Proven Techniques to Save on Stanley Car Insurance

Are you tired of not being able to afford each month for car insurance? Your situation is no different than millions of other consumers.

There are many to buy insurance from, and although it's nice to have a selection, it makes it harder to compare rates.

Buying car insurance in Stanley is easy if you know what you're doing. If you are paying for car insurance now, you should be able to save some money using these methods. But Virginia consumers do need to know the way companies sell insurance online and take advantage of how the system works.

Take advantage of discounts

Auto insurance companies don't always advertise every discount very clearly, so here is a list both the well known and also the lesser-known ways to save on car insurance.

Accident Free - Claim-free drivers can earn big discounts when compared to bad drivers.
Military Rewards - Having a family member in the military could mean lower rates.
Good Students Pay Less - A discount for being a good student can be rewarded with saving of up to 25%. The discount lasts until age 25.
Distant Student - Any of your kids who live away from home and do not have a car may qualify for this discount.
Multiple Policy Discount - When you combine your home and auto insurance with the same company you will save approximately 10% to 15%.
Passive Restraints - Cars that have air bags may earn rate discounts of more than 20%.
Paperwork-free - A handful of insurance companies may give you up to $50 for buying a policy and signing up over the internet.
Memberships - Being a member of a qualifying organization could trigger savings when shopping for car insurance.
Braking Control Discount - Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles are safer to drive and earn discounts up to 10%.
Theft Prevention System - Vehicles equipped with anti-theft or alarm systems prevent vehicle theft and earn discounts up to 10%.

Drivers should understand that many deductions do not apply to the entire cost. Most only cut specific coverage prices like comp or med pay. So even though it sounds like all those discounts means the company will pay you, companies wouldn't make money that way.

To see a list of insurance companies offering car insurance discounts in Virginia, click this link.

Compare the Market for Car Insurance in Stanley

There are several ways to get quotes and find the best price. The best method to find the cheapest insurance rates is simply to get online rate quotes. This can be done in just a few minutes using one of these methods.

The best way to get quotes is to use a rate comparison form click to view form in new window. This form eliminates the need for boring form submissions to each individual car insurance company. Taking the time to complete one form will return quotes from all major companies.
A more time consuming way to compare rate quotes is to take the time to go to the website of each company to complete their respective quote request forms. For sake of this example, let's assume you want rates from , and . To find out each rate you need to spend time on each company's site and enter your information, which is why the first method is quicker.

To view a list of companies in Stanley, click here.
The hardest way to compare rates is to waste gas driving to insurance agents' offices. The internet has reduced the need for local agents unless you want the personal advice only provided by licensed agents. Drivers can obtain prices from the web and still use a local agent and we'll cover that in a bit.

It doesn't matter which method you choose, just double check that you are using identical coverages and limits on every quote you get. If you enter different deductibles you can't possibly determine which rate is truly the best in Stanley. Having just a slight variation in insurance coverages can make a big difference in price. It's important to know that quoting more helps locate a lower rate.

What determines how much you pay?

An important part of buying insurance is that you know the rating factors that go into determining the rates you pay for car insurance. Knowing what controls the rates you pay allows you to make educated decisions that will entitle you to big savings.

Listed below are some of the factors companies use to determine prices.

Your occupation can affect rates - Did you know your occupation can influence how much you pay for car insurance? Careers like doctors, executives and financial analysts tend to pay higher average rates due to stressful work requirements and lots of time spent at work. Conversely, professions such as farmers, engineers and homemakers have the lowest average rates.
Safe vehicles cost less to insure - Vehicles with good safety scores tend to have better insurance rates. The safest vehicles result in less severe injuries and any reduction in injury severity translates into fewer and smaller insurance claims and thus lower rates.
Poor driving leads to higher costs - A bad driving record has a lot to do with how much you pay for insurance. Good drivers get better rates than bad drivers. Only having one ticket can increase rates by twenty percent. If you have serious violations such as DWI, reckless driving or hit and run convictions may find they need to file a SR-22 to the state department of motor vehicles in order to continue driving.
Mature drivers pay less - Youthful drivers in Virginia are statistically proven to be careless and easily distracted in a vehicle so they pay higher car insurance rates. Mature drivers are more cautious drivers, file fewer claims and receive fewer citations.
Your location affects your rates - Being located in less populated areas can save you money when talking about car insurance. Drivers in populated areas have traffic congestion and much longer commute distances. Fewer people means fewer accidents and also fewer theft and vandalism claims.
Better credit means lower rates - Having a bad credit score is a big factor in your rate calculation. So if your credit score is lower than you'd like, you could pay less to insure your by spending a little time repairing your credit. Drivers with good credit tend to file fewer claims and have better driving records as compared to drivers with poor credit.
Being married can save on car insurance - Being married can actually save you money on your car insurance policy. Having a significant other is viewed as being more mature than a single person and statistics show drivers who are married are more cautious.

Are car insurance companies telling the truth?

Car insurance providers like Progressive, Allstate and GEICO constantly bombard you with ads on TV and radio. They all make the same claim that you'll save big if you switch to them. How does each company claim to save you money? It's all in the numbers.

All the different companies can use profiling for the type of driver that is profitable for them. An example of a driver they prefer might be between the ages of 30 and 50, has no tickets, and has a high credit rating. Any new insured who matches those parameters will qualify for the lowest rates and most likely will save when switching.

Potential customers who don't qualify for these standards will be quoted a higher premium which leads to the customer not buying. The ad wording is "customers who switch" not "people who quote" save money. That's why companies can state the savings. This emphasizes why drivers must quote coverage with many companies. It's just too difficult to predict the company that will have the lowest rates.

Shop smart and save

We just covered many ideas to compare car insurance prices online. The key thing to remember is the more price quotes you have, the better your comparison will be. Drivers may discover the lowest rates come from a small mutual company. These smaller insurers may only write in your state and offer lower rates than their larger competitors like .

As you restructure your insurance plan, it's very important that you do not reduce coverage to reduce premium. There are too many instances where an insured dropped comprehensive coverage or liability limits to discover at claim time that they should have had better coverage. Your strategy should be to purchase a proper amount of coverage at the best price while still protecting your assets.

More Virginia car insurance information

More detailed Virginia car insurance information is available at the Virginia Bureau of Insurance website. Visitors are able to read industry bulletins, find disaster information, file complaints about a company, and read enforcement actions against agents and companies.