Trying to find better insurance rates for your Volkswagen Passat? Expensive insurance can dwindle your personal savings and force you to make sacrifices. Comparison shopping is a smart way to reduce premiums and put more money in your pocket. Big-name insurance companies like Progressive, State Farm and Geico constantly bombard you with TV and radio ads and it is difficult to ignore the promise of big savings and do the work needed to find the best deal.
Smart consumers take time to get comparison quotes once or twice a year because rates are rarely the same from one policy term to another. Even if you think you had the best price on Passat insurance a few years ago you can probably find a better price now. There is a lot of bad advice regarding insurance on the internet, so I’m going to show you the easiest ways to find affordable insurance.
If you have a policy now or are shopping for new coverage, you can use this information to reduce the price you pay while maintaining coverages. Buying car insurance is quite easy. Drivers just need to learn how to compare prices on the web.
Consumers need to have an understanding of some of the elements that go into determining the rates you pay for auto insurance. Understanding what influences your rates helps enable you to make changes that will entitle you to better auto insurance rates.
Listed below are some of the factors that factor into prices.
The cost of insuring your cars can be expensive, buy you may qualify for discounts that can drop the cost substantially. Certain discounts will be applied when you quote, but some must be specifically requested prior to receiving the credit. If you’re not getting every credit you qualify for, you are throwing money away.
Drivers should understand that most discount credits are not given to the entire cost. Most only apply to individual premiums such as physical damage coverage or medical payments. So even though it sounds like you would end up receiving a 100% discount, you’re out of luck. Any amount of discount will reduce your overall premium however.
For a list of providers with discount insurance coverage rates, click here.
Consumers can’t get away from ads for the lowest price auto insurance by Geico, State Farm and Progressive. All the companies have a common claim that you can save after switching to their company.
But how can every company make the same claim? It’s all in the numbers.
All the different companies have a preferred profile for the type of driver that earns them a profit. For instance, a preferred risk might be between 30 and 50, owns a home, and has a short commute. Any new insured who fits that profile will get the preferred rates and is almost guaranteed to save when they switch companies.
Consumers who don’t measure up to the “perfect” profile will be quoted higher rates which usually ends up with the customer not buying. The ads say “drivers who switch” not “everybody who quotes” save that kind of money. That is how insurance companies can claim big savings.
This emphasizes why you should get as many comparisons as possible. It’s just too difficult to predict the company that will provide you with the cheapest Volkswagen Passat insurance rates.
When buying adequate coverage for your personal vehicles, there is no “best” method to buy coverage. Every situation is different so your insurance needs to address that. For example, these questions may help you determine if you would benefit from professional advice.
If it’s difficult to answer those questions but you know they apply to you, you may need to chat with an insurance agent. If you want to speak to an agent in your area, complete this form or go to this page to view a list of companies. It only takes a few minutes and may give you better protection.
Knowing the specifics of a insurance policy aids in choosing the right coverages and proper limits and deductibles. The terms used in a policy can be difficult to understand and reading a policy is terribly boring. Listed below are typical coverages available from insurance companies.
Comprehensive coverages
Comprehensive insurance will pay to fix damage from a wide range of events other than collision. You first have to pay a deductible and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive coverage protects against things like hitting a bird, damage from getting keyed and hail damage. The maximum amount you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible consider dropping full coverage.
Auto liability
Liability coverage can cover damages or injuries you inflict on a person or their property that is your fault. It protects YOU from legal claims by others, and doesn’t cover damage sustained by your vehicle in an accident.
Coverage consists of three different limits, per person bodily injury, per accident bodily injury, and a property damage limit. As an example, you may have policy limits of 25/50/25 which means $25,000 in coverage for each person’s injuries, a per accident bodily injury limit of $50,000, and a limit of $25,000 paid for damaged property. Some companies may use a combined limit which limits claims to one amount without having the split limit caps.
Liability insurance covers things such as emergency aid, loss of income and repair bills for other people’s vehicles. How much liability coverage do you need? That is up to you, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase as high a limit as you can afford.
Collision insurance
This coverage will pay to fix damage to your Passat from colliding with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. A deductible applies then your collision coverage will kick in.
Collision coverage pays for claims such as crashing into a building, colliding with another moving vehicle and colliding with a tree. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from older vehicles. Another option is to increase the deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.
Coverage for medical payments
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage reimburse you for short-term medical expenses for ambulance fees, rehabilitation expenses and EMT expenses. They are often used to fill the gap from your health insurance policy or if you are not covered by health insurance. Coverage applies to all vehicle occupants as well as being hit by a car walking across the street. Personal injury protection coverage is not available in all states and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay
Uninsured and underinsured coverage
Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage protects you and your vehicle when other motorists either are underinsured or have no liability coverage at all. This coverage pays for injuries to you and your family as well as your vehicle’s damage.
Since many drivers have only the minimum liability required by law, it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. That’s why carrying high Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage should not be overlooked. Usually your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages are identical to your policy’s liability coverage.
Cheap 2007 Volkswagen Passat insurance can be sourced both online in addition to many insurance agents, and you need to price shop both to have the best selection. There are still a few companies who do not provide online quoting and usually these smaller companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.
You just learned a lot of tips how to lower your insurance rates. The key thing to remember is the more price quotes you have, the better chance you’ll have of finding lower rates. Drivers may discover the biggest savings come from the smaller companies. Some small companies can often insure niche markets at a lower cost compared to the large companies like State Farm or Progressive.