How to Know You're Paying Too Much for Auto Insurance in Dumas

Nobody I know enjoys paying for auto insurance, especially knowing their premiums are too high.

With consumers having so many online and local companies to choose from, it can be impossible to find the lowest price company.

How to Lower your Auto Insurance Rates

Consumers need to have an understanding of some of the elements that play a part in calculating auto insurance rates. When you know what positively or negatively influences your rates empowers consumers to make smart changes that could result in much lower annual insurance costs.

Shown below are a partial list of the pieces used by your company to calculate premiums.

Don't get talked into coverage you don't need - There are quite a few additional coverages that you can get tricked into buying if you aren't careful. Things like personal injury protection, accidental death and additional equipment coverage are examples of these. These coverages may sound good when you first buy your policy, but now you might not need them so remove them from your policy.
Traffic citations inflate rates - Only having one citation can bump up the cost by as much as thirty percent. Drivers who don't get tickets have lower premiums than their less careful counterparts. Drivers with dangerous tickets like DUI or reckless driving are required to file a proof of financial responsibility form (SR-22) with the DMV in their state in order to prevent a license revocation.
Do you know you're credit rating? - A driver's credit score is a important factor in determining your rates. People with high credit scores tend to be more responsible than drivers with lower ratings. Therefore, if your credit is low, you could save money insuring your by improving your rating.
Do you have enough liability coverage? - Your policy's liability coverage is the coverage that protects you if a jury decides you are liable for personal injury or accident damage. Liability insurance provides legal defense which can be incredibly expensive. Carrying liability coverage is mandatory and cheap as compared to coverage for physical damage, so buy as much as you can afford.

Vehicle Insurance Comparison

There are multiple methods to shop for auto insurance, but one way is easier and takes less work. You can spend your afternoon discussing policy coverages with agents in Dumas, or you could save time and use online quotes for quick rates.

Most of the larger companies belong to a marketplace that enables customers to submit their information once, and each company provides a quote. This eliminates the need for quotation requests to each individual auto insurance company.

To submit your quote information now, click here to open in new window.

One minor caviat to getting quotes like this is that you can't choose which providers to get pricing from. So if you prefer to choose from a list of companies for rate comparison, we have assembled a list of auto insurance companies in Arkansas. Click here to view list.

Which method you use is up to you, but be sure to compare apples-to-apples coverage limits for every quote you compare. If you are comparing differing limits it's not possible to determine the best price in Dumas. Just a small difference in limits can result in a big premium difference. Keep in mind that comparing a large number of companies gives you a better chance of getting better pricing.

Don't pay full price with these discounts

Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, but discounts can save money and there are some available to help bring down the price. Most are applied at the time of purchase, but less common discounts must be asked about prior to receiving the credit.

Safety Course Discount - Successfully completing a course teaching defensive driving skills can save you 5% or more if your company offers it.
Passive Restraint Discount - Vehicles equipped with air bags or motorized seat belts can receive discounts up to 30%.
Pay Now and Pay Less - If you pay your bill all at once instead of making monthly payments you could save up to 5%.
Organization Discounts - Affiliation with a professional or civic organization could qualify you for a break when buying auto insurance.
Multiple Cars - Having all your vehicles with the same company may reduce the rate for each vehicle.

Keep in mind that most credits do not apply to the entire policy premium. The majority will only reduce individual premiums such as liability and collision coverage. Just because you may think adding up those discounts means a free policy, it just doesn't work that way. But any discount will help reduce your premiums.

To choose insurers with discount auto insurance rates in Arkansas, follow this link.

The auto insurance bait and switch

21st Century, Allstate and State Farm consistently run ads in print and on television. All the companies say the same thing that you can save if you change your coverage to them. But how can every company say the same thing?

Insurance companies have a certain "appetite" for the type of customer that makes them money. For instance, a profitable customer might be profiled as over the age of 40, a clean driving record, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. A propective insured who fits that profile gets the lowest rates and therefore will save a lot of money.

Potential customers who don't measure up to this ideal profile must pay higher prices which usually ends up with business not being written. Company advertisements say "customers that switch" not "everyone that quotes" save that much money. That is how insurance companies can advertise the way they do.

This illustrates why you need to get as many quotes as possible. It's not possible to predict which company will provide you with the cheapest rates.

Your personal situation dictates your coverage

When buying the best auto insurance coverage for your vehicles, there really is no one size fits all plan. Coverage needs to be tailored to your specific needs and a cookie cutter policy won't apply. Here are some questions about coverages that may help highlight whether or not you could use an agent's help.

Should I have combined single limit or split liability limits?
Can I rate high risk drivers on liability-only vehicles?
Should I drop comprehensive coverage on older vehicles?
Are rental cars covered under my policy?
Am I getting all the discounts available?
Do I have any recourse if my insurance company denies a claim?

If you don't know the answers to these questions then you might want to talk to an insurance agent. To find an agent in your area, complete this form or go to this page to view a list of companies.

More information is located on the website for the Arkansas Insurance Department located here. Arkansas drivers can discover disciplinary actions, file complaints about a company, find out industry alerts, and find out which companies have the most complaints.

Other informative sites include this resource for Arkansas auto insurance prices and this link which helps you find a Dumas agent.

The best insurance company isn't always the cheapest

Affordable auto insurance is attainable on the web as well as from independent agents in Dumas, and you need to comparison shop both so you have a total pricing picture. Some auto insurance companies don't offer online price quotes and usually these small, regional companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.

In this article, we covered a lot of information how to compare auto insurance prices online. It's most important to understand that the more companies you get rates for, the higher the chance of saving money. You may be surprised to find that the lowest premiums are with the least-expected company. These smaller insurers can often insure niche markets at a lower cost as compared to the big name companies such as .