Tightwads Guide to Saving on Erath Car Insurance

Did you fall for a flashy sales pitch and buy an underperforming, overpriced car insurance policy? Believe me when I say many Erath consumers feel financially strained by their car insurance policy.

Because you have many companies to choose from, it's nearly impossible to find the most affordable car insurance company.

It's important to check car insurance prices every six months due to the fact that insurance rates are constantly changing. Even if you got the lowest rates a few years ago you can probably find a better price now. So just block out anything you think you know about car insurance because I'm going to teach you the tricks you need to know to save money, get proper coverage and the best rates.

What determines how much you pay?

Consumers need to have an understanding of the rating factors that help determine the rates you pay for car insurance. When you know what positively or negatively influences your rates allows you to make educated decisions that may reward you with big savings.

The following are a few of the "ingredients" companies use to determine rates.

Discounts for married couples - Having a spouse can get you a discount on your car insurance policy. It is viewed as being more mature it has been statistically shown that being married results in fewer claims.
Do you know your deductibles? - Physical damage coverage, otherwise known as comp (or other than collision) and collision, is used to repair damage to your car. Examples of covered claims would be running into the backend of another car, vandalism, and windstorm damage. Physical damage deductibles are how much you are required to spend in the event of a claim. The higher the amount you're willing to pay, the less your car insurance will be.
Rural vs Urban Areas - Choosing to live in less populated areas can be a good thing when talking about car insurance. Drivers in populated areas regularly have much more traffic and longer commute times. Lower population means fewer accidents.
Bad driving skills means higher rates - Your driving citation history has a big impact on rates. Good drivers tend to pay less for car insurance compared to drivers with tickets. Only having one speeding ticket can increase rates forty percent or more. Drivers who have flagrant citations like DWI, reckless driving or hit and run convictions may need to file a SR-22 to the state department of motor vehicles in order to keep their license.
With age comes lower rates - Youthful drivers in Louisiana are known to be more careless when behind the wheel so car insurance rates are higher. Older insureds are viewed as being more responsible, file fewer claims and receive fewer citations.
Drive a safer car and pay less - Vehicles with good safety scores tend to have better insurance rates. These vehicles result in less severe injuries and any reduction in injury severity means lower claim amounts passed on to you as lower rates.

Take advantage of discounts

Insuring your vehicles can cost a lot, but there are discounts available to reduce the price significantly. Certain discounts will be applied when you quote, but lesser-known reductions have to be manually applied before you get the savings.

Sign Online - A handful of insurance companies may give you up to $50 just for signing your application online.
Multiple Vehicles - Insuring multiple vehicles with the same company qualifies for this discount.
Bundle and Save - If you insure your home and vehicles with the same company you may save approximately 10% to 15%.
Discount for Good Grades - This discount can be rewarded with saving of up to 25%. This discount can apply well after school through age 25.
Save with a New Car - Insuring a new car can cost up to 25% less due to better safety requirements for new cars.

It's important to note that most discount credits are not given to all coverage premiums. Most only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like liability, collision or medical payments. So even though it sounds like having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, you're out of luck. But any discount will help reduce your overall premium however.

To choose companies who offer car insurance discounts in Louisiana, click this link.

Are car insurance companies telling the truth?

Car insurance companies such as State Farm, GEICO and Progressive continually stream ads on TV and radio. They all seem to make the same claim that you can save after switching to them. But how can every company claim to save you money? This is how they do it.

All the different companies are able to cherry pick for the type of driver that makes them money. For example, a desirable insured might be between the ages of 30 and 50, has no driving citations, and has a short commute. Any driver who matches those parameters will get the preferred rates and most likely will save a lot of money.

Drivers who don't qualify for this ideal profile will have to pay a higher premium which leads to the customer not buying. The ads state "drivers who switch" not "people who quote" save money. That's the way insurance companies can make the claims of big savings.

Because of the profiling, you should compare as many rates as you can. You cannot predict which car insurance company will fit your personal profile best.

Learn more about Louisiana car insurance

More information can be found on the website for the Louisiana Department of Insurance. Click here for link. Visitors are able to get help finding coverage, report car insurance fraud, view agent and company licensing information, and file complaints about a company.

Other informative sites include this site for Louisiana car insurance information and see this list of insurance agents in Erath.

Final considerations

Lower-priced car insurance can be purchased both online and with local Erath insurance agents, and you should compare price quotes from both to have the best selection. Some insurance providers do not offer online price quotes and most of the time these regional insurance providers sell through independent agents.

As you shop your coverage around, don't be tempted to buy poor coverage just to save money. In many cases, someone sacrificed uninsured motorist or liability limits only to regret that saving that couple of dollars actually costed them tens of thousands. Your aim should be to get the best coverage possible for the lowest price.

We just presented some good ideas how to save on car insurance. The most important thing to understand is the more rate comparisons you have, the better your comparison will be. Drivers may discover the lowest rates come from a smaller regional carrier. Some small companies often have lower prices on specific markets than their larger competitors like .