get a discount up to 10%.
  • Multiple Cars – Buying insurance for all your vehicles on one policy qualifies for this discount.
  • Driver Safety – Taking a course in driver safety could possibly earn you a 5% discount and easily recoup the cost of the course.
  • Government Employees – Active or retired federal employment could cut as much as 10% off depending on your company.
  • Service Members Pay Less – Being on active duty in the military could mean lower rates.

It’s important to understand that many deductions do not apply to all coverage premiums. Most cut the price of certain insurance coverages like physical damage coverage or medical payments. So despite the fact that it appears all those discounts means the company will pay you, auto insurance companies aren’t that generous. But any discount will cut the amount you have to pay.

To choose providers with the best auto insurance discounts in Sammamish, click this link.

Auto insurance coverage basics

Understanding the coverages of a auto insurance policy can help you determine the right coverages for your vehicles. The coverage terms in a policy can be ambiguous and reading a policy is terribly boring.

Comprehensive or Other Than Collision – Comprehensive insurance coverage covers damage OTHER than collision with another vehicle or object. You first must pay your deductible then your comprehensive coverage will pay.

Comprehensive insurance covers claims such as hitting a deer, a tree branch falling on your vehicle, hail damage, damage from a tornado or hurricane and fire damage. The maximum payout your auto insurance company will pay is the cash value of the vehicle, so if the vehicle is not worth much consider removing comprehensive coverage.

Medical costs insurance – Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage provide coverage for short-term medical expenses such as hospital visits, nursing services and prosthetic devices. They are used to fill the gap from your health insurance policy or if you lack health insurance entirely. It covers not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants in addition to being hit by a car walking across the street. PIP is not available in all states but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage

Collision – Collision coverage covers damage to your vehicle resulting from colliding with an object or car. You have to pay a deductible and then insurance will cover the remainder.

Collision coverage pays for things like crashing into a ditch, crashing into a building and hitting a parking meter. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so consider dropping it from lower value vehicles. Another option is to raise the deductible to bring the cost down.

Liability coveragesLiability insurance protects you from damage that occurs to people or other property by causing an accident. Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. As an example, you may have limits of 25/50/25 that translate to a $25,000 limit per person for injuries, $50,000 for the entire accident, and property damage coverage for $25,000. Some companies may use one limit called combined single limit (CSL) which provides one coverage limit with no separate limits for injury or property damage.

Liability can pay for things like attorney fees, pain and suffering, legal defense fees, repair costs for stationary objects and medical expenses. How much liability coverage do you need? That is a decision to put some thought into, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase higher limits if possible. Washington state minimum liability requirements are 25,000/50,000/10,000 but drivers should carry more coverage.

UM/UIM Coverage – This gives you protection from other motorists when they do not carry enough liability coverage. Covered losses include hospital bills for your injuries as well as damage to your vehicle.

Because many people only purchase the least amount of liability that is required (25/50/10 in Washington), it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is very important. Frequently these coverages are set the same as your liablity limits.

Much more information about auto insurance in Washington can be found on the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner website through this link. Washington consumers can read enforcement actions against agents and companies, view a list of available companies, and read consumer alerts.

Other useful links include this page for auto insurance prices in Washington and QuoteClickSave.com.

Affordable insurance is out there

Low-cost auto insurance is definitely available from both online companies in addition to many Sammamish insurance agents, and you should be comparing both to have the best selection. Some insurance providers do not provide the ability to get a quote online and many times these small insurance companies only sell through independent insurance agents.

We just presented a lot of ways to save on auto insurance. The key concept to understand is the more quotes you get, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. Drivers may discover the lowest priced auto insurance comes from the smaller companies.

Drivers who switch companies do it for any number of reasons including lack of trust in their agent, unfair underwriting practices, delays in paying claims or delays in responding to claim requests. It doesn’t matter why you want to switch finding a great new company can be pretty painless.