Tips for Reducing Your Car Insurance Rates

Are you looking for a way to reduce your car insurance rates? Obviously, you don’t want to have to spend more money on your car insurance than you have to. Therefore, you might want to consider taking a few simple steps to make certain your insurance rates are as low as possible.

Step #1: Choose Your Car Wisely

In order to get the lowest rates possible, you need to take care in choosing the right car. Certain cars are automatically going to have a higher insurance rate associated with them. Sports cars and cars that are more frequently stolen, for example, will have higher rates. Other factors also go into determining the rates associated with different cars. For example, the costs associated with repairing the car and replacing its parts will have an impact on the rates, as will the overall safety record of the vehicle. You can contact the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in order to get a list of those cars that are considered safe and are likely to offer lower insurance rates.

Step #2: Shop Around

The second step you need to take in order to get the lowest car insurance rates possible is to shop around. Each company will offer different rates, so contact many different insurance companies and find out what kind of rates they have to offer. When comparing rates from different companies, however, you need to make sure the policies are the same. Otherwise, one company may seem to be more expensive than another simply because the policy provides more coverage.

Step #3: Increase Your Deductibles

Another way to lower your insurance premiums is to increase your deductibles. Of course, if you are in an accident or if something else happens to your car, you will have to pay a higher deductible before you can collect on your insurance payment. At the same time, increasing your deductible can have a major impact on the cost of your premiums. In fact, changing your deductible from $200 to $500 can drop the cost of collision and comprehensive coverage by as much as 15 or 30%. Increasing your deductible to $1,000 can decrease your premium by 40% or even more.

Step #4: Reduce Your Coverage

Reducing the amount of coverage you have in place can also lower your insurance rates. If you have an older car that doesn’t have a very high value, for example, you might want to consider dropping your collision and comprehensive coverage. The amount of extra money you are paying each month in order to have this coverage may not be worth the amount of money you will receive if something does happen to your car.

Step #5: Ask About Discounts

Many car insurance companies provide discounts for special situations. If you have a teenager on your policy, for example, you may be able to reduce your payments if your teen is getting good grades in school. You may also be able to reduce your rates if you drive a low number of miles with your vehicle.

By: Shannon Kietzmann