If shopping for insurance online is new to you, you may be overwhelmed because of the huge number of online companies selling insurance.
Pricing the lowest cost auto insurance is easy if you know what you’re doing. In a nutshell, anyone who shops for auto insurance stands a good chance to be able to reduce their rates. But drivers can benefit from knowing the way companies price insurance differently and take advantage of how the system works.
An important part of buying insurance is that you know the factors that help determine your insurance coverage rates. When you know what positively or negatively impacts premium levels enables informed choices that will entitle you to much lower annual insurance costs.
The price of auto insurance can be rather high, but you can get discounts that can drop the cost substantially. A few discounts will automatically apply at the time you complete a quote, but some must be asked for prior to getting the savings.
It’s important to understand that some of the credits will not apply to your bottom line cost. Some only reduce specific coverage prices like comprehensive or collision. So despite the fact that it appears you can get free auto insurance, you won’t be that lucky. Any amount of discount will bring down the cost of coverage.
Car insurance companies who might offer some of the above discounts include:
Double check with each company what discounts are available to you. All car insurance discounts may not be available everywhere.
State Farm, Geico and Progressive consistently run ads on television and other media. All the companies have a common claim of big savings if you change your coverage to them. How do they all say the same thing?
All companies have a preferred profile for the right customer they prefer to insure. For example, a desirable insured might be a mature driver, is a homeowner, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. A customer who matches those parameters gets the lowest rates and as a result will probably save a lot of money.
Potential customers who don’t measure up to this ideal profile will be quoted a higher premium and this can result in business going elsewhere. Company advertisements say “customers that switch” not “everybody who quotes” save that much. This is how companies can truthfully make the claims of big savings.
This emphasizes why you absolutely need to get as many comparisons as possible. Because you never know which insurance companies will give you the biggest savings on Pontiac Firebird insurance.
When choosing proper insurance coverage for your personal vehicles, there is no perfect coverage plan. Everyone’s situation is unique.
For example, these questions may help highlight if your insurance needs would benefit from professional advice.
If you don’t know the answers to these questions but you know they apply to you then you might want to talk to a licensed insurance agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, take a second and complete this form.
Knowing the specifics of a auto insurance policy helps when choosing appropriate coverage at the best deductibles and correct limits. The terms used in a policy can be impossible to understand and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording.
Comprehensive auto insurance
This covers damage OTHER than collision with another vehicle or object. You need to pay your deductible first and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive coverage pays for things such as hail damage, a tree branch falling on your vehicle, rock chips in glass and vandalism. The maximum payout your auto insurance company will pay is the ACV or actual cash value, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value it’s not worth carrying full coverage.
Liability car insurance
This provides protection from injuries or damage you cause to other’s property or people by causing an accident. It protects you against other people’s claims, and does not provide coverage for your injuries or vehicle damage.
Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. Your policy might show liability limits of 50/100/50 that translate to a $50,000 limit per person for injuries, a limit of $100,000 in injury protection per accident, and a total limit of $50,000 for damage to vehicles and property. Alternatively, you may have a combined single limit or CSL which combines the three limits into one amount and claims can be made without the split limit restrictions.
Liability coverage pays for claims such as loss of income, structural damage and repair costs for stationary objects. The amount of liability coverage you purchase is your choice, but you should buy higher limits if possible.
Coverage for uninsured or underinsured drivers
Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage protects you and your vehicle when the “other guys” are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. Covered losses include hospital bills for your injuries and damage to your Pontiac Firebird.
Since a lot of drivers have only the minimum liability required by law, their limits can quickly be used up. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is very important. Usually your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages are similar to your liability insurance amounts.
Coverage for medical expenses
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage provide coverage for short-term medical expenses such as EMT expenses, ambulance fees, X-ray expenses and hospital visits. They are used to cover expenses not covered by your health insurance policy or if you are not covered by health insurance. It covers all vehicle occupants in addition to being hit by a car walking across the street. PIP is not available in all states but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage
Collision coverage protection
Collision coverage will pay to fix damage to your Firebird resulting from a collision with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. A deductible applies then your collision coverage will kick in.
Collision insurance covers things such as crashing into a building, crashing into a ditch, colliding with another moving vehicle and backing into a parked car. This coverage can be expensive, so consider removing coverage from lower value vehicles. You can also increase the deductible to save money on collision insurance.
People change insurance companies for a number of reasons such as policy non-renewal, policy cancellation, denial of a claim or even high prices. It doesn’t matter why you want to switch finding a new car insurance company is pretty simple and you could end up saving a buck or two.
As you shop your coverage around, you should never buy less coverage just to save a little money. In too many instances, an accident victim reduced uninsured motorist or liability limits and found out when filing a claim that a couple dollars of savings turned into a financial nightmare. Your aim should be to buy a smart amount of coverage at an affordable rate while still protecting your assets.
Affordable 1997 Pontiac Firebird insurance is available online as well as from independent agents, and you need to price shop both to get a complete price analysis. Some car insurance companies don’t offer online price quotes and these smaller companies work with independent agents.
For more information, take a look at the resources below: