Consumer Tested Strategies to Save on Brooklyn Car Insurance

Tired of trying to scrape together enough money each month for car insurance? Your situation is no different than many other Maryland consumers.

You have so many to buy insurance from, and even though it's nice to be able to choose, lots of choices makes it harder to compare rates.

Tips to Get Lower Brooklyn Rates

Consumers need to have an understanding of some of the elements that help determine the rates you pay for car insurance. Knowing what impacts premium levels empowers consumers to make smart changes that could result in lower car insurance prices.

Safer occupants lowers premiums - Cars with high safety ratings are cheaper to insure. Safe vehicles protect occupants better and any reduction in injury severity translates into fewer and smaller insurance claims and thus lower rates.
Theft deterrents lower rates - Driving a car that has an advanced theft prevention system can get you a discount on your car insurance. Theft prevention features like LoJack tracking devices, vehicle tamper alarm systems or GM's OnStar system all hinder your car from being stolen.
Marriage brings a discount - Having a spouse can get you a discount when buying car insurance. Having a spouse translates into being more responsible and it's statistically proven that drivers who are married are more cautious.
Teen drivers pay high rates - Youthful drivers in Maryland are known to get distracted easily in a vehicle so they pay higher car insurance rates. Mature drivers are more responsible, tend to file fewer claims and are safer drivers.
Women pay lower rates - The statistics show that women are safer drivers than men. However, this does not mean women are BETTER drivers than men. Women and men have accidents in similar percentages, but the male of the species have costlier accidents. Men also tend to get cited for more serious violations like DUI and reckless driving. Youthful male drivers are several times more likely to be in an accident and are penalized with high car insurance rates.
Occupation reflects on rates - Did you know your occupation can influence how much you pay for car insurance? Occupations such as lawyers, architects and financial analysts have higher average rates attributed to high stress levels and lengthy work days. Conversely, occupations like farmers, engineers and performers get better rates.
Liability coverage is cheap - Liability coverage will protect you if you are found liable for personal injury or accident damage. It provides for a legal defense starting from day one. Carrying liability coverage is mandatory and cheap when compared with rates for comp and collision, so buy as much as you can afford.

How to Compare Car Insurance Costs in Brooklyn

Effectively comparing car insurance prices can take hours if you don't understand the best way to get rate quotes. You can spend your afternoon talking to insurance agencies in Brooklyn, or you can utilize the web to quickly compare rates.

Most of the larger companies are enrolled in a marketplace that allows shoppers to submit one quote, and each participating company provides a quote determined by their information. This eliminates the need for quote forms for each company you want a rate for.

To submit your quote information now, click here to open in new window.

The one downside to doing it this way is you are unable to specify which providers to get pricing from. So if you want to select specific providers to compare, we put together a list of low cost car insurance companies in Maryland. Click to view list.

Which method you use is up to you, but double check that you are using identical quote information for each price quote. If your comparisons have mixed coverages it will be impossible to truly determine the lowest rate in Brooklyn. Just a small difference in coverages may result in large price differences. It's important to know that comparing more company's prices helps locate the best offered rates.

How much can you save with discounts?

Companies that sell car insurance don't necessarily list all available discounts very clearly, so we took the time to find both the well known and the more hidden car insurance savings.

Fewer Miles Equal More Savings - Fewer annual miles can earn lower rates on the low mileage vehicles.
Payment Method - If you pay your bill all at once instead of making monthly payments you could save up to 5%.
Paperless Signup - Certain companies may give you up to $50 for buying your policy over the internet.
Student in College - Children who attend school more than 100 miles from home and do not have access to a covered vehicle can receive lower rates.
Senior Citizens - If you're over the age of 55, you may be able to get a small decrease in premiums.
Lower Rates for Military - Having a deployed family member may qualify for rate reductions.

A little note about advertised discounts, most credits do not apply to the entire cost. A few only apply to the cost of specific coverages such as liability and collision coverage. Even though it may seem like you can get free auto insurance, you won't be that lucky.

To choose insurers who offer car insurance discounts in Maryland, follow this link.

Save 15 percent in 15 minutes? Is it for real?

21st Century, Allstate and State Farm continually stream television and radio advertisements. All the companies say the same thing about savings after switching your coverage to them. How does each company claim to save you money?

All companies can use profiling for the type of customer that makes them money. For example, a profitable customer might be a mature driver, has no tickets, and has great credit. Any driver who fits that profile receives the best rates and is almost guaranteed to save when switching.

Drivers who don't meet these standards must pay higher premiums which usually ends up with the customer not buying. Company advertisements say "people who switch" but not "drivers who get quotes" save that much money. That's why companies can truthfully advertise the savings. This illustrates why you need to get quotes from several different companies. You cannot predict the company that will give you the biggest savings.

Even more information can be found at the Maryland Insurance Administration website. Visitors are able to find disaster information, view a list of available companies, get help finding coverage, and read enforcement actions against agents and companies.

Shop smart and save

Cheaper car insurance can be sourced both online as well as from independent agents in Brooklyn, and you need to price shop both to have the best chance of lowering rates. There are still a few companies who don't offer online price quotes and usually these regional insurance providers provide coverage only through local independent agents.

As you prepare to switch companies, it's very important that you do not reduce coverage to reduce premium. There are a lot of situations where an insured dropped physical damage coverage only to regret at claim time that the small savings ended up costing them much more. The proper strategy is to buy enough coverage at an affordable rate while not skimping on critical coverages.