Auto insurance is a complicated process. A layman would be staggered by the types of coverages available, the various limits for the coverages, the associated premium burden, the assessment of actual risk in driving around, and the process of making claims after an auto accident. The premium cost of the insurance policy and the deductibles agreed by you would be the main consideration in the decision about the selection of optimum auto insurance coverage that should be purchased by you. When you had to take adequate coverage, these costs could be substantial and become a burden on your financial position and monthly earnings. Hence, looking for obtaining some amount of discounts would be a great help in reducing the financial burden on the monthly budget. There are several ways to get discounts from auto insurance companies. A few of them are presented here.
Selecting Single Insurance Company
Along with your auto insurance, you would also be purchasing life policy, home policy, and health insurance. If you purchase all these insurance policies from a single insurance company, you are likely to obtain discounts up to 15% on such policies in the premium amounts. Further, making claims for various incidents to a single insurance company is much easier than contact several companies for various claims.
Opting for higher Deductibles
When you are involved in an accident, you would be required to pay an amount as deductible to enable the insurance company to accept your claim and release the amount. The deductible would vary between $100 and $1,000, though certain insurance companies accept deductibles as high as $1,500, if the policy limits are large. The higher deductible you agree to pay, the lower the premium that the insurance company would offer you. If you do not get involved in any accident, then the savings by way of lower premiums would be substantial. Even if you meet with an auto accident, the total amount accrued from lower premiums could be equal to or even exceed the deductible.
Safety and Security Discounts
When you apply for auto insurance policy, the insurance company would inspect your vehicle before fixing the monthly premium amount. If you had installed safety devices like seat belts, air bags, children safety devices, etc., along with security devices like burglar alarms, anti-theft devices, etc., then the insurance company would automatically offer you discounts up to 10%.
Model and Mileage Discounts
If your car is new or a high-end model, the insurance premiums would naturally be high. Older vehicles and low-end models would fetch you lower premiums. Similarly, if you could convince the insurance company that you would be doing only limited driving, the insurance company would understand that the repair costs on the vehicle would be much lower. This would also help in getting discounts on the insurance premium.
Other factors that could assist you in obtaining discounts are good driving records, higher credit ratings, etc. You should be diligent enough to present all your positive factors to the insurance company and get maximum possible discount on your auto insurance premium. You would be surprised that you could save hundreds of dollars in this process.
