How to Know You’re Wasting Money for Auto Insurance in Bellevue, WA

Perplexed by the dozens of auto insurance company choices in Bellevue? You’re not alone. Consumers have so many options available that it can quickly become a challenge to find the best price.

Decisions you make can impact your rates

Consumers need to have an understanding of the rating factors that come into play when calculating auto insurance rates. When you know what positively or negatively impacts premium levels empowers consumers to make smart changes that may reward you with better auto insurance rates.

The list below includes some of the items used by your company to calculate rates.

• Safer cars are cheaper to insure – Safer cars are cheaper to insure. Safe vehicles protect occupants better and any reduction in injury severity means less money paid by your insurance company and lower rates for you.
• Rates may be higher depending on your occupation – Careers like lawyers, executives and dentists tend to pay the highest average rates due to stressful work requirements and long work days. Other occupations like actors, historians and the unemployed have the lowest average rates.
• Too many auto insurance claims drive up costs – Companies in Washington generally give better rates to policyholders who do not rely on their insurance for small claims. If you are a frequent claim filer, you can expect either policy cancellation or increased premiums. Auto insurance is intended to be relied upon for the bigger claims that can’t be paid out-of-pocket.
• Being married is a good thing – Having a wife or husband helps lower the price on your policy. Having a spouse means you’re more mature and responsible and statistics show being married results in fewer claims.
• Males pay more for insurance – Statistics have proven that women are safer drivers than men. Now that doesn’t mean men are worse drivers. Women and men have accidents at about the same rate, but the men tend to have more serious accidents. Men also statistically have more aggressive citations such as DWI and reckless driving.
• Cautious drivers pay less – Whether or not you get tickets impacts your car insurance rates tremendously. Only having one speeding ticket may increase your cost by twenty percent. Drivers with clean records have lower premiums compared to drivers with tickets. Drivers with flagrant tickets such as hit and run, DWI or reckless driving convictions are required to submit a SR-22 form with their state DMV in order to keep their license.

How to Compare Auto Insurance in Bellevue

There are a lot of ways you can shop for auto insurance but some are less time-consuming than others. You could waste time discussing policy coverages with insurance companies in Bellevue, or you can stay home and use the internet to get prices fast.

Many insurance companies participate in an industry program where prospective buyers enter their coverage request one time, and each company returns a competitive quote based on the submitted data. This eliminates the need for repetitive form submissions to each company.

To compare pricing click here (opens in new window).

The single downside to pricing coverage this way is that you can’t choose which companies to receive prices from. If you wish to select individual companies to compare, we have a page of low cost auto insurance companies in Washington. Click to view list.

It’s up to you how you get prices quotes, just be sure to compare exactly the same coverage limits and deductibles with every price quote. If you enter different values for each quote you will not be able to determine the lowest rate in Bellevue. Just a small difference in insurance coverages can mean a large discrepancy in price. And when price shopping your coverage, quoting more provides better odds of finding a lower rate.

Can you really save that much by switching?

Auto insurance companies such as Progressive, Allstate and GEICO continually stream ads on television and other media. They all seem to say the same thing that you’ll save big after switching to them. But how can every company make almost identical claims?

Different companies have a preferred profile for the type of customer that is profitable for them. A good example of a desirable insured could be between 25 and 40, has no tickets, and has excellent credit. A customer that hits that “sweet spot” will get very good rates and most likely will save a lot of money.

Drivers who don’t measure up to this ideal profile will have to pay higher prices which leads to business not being written. The ad wording is “customers that switch” not “everybody who quotes” save that much money. That’s the way companies can truthfully state the savings. Because of the profiling, you should get as many comparisons as possible. Because you never know which auto insurance company will give you the biggest savings.

Don’t overlook these discounts

Auto insurance companies don’t always publicize every discount very well, so we researched both the well known and the harder-to-find ways to save on auto insurance.

• Low Mileage – Keeping the miles down could qualify for discounted rates on garaged vehicles.
• Pay Upfront and Save – If paying your policy premium upfront instead of making monthly payments you can actually save on your bill.
• Federal Government Employee – Simply working for the federal government could cut as much as 10% off with select insurance companies.
• New Vehicle Savings – Buying coverage on a new vehicle can cost up to 25% less because new vehicles have to meet stringent safety requirements.
• Drivers Education – Make teen driver coverage more affordable by requiring them to enroll in driver’s education in school.
• Discounts for Safe Drivers – Drivers who don’t get into accidents may receive a discount up to 45% less than their less cautious counterparts.
• College Student – Any of your kids living away from home attending college and don’t have a car may qualify for this discount.
• Seat Belts Save – Buckling up and requiring all passengers to buckle their seat belts could cut 10% or more off your PIP or medical payments premium.
• Life Insurance Discount – Select insurance companies reward you with better rates if you take out a life insurance policy as well.
• Theft Prevention Discount – Vehicles with anti-theft systems prevent vehicle theft and will save you 10% or more.

A little note about advertised discounts, most credits do not apply to the overall cost of the policy. Most only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as comprehensive or collision. Just because you may think all those discounts means the company will pay you, you’re out of luck.

Additional detailed information can be read at the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner website. Washington consumers can file complaints about an insurance agent or broker, learn about specific coverages, and get help finding coverage.

Other useful links include III.org’s auto insurance page and this page where you can also get Bellevue auto insurance quotes.

Affordable insurance is out there

As you restructure your insurance plan, do not buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. There have been many situations where an insured cut physical damage coverage and found out when filing a claim that it was a big error on their part. Your goal should be to buy a smart amount of coverage for the lowest price while still protecting your assets.

In this article, we covered a lot of tips how to save on auto insurance. The key thing to remember is the more companies you get rates for, the better likelihood of reducing your rate. You may even find the lowest premiums are with a small local company.

Cheaper auto insurance can be bought on the web as well as from independent agents in Bellevue, so you should compare both so you have a total pricing picture. Some insurance companies don’t offer online price quotes and many times these smaller companies only sell through independent insurance agents.