Top 9 Ways to Save Money on Car Insurance in Bartlett

Expensive car insurance can overdraw your personal savings and force you to prioritize other expenses. Doing a price comparison is a great way to cut your insurance bill. Big-name insurance companies like State Farm, GEICO and Farmers Insurance increase brand awareness with advertising and consumers find it hard to see past the geckos and flying pigs and find the best price available.

Pay less by taking advantage of these nine discounts

Car insurance is not cheap, but you may find discounts that you may not even be aware of. A few discounts will automatically apply at quote time, but less common discounts must be specifically requested before they will apply. If they aren’t giving you every credit available, you are throwing money away.

• Federal Government Employee – Being employed by or retired from a federal job could cut as much as 10% off depending on your company.
• Discount for Swiching Early – A few companies offer discounts for switching to them before your current expiration date. The savings is around 10%.
• Accident Waiver – A handful of insurance companies will forgive one accident without raising rates if you are claim-free for a particular time prior to the accident.
• College Student – Kids in college living away from home attending college without a vehicle on campus may qualify for this discount.
• Life Insurance Discount – Larger companies have a break if you buy life insurance.
• Discount for Good Grades – This discount can save 20 to 25%. The discount lasts up to age 25.
• Use Seat Belts – Drivers who require all occupants to use their safety belts can save up to 15% off your medical payments premium.
• Safe Drivers – Safe drivers may save up to 50% more than their less cautious counterparts.
• Military Rewards – Having a family member in the military can result in better rates.

It’s important to understand that some credits don’t apply to the entire policy premium. Most cut individual premiums such as liability, collision or medical payments. So when it seems like all those discounts means the company will pay you, companies wouldn’t make money that way. But all discounts will reduce the amount you have to pay.

To see a list of insurance companies offering car insurance discounts in Bartlett, click this link.

How to Compare Bartlett Car Insurance Costs

Cutting your Bartlett car insurance rates is surprisingly easy. You just have to invest a few minutes to compare rate quotes online with multiple companies. This can be accomplished in several different ways.

• The fastest way to get the best comparison quotes is a comparison rater form like this one (opens in new window). This type of form prevents you from having to do a different quote for each company. A single, simple form will get you price quotes from car insurance companies with the best prices.
• A less efficient way to get quotes online is going to the website of each company and complete a new quote form. For instance, we’ll pretend you want comparison quotes from Progressive, 21st Century and Allstate. To find out each rate you 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 Bartlett, click here.

It’s your choice how you get your quotes, but double check that you are using apples-to-apples coverage information with every price quote. If you use mixed coverages it’s impossible to find the best deal in Bartlett.

Coverages available on your policy

Having a good grasp of your car insurance policy aids in choosing the right coverages and the correct deductibles and limits. Policy terminology can be confusing and nobody wants to actually read their policy. Shown next are typical coverage types offered by car insurance companies.

Collision insurance

Collision coverage pays for damage to your vehicle caused by collision with another car or object. A deductible applies then your collision coverage will kick in.

Collision can pay for things like sideswiping another vehicle, backing into a parked car, rolling your car and crashing into a ditch. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so you might think about dropping it from older vehicles. It’s also possible to increase the deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.

Comprehensive protection

This pays for damage that is not covered by collision coverage. You first must pay your deductible and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.

Comprehensive insurance covers claims like rock chips in glass, theft, damage from getting keyed, hail damage and falling objects. The highest amount you’ll receive from a claim is the ACV or actual cash value, so if the vehicle’s value is low it’s not worth carrying full coverage.

Medical expense coverage

Med pay and PIP coverage provide coverage for expenses such as hospital visits, surgery, EMT expenses and pain medications. They can be utilized in addition to your health insurance policy or if you lack health insurance entirely. It covers all vehicle occupants and also covers if you are hit as a while walking down the street. PIP is not an option in every state and may carry a deductible

Liability auto insurance

This will cover injuries or damage you cause to other’s property or people by causing an accident. Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: bodily injury for each person injured, bodily injury for the entire accident and a property damage limit. You might see liability limits of 50/100/50 which stand for $50,000 in coverage for each person’s injuries, a total of $100,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and a total limit of $50,000 for damage to vehicles and property. Another option is one number which is a combined single limit which combines the three limits into one amount and claims can be made without the split limit restrictions.

Liability coverage protects against claims such as medical services, repair bills for other people’s vehicles, bail bonds and repair costs for stationary objects. How much coverage you buy is a personal decision, but buy as high a limit as you can afford. Tennessee state law requires minimum liability limits of 25,000/50,000/15,000 but it’s recommended drivers buy better liability coverage.

Uninsured or underinsured coverage

Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage provides protection from other drivers when they either are underinsured or have no liability coverage at all. It can pay for injuries to you and your family as well as your vehicle’s damage.

Since a lot of drivers carry very low liability coverage limits (which is 25/50/15), it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. That’s why carrying high Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage is a good idea. Usually these limits are identical to your policy’s liability coverage.

Online plus local equals savings

Cost effective car insurance can be bought both online and also from your neighborhood Bartlett agents, so you should compare both in order to have the best price selection to choose from. A few companies may not provide online quoting and these small insurance companies work with independent agents.

We’ve covered a lot of ways to shop for car insurance online. The most important thing to understand is the more price quotes you have, the higher your chance of finding lower rates. You may be surprised to find that the best prices are with the least-expected company. These smaller insurers may often insure only within specific states and give getter rates as compared to the big name companies such as Allstate or State Farm.

For more Tennessee car insurance information

More information is available on the website for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. Click here for link. Consumers can learn about specific coverages, learn about insurance regulations, discover disciplinary actions, and view agent and company licensing information.