Follow These Insider Techniques for Lower Des Moines Car Insurance

Are you tired of not being able to afford to insure your vehicles every month? Your situation is no different than the majority of other car owners in Iowa. Many auto insurance companies vie for your business, so it’s not easy to compare every insurer to find the best price available.

Save money by taking advantage of these discounts

Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, buy you may qualify for discounts to cut the cost considerably. A few discounts will automatically apply at quote time, but a few need to be inquired about prior to getting the savings. If you don’t get every credit available, you are throwing money away.

• Driver’s Ed – Make teen driver coverage more affordable by requiring them to enroll in driver’s education in school.
• Student in College – Children who live away from home and do not have a car can be insured at a reduced rate.
• Good Students Pay Less – A discount for being a good student can be rewarded with saving of up to 25%. Earning this discount can benefit you well after school through age 25.
• Fewer Miles Equal More Savings – Driving fewer miles can earn better rates on cars that stay parked.
• No Charge for an Accident – Some insurance companies will allow you to have one accident before raising your premiums as long as you don’t have any claims for a set time period.
• Multi-car Discount – Having more than one vehicle on one policy qualifies for this discount.
• New Car Discount – Putting insurance coverage on a new car can save up to 30% due to better safety requirements for new cars.
• Anti-lock Brakes – Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles can avoid accidents and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
• Anti-theft Discount – Vehicles equipped with anti-theft or alarm systems are stolen less frequently and will save you 10% or more.

As a disclaimer on discounts, most credits do not apply to the entire cost. Most cut individual premiums such as medical payments or collision. Just because you may think having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, it just doesn’t work that way. But any discount will reduce your premiums.

To choose providers who offer car insurance discounts in Des Moines, click here to view.

Des Moines Rates are Influenced by These Factors

Smart consumers have a good feel for the rating factors that go into determining the price you pay for car insurance. When you know what positively or negatively impacts premium levels enables informed choices that could result in much lower annual insurance costs.

• Where you live – Being located in a rural area has it’s advantages when insuring your vehicles. Urban drivers regularly have congested traffic and longer commutes to work. Less people living in that area translates into fewer accidents and a lower car theft rate.
• Rates may be higher depending on your occupation – Did you know your car insurance rates can be affected by your occupation? Occupations like lawyers, social workers and financial analysts are shown to have higher average rates because of high stress and long work days. Conversely, professions such as actors, engineers and homemakers pay the least.
• Higher deductibles cost less – Deductibles for physical damage represent how much money you are required to spend if you file a covered claim. Insurance for physical damage to your car, also known as collision and other-than-collision, is used to repair damage to your car. Some examples of claims that would be covered would be colliding with a building, damage caused by hail, or theft. The more expense the insured has to pay upfront, the lower your rates will be.
• Higher safety ratings means cheaper insurance – Vehicles with good safety scores get lower rates. Safe vehicles reduce injuries and fewer injuries means lower claim amounts and thus lower rates.
• Better credit scores mean better rates – A driver’s credit rating is a big factor in calculating your car insurance rates. Consumers who have high credit scores tend to be less risk to insure than drivers who have lower ratings. Therefore, if your credit can use some improvement, you could save money insuring your by spending a little time repairing your credit.
• With age comes lower rates – More mature drivers are more responsible, statistically cause fewer accidents and receive fewer citations. Teenage drivers tend to be careless and easily distracted when driving and because of this, their car insurance rates are much higher.

Are you falling for claims of savings?

Consumers in Iowa can’t ignore all the ads for the lowest price auto insurance by companies like State Farm, Allstate and GEICO. All the ads have a common claim of big savings after switching to them.

But how can every company claim to save you money?

Different companies have a certain “appetite” for the driver that makes them money. For instance, a profitable customer might be over the age of 50, a clean driving record, and drives newer vehicles. A propective insured who fits that profile will qualify for the lowest rates and therefore will save a lot of money.

Potential insureds who don’t qualify for this ideal profile must pay higher prices which leads to the driver buying from a lower-cost company. The ads say “drivers who switch” not “everyone that quotes” save that much. That’s why companies can truthfully advertise the way they do.

This illustrates why you need to get as many quotes as possible. Because you never know which insurance companies will provide you with the cheapest rates.

Read more about Iowa car insurance

Additional car insurance information can be found on the website for the Iowa Insurance Division through this link. Visitors are able to find out which companies have the most complaints, read consumer alerts, and read enforcement actions against agents and companies.

Better coverage you can count on

Lower-priced car insurance can be found from both online companies and with local Des Moines insurance agents, so you should compare both so you have a total pricing picture. Some insurance providers do not offer online price quotes and many times these regional insurance providers only sell through independent insurance agents.

You just learned some good ideas how to save on car insurance. It’s most important to understand that the more price quotes you have, the better chance you’ll have of finding lower rates. Drivers may discover the best price on car insurance is with a company that doesn’t do a lot of advertising. These companies may often insure only within specific states and give getter rates as compared to the big name companies such as State Farm or Progressive.