Consumer Tested Strategies to Save on Beverly Auto Insurance

Having to pay for overpriced auto insurance can dwindle your checking account, especially in this economy. Comparing price quotes is a smart way to reduce premiums and put more money in your pocket.

Drivers have so many to buy insurance from, and even though it's nice to have a choice, too many choices makes it more difficult to compare rates.

Buying car insurance in Beverly is quite easy. If you currently have a car insurance policy, you stand a good chance to be able to lower your premiums substantially using these methods. Nevertheless, Massachusetts consumers do need to know the methods companies use to sell insurance online and apply this information to your search.

Auto Insurance Prices in Beverly, Massachusetts

There are several ways of comparing rates from local Beverly auto insurance companies. The recommended way to find the lowest rates consists of obtaining rate quotes online. This can be accomplished in a couple of different ways.

The first (and easiest) way to compare a lot of rates at once is to use a rate comparison form (click to open form in new window). This method saves time by eliminating boring form submissions for each company you want a rate for. One form submission will return quotes from all major companies.

A slightly less efficient method to compare rate quotes is to take the time to go to each individual company website to complete a price quote. For example, we'll pretend you want comparison quotes from , and . To get each rate you have to visit each site and enter your information, and that's why the first method is more popular.

To view a list of companies in Beverly, click here.

The least efficient way to compare rates to insurance agents' offices. Shopping for auto insurance online makes this process obsolete unless you have a need for the professional guidance that only a license agent can provide. You can, however, compare the best prices online and still use a local agent. We'll cover that shortly.

It doesn't matter which method you choose, just ensure you are comparing identical coverages and limits for every company. If you compare different deductibles it will be very difficult to decipher which rate is best in Beverly. Just a small difference in coverage limits can result in a big premium difference. Just remember that comparing a large number of companies helps locate a lower rate.

How to Lower your Auto Insurance Rates

It's important that you understand some of the elements that go into determining the rates you pay for auto insurance. Knowing what determines base rates empowers consumers to make smart changes that could result in much lower annual insurance costs.

Listed below are a few of the "ingredients" used by your company to calculate premiums.

Protect yourself with liability coverage - Liability insurance is the protection if you are found liable for personal injury or accident damage. It will provide for a legal defense which can be incredibly expensive. Carrying liability coverage is mandatory and cheap compared to physical damage coverage, so buy as much as you can afford.
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. Both sexes tend to get into accidents in similar percentages, but the male of the species cause more damage. Men also tend to get cited for more serious violations like DUI and reckless driving. Male drivers age 16 to 19 tend to get in the most accidents and thus pay the highest rates.
Cautious drivers pay less - Drivers who don't get tickets tend to pay less for car insurance than bad drivers. Just one citation can bump up the cost by as much as thirty percent. Drivers with serious tickets like DUI or reckless driving are required to file a SR-22 to the state department of motor vehicles in order to continue driving.
Your spouse saves you money - Having a spouse can actually save you money when buying auto insurance. Having a spouse translates into being more mature and responsible it has been statistically shown that married drivers get in fewer accidents.
Add-on coverages can add up - There are many add-on coverages that you can get tricked into buying when buying auto insurance. Coverages for roadside assistance, accidental death and additional equipment coverage are examples of these. They may seem good when talking to your agent, but now you might not need them so eliminate them to save money.
Do you know you're credit rating? - A driver's credit score is a huge factor in determining what you pay for auto insurance. So if your credit score is lower than you'd like, you could be paying less to insure your by spending a little time repairing your credit. People with high credit ratings tend to be more responsible than drivers with poor credit.

Take advantage of discounts

Companies offering auto insurance don't list all available discounts very clearly, so we took the time to find both the well known and the harder-to-find auto insurance savings.

Multi-car Discount - Insuring more than one vehicle on one policy qualifies for this discount.
Accident Waiver - Certain companies will allow you to have one accident without raising rates so long as you haven't had any claims for a set time period.
Good Student Discount - Getting good grades can earn a discount of 20% or more. This discount can apply until age 25.
Paperless Signup - A few companies may give you up to $50 simply for signing over the internet.
Club Memberships - Being a member of a qualifying organization could qualify you for a break when buying auto insurance.
Passive Restraints and Air Bags - Vehicles equipped with air bags or automatic seat belts may earn rate discounts of up to 25% or more.
Student in College - Children who attend school more than 100 miles from home and do not have a car may qualify for this discount.

It's important to understand that most credits do not apply to all coverage premiums. Most cut the price of certain insurance coverages like physical damage coverage or medical payments. Even though it may seem like all the discounts add up to a free policy, it doesn't quite work that way.

For a list of insurers offering auto insurance discounts in Massachusetts, follow this link.

More tips and info about auto insurance can be found at the Massachusetts Division of Insurance website. Visitors are able to find out which companies have the most complaints, learn about insurance regulations, file complaints about a company, and get help finding coverage.

Do the work, save more money

Low-cost auto insurance is available both online as well as from independent agents in Beverly, and you need to comparison shop both in order to have the best chance of saving money. Some insurance companies don't offer online quoting and usually these regional insurance providers provide coverage only through local independent agents.

We covered a lot of tips how to lower your auto insurance rates. The key thing to remember is the more rate comparisons you have, the better your chances of lowering your rates. You may be surprised to find that the lowest premiums are with a smaller regional carrier. Smaller companies can often provide lower rates in certain areas than their larger competitors like .