Looking for a Better Deal with Our Car Insurance Premiums
Last night we canceled our car insurance with Progressive and went with Ameriprise through our Costco membership. Progressive was $118/month. It jumped about $20 this last term.
We called to see if we could do something to lower our auto insurance premiums, like adding rental insurance with them or increase our deductibles. They said it was the lowest they would go.
I shopped around for car insurance rates and Amerprise offered a little bit more for insurance coverage for $58/month.
We price different companies’ policies when our car insurance renewals come around. Last time, I didn’t have a Costco membership and I didn’t ask around at some smaller insurance companies to look at.
How to Shop For Affordable Car Insurance
1. Have a copy of your current insurance policy. You want to know what exact coverage you have and how much you’re paying for it. This will important later.
2. Shop around online to see what’s a ballpark figure for your insurance. As I’m comparing with other companies, I use my current policy to enter in what coverage I’m looking for. Some websites to check out: NetQuote, Geico , Esurance, or Progressive.
3. Check out your AAA, Costco, or other membership club’s connection. We found our current car insurance policy by checking out Costco’s benefits. We requested a quote and found a great deal.
4. Examine your top choices’ complaints at your state’s insurance department. It’s important to check the company out for their customer service. It does you no good if they don’t cover you well or offer bad service.
5. Call the insurance companies and review exact policy coverage. Have your current policy out and compare line by line the coverage amounts.
How to Save Money on Car Insurance
It doesn’t hurt to ask to see if you can get a discount on your car insurance premiums. You want to
- Maintain a good driving record. It’s obvious, but helps. Our last six month’s premiums went down because an old accident went off the record after 3 years.
- Develop and keep a good credit history. Another reason why being smart with your bills helps out.
- If you’re a college student, see if your grades qualify you for a discount. It’s usually a GPA of 3.0 and higher. Check your company to what their discount is for good students.
- Increase your deductible. Only do this if your emergency fund is in place. Don’t get a $1000 policy if you only have $500 in your emergency fund.
- Pay in one or two installments. Insurance companies tend to give a discount if you pay your premiums up front.
- If your commute has shorten a bit, let them know. It can lower your expense. Even if they don’t drop it as low as you want, you save on gas money.
- See if you can add home insurance with the company. Some companies, like Nationwide, have a discount for using them for both policies.
Your Take
What tips do you have on finding affordable auto insurance? Please let me know how you save on car insurance by leaving a comment. We can share our tips together.
Photo Credit: Team Dalog
Related Posts -
How Am I Doing With Ramit’s Save $1,000 Challenge? Photo Credit: muha... Ramit has been posting a lot more tips on his Save $1,000 in 30 Days Challenge. I’m just going to put a few of my thoughts on the tips. I really encourage not only to look at the posts, but to check out the comments that are...... -
Negotiate with Credit Card Companies Handling credit cards is can be difficult unless you have a plan. With some planning and preparation, you can be on top of your credit card and finances. For many college graduates, getting out of credit card debt is your first goal. Handle your credit card responsibly If you want......
Here are Some Other Great Thoughts -
A Guideline Budget - How Do You Compare? I am currently reading The World's Easiest Guide To Finances. So far, it's a good read especially for those that really have no idea where to start. But there is also some great ideas and perspectives for the more "seasoned" personal finance gurus. One of the more interesting items...... - 4 Tips For Inexpensive Auto Insurance There's no getting around purchasing auto insurance if you drive a car. Not only is car insurance required by law, the cost of being in an accident can quickly surpass the amount you pay for insurance premiums. How much you pay for car insurance is determined by several factors, many......
{ 6 trackbacks }
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post. Unfortunately, my car insurance post goes something like this: How to double your car insurance by buying a second car. Just one of the expenses we considered before we bought.
@Miranda: Hopefully you got a multi car discount.
You’re making me think I should shop around for a better rate. We’re with progressive too, they were the cheapest a few years ago but I haven’t compared in awhile. I didn’t know that costco had an insurance program, i’ll have to look into it. One other tip, ask about discounts related to your career or professional organizations. I once got a discount for my line of work, I just had to fax in my diploma!
@Miss M: That’s a great idea! I didn’t know your career can give you a discount. Thanks for sharing, I hope your tip can help some people.
Great article! It is so important that people are comparing the same coverages and you’ve done an excellent job of making that clear. I’ve linked to you!
@Kate Kashman : Thanks for the link! Every dollar counts. We decided we’d rather use it to put down for a house than overpaying bills.
Yeah, I need to look into my insurance costs with another company. I looked at changing mine and it was only a savings of $100 a year.
I have been using DesktopBudget.com to manage my personal finances for a few months now. Its the easient to use offline personal finance manager I have seen so far.
very informative post, unfortunately, i have just bought a car and it is going to drag me for 9 years, which is a 108 months of repayment!