Consumer Tested Strategies to Save on Sterling Car Insurance

Are you sick and tired of scraping the payment together each month for car insurance? You are in the same boat as many other Ohio drivers. Companies like GEICO and Progressive constantly bombard you with fancy advertisements and consumers find it hard to sift through the bull and take the time to shop coverage around.

How to Lower your Car Insurance Rates

Consumers need to have an understanding of some of the elements that play a part in calculating your car insurance rates. Having a good understanding of what influences your rates empowers consumers to make smart changes that could result in big savings.

Shown below are some of the items used by your company to calculate premiums.

  • Do you have enough liability coverage? - Your policy's liability coverage will protect you if you are found to be at fault for personal injury or accident damage. Liability provides you with a defense in court which can cost thousands of dollars. Carrying liability coverage is mandatory and cheap as compared to coverage for physical damage, so buy as much as you can afford.
  • Your stress level may be raising your rates - Occupations such as real estate brokers, architects and dentists have the highest average rates in part from high stress and lots of time spent at work. Other occupations such as farmers, historians and retirees get better rates.
  • Safe vehicles cost less to insure - Vehicles with good safety scores are cheaper to insure. Safe vehicles protect occupants better and fewer injuries translates into fewer and smaller insurance claims and more competitive rates for policyholders.
  • High numbers of claims are not good - If you frequently file small claims, you can definitely plan on higher rates. Auto insurance companies in Ohio provide cheaper rates to drivers who do not file claims often. Insurance coverage is meant to be used in the event of major claims that would cause financial hardship.
  • How's your driving record? - Whether or not you get tickets has a huge affect on how much you pay. Drivers who don't get tickets tend to pay less for car insurance than their less careful counterparts. Just one speeding ticket can bump up the cost by twenty percent. Drivers with dangerous tickets such as DUI or reckless driving are required to submit a SR-22 form with their state motor vehicle department in order to prevent a license revocation.
  • Bump up deductibles to save - Your deductibles represent how much money you are willing to pay out-of-pocket before your car insurance pays a claim. Insurance for physical damage to your car, termed comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy, protects your car from damage. A few examples of covered claims are colliding with a building, damage from fire, and windstorm damage. The more expense you have to pay, the less your company will charge you for insurance.
  • Marriage pays dividends - Getting married helps lower the price when buying car insurance. Having a spouse translates into being more mature it has been statistically shown that drivers who are married are more cautious.
  • Lower miles equals lower premium - The higher the mileage driven every year the more you'll pay to insure your vehicle. Almost all companies rate vehicles based on their usage. Vehicles not used for work or commuting get more affordable rates than vehicles that are driven to work every day. Ask your agent if your car insurance declarations sheet is rated on the correct usage for each vehicle.

Are you getting all your discounts?

Companies don't list all available discounts in a way that's easy to find, so the following is a list of some of the more common and the harder-to-find car insurance savings. If you aren't receiving every discount available, you are paying more than you should be.

  • Organization Discounts - Belonging to a civic or occupational organization could qualify you for a break when buying car insurance.
  • Claim Free - Claim-free drivers pay less when compared with accident-prone drivers.
  • Lower Rates for Military - Having a deployed family member could be rewarded with lower premiums.
  • Employee of Federal Government - Employees or retirees of the government may qualify you for a discount depending on your company.
  • Good Students Pay Less - This discount can be rewarded with saving of up to 25%. The good student discount can last up until you turn 25.

Keep in mind that most of the big mark downs will not be given to the entire cost. Most only cut the price of certain insurance coverages like physical damage coverage or medical payments. Just because it seems like all those discounts means the company will pay you, it just doesn't work that way.

To choose insurers with discount car insurance rates in Sterling, follow this link.

How can Allstate, GEICO and Progressive save drivers who switch?

Consumers can't ignore all the ads for the lowest price auto insurance from the likes of Allstate, GEICO and Progressive. All the companies say the same thing that you can save if you change your coverage to them.

How can each company make the same claim? This is how they do it.

All the different companies can use profiling for the type of customer that makes them money. A good example of a profitable customer could be between the ages of 30 and 50, is a homeowner, and drives less than 7,500 miles a year. A customer who fits that profile will qualify for the lowest rates and as a result will probably save when they switch companies.

Consumers who are not a match for the requirements must pay higher prices which usually ends up with business going elsewhere. The ad wording is "drivers who switch" not "everybody who quotes" save that much money. That's why insurance companies can advertise the way they do. This illustrates why you should compare many company's rates. Because you never know the company that will provide you with the cheapest rates.

Learn more today

Additional detailed information can be read at the Ohio Department of Insurance website. Consumers can find out which companies have the most complaints, read industry bulletins, find disaster information, and download brochures.

In the end, you save

Affordable car insurance is attainable from both online companies as well as from independent agents in Sterling, and you should compare price quotes from both in order to have the best price selection to choose from. Some car insurance companies don't offer online price quotes and usually these small insurance companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.

We just showed you many ways to save on car insurance. It's most important to understand that the more rate comparisons you have, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. Consumers may even find the lowest rates come from a smaller regional carrier. Some small companies can often insure niche markets at a lower cost than the large multi-state companies such as .