Comparison Shop Springfield Car Insurance Prices With These Tips

Buying the lowest cost Springfield car insurance over the internet can be impossible for beginners to online price comaprisons. With so many choices of insurers to choose from, how can you effectively compare every one to find the best available price?

Don't pay full price with these discounts

Car insurance companies don't necessarily list all available discounts in a way that's easy to find, so we researched both the well known and the harder-to-find savings tricks you should be using.

  • Multi-car Discount - Having more than one vehicle on the same car insurance policy qualifies for this discount.
  • Accident Waiver - A handful of insurance companies will allow you to have one accident before raising your premiums so long as you haven't had any claims for a certain period of time.
  • Passive Restraints and Air Bags - Vehicles equipped with air bags or automatic seat belts can qualify for discounts up to 30%.
  • Payment Discounts - If you pay your entire premium ahead of time instead of paying each month you can actually save on your bill.
  • Auto/Home Discount - When you combine your home and auto insurance with the same insurance company you could get a discount of 10% to 20% off each policy.

Keep in mind that most discounts do not apply to all coverage premiums. Most only apply to the price of certain insurance coverages like physical damage coverage or medical payments. So even though they make it sound like you would end up receiving a 100% discount, it just doesn't work that way.

To see a list of insurers offering car insurance discounts in Springfield, click here to view.

How to Lower Your Car Insurance Cost in Springfield, Kentucky

Comparing car insurance rates can be a daunting task if you aren't aware of the easiest way. You can waste a lot of time discussing policy coverages with insurance agencies in Springfield, or you can stay home and use online quotes to get rates in a matter of minutes.

Many insurance companies participate in an industry program that enables customers to only type in their quote data once, and each company returns a rated price for coverage. This saves time by eliminating quotation requests to each individual car insurance company. To submit your quote information now, click to open in new window.

One minor caviat to getting quotes like this is buyers cannot specifically 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 the cheapest car insurance companies in Kentucky. Click here for list of insurance companies in Kentucky.

It's your choice how you get your quotes, but ensure you are comparing exactly the same coverages and limits for every quote you compare. If you use different deductibles it will be very difficult to determine the best price in Springfield. Quoting even small variations in limits can make a big difference in price. Just remember that quoting more will increase your chances of finding a lower rate.

What determines how much you pay?

An important part of buying insurance is that you know the different types of things that go into determining the rates you pay for car insurance. Having a good understanding of what influences your rates allows you to make educated decisions that could result in better car insurance rates.

  • Do you have enough liability coverage? - Liability insurance is the protection if you are found liable for damages from an accident. Liability insurance provides legal defense up to the limits shown on your policy. Carrying liability coverage is mandatory and cheap compared to physical damage coverage, so do not cut corners here.
  • Are you male or female? - Statistics have proven women are more cautious behind the wheel. That doesn't necessarily mean that women are better drivers. Men and women cause accidents in similar numbers, but the male of the species cause more damage. Men also tend to receive more costly citations like DUI and reckless driving. Young males tend to get in the most accidents and therefore have the most expensive car insurance rates.
  • Better credit means lower rates - A driver's credit score is a huge factor in determining what you pay for car insurance. Therefore, if your credit score is lower than you'd like, you could pay less to insure your by improving your credit score. Drivers with high credit ratings tend to file fewer claims and have better driving records than those with poor credit.
  • Your car's features help determine rates - Purchasing a vehicle with anti-theft technology or alarm system can help bring down rates. Anti-theft features such as GM's OnStar, tamper alarm systems and vehicle immobilizers all aid in stopping car theft.
  • Where you live - Residing in a small town is a positive aspect when talking about car insurance. Lower population means fewer accidents as well as less vandalism and auto theft. City drivers have more traffic problems and longer commutes to work. More time commuting translates into higher accident risk.
  • Poor driving leads to higher costs - Good drivers tend to pay less for car insurance than bad drivers. Even one speeding ticket can increase rates by as much as thirty percent. Drivers with serious tickets like DWI, reckless driving or hit and run convictions are required to file a proof of financial responsibility form (SR-22) to the state department of motor vehicles in order to continue driving.

The car insurance bait and switch

Allstate, GEICO and Progressive constantly bombard you with ads in print and on television. All the companies make an identical promise that you can save if you switch to them. How can each company claim to save you money? This is how they do it.

Different companies have a preferred profile for the type of driver that is profitable for them. For instance, a profitable customer might be between the ages of 40 and 55, insures multiple vehicles, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. Any new insured who meets those qualifications is entitled to the best price and therefore will save when they switch companies.

Potential customers who don't measure up to the requirements must pay higher prices and ends up with the customer not buying. The ads state "drivers who switch" not "everyone that quotes" save money. This is how insurance companies can advertise the way they do. This illustrates why drivers must compare as many rates as you can. It's just too difficult to predict which insurance companies will provide you with the cheapest rates.

Final considerations

Affordable car insurance is available both online and with local Springfield insurance agents, so you should be comparing quotes from both so you have a total pricing picture. Some car insurance companies do not offer the ability to get a quote online and usually these small, regional companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.

We just covered many tips how you can compare car insurance prices online. The key thing to remember is the more rate comparisons you have, the better chance you'll have of finding lower rates. Drivers may discover the lowest priced car insurance comes from a smaller regional carrier.

As you go through the steps to switch your coverage, it's not a good idea to reduce coverage to reduce premium. In too many instances, drivers have reduced liability coverage limits only to discover later that the savings was not a smart move. Your focus should be to buy a smart amount of coverage for the lowest price while not skimping on critical coverages.

Additional detailed information is located at the Kentucky Department of Insurance website. Visitors are able to find out which companies have the most complaints, learn about insurance regulations, and find out industry alerts.