7 Ways You Can Buy Car Insurance for Less in Malibu California

Sick and tired of scraping the payment together each month for car insurance? Your situation is no different than the majority of other car owners in California. There is such a variety of to buy insurance from, and even though it's nice to have multiple companies, so many choices can make it hard to compare rates.

These seven discounts can lower your rates

Insurance can cost an arm and a leg, but companies offer discounts that you may not know about. Some discounts apply automatically at quote time, but a few need to be specifically requested in order for you to get them. If you're not getting every credit available, you are throwing money away.

Clubs and Organizations - Belonging to a qualifying organization may earn a discount when buying car insurance.
No Claims - Claim-free drivers can save substantially when compared with drivers who are more careless.
Paperless Signup - Certain companies will give a small break for buying your policy over the internet.
Student in College - Youth drivers who attend school more than 100 miles from home and do not have access to a covered vehicle can be insured at a reduced rate.
Auto/Home Discount - If you have multiple policies with one insurance company you will save up to 20% off your total premium.
Employee of Federal Government - Active or retired federal employment can save as much as 8% depending on your company.
55 and Retired - If you qualify as a senior citizen, you may be able to get a discount up to 10%.

As a disclaimer on discounts, some credits don't apply to the entire cost. Some only reduce individual premiums such as physical damage coverage or medical payments. So when it seems like all the discounts add up to a free policy, car insurance companies aren't that generous. Any amount of discount will bring down the cost of coverage.

Are you falling for claims of savings?

Consumers get pounded daily by advertisements for the lowest price auto insurance from companies such as Allstate, GEICO and Progressive. All the companies have a common claim about savings after switching your policy.

How does each company make the same claim?

All companies can use profiling for the right customer that earns them a profit. For example, a profitable customer could be over the age of 50, is a homeowner, and has excellent credit. Any new insured that hits that "sweet spot" will get very good rates and as a result will probably save when switching.

Potential insureds who are not a match for these standards must pay more money and this can result in business going elsewhere. The ads say "customers that switch" not "everybody who quotes" save that kind of money. That's why companies can truthfully make those claims.

This illustrates why you should get quotes from several different companies. It's just too difficult to predict the company that will have the lowest rates.

Learn more today

Additional information can be found on the website for the California Department of Insurance located here. Consumers can find out which companies have the most complaints, read industry bulletins, get help finding coverage, and read enforcement actions against agents and companies.

A tidy conclusion

Cheap car insurance can be sourced from both online companies in addition to many Malibu insurance agents, and you should be comparing both in order to have the best chance of saving money. Some companies do not provide you the ability to get quotes online and usually these regional insurance providers provide coverage only through local independent agents.

While you're price shopping online, it's very important that you do not buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. In too many instances, an accident victim reduced physical damage coverage only to regret at claim time they didn't purchase enough coverage. Your focus should be to find the BEST coverage at a price you can afford while not skimping on critical coverages.