Consumer Tested Strategies to Save on Allenhurst Car Insurance

Have you had enough of scraping the payment together each month for car insurance? You are in the same boat as most other car owners in New Jersey.

Online insurance companies like State Farm, Allstate, GEICO and Progressive constantly bombard you with catchy ads and it is challenging if not impossible to sift through the bull and do the work needed to find the best deal.

More discounts equal less premium

Insurance can cost an arm and a leg, but you can get discounts that many people don't even know exist. Some trigger automatically when you quote, but a few must be manually applied before you get the savings.

  • Memberships - Belonging to a civic or occupational organization could trigger savings when buying car insurance.
  • Service Members Pay Less - Having a family member in the military could mean lower rates.
  • Theft Prevention Discount - Vehicles equipped with anti-theft or alarm systems help deter theft and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
  • Good Students Pay Less - A discount for being a good student can earn a discount of 20% or more. Earning this discount can benefit you until age 25.
  • No Accidents - Claim-free drivers pay much less when compared with bad drivers.
  • Paperless Signup - A few companies will give a small break for buying your policy digitally online.

As a disclaimer on discounts, most discount credits are not given to the entire cost. Most only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as physical damage coverage or medical payments. So when the math indicates adding up those discounts means a free policy, car insurance companies aren't that generous. Any amount of discount will reduce your premiums.

To see a list of insurers offering car insurance discounts in Allenhurst, click this link.

Comprehensive Car Insurance Comparison in Allenhurst

Most companies provide coverage prices on their websites. The process is pretty painless as you just enter the amount of coverage you want into the quote form. Once you submit the form, their rating system will obtain credit information and your driving record and gives you a price quote based on these factors. Online quotes helps simplify price comparisons, but the process of having to visit each company's website and repetitively enter the same data into a form is not the best way to spend an afternoon. Unfortunately, it is important to perform this step if you want to find a lower rate.

The preferred way to find cheaper rates utilizes a single form to get prices from a lot of companies. It's a real time-saver, eliminates form submissions, and makes online shopping much easier to do. After sending the form, it gets priced and you can choose your choice of the price quotes you receive.

If the quotes result in lower rates, you can click and sign and purchase the new policy. The whole process can be completed in a matter of minutes and you'll know if lower rates are available.

If you want 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 type in the coverage information identical to your current policy. This makes sure you will be getting comparison quotes based on the exact same insurance coverage.

Allenhurst Rates are Influenced by These Factors

An important part of buying insurance is that you know the rating factors that go into determining your car insurance rates. Having a good understanding of what impacts premium levels enables informed choices that could result in much lower annual insurance costs.

Listed below are a partial list of the pieces car insurance companies consider when setting premiums.

  • Liability coverage protects you - Liability insurance will protect you if you are found to be at fault for causing damage or personal injury in an accident. Liability insurance provides legal defense which can be incredibly expensive. Carrying liability coverage is mandatory and cheap compared to physical damage coverage, so drivers should carry high limits.
  • Lower rates with optional equipment - Driving a car that has an advanced theft prevention system can help bring down rates. Anti-theft features like tamper alarm systems, vehicle immobilizer technology and General Motors OnStar all hinder your vehicle from being stolen.
  • Discounts for multiple policies - Most car insurance companies will award you with lower prices to policyholders who buy several policies from them such as combining an auto and homeowners policy. Discounts can amount to ten or even up to twenty percent in some cases. Even if you're getting this discount you may still want to compare rates to ensure the best deal. You may still be able to find better rates by insuring with multiple companies.
  • Drive a safer car and pay less - Vehicles with high crash test scores tend to have better insurance rates. Safe vehicles reduce injuries and fewer injuries translates into fewer and smaller insurance claims and more competitive rates for policyholders.
  • How's your driving record? - Whether or not you get tickets has a huge affect on how much you pay. Careful drivers receive lower rates than bad drivers. Only having one moving violation can boost insurance rates by twenty percent. Drivers with serious tickets like reckless driving, hit and run or driving under the influence are required to file a proof of financial responsibility form (SR-22) with their state motor vehicle department in order to continue driving.
  • Battle of the sexes - The statistics show women are more cautious behind the wheel. That doesn't necessarily mean that men are worse drivers. Both sexes cause accidents in similar numbers, but the male of the species cause more damage. Men also tend to have more aggressive citations such as reckless driving. Youthful male drivers are several times more likely to be in an accident and therefore have the most expensive car insurance rates.
  • Your job and insurance rates - Did you know your job can affect your rates? Occupations such as judges, executives and dentists tend to have the highest average rates attributed to high stress levels and long work days. Other jobs such as farmers, historians and homemakers receive lower rates.

Switch companies and save? Really?

Allstate, GEICO and Progressive constantly bombard you with ads in print and on television. All the companies make the same claim about savings if you switch to their company. How can each company make the same claim?

Insurance companies can use profiling for the driver that is profitable for them. For instance, a profitable customer could be between 25 and 40, has no tickets, and has a short commute. A customer who matches those parameters will get the preferred rates and therefore will save when they switch companies.

Drivers who do not match the requirements must pay a higher premium which leads to business going elsewhere. The ads state "people who switch" not "everyone that quotes" save that much. That's why companies can truthfully make the claims of big savings.

This illustrates why drivers must get a wide range of price quotes. Because you never know the company that will fit your personal profile best.

Shop smart and save

Cheap car insurance can be found from both online companies and also from your neighborhood Allenhurst agents, so you should compare both to have the best selection. Some insurance providers may not provide the ability to get a quote online and usually these small, regional companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.

As you shop your coverage around, it's not a good idea to reduce coverage to reduce premium. In too many instances, an insured dropped collision coverage and learned later that saving that couple of dollars actually costed them tens of thousands. Your focus should be to get the best coverage possible at an affordable rate while not skimping on critical coverages.

compare Allenhurst car insurance rates

More New Jersey car insurance information

Additional information is located on the website for the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance through this link. Consumers can find out which companies have the most complaints, view a list of available companies, read consumer alerts, and find disaster information.