Consumer Tested Strategies to Save on Oakdale Auto Insurance

Have you had enough of trying to scrape together enough money each month for car insurance? You are in the same boat as the majority of other car owners in Louisiana.

Companies like State Farm, Allstate, GEICO and Progressive increase brand awareness with ads and consumers find it hard to sift through the bull and take the time to shop coverage around.

More discounts equal less premium

Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, buy you may qualify for discounts that you may not know about. Certain discounts will be applied at the time you complete a quote, but a few must be asked about prior to getting the savings.

Military Discounts - Being on active duty in the military could be rewarded with lower premiums.
No Claims - Claim-free drivers pay much less when compared with bad drivers.
Memberships - Participating in a civic or occupational organization is a good way to get lower rates when buying auto insurance.
Pay Now and Pay Less - If you pay your entire premium ahead of time instead of paying each month you could save 5% or more.
Drivers Ed for Students - Have your child enroll in driver's education if offered at their school.

Keep in mind that most discounts do not apply to the entire cost. A few only apply to the price of certain insurance coverages like liability and collision coverage. So even though they make it sound like all those discounts means the company will pay you, it just doesn't work that way. But any discount will reduce your premiums.

To see a list of insurers with discount auto insurance rates in Oakdale, click here to view.

How to Compare Oakdale Auto Insurance Rates

Most companies allow you to get coverage price quotes on the web. This process doesn't take a lot of time as you just enter into the quote form. Once you submit the form, the company's rating system will obtain your driving and credit reports and generates a price based on these and other factors. Online quotes makes it a lot easier to compare rates but the time required to go to several different sites and type in the same information is repetitive and time-consuming. Unfortunately, it is important to have as many quotes as possible in order to find a lower rate.

The preferred way to lower your auto insurance bill uses one form that gets prices from several different companies. It's a real time-saver, eliminates repetitive work, and makes quoting online much simpler. Immediately after you send the form, it is rated with multiple companies and you can pick your choice of the price quotes you receive.

If one or more price quotes are lower than your current rates, you can simply submit the application and purchase the new policy. The entire process can be completed in a matter of minutes and may save quite a bit of money.

To find out how much you're overpaying now, click here and submit your coverage information. If you have coverage now, it's recommended you complete the form with as shown on your current policy. This makes sure you will receive comparison quotes based on the exact same insurance coverage.

Learn How to Buy Auto Insurance Cheaper

An important part of buying insurance is that you know the different types of things that play a part in calculating the price you pay for auto insurance. Having a good understanding of what influences your rates helps enable you to make changes that could result in big savings.

Shown below are a partial list of the pieces that factor into premiums.

Safer occupants lowers premiums - Vehicles with good safety scores can get you lower premiums. Safe vehicles have better occupant injury protection and lower injury rates translates into fewer and smaller insurance claims and more competitive rates for policyholders.
Do you work long hours in a high stress job? - Occupations such as judges, business owners and dentists are shown to have the highest average rates in part from high stress and lots of time spent at work. Other jobs such as farmers, historians and retirees pay the least.
Do you have enough liability coverage? - Your policy's liability coverage will protect you if a court rules you are at fault for damages caused by your negligence. Liability insurance provides legal defense which can cost thousands of dollars. Carrying liability coverage is mandatory and cheap as compared to coverage for physical damage, so do not cut corners here.
Equipment add-ons that lower auto insurance rates - Driving a car with anti-theft technology or alarm system can help bring down rates. Theft prevention devices such as vehicle immobilizer systems, General Motors OnStar and LoJack tracking systems all hinder car theft.
High numbers of claims are not good - Auto insurance companies in Louisiana award cheaper rates to drivers who do not rely on their insurance for small claims. If you frequently file small claims, you can pretty much guarantee either policy cancellation or increased premiums. Insurance coverage is designed for major claims that would cause financial hardship.
Pay less after the wedding - Having a wife or husband helps lower the price on your policy. Having a spouse usually means you are more mature it has been statistically shown that drivers who are married are more cautious.
Better credit scores mean better rates - A driver's credit score is a huge factor in your rate calculation. Consumers who have high credit ratings tend to be less risk to insure as compared to drivers with lower ratings. Therefore, if your credit history is low, you could pay less to insure your by improving your credit score.
Don't buy coverages you don't need - There are quite a few extra bells and whistles that you can get tricked into buying on your auto insurance policy. Insurance for personal injury protection, accidental death and membership fees may be costing you every month. These coverages may sound good when talking to your agent, but your needs may have changed so eliminate the coverages to reduce your premium.

Switch companies and save? Really?

21st Century, Allstate and State Farm consistently run ads in print and on television. All the companies make an identical promise that you can save if you change your policy. How can each company make almost identical claims? This is how they do it.

All the different companies can use profiling for the right customer that is profitable for them. For instance, a profitable customer could possibly be between the ages of 30 and 50, is a homeowner, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. A customer getting a price quote who meets those qualifications receives the best rates and therefore will save when they switch companies.

Potential customers who do not match the requirements must pay a more expensive rate and ends up with the driver buying from a lower-cost company. Company advertisements say "drivers who switch" not "everyone that quotes" save that kind of money. That's why insurance companies can advertise the way they do.

This illustrates why drivers must compare many company's rates. It's impossible to know the company that will provide you with the cheapest rates.

Affordable insurance is out there

Affordable auto insurance can be sourced online in addition to many Oakdale insurance agents, and you should compare price quotes from both to have the best rate selection. Some auto insurance companies do not provide the ability to get a quote online and usually these small, regional companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.

You just read many tips how you can compare auto insurance prices online. It's most important to understand that the more companies you get rates for, the better chance you'll have of finding lower rates. Consumers may even find the lowest rates come from a smaller regional carrier. These smaller insurers can often insure niche markets at a lower cost as compared to the big name companies such as .

Learn more today

More information is located on the website for the Louisiana Department of Insurance. Click here for link. Louisiana consumers can find disaster information, read industry bulletins, find out which companies have the most complaints, and view a list of available companies.