How to Know You're Spending Too Much for Car Insurance in La Grange

Expensive car insurance can take a big chunk out of your bank account and put the squeeze on your family's finances. Shopping your coverage around is free, only takes a few minutes, and is a good way to slash your bill and have more diposable income.

You have so many to pick from, and though it is a good thing to be able to choose, lots of choices makes it harder to compare rates.

It's important to shop coverage around on a regular basis due to the fact that insurance rates are constantly changing. Just because you found the best deal a couple years back you can probably find a better price now. So ignore everything you know about car insurance because I'm going to teach you the only way to find better rates and still maintain coverage.

Tips to Get Lower La Grange Rates

Consumers need to have an understanding of the different types of things that play a part in calculating the rates you pay for car insurance. Knowing what influences your rates empowers consumers to make smart changes that can help you get lower car insurance prices.

Shown below are some of the factors used by your company to calculate your rates.

  • One company can mean more discounts - Some insurers give discounts to insureds who have multiple policies with them in the form of a multi-policy discount. Even with this discount, it's in your best interest to comparison shop to verify if the discount is saving money.
  • Pay less after the wedding - Being married helps lower the price on your policy. Marriage translates into being more mature it has been statistically shown that married drivers get in fewer accidents.
  • High deductibles save money - Coverage for physical damage, commonly called comprehensive (or other-than-collision) and collision coverage, protects your car from damage. A few examples of covered claims would be running into the backend of another car, damage caused by hail, or theft. Deductibles for physical damage are the amount of money you are willing to pay out-of-pocket if you file a covered claim. The more money you have to pay, the bigger discount you will receive.
  • Rural vs Urban Areas - Residing in a rural area has it's advantages when talking about car insurance. Drivers who live in large cities regularly have congested traffic and longer commutes to work. Lower population means a lower chance of having an accident and also fewer theft and vandalism claims.
  • Males pay more for insurance - Statistics have proven that women are safer drivers than men. Now that doesn't mean women are BETTER drivers than men. Women and men have accidents at about the same rate, but men tend to have more serious accidents. Men also receive more costly citations like DUI and reckless driving.
  • Safer occupants lowers premiums - Cars with high safety ratings can get you lower premiums. Safer cars protect occupants better and any reduction in injury severity translates into savings for insurance companies and thus lower rates.

La Grange car insurance quote

Policy discounts you shouldn't miss

Car insurance is not cheap, buy you may qualify for discounts that you may not know about. Most are applied when you purchase, but lesser-known reductions have to be asked about before being credited.

  • Anti-theft Discount - Cars that have factory anti-theft systems prevent vehicle theft and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
  • E-sign - Certain companies may give you up to $50 just for signing your application over the internet.
  • Multiple Cars - Buying insurance for all your vehicles with the same company qualifies for this discount.
  • Life Insurance - Some companies give a discount if you purchase a life insurance policy as well.
  • Senior Citizens - If you're over the age of 55, you may receive a small decrease in premiums.

It's important to note that most discounts do not apply to all coverage premiums. A few only apply to the price of certain insurance coverages like comprehensive or collision. Just because you may think you can get free auto insurance, you're out of luck. But any discount will bring down the amount you have to pay.

To choose providers with discount car insurance rates in California, click here to view.

Save $429 a year? Really?

Companies like Allstate and Progressive consistently run television and radio advertisements. All the ads make an identical promise that you can save if you change your coverage to them. How does each company claim to save you money? This is how they do it.

All companies have a preferred profile for the type of customer that makes them money. An example of a preferred risk might be over the age of 40, insures multiple vehicles, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. Any driver who meets those qualifications receives the best rates and is almost guaranteed to save when switching.

Consumers who don't qualify for these standards will be charged higher prices and ends up with the customer not buying. Company advertisements say "drivers who switch" but not "drivers who get quotes" save that much money. This is how insurance companies can advertise the way they do.

That is why you should compare as many rates as you can. You cannot predict which insurance companies will provide you with the cheapest rates.

More information is available on the website for the California Department of Insurance. Click here for link. Visitors are able to read consumer alerts, get help finding coverage, report car insurance fraud, and view agent and company licensing information.

Other informative sites include BankRate.com's Car Insurance: When not to Skimp and this La Grange agent directory.

Do the work, save more money

As you go through the steps to switch your coverage, make sure you don't buy poor coverage just to save money. Too many times, drivers have reduced comprehensive coverage or liability limits to discover at claim time that the savings was not a smart move. The aim is to buy enough coverage for the lowest price, not the least amount of coverage.

Lower-priced car insurance can be sourced both online as well as from independent agents in La Grange, and you need to comparison shop both in order to have the best price selection to choose from. Some car insurance companies don't offer online price quotes and many times these smaller companies only sell through independent insurance agents.