Methods for Lowering Your Southbury, CT Car Insurance Rates

Buying the most affordable Southbury car insurance on the internet is problematic for consumers not familiar with price shopping online. With dozens of insurers available, how can anyone have a chance to compare every one to find the lowest price available?

You need to compare prices quite often since insurance rates are rarely the same from one policy term to another. Just because you found the best price two years ago a different company probably has better rates today. Starting right now, forget all the misinformation about car insurance because it’s time to teach you the quickest way to remove unneeded coverages and save money.

If you have a policy now or are looking for a new policy, you can follow these tips to cut your premiums and still get good coverage. This information will tell you how car insurance quotes work and some tricks to saving. Connecticut vehicle owners only need an understanding of the most efficient way to compare price quotes over the internet.

How insurance companies determine rates

Smart consumers have a good feel for the factors that go into determining car insurance rates. Having a good understanding of what controls the rates you pay allows you to make educated decisions that will entitle you to big savings.

Listed below are some of the factors companies use to determine prices.

• How’s your driving record? – Your driving citation history has a big impact on rates. Just one speeding ticket can bump up the cost twenty percent or more. Drivers who don’t get tickets have lower premiums than bad drivers. Drivers who have serious citations such as DUI or reckless driving may need to file a proof of financial responsibility form (SR-22) with their state DMV in order to continue driving.
• Having a spouse can save you money – Having a spouse actually saves money when buying car insurance. Having a spouse means you’re more responsible and it’s proven that drivers who are married are more cautious.
• High crash test scores lower rates – Cars with high safety ratings get lower rates. Safer cars result in less severe injuries and fewer injuries translates into fewer and smaller insurance claims and lower rates for you.
• Mature drivers pay less – Youthful drivers in Connecticut have a tendency to get distracted easily when driving so car insurance rates are higher. Having to add a youthful driver to your policy can be quite pricey. More mature drivers are more responsible, file fewer claims and get fewer tickets.

Free Quotes for Car Insurance in Southbury

Reducing your insurance rates can be quick and easy. The only requirement is to take a couple of minutes comparing rate quotes provided by online insurance companies. This can be done using a couple different methods.

The best way to find the lowest comparison rates is to use a rate comparison form like this one (opens in new window). This form prevents you from having to do separate quotation requests to each individual car insurance company. One form will get you price quotes from multiple low-cost companies. This is perfect if you don’t have a lot of time.

Another way to get quotes online is to manually visit each individual company website to complete a price quote. For examples sake, we’ll pretend you want to compare rates from State Farm, 21st Century and GEICO. To get rate quotes you would need to spend time on each company’s site to input your insurance information, which is why most consumers use the first method. For a handy list of car insurance company links in Southbury, click here.

It’s up to you which method you use, but compare identical coverage limits and deductibles with every price quote. If your comparisons have higher or lower deductibles you will not be able to make an equal comparison in Southbury.

Don’t be fooled by advertising claims

Consumers get pounded daily by advertisements for the lowest price auto insurance by 21st Century, Allstate and State Farm. They all seem to make the same claim about savings after switching to their company.

How does each company make the same claim?

Insurance companies are able to cherry pick for the type of customer that makes them money. An example of a desirable insured might be between the ages of 30 and 50, is a homeowner, and has great credit. A propective insured that hits that “sweet spot” will get the preferred rates and therefore will cut their rates substantially.

Consumers who do not match the requirements will be quoted higher premiums and this can result in business not being written. The ads say “people who switch” not “everyone that quotes” save money. That is how companies can advertise the savings.

This emphasizes why drivers must compare as many rates as you can. It’s impossible to know which company will fit your personal profile best.

More discounts equal less premium

Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, but there are discounts available that many people don’t even know exist. A few discounts will automatically apply when you complete an application, but a few must be inquired about before being credited. If you don’t get every credit available, you’re paying more than you need to.

• Service Members Pay Less – Having a deployed family member can result in better rates.
• Multiple Cars – Buying coverage for all your vehicles on one policy could earn a price break for each car.
• Discount for Swiching Early – Select companies give a discount for signing up prior to your current policy expiring. The savings is around 10%.
• Seat Belt Usage – Drivers who require all occupants to use their safety belts can save up to 15% off your medical payments premium.
• Passive Restraints and Air Bags – Factory air bags or automatic seat belts can receive discounts of more than 20%.
• Anti-lock Brakes – Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles are safer to drive and will save you 10% or more.
• Multi-policy Discount – When you have multiple policies with the same company you may save up to 20% off your total premium.
• No Claims – Drivers who don’t have accidents can earn big discounts as compared to drivers who are more careless.

A little note about advertised discounts, most discounts do not apply to the overall cost of the policy. Some only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as physical damage coverage or medical payments. So when it seems like having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, it doesn’t quite work that way. But all discounts will cut the cost of coverage.

For a list of companies with the best car insurance discounts in Southbury, follow this link.

More information is available on the Connecticut Insurance Department website. Click here for link. Connecticut drivers can discover disciplinary actions, learn about specific coverages, find out industry alerts, and read enforcement actions against agents and companies.

Keep this in mind

As you restructure your insurance plan, never buy less coverage just to save a little money. There have been many situations where someone sacrificed physical damage coverage only to regret that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. Your focus should be to buy a smart amount of coverage at a price you can afford, not the least amount of coverage.

We’ve covered many ways to save on car insurance. The most important thing to understand is the more you quote, the higher the chance of saving money. Consumers could even find that the best price on car insurance is with the smaller companies.

Affordable car insurance can be found online as well as from independent agents in Southbury, so you should compare both to have the best selection. Some insurance companies don’t offer you the ability to get quotes online and usually these smaller companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.