When choosing an auto insurance policy, make sure that you completely understand the policy, and more importantly for this topic, make sure you understand what makes your insurance premiums increase and/or decrease. For instance, some auto insurance companies will give you a discount for safe driving. Safe driving can oftentimes lower your insurance premium. You always want to be sure that your premium won’t increase for unsafe driving, such as a speeding ticket. Some insurance companies will increase your premium for a single speeding ticket, others will allow you to “waive” the increased premium by attending traffic school. Whatever the situiation, or the case, it’s always a good idea to have a firm understanding of your auto insurance premium, becuase even though none of us plan to get into accidents, or plan on getting speeding tickets, those things sometimes happen, and if at all possible, we’d like to avoid paying increased auto insurance premiums if at all possible.
Archive for the ‘ Automobile Insurance ’ Category
Geico has found a catchy new way to get people to remember their name. They’re bringing back the song Somebody’s Watchin’ Me originally by Rockwell. Now the song is being remade for Geico by Mysto & Pizzi in collaboration with Agent Jackson Music.
Gieco certainly has a way with marketing and they’re never shy about spending money on a new ad campaign. Remember the Geico cavemen? They even got their own show on one of the networks for a while. I never watched it, but I remember it was a big deal for awhile… kind of like me.
One of the quickest and easiest ways to save money on automobile insurance is to make sure that you are taking advantage of all discount options that your insurance company offers. For example, many insurance companies offer good student discounts and will give as much as a 10% reduction for students who maintain a GPA above a certain level – usually 3.0 to 3.5.
The easiest way to find out if (1) your insurance company offers any discounts and (2) if you qualify for any discounts is to just call your insurance company directly. Get them on the phone and see if they offer any student discounts, good driver discounts, senior discounts, etc.
Every insurance company is different and will offer different discounts, so the best way to make sure you are getting the best rate is to make sure that you call and speak with someone at your insurance company.
Esure Insurance is an insurance company based out of the United Kingdom that launched strictly online in order to save its customers money by harnessing the power and efficiency of the internet. Esure Insurance was founded by Peter Wood in 2000 using the internet as the primary sales channel. Mr. Peter Wood had previously founded an insurance company called Direct Line back in 1985 which sold insurance over the telephone.
Esure Insurance company had a great boom in its first five years, gaining over one million customers in that time. Esure definitely had the right idea, and still looks like it is doing great. The Esure website is easy to navigate and has a great clean design and layout. From the homepage, you can select one of the 6 types of insurance that you want (or that you already have with Esure):
- Car Insurance
- Home Insurance
- Pet Insurance
- Travel Insurance
- Motorbike Insurance
- Van Insurance
It’s funny that they have a category specifically for “Vans”, but I guess things are different across the pond. Anyhow, after selecting the type of insurance that you want/have, you are presented with a simple list of options:
- Get a quote
- Retrieve a quote
- Renew or view my policy
- Plus plenty of links for navigating ad learning more about the type of insurance that you’re viewing, such as: Making a claim, Claim FAQ’s, Policy Information, Will you insure me, etc.
All in all, Esure sounds like a great idea and the website seems like it is built for simplicity and growth – it does what it’s supposed to do.
Stop paying those huge broker fees and start saving yourself money on your car insurance and auto insurance premiums. There is no point to go through an insurance broker for car insurance when you can get the same plan directly from the company! Save yourself the fees!
Get a quote now and potentially save over $500/year on car insurance! No filling out long tedious forms… Simply select your state and compare rates! After you’ve chosen your state, select the company that you’d like to receive a quote from.
Shouldn’t safe drivers who never get tickets and who never get in accidents be rewarded for their safety behind the wheel? Most insurance companies feel this way, and why wouldn’t they? Historically, the safer a driver is, the less likely that driver will be of getting in an accident. This, over time will end up saving the insurance company thousands upon thousands of dollars. That is why many insurance companies now offer Good Driver Discounts for those who are historically save drivers – meaning that they rarely, if ever, get moving violations, and are seldom, if ever, involved in traffic collisions and accidents.
By offering a good driver discount, insurance companies are accomplishing a few things. Firstly, and most importantly, they’re saving themselves money. By insuring safer drivers, insurance companies will directly be handling less claims for accidents. Since auto insurance companies will be making more money by insuring good drivers, they can offer Good Driver Discounts to good drivers, this will entice new business. Secondly, knowing that safe driving will save them money on car insurance, drivers will in turn change their driving habits for the better. By becoming safer drivers, insured drivers will become eligible for safe driver discounts.
What are the requirements for a Good Driver Discount? It will vary from each different insurance company, but in most cases, they’ll be looking for the following things:
- 5+ years of being licensed and insured with a clean record
- Have a driving record free of moving violations and tickets over the past 6 months up to three years (depending on location and insurance company)
- Strong credit score
- Law abiding citizen – specifically, no vehicular related crimes
If you fit all of, or most of the above criteria, it may be a good idea to call your insurance company and ask about a Good Driver Discount if you do not currently get a special rate for being a good driver. It may be possible that you could get the rate just by asking, or you may just have to fill out some additional paperwork to get the discount. In any case, it doesn’t hurt to call and ask about Good Driver Discounts.
Many insurance companies won’t offer discounts to drivers under the age of 21 (sometimes 25), but there are some companies out there that will offer a Good Student Discount. When I was in high school, my parents would always want me to keep my grades up just for this reason. Teenagers are very expensive to insure, so any sort of teenage driving discount would be helpful. Good Student Discount programs are typically offered to full time students who have high GPA (3.5 or higher).
Next time you’re in the market for insurance, make sure that you do your research and choose a car insurance policy that is right for you.
When shopping for car insurance or automobile insurance, there are typically three main areas of coverage that you want to consider prior to selecting a policy. Within each area of coverage, you’ll need to decide the amount of coverage that you want. Below, I’ve outlined the three main areas of coverage, two of which are required and included with every insurance policy, and the final will be additional/optional coverage that can be added onto your auto insurance policy.
Liability and Medical Coverage
Liability Coverage
If you are at fault in an accident that is covered by your policy, and others (people or property) are injured or damaged, liability coverage will help to protect you from the cost of these damages. Without insurance, and more specifically liability coverage, the entire cost of damages from an automobile accident could become your financial responsibility.
Medical Payments Coverage
If you’re involved in an accident, the medical payments coverage option will help pay for necessary medical bills. It’s always a good idea to have a high amount of medical payments coverage on your car insurance policy.
Underinsured / Uninsured Motorist Coverage
If a driver with little or no insurance damages your car, or injures you or someone riding with you, the uninsured motorist coverage option can help cover repairs and expenses. Though its always a good idea to have uninsured motorist coverage, the amount of coverage that you need will often depend on the area that you live, the type of car that you drive, the amount of driving that you do and the areas that you typically drive your car. If you live in the suburbs in a nice neighborhood and don’t leave often, you won’t have a very high need for uninsured motorist coverage, however if you live in the city and drive through poor parts of town, uninsured motorist coverage would be a good idea for you. (Underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage is often subject to certain limitations, however, so check your individual policy, or talk to your agent for more details.)
Vehicle and Property Protection
Collision Coverage
This option helps protect you from repair costs to your car if you’re involved in a covered accident. Considering it’s a covered loss (that’s insurance-speak for an accident that’s specifically covered by your policy), Collision coverage helps pay for the repairs needed to get your car back on the road. Keep in mind that if you are not at fault in the accident, the repairs will typically be paid by the at fault party’s insurance (unless the at fault party is uninsured – that is where uninsured motorist coverage comes in handy).
Comprehensive Coverage
This option helps protect your car in situations that do not necessarily involve other drivers or vehicles. If your car is damaged by a storm, vandalism, or “passive object” (such as a tree or a post in a parking garage) which fell and was not caused by collision or some other freak accident, comprehensive coverage will save you. I wish I had higher comprehensive coverage and lower deductible when my car was broken into last year.
Additional Protection (Optional Coverage Options)
Personal Injury Protection
Some insurance companies will offer coverage that will help to reimburse you for lost income, child care expenses, medical expenses, and other similar things if you’re hurt in a covered accident. Personal Injury protection is not available in some states, and not available through all insurance providers. The amount of reimbursement is typically based on the coverage that is purchased in your policy.
Additional Coverage Options
Additional coverage options offered by auto insurance companies can include, but are not limited to:
- Towing Cost Coverage
- Repair Cost Coverage
- Rental Car Cost Coverage
- Rental Car Reimbursement
- Sound System Coverage
- Car Contents Coverage
These additional coverage options might be included through some insurance companies policies, and sometimes will have to be added on separately.
All of these options and optional items should be considered when you are looking to purchase new auto insurance policy.
When shopping for a new car insurance policy, there are many factors that should be considered before deciding on the plan, policy and company that you choose to insure your automobile with. The first, and best piece of information that I can give you is to get out and shop around for insurance prior to choosing a new policy, don’t just go with the first one that you see – even if it does sound like a good deal.
Insurance Companies
When I shop for automobile insurance, the first place I start is with the company. I begin by choosing three to five companies who I would trust. If you are in a hurry to find car insurance and three to 5 companies is too much for you to research, make sure you find at least two or three to compare. Here are some questions that I ask myself when choosing a car insurance company:
- Is this company reputable?
- How long has the company been in business?
- Is the company financially stable?
- Do I trust this company to insure myself, my family and my property?
Once you’ve found three to five companies that you’ll consider doing business with, you’ll want to compare those companies against each other to see if any of them stand out among the rest as being much better or much worse.
Company History and Strength
Once you’ve selected a few companies, you want to learn as much about the company as possible to make sure that company will be there when you need them most – when you get into an accident, when your car is broken into or worse, stolen. Some questions that I ask when I am researching the history and strength of individual companies are:
- How long has this company been in business? (Again)
- How many employees does this company have?
- How does the balance sheet for this company look?
When considering the above questions, compare the answers for each company against each of the others. If they’re better for any reason, you’ll probably want to consider using them more heavily, and likewise, if they’re worse for any reason, you may want to remove them from the list prior to moving to the next step.
Price, Premiums and Deductibles
Once you’ve got a good idea of the reputability and reliability of your selected insurance companies, you’ll want to consider the price for the insurance premium at each of the different companies. To determine the price for your new policy, you’ll first want to determine the Car Insurance Coverage Options that you’ll need, such as coverage limits on bodily injury, property damage, and deductible amount. A standard place to start is $100K/$300K (bodily/property) and a $500 deductible. If you’re very accident prone, you may want to get quoted on a lower deductible or if you’re a very safe driver and have never had a problem you may want to consider a higher deductible like $1,000 as this will lower your monthly premium. Anyways, once you decide the coverage options that you want and need, call the insurance companies and ask for quotes directly – Do not call an insurance broker, as they act as a middleman and that will increase your price for car insurance. Compare all the prices that you are given and then make a knowledgable decision based on everything that you’ve learned about each insurance company and the pricing that they offer you. Note: if two or more of the companies offer you pricing that is very close to the other, you may want to ask each about Car Insurance Discount and Incentive Plans that they may offer.
