How to Know You're Spending Too Much for Auto Insurance in Miami Shores

Scraping up a payment for overpriced auto insurance can take a big chunk out of your personal savings and force you to prioritize other expenses. Doing a price comparison is a smart way to help make ends meet. Having so many companies to choose from, it's difficult to pick the lowest cost insurance company.

It's important to shop coverage around on a regular basis since insurance rates are constantly changing. If you had the best deal last year the chances are good that you can find a lower rate today. Starting now, ignore everything you know about auto insurance because it's time to teach you the only way to find better rates and still maintain coverage.

Buying car insurance in Miami Shores is easy if you know what you're doing. If you are paying for car insurance now, you stand a good chance to be able to save some money using these methods. Florida vehicle owners just need to know the most effective way to get comparison quotes online.

Take advantage of discounts

Companies do not advertise all their discounts very well, so here is a list some of the best known as well as the least known auto insurance savings. If you don't get every credit you deserve, you're paying more than you need to.

Discount for Life Insurance - Select insurance companies reward you with a break if you buy auto and life insurance together.
Own a Home - Owning a house in Miami Shores may trigger a auto insurance policy discount because of the fact that having a home requires personal responsibility.
Government Employees - Being employed by or retired from a federal job may qualify you for a discount with select insurance companies.
Passive Restraint Discount - Factory air bags or automatic seat belts can receive discounts of more than 20%.
Claim Free - Drivers who don't have accidents can earn big discounts as compared to bad drivers.
Defensive Driving Course - Taking part in a course teaching defensive driving skills could cut 5% off your bill and easily recoup the cost of the course.
Pay Upfront and Save - If you pay your bill all at once instead of paying each month you could save up to 5%.
New Vehicle Savings - Adding a new car to your policy can be considerably cheaper due to better safety requirements for new cars.
Anti-lock Brake Discount - Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles prevent accidents and earn discounts up to 10%.
Theft Prevention System - Anti-theft and alarm systems are stolen less frequently and will save you 10% or more.

Drivers should understand that most of the big mark downs will not be given to all coverage premiums. Most only cut individual premiums such as collision or personal injury protection. So when it seems like having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, companies wouldn't make money that way.

To see a list of companies with the best auto insurance discounts in Florida, follow this link.

Miami Shores Auto Insurance Prices Online

Finding cheaper auto insurance prices is surprisingly easy. Just invest a few minutes comparing rates provided by online insurance companies. This can be accomplished in just a few minutes using one of these methods.

The best way to find low rates is to use a rate comparison form (click to open form in new window). This method keeps you from doing separate forms to each individual auto insurance company. One form submission gets you coverage quotes from several companies.
A harder way to compare rate quotes consists of going to the website for each individual company and fill out their own quote form. For sake of this example, we'll assume you want comparison quotes from , and . To find out each rate you need to spend time on each company's site to enter your coverage information, which is why the first method is more popular.

To view a list of companies in Miami Shores, click here.
The least efficient way of comparing rate quotes is driving to and from local Miami Shores insurance agencies. Shopping for auto insurance online has reduced the need for local agents unless you require the personal advice only provided by licensed Miami Shores agents. You can, however, obtain prices from the web and still use a local agent and we'll touch on that later.

Whichever way you use, ensure you are comparing apples-to-apples coverages for each comparison quote. If you enter different limits and deductibles on each one it will be impossible to determine the lowest rate in Miami Shores.

Tips to Get Lower Miami Shores Rates

An important part of buying insurance is that you know some of the elements that come into play when calculating auto insurance rates. When you know what positively or negatively controls the rates you pay empowers consumers to make smart changes that may reward you with big savings.

The list below includes some of the factors used by your company to calculate rates.

Pleasure use saves money - The more you drive in a year's time the more you will pay for auto insurance. Almost all companies price each vehicle's coverage based on how the vehicle is used. Vehicles not used for work or commuting can get a lower rate than those used for commuting. Ask your agent if your auto insurance policy properly reflects the correct driver usage, because it can save money.
High deductibles save money - Physical damage coverage, commonly called comprehensive (or other-than-collision) and collision coverage, is used to repair damage to your car. A few examples of covered claims are a windshield shattered by a rock, vandalism, and windstorm damage. Your deductibles are how much you are required to spend out-of-pocket in the event of a claim. The more money you have to pay, the bigger discount you will receive.
More claims means more premium - Car insurance companies in Florida provide discounts to people who do not file claims often. If you tend to file frequent claims, you can look forward to higher rates. Insurance coverage is intended to be relied upon for the bigger claims that can't be paid out-of-pocket.
High credit ratings translate to low rates - Credit rating is a important factor in determining what you pay for auto insurance. People with high credit scores tend to be more responsible as compared to drivers with poor credit. So if your credit can use some improvement, you could pay less to insure your by improving your rating.
Rates may be higher depending on your occupation - Jobs such as doctors, architects and stock brokers have the highest rates because of stressful work requirements and lots of time spent at work. On the other hand, professions such as pilots, students and the unemployed get better rates.
Policy add-ons can waste money - There are a lot of add-on coverages that you can buy if you aren't careful. Things like roadside assistance, towing coverage and additional equipment coverage are examples of these. 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.

Are auto insurance companies telling the truth?

Florida drivers can't get away from ads for car insurance savings from the likes of GEICO, State Farm and Progressive. They all seem to say the same thing that you'll save big if you move your coverage to them.

But how can every company say the same thing?

All the different companies have a preferred profile for the type of customer that is profitable for them. An example of a desirable insured might be profiled as a mature driver, insures multiple vehicles, and has great credit. A propective insured who fits that profile will qualify for the lowest rates and most likely will save a lot of money.

Consumers who don't qualify for this ideal profile will have to pay higher prices which usually ends up with business not being written. The ad wording is "customers that switch" not "people who quote" save that much money. This is how companies can advertise the savings. Because of the profiling, drivers must compare many company's rates. It's not possible to predict which insurance companies will give you the biggest savings.

In the end, you save

As you prepare to switch companies, don't be tempted to reduce coverage to reduce premium. In many instances, drivers have reduced comprehensive coverage or liability limits to discover at claim time that the small savings ended up costing them much more. The ultimate goal is to purchase a proper amount of coverage at a price you can afford.

Budget-conscious auto insurance is definitely available on the web as well as from independent agents in Miami Shores, and you need to price shop both in order to have the best price selection to choose from. There are still a few companies who don't offer the ability to get a quote online and most of the time these smaller companies sell through independent agents.

For more Florida auto insurance information

More detailed Florida auto insurance information is available at the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation website. Florida drivers can file complaints about an insurance agent or broker, report car insurance fraud, download brochures, and find out industry alerts.

Additional helpful sites include Wikipedia and this page where you can research Miami Shores insurance agents.