Saving Money on Your Auto Insurance

Saving Money on Your Auto Insurance Never, and I mean never, assume your auto insurance company is giving you all the discounts you’re entitled to. If you ask for the discounts, freebies and special deals you deserve, you’ll be amazed at how much you can slice off your bills. This can add up to big savings so Google National Association of Insurance Commissioners for their website. Click on NAIC States & Jurisdictions to find your state’s insurance department. Most states provide comparative insurance premium quotes based on standard customer profiles. If your state doesn’t, get quotes from the different insurance companies via phone or online. Check out the two lowest-rate companies with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). When you get a positive response regarding those companies, go over the following list with their representatives. The following discounts could reduce your annual premium by 40%—but only if you ask for them:

• Raise your deductible. Too many of us carry premiums with low deductibles because we don’t want to get side-blinded with a hefty bill in the unlikely event we have to file a claim. But wait a minute! If you have a $250 deductible and raise it to $500, you could reduce your premium by as much as 30%. Raise your deductible to $1,000 and you could lower your premium by 40% or more! This isn’t true across the board, but call your agent and ask.
• Safe driver. If you haven’t had any moving violations and/or accidents during the last three years, you should qualify for a discount. You can also get up to 10% off in many states if you take a defensive-driving class.
• Loyal customer. If you’ve been with the same company for three years or more, ask for a discount for your loyalty. You can usually get 5%-10% off.
• Safety devices. Insurance companies love airbags, automatic seatbelts, anti-lock brakes and security systems. They’ll offer you hefty discounts for such safety equipment.
• Risk-related discounts. You can get discounts for anything that reduces the risk of your filing a claim. For example, you can get up to 10% off for parking in the garage when you’re home, and 5%-20% off for carpooling.
• Age-related discounts.
  This is one time when you’re proud to state your age (even you ladies). Some insurance companies will offer you as much as a 20% discount if you’re older than 55.
• Student discounts. There is a discount program designed for school-age drivers. If you have a child old enough to drive and that child makes good grades in school or college, you qualify for a hefty discount—as much as 25%. And if your child is at a school more than 100 miles away from home, you qualify for an even bigger discount.
• Insure all your cars with the same company and save 10%-20% with a multi-car discount.
• Keep all your insurance policies with the same company. You can save up to 15% of your bill for having your homeowners and auto policy with the same company.
• Eliminate extra coverage for automobile-related deaths.

Now compare the premiums offered by both companies that the BBB had only good things to say about and go with the one that’s the lowest.