It is a well known fact that the car insurance rates in District of Columbia are one of the highest in the United States. Hence, saving as much as possible on car insurance becomes quite significant. Insurance companies offer insurance rate quotes based on their assessment on the personal risk about the person applying for car insurance. As such, you should know a few tips for saving on car insurance and they are presented here in a brief fashion for your benefit.
Extensive Research
On the surface, many auto insurance companies would appear to be offering you high quotes. However, if you are patient enough, search extensively and do not hesitate to research thoroughly to compare prices, you would definitely be able to find an auto insurance company that gives you a much better car insurance rate. Remember that a few hours of your time in research could save you hundreds of dollars every year.
Driving History and Traffic Violations
All the insurance companies would study your past driving history from 3 to 5 years and go through your accident records, as well as your traffic violations. Reckless driving, speeding, and negligent driving would work against you. Drunk driving conviction would be viewed quite seriously. If you have a good driving record, you need not bother too much. On the other hand, if there are significant negative points in your driving history, you might need to accept higher car insurance rates for now and improve on your record over the next one year. Once you had obtained a better driving record, you would be able to talk to your insurance company for better terms when your car insurance comes up for renewal.
Further, you might have been involved in accidents in the past but you might not be the person at fault in those accidents or at least in some of them. Normally, you would have proof for such incidents that you are not at fault. Submit them to the insurance company to show that you are quite a responsible driver. Even if you do not have proof, prepare a detailed written document explaining your position and attach the same to your application. The insurance company would appreciate your approach and would be fair in the quote for your car insurance.
Opting for Higher Deductibles
You could offer to pay a higher deductible to obtain lower monthly payment amounts. Remember that you pay the deductible only when you make a claim. The amount that you save in monthly premiums might actually compensate or even exceed the deductible.
Vehicle and Vehicle Equipments
Insurance companies decide on car insurance quotes depending on the make and model of your car. If you have a relatively cheaper model, they would lower the rates since the maintenance costs and replace value of the car if it is totaled in an accident would be substantially lower. On the other hand, if you possess a very high value car, these costs and values would be high and the car insurance costs would also be hiked up by the insurance company. Similarly, the amount of safety and security devices installed in the vehicle would also be taken into consideration by the insurance companies when they inspect the car before offering a quote. The more such devices that you have, the lesser the car insurance quote offered by the insurance company.
