Tightwads Tips for Saving on Alamo Car Insurance

Expensive car insurance can empty your personal savings, especially in this economy. Comparison shopping is a smart way to help make ends meet.

You have so many to pick from, and although it's a good thing to be able to choose, lots of choices makes it harder to compare rates.

It's important to shop coverage around on a regular basis since rates are constantly changing. Just because you had the best price two years ago you can probably find a better price now. Block out anything you think you know about car insurance because we're going to demonstrate the proper way to get good coverage at a lower rate.

Tips to Get Lower Alamo Rates

Consumers need to have an understanding of some of the elements that go into determining the rates you pay for car insurance. Knowing what impacts premium levels empowers consumers to make smart changes that may reward you with better car insurance rates.

  • Marriage pays dividends - Having a spouse can actually save you money when buying car insurance. It translates into being more responsible and it's proven that married drivers get in fewer accidents.
  • Are you male or female? - Statistics have proven that women are safer drivers than men. That doesn't necessarily mean that women are BETTER drivers than men. Men and women have accidents in similar percentages, but the males cause more damage. They also get cited for more serious violations like DUI and reckless driving. Youthful male drivers are most likely to cause an accident and are penalized with high car insurance rates.
  • Poor driving leads to higher costs - Drivers who don't get tickets have lower premiums than bad drivers. Just one moving violation can bump up the cost by as much as thirty percent. Drivers who have serious citations like DUI or reckless driving may need to submit a SR-22 or proof of financial responsibility to the state department of motor vehicles in order to continue driving.
  • Big city or small town - Residing in a small town can be a good thing when talking about car insurance. City drivers regularly have much more traffic and longer commute times. Less people living in that area means a lower chance of having an accident.
  • Pleasure use saves money - The more miles you rack up on your car in a year's time the more you will pay for car insurance. Almost all companies charge to insure your cars based upon how you use the vehicle. Vehicles that are left in the garage qualify for better rates compared to those used for work or business. Verify your car insurance policy shows how each vehicle is driven.
  • Drive a safer car and pay less - Safer cars are cheaper to insure. These vehicles protect occupants better and any reduction in injury severity translates into savings for insurance companies and thus lower rates.

Policy discounts you shouldn't miss

Insuring your vehicles can cost a lot, buy you may qualify for discounts that you may not even be aware of. Certain discounts will be triggered automatically when you quote, but a few need to be specially asked for prior to getting the savings.

  • Sign Online - Some insurance companies may give you up to $50 for buying your policy over the internet.
  • Accident Waiver - Certain companies will forgive one accident before hitting you with a surcharge as long as you don't have any claims for a certain period of time.
  • Good Student Discount - This discount can save 20 to 25%. This discount can apply until age 25.
  • Discount for Life Insurance - Companies who offer life insurance give a discount if you purchase life insurance from them.
  • Lower Rates for Military - Having a deployed family member could mean lower rates.
  • Drive Less and Save - Driving fewer miles can earn lower rates on the low mileage vehicles.

As a disclaimer on discounts, most of the big mark downs will not be given to all coverage premiums. Most only reduce individual premiums such as liability, collision or medical payments. So when the math indicates you could get a free car insurance policy, car insurance companies aren't that generous. Any amount of discount will bring down the amount you have to pay.

To choose companies offering car insurance discounts in California, follow this link.

Save $429 a year? Really?

Car insurance companies such as State Farm, GEICO and Progressive constantly bombard you with television and radio advertisements. They all seem to say the same thing about savings if you switch your coverage to them. How does each company claim to save you money?

Different companies have a preferred profile for the type of customer that makes them money. For example, a desirable insured might be between the ages of 40 and 55, insures multiple vehicles, and chooses high deductibles. Any new insured who fits that profile will get the preferred rates and is almost guaranteed to save when switching.

Potential customers who don't qualify for these standards will have to pay a higher premium which usually ends up with the customer not buying. The ads state "customers that switch" but not "drivers who get quotes" save that much money. This is how companies can truthfully state the savings.

Because of the profiling, you should compare many company's rates. It's just too difficult to predict which insurance companies will give you the biggest savings.

Additional information can be found on the website for the California Department of Insurance located here. Visitors are able to get help finding coverage, learn about insurance regulations, file complaints about a company, and view agent and company licensing information.

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

Shop smart and save

Cheap car insurance is available both online as well as from independent agents in Alamo, so you should be comparing quotes from both to have the best rate selection. Some insurance companies don't offer online price quotes and most of the time these regional insurance providers sell through independent agents.

We just covered many ways to save on car insurance. The key thing to remember is the more rate comparisons you have, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. Consumers may even find the lowest priced car insurance comes from a small local company. Some small companies may have significantly lower rates on certain market segments compared to the large companies like .

When buying insurance coverage, make sure you don't buy poor coverage just to save money. In many cases, drivers have reduced physical damage coverage only to regret at claim time that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. Your aim should be to get the best coverage possible at a price you can afford.