Car Insurance in Cresco - 10 Discounts You Might be Unaware of

Have you had enough of being strong-armed each month for car insurance? Your situation is no different than many other Pennsylvania consumers. You have so many to pick from, and although it's a good thing to be able to choose, lots of choices makes it harder to compare rates.

It's important to shop coverage around once or twice a year since rates are constantly changing. Even if you got the best deal last year there is a good chance you can find better rates now. So just forget all the misinformation about car insurance because we're going to show you the only way to find better rates and still maintain coverage.

Compare the Market for Car Insurance in Cresco

All major car insurance companies like Progressive, GEICO, Allstate and State Farm provide coverage price quotes directly from their websites. Getting quotes is fairly simple as you just type in the amount of coverage you want as detailed in the form. After the form is submitted, their rating system will obtain information on your driving record and credit history and returns pricing information. This streamlines rate comparisons, but the time it takes to visit different websites and complete many quote forms can be a bit repetitive. But it's very important to do this if you want to find better car insurance pricing.

Quote rates the easy way

The preferred way to find cheaper rates is to use a quote form that gets price quotes from a bunch of companies at once. The form is fast, requires much less work on your part, and makes online quotes much more efficient. After sending your information, it gets priced and you can choose any one of the resulting price quotes. If a lower price is quoted, you simply finish the application and purchase the new policy. The whole process takes just a few minutes to complete and you'll know if lower rates are available.

To find out what other companies charge, click here to open in new window and input your coverage information. If you have a policy now, it's recommended you duplicate identical to your current policy. This makes sure you will have an apples-to-apples comparison for the exact same coverage.

These ten discounts can lower your rates

Companies that sell car insurance don't always list all their discounts very clearly, so here is a list some of the more common as well as the least known savings tricks you should be using. If you're not getting every credit available, you are paying more than you should be.

55 and Retired - If you're over the age of 55, you may qualify for a small decrease in premiums.
Lower Rates for Military - Being on active duty in the military could mean lower rates.
Anti-lock Brake System - Vehicles equipped with ABS or steering control are safer to drive and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
Bundle and Save - If you insure your home and vehicles with one insurance company you will save 10% to 20% off each policy.
Anti-theft System - Cars that have factory anti-theft systems prevent vehicle theft and will save you 10% or more.
Defensive Driver - Taking a driver safety course could save 5% or more if your company offers it.
Passive Restraint Discount - Factory air bags may earn rate discounts of 20% or more.
Claim Free - Claim-free drivers can earn big discounts as compared to accident-prone drivers.
Multi-car Discount - Buying coverage for more than one vehicle with the same company may reduce the rate for each vehicle.
Life Insurance - Companies who offer life insurance give a discount if you purchase life insurance from them.

As a disclaimer on discounts, most discounts do not apply to the entire cost. Some only apply to individual premiums such as liability, collision or medical payments. So even though they make it sound like you would end up receiving a 100% discount, car insurance companies aren't that generous.

To choose companies offering car insurance discounts in Pennsylvania, click here to view.

Are you falling for claims of savings?

Consumers can't ignore all the ads for the lowest price auto insurance from the likes of Progressive, GEICO, Allstate and State Farm. They all seem to make an identical promise about savings if you switch your coverage to them.

How does each company make the same claim?

Different companies can use profiling for the type of customer that makes them money. An example of a desirable insured could be a mature driver, has no tickets, and has great credit. Any new insured who meets those qualifications will qualify for the lowest rates and as a result will probably save when switching.

Potential insureds who are not a match for these standards will have to pay more money and ends up with business going elsewhere. The ad wording is "customers that switch" not "everybody who quotes" save that much money. That's why companies can truthfully advertise the savings. Because of the profiling, you need to get quotes from several different companies. It's just too difficult to predict the company that will give you the biggest savings.

Even more information is available at the Pennsylvania Insurance Department website. Consumers can learn about insurance regulations, view a list of available companies, find out industry alerts, and view agent and company licensing information.

Other informative sites include this Car Insurance FAQ and this page of insurance agents in Cresco.

In the end, you save

As you prepare to switch companies, make sure you don't reduce coverage to reduce premium. There are many occasions where an insured dropped comprehensive coverage or liability limits to discover at claim time that the small savings ended up costing them much more. Your aim should be to get the best coverage possible at a price you can afford.

Cheap car insurance can be found from both online companies as well as from independent agents in Cresco, and you need to price shop both to have the best chance of lowering rates. There are still a few companies who don't offer online price quotes and most of the time these smaller companies sell through independent agents.