How to Know You're Paying Too Much for Car Insurance in St Michaels

Nobody I know looks forward to paying for car insurance, particularly when they are paying too much.

Online insurance companies like State Farm, Allstate, GEICO and Progressive continually hit you with ad campaigns and it can be hard to sift through the bull and effectively compare rates to find the best deal.

Are you getting all your discounts?

Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, but you can get discounts that you may not even be aware of. Certain discounts will be applied when you quote, but lesser-known reductions have to be inquired about before you get the savings.

Defensive Driver - Completing a defensive driving course can save you 5% or more and easily recoup the cost of the course.
Anti-lock Brakes - Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles are safer to drive and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
Passive Restraint Discount - Vehicles equipped with air bags or motorized seat belts can qualify for discounts of 20% or more.
Payment Discounts - By paying your policy upfront instead of paying each month you may reduce your total bill.
Life Insurance Discount - Companies who offer life insurance give better rates if you take out a life insurance policy as well.
Senior Citizens - Mature drivers may qualify for better car insurance rates.

As a disclaimer on discounts, some credits don't apply to your bottom line cost. Most only apply to individual premiums such as liability and collision coverage. So when the math indicates all the discounts add up to a free policy, car insurance companies aren't that generous. Any amount of discount will reduce the cost of coverage.

To see a list of insurers offering car insurance discounts in St Michaels, click here.

St Michaels Car Insurance Quote Comparison

Most companies provide coverage prices online. Getting quotes is pretty painless as you just enter your coverage preferences as detailed in the form. Once you submit the form, the system will obtain credit information and your driving record and returns a price quote. Online quotes helps simplify price comparisons, but the process of having to visit a lot of sites and enter the same data into a form is repetitive and time-consuming. But it's very important to compare as many rates as possible if you want to find the best price on car insurance.

The preferred way to get multiple rate quotes is to use a quote form that gets prices from a lot of companies. The form is fast, eliminates form submissions, and makes quoting online much more enjoyable. After sending your information, it gets priced and you can choose your choice of the price quotes you receive.

If a lower price is quoted, you can click and sign and purchase coverage. The whole process takes just a few minutes to complete and you'll know if lower rates are available.

To find out if lower rates are available, click here to open in new window and submit your coverage information. If you have a policy now, it's recommended you input the coverages identical to your current policy. This makes sure you will receive a fair comparison based on the exact same insurance coverage.

St Michaels Rates are Influenced by These Factors

An important part of buying insurance is that you know the factors that go into determining the rates you pay for car insurance. Having a good understanding of what impacts premium levels enables informed choices that could result in lower car insurance prices.

Listed below are some of the factors car insurance companies consider when setting premiums.

Extra add-on coverages are wasting money - There are many additional coverages that you can get tricked into buying when buying car insurance. Insurance for rental car reimbursement, accidental death and term life insurance are some examples. These may sound like a good investment when you first buy your policy, but if they're wasting money eliminate the coverages to reduce your premium.
Credit scores impact car insurance rates - A driver's credit score is a important factor in determining your rates. If your credit score is lower than you'd like, you could pay less to insure your by improving your credit score. Drivers who have high credit scores tend to be better drivers and file fewer claims than drivers who have poor credit.
Lower rates with optional equipment - Owning a car with an alarm system can help bring down rates. Anti-theft features like tamper alarm systems, vehicle immobilizer technology and General Motors OnStar can help prevent auto theft.
Are you male or female? - Statistics show women are more cautious behind the wheel. That doesn't necessarily mean that men are worse drivers. Women and men are in accidents at about the same rate, but the male of the species cause more damage. Men also tend to get more serious tickets like DUI and reckless driving. Youthful male drivers are most likely to cause an accident and therefore have the most expensive car insurance rates.

Tailor your coverage to you

When choosing proper insurance coverage for your vehicles, there really is not a "best" method to buy coverage. Coverage needs to be tailored to your specific needs and your policy should reflect that. For instance, these questions might point out whether you might need an agent's assistance.

Do I really need UM/UIM coverage?
Does my insurance cover a custom paint job?
Should I drop comprehensive coverage on older vehicles?
Are my tools covered if they get stolen from my vehicle?
When does my teenage driver need to be added to my policy?
Should I buy additional glass protection?
Is my dog or cat covered if injured in an accident?

If you can't answer these questions but a few of them apply, then you may want to think about talking to a licensed insurance agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, fill out this quick form or go to this page to view a list of companies.

How can 21st Century, Allstate and State Farm save drivers who switch?

21st Century, Allstate and State Farm constantly bombard you with ads on television and other media. All the companies have a common claim about savings if you switch to their company. How can each company claim to save you money?

All companies have a certain "appetite" for the driver that is profitable for them. An example of a profitable customer might be between the ages of 30 and 50, owns a home, and has great credit. Any new insured that hits that "sweet spot" is entitled to the best price and as a result will probably save when they switch companies.

Drivers who are not a match for the requirements must pay a higher premium and this can result in the customer not buying. The ads state "customers that switch" not "everybody who quotes" save that much. That is how companies can truthfully advertise the savings.

This illustrates why drivers must get as many comparisons as possible. It's just too difficult to predict which company will fit your personal profile best.

Do the work, save more money

Cheap car insurance is available both online and also from your neighborhood St Michaels agents, and you should compare price quotes from both to have the best selection. There are still a few companies who may not provide the ability to get a quote online and usually these smaller companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.

When you buy insurance online, it's not a good idea to reduce coverage to reduce premium. There are a lot of situations where an insured cut comprehensive coverage or liability limits to discover at claim time that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. The proper strategy is to buy a smart amount of coverage at a price you can afford while not skimping on critical coverages.

We just covered a lot of ways to compare car insurance prices online. The key thing to remember is the more companies you get rates for, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. You may even find the lowest rates come from the least-expected company. These smaller insurers may have significantly lower rates on certain market segments than the large multi-state companies such as .

For more Maryland car insurance information

Additional information is available on the website for the Maryland Insurance Administration located here. Visitors are able to discover disciplinary actions, find out industry alerts, view a list of available companies, and learn about insurance regulations.