Tightwads Lessons for Saving on Westfield Car Insurance

No one in their right mind enjoys paying for car insurance, in particular when they are paying too much.

You have multiple auto insurance companies to insure vehicles with, and even though it’s nice to have a choice, it makes it harder to compare rates and find the lowest cost car insurance.

Why some people pay less for insurance in Westfield

An important part of buying insurance is that you know the different types of things that help determine the price you pay for car insurance. Understanding what influences your rates enables informed choices that can help you get better car insurance rates.

The following are a few of the “ingredients” car insurance companies consider when setting your rates.

• Drive a safer car and pay less – Vehicles with good safety scores are cheaper to insure. Safer cars reduce injuries and fewer injuries means lower claim amounts passed on to you as lower rates.
• Lower rates with optional equipment – Choosing a vehicle that has an advanced theft prevention system can help lower your rates. Theft prevention devices like LoJack tracking devices, vehicle tamper alarm systems or GM’s OnStar system can thwart your vehicle from being stolen.
• Rural vs Urban Areas – Residing in less populated areas can be a good thing when talking about car insurance. City drivers have to deal with much more traffic and longer commute times. Lower population means a lower chance of having an accident and also fewer theft and vandalism claims.
• Extra add-on coverages are wasting money – There are a lot of extra coverages that can waste your money when buying car insurance. Coverages like personal injury protection, accident forgiveness and additional equipment coverage are some examples. These may sound like a good investment initially, but now you might not need them so get rid of them and save.
• Do men or women drive better? – Statistics demonstrate that women are safer drivers than men. However, don’t assume that women are better drivers. Men and women tend to get into accidents at a similar rate, but the men cause more damage and cost insurance companies more money. Men also statistically get cited for more serious violations like reckless driving and DUI.
• Drive less and save money – The higher the mileage driven in a year the higher your rates will be. The majority of insurers charge to insure your cars based on their usage. Autos that are left in the garage get more affordable rates as compared to vehicles used primarily for driving to work. Verify your car insurance declarations sheet shows the correct usage for each vehicle.

How much can you save with discounts?

Car insurance companies do not advertise all available discounts very well, so we break down some of the best known and the harder-to-find savings tricks you should be using.

• Drive Less and Save – Keeping the miles down can qualify you for better rates on cars that stay parked.
• Senior Citizens – If you qualify as a senior citizen, you may receive a discount up to 10%.
• Payment Method – By paying your policy upfront rather than paying monthly you could save up to 5%.
• Lower Rates for Military – Being on active duty in the military could be rewarded with lower premiums.
• New Car Discount – Putting insurance coverage on a new car can be considerably cheaper since new cars are generally safer.
• Own a Home – Being a homeowner can help you save on car insurance because of the fact that having a home requires personal responsibility.

Drivers should understand that most discounts do not apply to the entire policy premium. Some only apply to specific coverage prices like liability and collision coverage. So when the math indicates you can get free auto insurance, companies wouldn’t make money that way.

For more reading

More tips and info about car insurance can be found at the Massachusetts Division of Insurance website. Visitors are able to download brochures, report car insurance fraud, file complaints about a company, and find out industry alerts.

Also read more on NAIC.org’s Understanding your Policy and this link where you can get more info about Westfield coverage.

Better coverage you can count on

While you’re price shopping online, make sure you don’t buy less coverage just to save a little money. In many cases, an insured dropped liability limits or collision coverage to discover at claim time that it was a big mistake. Your strategy should be to purchase a proper amount of coverage at the best price while not skimping on critical coverages.

Throughout this article, we presented a lot of techniques to get a better price on car insurance. The most important thing to understand is the more price quotes you have, the better your comparison will be. You may even find the biggest savings come from a small mutual company. These smaller insurers may often insure only within specific states and give getter rates than the large multi-state companies such as Allstate and Progressive.