10 Simple Ways to Lower Car Insurance Costs in Findlay

Expensive car insurance can take a big chunk out of your savings account and put the squeeze on your family's finances. Comparison shopping is free and is an excellent way to reduce premiums and put more money in your pocket.

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

It's important to shop coverage around yearly since rates are constantly changing. Just because you found the lowest price a year ago the chances are good that you can find a lower rate today. There is a lot of bad information regarding car insurance on the web, but I'm going to show you some great ways to save money.

Save big with these ten discounts

Companies that sell car insurance don't always publicize all their discounts very clearly, so we researched both the well known and the harder-to-find ways to save on car insurance.

Accident Waiver - Certain companies will allow you to have one accident before raising your premiums as long as you don't have any claims for a certain period of time.
Auto/Life Discount - Companies who offer life insurance give a discount if you purchase life insurance from them.
Multiple Cars - Insuring all your vehicles on the same car insurance policy qualifies for this discount.
Drive Less and Save - Low mileage vehicles could be rewarded with better rates on cars that stay parked.
Claim Free - Drivers who don't have accidents pay much less as compared to bad drivers.
Own a Home - Owning a house in Findlay may earn you a small savings because maintaining a house shows financial diligence.
Pay Now and Pay Less - If paying your policy premium upfront instead of paying each month you could save up to 5%.
Safety Course Discount - Taking a defensive driving course could cut 5% off your bill and easily recoup the cost of the course.
Good Student Discount - A discount for being a good student can save 20 to 25%. Earning this discount can benefit you up until you turn 25.
Sign Online - Some insurance companies may give you up to $50 for buying your policy over the internet.

As a disclaimer on discounts, most discount credits are not given to your bottom line cost. Some only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like liability, collision or medical payments. So even though they make it sound like you would end up receiving a 100% discount, car insurance companies aren't that generous.

To see a list of companies with discount car insurance rates in Illinois, click this link.

How to Get Cheap Car Insurance in Findlay, IL

There are several ways to get quotes from local Findlay car insurance companies. The best method to find competitive insurance rates consists of shopping online. This can be done in several different ways.

The best way to find low rates is to use a rate comparison form (click to open form in new window). This form keeps you from doing repetitive form submissions for each company. A single, simple form gets you price quotes from multiple companies.
A more time consuming way to get quotes online requires a trip to each individual company website and complete a new quote form. For example, let's assume you want comparison quotes from , and . You would have to visit each site to input your insurance information, and that's why the first method is more popular.

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

It's up to you how you get prices quotes, just make sure you use identical quote information on every quote. If you have mixed coverages it will be very difficult to make a fair comparison in Findlay. Having just a slight variation in coverages may result in large price differences. And when comparing car insurance rates, know that comparing more company's prices helps locate a better price.

But I don't know anything about car insurance

When choosing the best car insurance coverage for your personal vehicles, there isn't really a "best" method to buy coverage. Everyone's situation is unique so this has to be addressed. These are some specific questions can help discover if your situation will benefit from professional help.

I have good health insurance, so how much medical payments coverage do I need?
What happens if I owe more than my vehicle is worth?
Am I covered if I wreck a rental car?
Is my vehicle covered for flood damage?
Will I be non-renewed for getting a DUI or other conviction?
Does my policy cover my teen driver if they drive my company car?
Are my tools covered if they get stolen from my vehicle?

If it's difficult to answer those questions but a few of them apply, you may need to chat with an insurance agent. If you don't have a local agent, fill out this quick form or you can go here for a list of companies in your area.

Car insurance ads bend the truth

Car insurance companies such as State Farm, GEICO and Progressive consistently run ads on TV and radio. They all seem to make the same claim about savings if you change your coverage to them. How does each company claim to save you money? This is how they do it.

Different companies have a preferred profile for the type of customer that is profitable for them. For instance, a desirable insured might be between the ages of 40 and 55, has no prior claims, and has excellent credit. Any new insured who matches those parameters will get very good rates and most likely will save when switching.

Consumers who fall outside these standards will have to pay higher rates which leads to the customer not buying. The ads say "drivers who switch" not "people who quote" save that much money. This is how companies can truthfully make those claims. Because of the profiling, drivers must get quotes from several different companies. It's just too difficult to predict which insurance companies will have the lowest rates.

Final considerations

Cheap car insurance can be sourced both online as well as from independent agents in Findlay, so you should be comparing quotes from both to get a complete price analysis. Some companies don't offer the ability to get a quote online and most of the time these small, regional companies sell through independent agents.

While you're price shopping online, never reduce coverage to reduce premium. In many cases, consumers will sacrifice collision coverage and learned later they didn't purchase enough coverage. Your aim should be to find the BEST coverage for the lowest price.

Even more information is located at the Illinois Department of Insurance website. Visitors are able to get help finding coverage, file complaints about an insurance agent or broker, find out which companies have the most complaints, and discover disciplinary actions.