How to Know You're Spending Too Much for Auto Insurance in Natchitoches

Expensive auto insurance can overdraw your personal savings and put a big crunch on your finances. Comparison shopping is a smart way to lower your monthly bill.

With consumers having so many choices of insurance companies, it is very difficult to find the cheapest company.

It's important to take a look at other company's rates on a regular basis because insurance rates are constantly changing. Just because you found the best deal a few years ago you can probably find a better price now. Starting right now, ignore everything you know about auto insurance because you're about to learn the only way to reduce your cost while increasing coverage.

Natchitoches Rates are Influenced by These Factors

Consumers need to have an understanding of some of the elements that help determine the price you pay for auto insurance. When you know what positively or negatively impacts premium levels enables informed choices that may reward you with better auto insurance rates.

The following are some of the factors auto insurance companies consider when setting rates.

Marriage pays dividends - Being married can get you a discount when buying auto insurance. It means you're more responsible and statistics show married drivers get in fewer accidents.
Women pay lower rates - Statistics have proven women tend to be less risk to insure than men. However, this does not mean men are worse drivers. Men and women are in accidents at about the same rate, but the males have costlier accidents. They also get cited for more serious violations such as DWI and reckless driving. Youthful male drivers are the most expensive to insure and are penalized with high auto insurance rates.
Extra coverages can waste money - There are a ton of add-on coverages that you can buy on your auto insurance policy. Things like rental car reimbursement, towing coverage and term life insurance are examples of these. These may sound like a good investment initially, but if they're wasting money remove them from your policy.
With age comes lower rates - Teen drivers in Louisiana are known to be more careless when driving so auto insurance rates are higher. If you've ever had to add a young driver to your auto insurance policy can really hurt. More mature drivers are viewed as being more responsible, tend to cause fewer accidents and get fewer tickets.
Theft deterrents lower rates - Purchasing a vehicle with a theft deterrent system can help lower your rates. Theft prevention features like tamper alarm systems, vehicle immobilizer technology and General Motors OnStar all aid in stopping your car from being stolen.
Traffic violations increase rates - Just one speeding ticket can boost insurance rates by as much as thirty percent. Careful drivers get better rates compared to drivers with tickets. Drivers who have flagrant citations such as reckless driving, hit and run or driving under the influence may need to submit a SR-22 form with their state DMV in order to keep their license.

These discounts can lower your rates

Companies don't list all their discounts very well, so here is a list both well-publicized and also the lesser-known auto insurance savings.

Sign Online - Some insurance companies will discount your bill up to fifty bucks for buying your policy online.
Accident Waiver - Some insurance companies allow you one accident before hitting you with a surcharge as long as you don't have any claims for a certain period of time.
Driver Safety - Taking a course in driver safety could cut 5% off your bill if your company offers it.
College Student - Children who live away from home and do not have access to a covered vehicle can be insured at a reduced rate.
Own a Home - Owning a house in Natchitoches may trigger a auto insurance policy discount due to the fact that maintaining a home requires personal responsibility.
Driver's Ed - Cut your cost by having your teen driver complete a driver education course if it's offered in school.

As a disclaimer on discounts, most of the big mark downs will not be given to all coverage premiums. Some only apply to specific coverage prices like liability, collision or medical payments. So even though they make it sound like you would end up receiving a 100% discount, auto insurance companies aren't that generous.

To choose companies who offer auto insurance discounts in Louisiana, follow this link.

Are you falling for claims of savings?

Auto insurance companies such as State Farm, GEICO and Progressive continually stream ads on television and other media. They all seem to say the same thing about savings after switching to their company. But how can every company make almost identical claims? It's all in the numbers.

Different companies have a preferred profile for the driver that makes them money. An example of a desirable insured could possibly be a mature driver, insures multiple vehicles, and drives less than 7,500 miles a year. A driver who fits that profile will qualify for the lowest rates and as a result will probably save a lot of money.

Drivers who are not a match for this ideal profile will have to pay higher premiums which usually ends up with the driver buying from a lower-cost company. The ad wording is "customers who switch" not "everybody who quotes" save that much. This is how companies can truthfully advertise the way they do. Because of the profiling, you should get a wide range of price quotes. It is impossible to predict which insurance companies will provide you with the cheapest rates.

Even more information is available at the Louisiana Department of Insurance website. Louisiana consumers can get help finding coverage, learn about insurance regulations, discover disciplinary actions, and read enforcement actions against agents and companies.

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

Final considerations

Cheap auto insurance can be sourced online and also from your neighborhood Natchitoches agents, and you need to price shop both to have the best chance of lowering rates. Some auto insurance companies may not provide online price quotes and most of the time these smaller companies sell through independent agents.

In this article, we presented many ways to save on auto insurance. The most important thing to understand is the more rate comparisons you have, the better your chances of lowering your rates. Consumers may even find the best price on auto insurance is with some of the smallest insurance companies. Some small companies may have significantly lower rates on certain market segments than the large multi-state companies such as .

When shopping online for auto insurance, don't be tempted to buy poor coverage just to save money. In many cases, drivers have reduced comprehensive coverage or liability limits to discover at claim time that a couple dollars of savings turned into a financial nightmare. Your aim should be to get the best coverage possible at the best price.