Top 8 Ways to Save Money on Auto Insurance in Waukegan

Finding low-cost Waukegan auto insurance over the internet may be difficult for consumers new to online price comaprisons. Since there are so many companies in the marketplace, how can consumers effectively compare every company to locate the cheapest available price?

If you have insurance now or are just looking to switch companies, you can learn to shop for the lowest rates while maintaining coverages. Finding cheaper protection in Waukegan is quite easy. Illinois drivers only need an understanding of the most effective way to compare prices online.

Don’t miss out on these eight money-saving discounts

Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, buy you may qualify for discounts that many people don’t even know exist. Some trigger automatically when you purchase, but a few need to be specifically requested before you will receive the discount. If you’re not getting every credit you qualify for, you’re paying more than you need to.

• Homeowners Savings – Simply owning a home may trigger a auto insurance policy discount because of the fact that having a home requires personal responsibility.
• Drivers Ed for Students – Make teen driver coverage more affordable by requiring them to complete a driver education course in high school.
• Fewer Miles Equal More Savings – Driving fewer miles can qualify you for better rates on cars that stay parked.
• Air Bag Discount – Vehicles equipped with air bags and/or automatic seat belt systems may earn rate discounts of up to 25% or more.
• Sign Early and Save – A few companies offer discounts for buying a policy before your current expiration date. It can save you around 10%.
• Federal Employees – Active or retired federal employment can earn a discount up to 10% with select insurance companies.
• Pay Upfront and Save – If paying your policy premium upfront instead of paying each month you could save 5% or more.
• Seat Belt Usage – Using a seat belt and requiring all passengers to use a seat belt can save up to 15% off your medical payments premium.

Drivers should understand that most of the big mark downs will not be given to the entire policy premium. Some only apply to the price of certain insurance coverages like medical payments or collision. So when the math indicates you would end up receiving a 100% discount, companies don’t profit that way. But any discount will reduce your premiums.

To see a list of insurance companies offering auto insurance discounts in Waukegan, click this link.

Compare Auto Insurance Today

Getting better auto insurance pricing is a fairly straight forward process. All that’s required is to spend a little time comparing rates online from several insurance companies. This can be done in a couple of different ways.

The recommended way to get the best comparison quotes is a comparison rater form click here to open form in new window. This form prevents you from having to do separate quote forms to each individual auto insurance company. One form submission gets rate comparisons from several companies. This is perfect if you don’t have a lot of time.

A different way to find lower rates consists of going to each company’s website to complete their respective quote request forms. For instance, let’s assume you want rates from Progressive, Farmers and GEICO. To get rate quotes you would need to visit each site to input your insurance information, which is why the first method is more popular. For a list of links to companies insuring cars in Waukegan, click here.

It doesn’t matter which method you choose, just ensure you are comparing exactly the same information on every quote you get. If each company quotes different limits and deductibles on each one it will be impossible to determine the lowest rate in Waukegan.

Auto insurance coverages and their meanings

Knowing the specifics of your auto insurance policy helps when choosing appropriate coverage and proper limits and deductibles. The coverage terms in a policy can be impossible to understand and nobody wants to actually read their policy.

Collision – Collision coverage pays for damage to your vehicle resulting from a collision with another car or object. You have to pay a deductible and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.

Collision insurance covers things such as hitting a parking meter, colliding with another moving vehicle and colliding with a tree. This coverage can be expensive, so consider removing coverage from vehicles that are 8 years or older. You can also raise the deductible to save money on collision insurance.

Medical expense coverage – Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance provide coverage for bills for chiropractic care, hospital visits and nursing services. They can be utilized in addition to your health insurance program or if there is no health insurance coverage. Coverage applies to all vehicle occupants as well as any family member struck as a pedestrian. PIP is only offered in select states and may carry a deductible

Comprehensive protection – This pays for damage that is not covered by collision coverage. You first must pay your deductible then the remaining damage will be covered by your comprehensive coverage.

Comprehensive can pay for things like damage from getting keyed, hail damage, hitting a deer, a tree branch falling on your vehicle and damage from a tornado or hurricane. The highest amount you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.

Liability auto insurance – Liability insurance can cover injuries or damage you cause to other people or property. Liability coverage has three limits: per person bodily injury, per accident bodily injury, and a property damage limit. Your policy might show limits of 100/300/100 that translate to $100,000 bodily injury coverage, a per accident bodily injury limit of $300,000, and property damage coverage for $100,000. Some companies may use a combined limit which combines the three limits into one amount and claims can be made without the split limit restrictions.

Liability coverage pays for claims such as funeral expenses, pain and suffering and repair bills for other people’s vehicles. How much liability coverage do you need? That is up to you, but you should buy as much as you can afford. Illinois state minimum liability requirements are 20,000/40,000/15,000 but drivers should carry higher limits.

Uninsured or underinsured coverage – This coverage gives you protection when other motorists are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. Covered claims include injuries sustained by your vehicle’s occupants and damage to your vehicle.

Since many Illinois drivers only purchase the least amount of liability that is required (Illinois limits are 20/40/15), it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. For this reason, having high UM/UIM coverages is a good idea. Normally these coverages are similar to your liability insurance amounts.

Best coverage at the best price

As you restructure your insurance plan, make sure you don’t skimp on critical coverages to save a buck or two. In many instances, consumers will sacrifice physical damage coverage only to find out they didn’t have enough coverage. Your goal should be to buy a smart amount of coverage for the lowest price.

We’ve covered some good ideas how to save on auto insurance. The key concept to understand is the more rate quotes you have, the better your chances of lowering your rates. Drivers may discover the most savings is with the smaller companies.

Consumers who switch companies do it for a number of reasons such as questionable increases in premium, extreme rates for teen drivers, delays in paying claims and even poor customer service. Regardless of your reason, finding a great new company is not as hard as you think.