Auto Insurance – Top 5 Tips to Lower Your Auto Insurance Premiums
An auto insurance premium is the price you pay yearly for your auto insurance coverage. It is based on the coverage’s you select as well as your age, driving history and many other factors. The majority of these factors are out of your control (driver age, gender, ect.) however there are certain factors that you can change or alter, in order to lower your premiums. Below, the top five tips are listed to help you lower your auto insurance premiums, and save money.
Driver’s Training
This is an easy way for all drivers to shave approximately $300 off their yearly premium. It is especially important for all new, young drivers to take a recognized driver’s education course, as their premiums will already be very high. The cost of taking this course will basically pay for itself in one year, and getting the certificate is quite easy, it is just slightly time consuming. The course usually consists of classroom sessions that total about 40 hours, followed by in car sessions that total about 12 hours. After all the teaching is complete a classroom written test, and an in car road test must be passed in order to earn the certificate. Most insurance companies will require a copy of the certificate before the discount is applied.
Increase Your Deductibles
If you have collision or comprehensive coverage, then you will also have a deductible. The deductible is the amount of money you are required to pay the insurance company when you file a claim, before they will pay out on the claim. It is present to try and reduce the amount of fraudulent claims and you usually have the option of selecting the deductible to be $250, $500, or $1000. When you raise your deductible, this reduces your chances of filing a claim, thus reducing your insurance rates. Therefore if you choose the higher deductible your insurance rates should decrease by a couple hundred dollars.
Drop Collision
If you need to reduce your premium more then the amount that was reduced by increasing the deductible, you can drop collision coverage altogether. This is a good way to save money if you have an older car, as when you file a claim the insurance company goes by the ‘blue book’ value of the car. If your car is older, and you already have a large deductible, there might not be much left when you try to settle with the insurance company.
Combining Policies
If you have an insurance company that also offers home insurance, then you may want to think about combining your policies with the same company. If you insure you house and car with the same policy you will get a discount. The amount of this discount depends on the company however, but it can end up being a couple hundred dollars. Also the more cars you insure with a company the better your rates will be. So if you have families, with multiple cars, ask about the multiple automobile discounts.
Student Discounts
This does not apply to everyone and not every company offers it, but most big national companies will offer a discount for students. If you are in high school, or college, then you would be eligible for this discount, and it can end up being several hundred dollars. Some companies require that you maintain a minimal GPA, and require confirmation of this GPA via official transcripts. For students this is a great deal, as it helps lower the already sky high rates for young people.
For more tips on how to lower your premium, or more indepth information on the five tips listed above visit Auto Insurance Knowledge at http://www.auto-insurance-knowledge.com/online-insurance-rates.html
Everyone wants their auto insurance premiums to be lower, and in this article, the top 5 tips for lower your premiums are discussed. Learn how to save hundreds of dollars a year on your auto insurance.
Tag: auto insurance, car insurance, auto insurance quote, liability, comprehensive coverage, collision coverage
