Just because you are satisfied with your current auto owners insurance policy does not mean that you will stick with it and never re-evaluate other options. The best time to review your policy is when the current one is about to expire or even at the start of the year. Marketing experts think that the greatest time to get your financial standing in order is when you are about to work your way through the tax season. There is a study that even if 43% of drivers compare quotes when shopping for car insurance, only 33% renew their existing ones even without making sure if it is still worth it. In some instances, failure to review might cause owners to be insufficiently covered when an accident occurs.
Here are the occasions when you need to study auto owners insurance and see whether it needs an upgrade:
- Your insurer increased prices. Sure, they will automatically adjust the costs, but it is always best to re-check your coverage and ascertain if you can still adjust it yourself. Of course, inquire why an increase took place and how your agent can help lower your costs as much as possible.
- There are new offers from your insurance company. Take advantage of new and beneficial services that might help get more coverage.
- Your lifestyle changed and it has affected your driving activities. For instance, buying a more expensive and high-end car. This will cause additional premiums because higher-end vehicles require a bigger rate to cover. Even just moving to a suburban community from the city will affect a policy.
- You moved out of a certain age bracket. You become less risky if you reach the age of 26.
- You added more vehicles in your household especially if the new addition is a specialized vehicle like an RV or something that you use commercially. You need to check though if your current insurer covers these specialty vehicles. Moreover, auto owners insurance providers offer multi-vehicle discounts most of the time so look out for that as well.
- High gas prices made you drive less. Remember that one of the factors to compute for insurance rate is your driving mileage per year. If this is significantly lowered, your auto owners insurance premium is potentially lowered too.
- You need to add another driver who handles your car.
Basically, if you know of a change that will greatly affect the amount you pay for insurance, it is always best to inform providers right away. You do not want to get caught in a middle of a claims case when you are potentially underinsured.
