Getting Low-Cost Danville Auto Insurance

Did you fall for a flashy sales pitch and buy high-priced auto insurance? Believe me when I say you are not the only one feeling buyer's remorse. Having so many choices, it can be hard to pick the best insurer.

Buying car insurance in Danville is easy if you know what you're doing. If you have insurance now or are looking for a new policy, you can follow these tips to find the best rates while maximizing coverage. California vehicle owners just need to know the tricks to get comparison rates online.

Save big with these discounts

Car insurance companies do not list all available discounts very well, so here is a list some of the best known as well as the least known savings tricks you should be using. If you don't get every credit possible, you're paying more than you need to.

Fewer Miles Equal More Savings - Driving fewer miles can qualify you for discounted rates on garaged vehicles.
Defensive Driver - Successfully completing a course teaching defensive driving skills could possibly earn you a 5% discount and easily recoup the cost of the course.
Anti-lock Brake System - Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles are safer to drive and earn discounts up to 10%.
Theft Prevention Discount - Cars that have factory anti-theft systems are stolen less frequently and will save you 10% or more.
Driver's Ed - Have your child enroll in driver's education in school.
Discount for Good Grades - A discount for being a good student can earn a discount of 20% or more. The discount lasts until age 25.
No Charge for an Accident - Some insurance companies will forgive one accident before raising your premiums so long as you haven't had any claims for a set time period.
New Vehicle Savings - Adding a new car to your policy can be considerably cheaper because new vehicles have to meet stringent safety requirements.
Claim Free - Drivers with accident-free driving histories can earn big discounts when compared with bad drivers.

Consumers should know that most discounts do not apply the the whole policy. Most only apply to individual premiums such as liability and collision coverage. So even though it sounds like adding up those discounts means a free policy, companies don't profit that way.

To see a list of insurers offering auto insurance discounts in California, click here to view.

Comprehensive Danville Auto Insurance Comparison Quotes

Finding cheaper auto insurance prices is surprisingly easy. You just have to invest a little time comparing rate quotes online with multiple companies. This can be accomplished in a couple of different ways.

The best way to find low rates is to use a rate comparison form click here to open form in new window. This easy form keeps you from doing multiple quote forms for each company you want a rate for. Completing one form compares rates from multiple low-cost companies.
A less efficient way to get quotes online is going to the website for every company you want to comare and complete a new quote form. For examples sake, let's say you want to compare rates from , and . To get each rate you have to take the time to go to each site and enter your information, which is why the first method is more popular.

To view a list of companies in Danville, click here.
The least recommended method to compare rates is to drive around to and from local insurance agencies. Shopping for auto insurance online has reduced the need for local agents unless you require the personal advice that only a license agent can provide. However, consumers can obtain prices from the web and still use a local agent and we'll touch on that later.

It's your choice how you get your quotes, but compare apples-to-apples coverage limits and deductibles on every quote. If you use different liability limits it's impossible to make a fair comparison in Danville.

Tips to Get Lower Danville Rates

An important part of buying insurance is that you know the different types of things that go into determining auto insurance rates. When you know what positively or negatively controls the rates you pay empowers consumers to make smart changes that could result in much lower annual insurance costs.

Higher safety ratings means cheaper insurance - Vehicles with high crash test scores can get you lower premiums. Safe vehicles protect occupants better and better occupant protection means lower claim amounts passed on to you as lower rates.
Do you need those extra coverages? - There are many extra coverages that you can get tricked into buying if you aren't careful. Things like roadside assistance, accidental death and additional equipment coverage may be costing you every month. They may seem like a good idea when you first buy your policy, but now you might not need them so remove them from your policy.
High credit ratings translate to low rates - A driver's credit score is a important factor in calculating your auto insurance rates. So if your credit is lower than you'd like, you could pay less to insure your by improving your rating. People with high credit scores tend to be more responsible as compared to drivers with poor credit.
Multi-policy discounts can save money - Most insurers will award you with lower prices to people who carry more than one policy, otherwise known as a multi-policy discount. Even though this discount sounds good, you still need to compare rates to verify if the discount is saving money. You may still be able to find a better deal by buying insurance from more than one company.
Car features impact rates - Choosing a vehicle with an alarm system can help lower your rates. Anti-theft features such as LoJack tracking devices, vehicle tamper alarm systems or GM's OnStar system can thwart car theft.
Traffic citations inflate rates - Whether or not you get tickets has a big impact on rates. Only having one speeding ticket can bump up the cost by twenty percent. Drivers who don't get tickets have lower premiums than bad drivers. Drivers with serious tickets such as DUI or reckless driving are required to file a SR-22 with the DMV in their state in order to continue driving.
Pay less after the wedding - Being married can actually save you money on your policy. Having a spouse translates into being more mature than a single person and it's proven that being married results in fewer claims.

Auto insurance ads bend the truth

California drivers can't get away from ads that promise big savings from the likes of 21st Century, Allstate and State Farm. All the companies make an identical promise that you'll save big if you switch your coverage to them.

But how can every company say the same thing?

Insurance companies are able to cherry pick for the type of customer that is profitable for them. An example of a profitable customer might be profiled as over the age of 50, has no tickets, and chooses high deductibles. A propective insured who meets those qualifications is entitled to the best price and most likely will save a lot of money.

Consumers who fall outside this ideal profile must pay higher rates and ends up with business not being written. The ads state "customers that switch" not "people who quote" save that much money. That's the way companies can state the savings. This illustrates why drivers must get as many comparisons as possible. It's not possible to predict which auto insurance company will give you the biggest savings.

In the end, you save

Discount auto insurance can be found on the web as well as from independent agents in Danville, and you should be comparing both to get a complete price analysis. Some insurance companies don't offer the ability to get a quote online and usually these smaller companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.

When buying insurance coverage, do not reduce coverage to reduce premium. There are a lot of situations where an insured dropped comprehensive coverage or liability limits to discover at claim time that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. The proper strategy is to buy a smart amount of coverage at a price you can afford while not skimping on critical coverages.

Find out more about auto insurance

More detailed California auto insurance information is available at the California Department of Insurance website. California drivers can find disaster information, discover disciplinary actions, find out industry alerts, and read consumer alerts.

Additional helpful sites include this resource for California auto insurance prices and this page of Danville insurance agents.