Eight Ways To Get The Cheapest, Full Coverage Auto Insurance!
The cost of car insurance is inexorably rising and so there is a temptation to lower your levels of cover to the minimum, or increase your deductibles so that you pay less. This sounds good, but unfortunately, it does mean that you will no longer be properly protected should you have an accident, and hence is ultimately a flawed strategy. A better strategy is to seek out cheap, full coverage auto insurance that is able to provide you with the same levels of protection, but at a more affordable price.
It is a little known fact that with most auto insurance policies the companies selling those policies are actually keen to see their customers take out full coverage auto insurance because it means not only that they are maximising their premium take, but also that they are likely to keep those customers longer, because in the event of a claim the customer would most likely be thoroughly covered, and hence more satisfied when the claim is paid in full.
In practice it is often the case that people take out less comprehensive or basic auto insurance policies because it saves them money on their premiums, but then, when they come to claim they end up feeling annoyed with the insurance company when they find that they are not actually covered for the entire claim!
This has the effect of causing consternation and discord, and ultimately can lead not only to financial problems for the person, but that they leave the insurance company in disgust.
Had they of had a more comprehensive, full coverage auto insurance policy then all of this would have been avoided, because the claim would simply have been paid out.
The good news is that there are things that you can do to ensure that you get good quality comprehensive auto coverage without having to pay exorbitant amounts for the privilege.
Here Are Eight Proven Ways To Get The Cheapest Full Coverage Auto Insurance Possible!
1/ Make your insurance company aware of some of the safety and anti-theft gadgets on your car (especially if it is a newer car)
There are a number of discounts that companies will offer off of the price of your premiums if you alert them to the fact that you either have them, or your car has them.
These could include...
- Anti-Lock Brakes on your car
- Certain types of airbag designs
- Anti-Theft Device and Fitted Alarm Systems
- Certain Kinds of Anti-Theft Tires
- Anti-Theft Steering Wheels
- Keys that are micro-shipped so that they cannot be copied
2/ Double check with the insurance company if there are any models or makes of car that they give preferential rates to (this is especially useful to know if you are thinking about buying a new car...)
The fact is that the cost of auto insurance is very much statistics driven. The companies that offer cheap, full coverage auto insurance can only do so because they have crunched the numbers and found that it is still profitable. And a big part of that is assessing how a car behaves in a crash.
The safer the car, the less damage it causes either to the car itself, or the people in it, and correspondingly the less the insurance company has to pay out.
It is for these practical reasons that certain makes and models of car that the insurance companies know perform better are cheaper to insure.
And if you drive those cars then you will pay out less for comprehensive coverage.
3/ Swap in your older car and buy a new one!
In a similar vein to the last tip, if you drive a car that is old or has poor safety standards then your auto insurance is going to be more expensive to compensate.
If you have a choice, you could consider selling it and buying a car that has a better safety and security profile with the auto insurance companies.
It could save you money...
4/ Look into joining certain organisations in order to get a discount on the cost of your cover
When people join together then inevitably they have more bargaining power and can negotiate a better deal.
There are certain motoring organisations and groups that you can join which you can immediately get discounts on your policy, and get cheaper full coverage car insurance then you would otherwise be able to get on your own.
Look in forums and phone up some of these organisations to ascertain exactly what is available at this moment.
5/ Consider going back to driving school!
Several auto insurance companies offer discounts off of the price of their policies if you take certain advanced driving qualifications.
This may sound arduous, but in practice it can often amount to a weekend course that is quite fun to do in any case (and improves your driving); which then means that you are eligible for discounts off of the cost of your car insurance!
This is truly a win-win situation and so is well worth looking in to.
Ask at your local driving school what is on offer, and they will be only too happy to tell you when taking a certain course will lead to lower insurance premiums!
6/ If you are a student then study more and get better grades!
If you are a student then trying to find affordable full coverage auto insurance can seem like an uphill battle, because you don't have much of a driving record for the company to look at, and you may not have much choice in the car you drive.
One things that you do have control of however are the grades that you get, and some insurance companies will actually give a discount to students that get good grades.
The reason for this is because the statistics must show that students with better grades have fewer accidents and make less claims on their auto insurance.
But this does mean that if you get better grades, and point out the fact to your insurance company, that you could be in line for lower premiums. (I also go into more detail here about How To Get Cheap Car Insurance for Students)
7/ Drive Less
There are usually different mileage levels that are taken into account when calculating your insurance premiums.
Simply put, the less you drive the less your premiums will be.
The reasons for this are obvious. The less you are on the roads, the less chance there is of you having an accident.
It is a good idea to check how much mileage you actually do in your car, and then double check with the insurance company if there are any specific tipping points for mileage at which the premium would either increase or decrease.
If you discover that by doing just a few less miles each month that you could save on your premiums, then you might consider driving a little less, or car sharing with friends on the odd occasion to bring your mileage under that limit, and save money on your premiums and getting the cheapest full coverage auto insurance into the bargain!
8/ Clean Up Your Credit Record!
How good your credit record is can have a huge impact on the amount that you pay for auto insurance. In a recent report about Texas Auto Insurance for example it showed that for all age ranges between 25 and 65 the difference in costs (all other factors being equal) between a person who had a 'Good' credit rating, and one who had a 'Bad' credit rating was a whopping 46.35%!
Of all the factors that can make a big difference between paying for expensive comprehensive auto insurance or getting cheap, full coverage auto insurance at price that you can actually afford, this is the biggest.
It is the law in the United States that everyone can get their credit record from the big credit agencies such as Experian and Equifax, free of charge, once per year.
