Comparison Shop Hidden Valley Lk Car Insurance Prices With These Techniques

Buying the lowest cost Hidden Valley Lk car insurance online can be impossible for people who are new to buying insurance online. With so many choices of online companies available, how can you effectively compare them all to find the best available price?

Don't pay full price with these discounts

Insurance can cost an arm and a leg, but there are discounts available that you may not even be aware of. A few discounts will automatically apply when you complete an application, but some may not be applied and must be manually applied before they will apply. If they aren't giving you every credit you deserve, you're paying more than you need to.

  • Multi-car Discount - Having more than one vehicle on the same car insurance policy can get a discount on all vehicles.
  • Accident Waiver - A few companies allow you one accident before raising your premiums so long as you haven't had any claims for a certain period of time.
  • Passive Restraints - Vehicles equipped with air bags or automatic seat belts can get savings up to 30%.
  • Defensive Driver - Taking a driver safety course could cut 5% off your bill and easily recoup the cost of the course.
  • Anti-lock Brakes - Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles are safer to drive and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.

It's important to note that some credits don't apply to all coverage premiums. Most cut specific coverage prices like physical damage coverage or medical payments. So despite the fact that it appears you would end up receiving a 100% discount, you're out of luck. But any discount will cut your premiums.

To see a list of insurers offering car insurance discounts in Hidden Valley Lk, click here.

How to Lower Your Car Insurance Cost in Hidden Valley Lk, California

Comparing car insurance rates can be a lot of work if you aren't aware of the most efficient way. You can waste a lot of time talking about coverages with local insurance agents in Hidden Valley Lk, or you could use online quotes to get pricing more quickly.

Many insurance companies participate in an industry program that enables customers to only type in their quote data once, and at least one company returns a rated price. This prevents consumers from doing quote requests to each individual car insurance company. To submit your quote information now, click to open in new window.

The one disadvantage to using this type of system is that consumers can't choose which carriers you want pricing from. So if you want to choose individual companies to request quotes from, we have assembled a list of companies who write car insurance in California. Click here for list of insurance companies in California.

Whichever method you choose, ensure you are comparing the exact same coverages and limits on every quote. If you compare different deductibles you can't possibly make a fair comparison in Hidden Valley Lk.

What determines how much you pay?

An important part of buying insurance is that you know the factors that go into determining your car insurance rates. Understanding what influences your rates allows you to make educated decisions that could result in better car insurance rates.

  • Liability insurance protects assets - Liability insurance is the protection if you are found to be at fault for damages from an accident. Liability insurance provides you with a defense in court up to the limits shown on your policy. Carrying liability coverage is mandatory and cheap compared to physical damage coverage, so do not skimp.
  • Are you male or female? - Statistics have proven that men are more aggressive behind the wheel. That doesn't necessarily mean that women are better drivers. Men and women cause accidents at a similar rate, but the male of the species cause more damage. Men also tend to get more serious tickets such as reckless driving. Young males are the most expensive to insure and therefore have the most expensive car insurance rates.
  • Tickets mean higher rates - Good drivers get better rates than bad drivers. Even a single speeding ticket can increase rates by as much as thirty percent. Drivers with serious tickets such as DWI, reckless driving or hit and run convictions are required to file a proof of financial responsibility form (SR-22) with their state motor vehicle department in order to continue driving.
  • Do you need the policy add-ons? - There are many add-on coverages that you can get tricked into buying on your policy. Coverages like personal injury protection, accidental death and motor club memberships are some examples. These coverages may sound good initially, but if you don't need them get rid of them and save.
  • Better credit means lower rates - A driver's credit score is a big factor in determining what you pay for car insurance. Therefore, if your credit rating is lower than you'd like, you could pay less to insure your by repairing your credit. Drivers with good credit tend to file fewer claims and have better driving records than those with poor credit.
  • Type of vehicle determines base rates - The performance of the car you are insuring makes a big difference in your rates. Economy passenger vehicles generally receive the lowest base rates, but the final cost of insurance is determined by many other factors.

The car insurance bait and switch

Consumers can't get away from ads for car insurance savings by companies like Allstate, GEICO and Progressive. All the companies have a common claim that you can save if you switch to them.

How do they all make the same claim? It's all in the numbers.

Different companies have a preferred profile for the type of driver that is profitable for them. A good example of a profitable customer could be between 30 and 50, insures multiple vehicles, and drives less than 7,500 miles a year. Any new insured that hits that "sweet spot" gets the lowest rates and therefore will cut their rates substantially.

Consumers who don't measure up to the "perfect" profile must pay higher rates and this can result in business going elsewhere. The ads say "customers who switch" not "everyone that quotes" save money. This is how insurance companies can advertise the way they do.

This illustrates why drivers must get quotes from several different companies. It's just too difficult to predict which insurance companies will provide you with the cheapest rates.

In the end, you save

Lower-priced car insurance is available from both online companies and with local Hidden Valley Lk insurance agents, so compare prices from both to get a complete price analysis. Some car insurance companies do not offer the ability to get a quote online and usually these small insurance companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.

You just learned a lot of ways to compare car insurance prices online. The key thing to remember is the more rate comparisons you have, the better likelihood of reducing your rate. You may be surprised to find that the best prices are with a small mutual company.

When shopping online for car insurance, you should never reduce coverage to reduce premium. In too many instances, drivers have reduced collision coverage and discovered at claim time that a couple dollars of savings turned into a financial nightmare. Your focus should be to purchase plenty of coverage at the best price while not skimping on critical coverages.

More information can be read on the California Department of Insurance website found here. Consumers can find out which companies have the most complaints, learn about insurance regulations, and file complaints about a company.