New and Old Ways to Save Money on Car Insurance
Imagine the next time you join a discussion about car insurance. When you start sharing the fascinating car insurance facts below, your friends will be absolutely amazed.
Car insurance is a necessary evil; we are required by law to have it, yet we hardly ever use it. Like all other bills, I have researched ways to save money on car insurance that actually work. Some of these options are well known and some are new. To be thorough, I have included the old and the new ways to save money on car insurance.
1. Multiple line discount - Insure all cars and homes with the same insurance company to receive a discount
2. Update agent if recently laid off or work from home - Driving less miles per week, usually less than 100 per week can reduce your policy rate.
3. Raise your deductible - Raising you deductible can save you hundreds of dollars every year, but make sure you have money saved to cover the higher deductible if needed.
4. Shop around -- When your premium goes up, let your agent know you are looking, chances are they will find some other discounts.
5. Update agent if you are a parent under the age of 25 -- You might receive the same rate reduction given at the age of 25. However, you will not receive another deduction once you turn 25.
6. Full coverage or liability - Determine if full coverage is still needed by checking the blue book value of your car at Kelley Blue Book. If the value of your car is worth more than the cost to repair it, keep full coverage, if not, drop down to liability.
7. Get insurance quotes before you buy a vehicle and choose vehicle color - The type, model and color will affect you premium. If you don't want your premium to increase stay away from red sports cars. Also popular foreign models such as Toyota and Honda might have high premiums because they are stolen regularly.
8. Don't buy short-term policies - There might be a penalty, so buy long-term.
If you base what you do on inaccurate information, you might be unpleasantly surprised by the consequences. Make sure you get the whole car insurance story from informed sources.
9. Never let your insurance policy lapse - It might be difficult to obtain insurance again because the insurance agents see you as irresponsible or high-risk and your insurance may be more expensive than it was before to renew.
10. Don't insure vehicles you don't drive - Take the old Chevy that you have been working on for months off your policy. However, some states require that you have any registered vehicle insured, so if you drop insurance you may want to register the vehicle as "inoperable" to avoid any complications or penalties.
11. Refresh your driving skills - Confirm that the money you save when your premium is lowered outweighs the cost of the training courses.
12. Don't hit anybody or get a ticket - Your fault or not, this can increase your policy rate for several years. Keep your eyes on the road. Avoid tickets. Speeding tickets and other moving violations can push your rates up substantially and these, like accidents, usually affect your insurance for 3-5 years.
13. Don't insure teenager driver with your car - Premiums for a teenager driver is through the roof. Instead, purchase a safe, used car and only purchase liability. You will save hundreds of dollars.
14. Keep your credit score high. Some insurance companies will charge people with low credit scores a higher premium because they are expected to file more insurance claims.
My favorite way to save money on car insurance is ...
15. Pay semi-annually - instead of paying your car insurance monthly, pay semi-annually. The 1st payment is the hardest because you will have to pay the full amount to cover the first six months; think ahead and start saving for this switch. Once you have paid your 1st six month deductible, automatically transfer the monthly premium payment into a high yield savings account to earn interest until payment is due. By doing this not only are you saving money by avoiding the monthly surcharge fee you are also making money off of interest.
Out of the 15 options listed above, I hope at least one of them will help you save money on your car insurance.
If you are a saver and are looking for deeper, pragmatic ways to save money, visit http://www.watchmesavemoney.com Here you will find money saving tips on how to reduce your grocery shopping bills and monthly bills. You can also read about time savers and budgeting tips.
As your knowledge about car insurance continues to grow, you will begin to see how car insurance fits into the overall scheme of things. Knowing how something relates to the rest of the world is important too.