New Techniques for Buying Santa Ana California Auto Insurance Cheaper
Are you tired of not being able to afford each month for car insurance? You’re in the same situation as many other California drivers.
Popular companies such as Progressive, State Farm and GEICO persitently shower you with advertising and it can be hard to not get sucked in by the cute commercials and effectively compare rates to find the best deal.
Informed Drivers can Cut Their Rates
It’s important that you understand the different types of things that go into determining your auto insurance rates. When you know what positively or negatively controls the rates you pay allows you to make educated decisions that may reward you with better auto insurance rates.
Listed below are some of the factors companies use to determine rates.
- Liability insurance protects assets – Liability coverage is the coverage that protects you if a court rules you are at fault for damages from an accident. It will provide legal defense which can cost thousands of dollars. Carrying liability coverage is mandatory and cheap when compared with rates for comp and collision, so do not cut corners here.
- Better crash test results mean better rates – Vehicles with high crash test scores tend to have better insurance rates. These vehicles protect occupants better and lower injury rates translates into savings for insurance companies and lower rates for you.
- Claim-free discounts can add up – Insurance companies in California provide discounts to insureds who are claim-free. If you tend to file frequent claims, you can definitely plan on either policy cancellation or increased premiums. Auto insurance is designed for the bigger claims that can’t be paid out-of-pocket.
- Save money with special equipment – Owning a car with anti-theft technology or alarm system can save you a little every year. Anti-theft features such as tamper alarm systems, vehicle immobilizer technology and General Motors OnStar can help prevent auto theft.
- Discounts for married couples – Having a wife or husband actually saves money on auto insurance. It usually means you are more mature and it’s proven that married couples file fewer claims.
- Don’t get talked into coverage you don’t need – There are a ton of extra bells and whistles that can waste your money when buying auto insurance. Things like roadside assistance, accident forgiveness and motor club memberships may be wasting your money. They may seem good initially, but if you don’t need them remove them from your policy.
Discounts are great for lower rates
The cost of insuring your cars can be expensive, but you can get discounts to help offset the cost. Larger premium reductions will be automatically applied when you purchase, but lesser-known reductions have to be inquired about before being credited.
- Employee of Federal Government – Simply working for the federal government could cut as much as 10% off depending on your company.
- Multiple Policy Discount – When you have multiple policies with the same company you may save 10% to 20% off each policy.
- Student in College – Kids in college who attend school more than 100 miles from home and do not have access to a covered vehicle may qualify for this discount.
- Pay Upfront and Save – If you pay your entire premium ahead of time rather than paying monthly you could save 5% or more.
- Safe Driver Discount – Insureds without accidents can get discounts for up to 45% lower rates than drivers with accidents.
- Fewer Miles Equal More Savings – Low mileage vehicles could be rewarded with better rates on cars that stay parked.
- No Accidents – Claim-free drivers pay much less when compared with accident-prone drivers.
- Accident Forgiveness – A handful of insurance companies will allow you to have one accident without raising rates so long as you haven’t had any claims prior to the accident.
- Memberships – Belonging to a civic or occupational organization could trigger savings on your policy.
- Student Driver Training – Require your teen driver to enroll in driver’s education if offered at their school.
A little note about advertised discounts, most discount credits are not given to all coverage premiums. A few only apply to individual premiums such as medical payments or collision. So when the math indicates all those discounts means the company will pay you, it doesn’t quite work that way. But any discount will help reduce your premiums.
For a list of companies who offer auto insurance discounts in California, click here.
Informative consumer insurance sites
Additional auto insurance information is available on the website for the California Department of Insurance found here. California drivers can view a list of available companies, find a variety of consumer forms, and download brochures.
The following articles may also be useful.
One last thing
Cheap auto insurance is definitely available on the web as well as from independent agents in Santa Ana, and you need to comparison shop both so you have a total pricing picture. Some auto insurance companies don’t offer online quoting and most of the time these smaller companies sell through independent agents.
Throughout this article, we presented many tips how you can lower your auto insurance rates. The most important thing to understand is the more times you quote, the better chance you’ll have of finding lower rates. You may be surprised to find that the best prices are with the least-expected company. Some small companies may often insure only within specific states and give getter rates compared to the large companies like State Farm or Progressive.