Did you fall for a flashy sales pitch and buy an overpriced insurance coverage policy? Believe me, many consumers feel financially strained by their insurance coverage policy.
Because you have many online and local companies to choose from, it can be hard to locate the best provider.
You should make it a habit to compare rates yearly since insurance rates tend to go up over time. Even if you got the lowest price for Fusion insurance a few years ago you may be paying too much now. Ignore everything you know about insurance coverage because you’re about to learn one of the easiest ways to eliminate unnecessary coverages and save money.
Effectively comparing auto insurance prices can be a lot of work if you aren’t aware of the easiest way. You can waste a lot of time talking to insurance agencies in your area, or you could save time and use online quoting to quickly compare rates.
The majority of car insurance companies belong to an insurance system that enables customers to enter their policy data once, and at least one company provides a quote. This prevents consumers from doing quotation requests for each company you want a rate for. To participate in this free quote system, click here to open in new window.
One minor caviat to comparing rates this way is that consumers can’t choose the companies to get quotes from. So if you want to choose individual companies to receive pricing from, we have a page of the cheapest auto insurance companies in your area. View list of insurance companies.
It’s up to you which method you use, but compare apples-to-apples deductibles and coverage limits on every quote you get. If each company quotes higher or lower deductibles you will not be able to make an equal comparison. Slightly different coverage limits can mean a large discrepancy in price. Keep in mind that quoting more provides better odds of finding better pricing.
Companies do not advertise all their discounts very clearly, so we took the time to find both the well known and the harder-to-find discounts you could be receiving.
It’s important to note that most discount credits are not given to the entire policy premium. Most cut the cost of specific coverages such as physical damage coverage or medical payments. Just because it seems like having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, companies wouldn’t make money that way.
To see a list of providers offering insurance discounts, follow this link.
When it comes to choosing the best car insurance coverage, there is no cookie cutter policy. Every insured’s situation is different so your insurance needs to address that. For instance, these questions can aid in determining if your insurance needs might need an agent’s assistance.
If you don’t know the answers to these questions, then you may want to think about talking to an agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, fill out this quick form or click here for a list of car insurance companies in your area.
Having a good grasp of your policy helps when choosing appropriate coverage and the correct deductibles and limits. The terms used in a policy can be confusing and coverage can change by endorsement. Listed below are typical coverage types found on the average auto insurance policy.
UM/UIM Coverage
Your UM/UIM coverage protects you and your vehicle from other motorists when they either have no liability insurance or not enough. It can pay for injuries sustained by your vehicle’s occupants and also any damage incurred to your Ford Fusion.
Since many drivers have only the minimum liability required by law, it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. For this reason, having high UM/UIM coverages is very important.
Liability insurance
Liability coverage provides protection from damages or injuries you inflict on other’s property or people that is your fault. This insurance protects YOU against other people’s claims. Liability doesn’t cover damage to your own property or vehicle.
Coverage consists of three different limits, bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. You might see policy limits of 50/100/50 which stand for a limit of $50,000 per injured person, a limit of $100,000 in injury protection per accident, and a limit of $50,000 paid for damaged property.
Liability coverage protects against things such as legal defense fees, funeral expenses and bail bonds. How much coverage you buy is a decision to put some thought into, but buy as large an amount as possible.
Comprehensive or Other Than Collision
Comprehensive insurance pays for damage from a wide range of events other than collision. You first must pay your deductible and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive can pay for things such as damage from getting keyed, theft, fire damage and damage from flooding. The maximum payout your auto insurance company will pay is the actual cash value, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value it’s not worth carrying full coverage.
Medical costs insurance
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage kick in for immediate expenses for things like EMT expenses, nursing services and surgery. They are often used in conjunction with a health insurance program or if you lack health insurance entirely. Medical payments and PIP cover not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants and will also cover being hit by a car walking across the street. PIP coverage is not universally available and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay
Collision insurance
This coverage will pay to fix damage to your Fusion resulting from colliding with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. You will need to pay your deductible and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.
Collision coverage pays for things such as hitting a parking meter, crashing into a ditch and backing into a parked car. This coverage can be expensive, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from lower value vehicles. Another option is to bump up the deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.