Easy Ways to Pay Less on Merrill Car Insurance

Are you overwhelmed by the crazy number of car insurance company choices in Merrill? Lot's of other consumers are too. You have so many choices that it can turn into more work than you anticipated to locate the lowest price.

Learn How to Buy Car Insurance Cheaper

Consumers need to have an understanding of the different types of things that come into play when calculating your car insurance rates. Knowing what influences your rates helps enable you to make changes that will entitle you to lower car insurance prices.

The list below includes a few of the "ingredients" that factor into prices.

  • Rates may be lower depending on your job - Careers like lawyers, business owners and financial analysts are shown to have higher average rates due to high stress and lengthy work days. Conversely, occupations such as actors, engineers and the unemployed pay the least.
  • Choose a safe vehicle and save - Cars with high safety ratings can get you lower premiums. The safest vehicles have better occupant injury protection and fewer injuries means lower claim amounts and thus lower rates.
  • Save money with special equipment - Choosing a vehicle with a theft deterrent system can get you a discount on your car insurance. Anti-theft devices such as vehicle immobilizer systems, General Motors OnStar and LoJack tracking systems can thwart car theft.
  • Teen drivers pay high rates - Young drivers in Michigan tend to be careless and easily distracted when behind the wheel so they pay higher car insurance rates. Older insureds are more cautious drivers, tend to file fewer claims and get fewer tickets.
  • Better credit scores mean better rates - Having a bad credit rating is a big factor in calculating your car insurance rates. Consumers who have high credit ratings tend to be less risk to insure than drivers who have lower credit scores. If your credit rating can use some improvement, you could save money insuring your by spending a little time repairing your credit.
  • Frequent car insurance claims increase rates - If you are a frequent claim filer, you can pretty much guarantee either a policy non-renewal or much higher rates. Companies in Michigan award lower rates to drivers who do not rely on their insurance for small claims. Auto insurance is meant to be used in the event of the large, substantial claims.
  • How's your driving record? - A bad driving record has a lot to do with how much you pay for insurance. Drivers with clean records get better rates than people who have multiple driving citations. Even one speeding ticket may increase your cost forty percent or more. If you have severe violations like hit and run, DWI or reckless driving convictions may find they need to submit a SR-22 form with their state motor vehicle department in order to drive a vehicle legally.

How to Compare Merrill Car Insurance Costs

All major car insurance companies like Progressive, Allstate and GEICO allow you to get coverage price quotes online. The process doesn't take a lot of time as you simply type in the coverage amounts you desire 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.

Being able to quote online makes it a lot easier to compare rates but the time it takes to visit different websites and complete many quote forms is repetitive and time-consuming. But it's very important to do this in order to find better car insurance pricing.

The preferred way to find better car insurance pricing utilizes a single form to obtain quotes from a bunch of companies at once. The form is fast, requires much less work on your part, and makes quoting online much more efficient. As soon as the form is sent, it is rated and you are able to buy any one of the resulting price quotes.

If you find a better price you simply finish the application and buy the new coverage. The entire process takes 15 minutes at the most and may save quite a bit of money.

If you want to find out what other companies charge, click here to open in new window and enter your vehicle and coverage information. If you currently have coverage, we recommend you input as shown on your current policy. This makes sure you will receive a price comparison for the exact same coverage.

These discounts can lower your rates

Properly insuring your vehicles can get expensive, buy you may qualify for discounts to help offset the cost. Certain discounts will be applied at the time of quoting, but less common discounts must be specially asked for before you will receive the discount.

  • No Claims - Drivers with accident-free driving histories can save substantially when compared to accident-prone drivers.
  • Low Mileage Discounts - Keeping the miles down can earn discounted rates on garaged vehicles.
  • Pay Upfront and Save - If you pay your entire premium ahead of time instead of making monthly payments you could save 5% or more.
  • New Car Discount - Insuring a new car can cost up to 25% less since new cars are generally safer.
  • Passive Restraints - Cars that have air bags and/or automatic seat belt systems may earn rate discounts up to 30%.

Keep in mind that most discounts do not apply the the whole policy. Some only apply to specific coverage prices like comp or med pay. So even though they make it sound like all the discounts add up to a free policy, it just doesn't work that way. But any discount will bring down the cost of coverage.

To choose insurance companies with the best car insurance discounts in Michigan, click here to view.

Are you falling for claims of savings?

Car insurance providers like Progressive, Allstate and GEICO regularly use ads on television and other media. They all make an identical promise that you can save if you move your policy. How does each company make the same claim? It's all in the numbers.

All companies are able to cherry pick for the right customer that makes them money. For example, a driver they prefer could be between the ages of 30 and 50, has no tickets, and chooses high deductibles. A customer 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 be quoted more money and ends up with business going elsewhere. The ad wording is "customers who switch" not "everybody who quotes" save that kind of money. That's the way insurance companies can state the savings.

This emphasizes why you need to get quotes from several different companies. Because you never know which car insurance company will give you the biggest savings.

More information can be found on the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation website found here. Consumers can read industry bulletins, find disaster information, and view a list of available companies.

car insurance in Merrill

Affordable insurance is out there

People who switch companies do it for a variety of reasons including high rates after DUI convictions, delays in responding to claim requests, unfair underwriting practices or even not issuing a premium refund. Regardless of your reason for switching companies, finding a new car insurance company is easier than you think.

Affordable car insurance is possible from both online companies in addition to many Merrill insurance agents, and you should compare price quotes from both to have the best chance of lowering rates. Some insurance companies do not provide online price quotes and these regional insurance providers work with independent agents.

When buying insurance coverage, it's very important that you do not reduce coverage to reduce premium. There are too many instances where an insured dropped physical damage coverage only to discover later that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. Your strategy should be to get the best coverage possible at the best price while still protecting your assets.