Is Your Stockton, CA Auto Insurance Costing Too Much?
Overpriced auto insurance can drain your checking account and put the squeeze on your family’s finances. Doing a price comparison is a great way to help make ends meet.
Many insurance companies vie for your insurance dollar, and it can be difficult to compare rates to find the cheapest price
Quick Stockton Auto Insurance Quotes
Most major insurance companies quote coverage price quotes online. Getting online rates is quite simple as you simply enter your personal and coverage information into the quote form. After you submit the form their system collects your credit score and driving record and provides a quote. This makes it a lot easier to compare rates but the time it takes to visit different websites and complete many quote forms can be a bit repetitive. But it’s absolutely necessary to do this if you want to find better prices.
The preferred way to compare auto insurance pricing uses one simple form to return rates from several different companies. It saves time, requires less work, and makes rate comparisons much more enjoyable. Immediately after submitting the form, it is rated and you are able to buy your choice of the quotes returned. If one or more price quotes are lower than your current rates, you can simply submit the application and buy the new coverage. This process can be completed in a matter of minutes and can result in significant savings.
To quickly compare rates now, click here and enter your vehicle and coverage information. If you have a policy now, it’s recommended you enter the insurance coverages as shown on your current policy. Using the same limits helps guarantee you will be getting rate quotes using the exact same coverages.
Good Decisions Result in Lower Rates
It’s important that you understand the rating factors that play a part in calculating your auto insurance rates. Knowing what impacts premium levels enables informed choices that could result in much lower annual insurance costs.
Shown below are some of the factors auto insurance companies consider when setting premiums.
- Special features that cut premiums – Owning a car with anti-theft technology or alarm system can get you a discount on your auto insurance. Anti-theft devices such as GM’s OnStar, tamper alarm systems and vehicle immobilizers can help prevent your car from being stolen.
- Your age impacts your rates – Older insureds are more responsible, file fewer claims and are safer drivers. Youthful drivers have a tendency to be more careless when behind the wheel therefore auto insurance rates are much higher.
- Liability coverage is cheap – The liability section of your policy provides coverage in the event that a jury decides you are liable for damages caused by your negligence. It provides for a legal defense which can be incredibly expensive. Liability is cheap compared to insuring for physical damage coverage, so do not skimp.
- Battle of the sexes – Statistics have proven women tend to be less risk to insure than men. That doesn’t necessarily mean that men are worse drivers. Both sexes are in accidents at a similar rate, but the males cause more damage. They also get more serious tickets like DUI and reckless driving. Male drivers age 16 to 19 are the most expensive to insure and are penalized with high auto insurance rates.
Be sure to get all your discounts
Companies don’t always advertise every available discount in a way that’s easy to find, so the following is a list of some of the best known as well as the least known auto insurance savings.
- Drivers Ed for Students – Have your child successfully complete driver’s ed class if it’s offered in school.
- Pay Upfront and Save – If paying your policy premium upfront instead of monthly or quarterly installments you can actually save on your bill.
- Student in College – Any of your kids who live away from home and do not have access to a covered vehicle can be insured at a reduced rate.
- Multiple Cars – Buying coverage for all your vehicles on one policy could earn a price break for each car.
- Seat Belt Usage – Using a seat belt and requiring all passengers to use a seat belt could cut 10% or more off your PIP or medical payments premium.
- Passive Restraints and Air Bags – Cars that have air bags or automatic seat belts can qualify for discounts up to 30%.
Keep in mind that some credits don’t apply to all coverage premiums. The majority will only reduce specific coverage prices like comp or med pay. So even though they make it sound like you would end up receiving a 100% discount, you’re out of luck.
For a list of insurance companies who offer auto insurance discounts in California, click this link.
What about my local Stockton agents?
Some people would prefer to visit with an insurance agent and that is OK! The biggest benefit of comparing rates online is that you can obtain lower rates but still work with a licensed agent.
Upon completion of this simple form, the coverage information is emailed to insurance agents in Stockton who will return price quotes for your business. You don’t have to leave your computer because quoted prices will be sent straight to your inbox. Now that’s easy! It’s the lowest rates and an insurance agent to talk to.
Selecting an insurer should depend on more than just the bottom line cost. These are valid questions to ask:
- Do they have adequate Errors and Ommissions coverage? This protects you if they make a mistake.
- Can they give you a list of client referrals?
- Is the agent and/or agency licensed to do business in California?
- What insurance companies do they recommend if they are an independent agent?
- Is assistance available after office hours?
- If you are a high risk driver, do they have special markets for your coverage?
If you wish to contact a specific insurance agent in Stockton, visit this site.
After receiving good answers to any questions you have and a good coverage price, it’s possible that you found an provider that will insure your vehicles.
Affordable insurance is out there
In this article, we presented a lot of information how to shop for auto insurance online. The key concept to understand is the more quotes you get, the better your comparison will be. You may be surprised to find that the best prices are with the smaller companies. Regional companies may have significantly lower rates on certain market segments as compared to the big name companies such as Allstate or State Farm.
Budget-conscious auto insurance can be bought both online as well as from independent agents in Stockton, so you should be comparing quotes from both in order to have the best price selection to choose from. Some insurance providers don’t offer you the ability to get quotes online and these smaller companies work with independent agents.
For more reading
Even more information can be found at the California Department of Insurance website. Visitors are able to view agent and company licensing information, learn about specific coverages, and find out industry alerts.
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