Feel like you’re a prisoner to an underperforming, overpriced auto insurance policy? Trust us when we tell you there are many people just like you. Insurance companies such as Geico and Progressive all claim big savings with ad campaigns and consumers find it hard to not get sucked in by the cute commercials and find the best price available.
Consumers need to price shop coverage at least once a year since rates are variable and change quite frequently. Despite the fact that you may have had the lowest price for Passat insurance a couple years back other companies may now be cheaper. There is too much inaccurate information about auto insurance on the internet, so I’m going to show you a bunch of ideas how to reduce your auto insurance bill.
Most major insurance companies allow you to get prices online. Getting online quotes is fairly straightforward as you simply enter the coverages you want as detailed in the form. Behind the scenes, the company’s rating system pulls your credit score and driving record and generates a price determined by many factors. Online quotes helps simplify price comparisons, but the time required to go to different websites and enter the same data into a form can be a bit repetitive. But it’s absolutely necessary to get many rate quotes in order to get the lowest possible prices on insurance.
The preferred way to lower your insurance bill is to use a quote form to obtain quotes from more than one company. The form is fast, eliminates repetitive work, and makes price shopping online much simpler. After your information is entered, your coverage is rated and you are able to buy any of the returned quotes. If you find a better price you can simply submit the application and purchase coverage. It takes 15 minutes at the most and you will know how your current rates stack up.
If you want to find out what other companies charge, click here to open in new window and begin entering your coverage information. If you have a policy now, it’s recommended you complete the form with your coverages exactly as shown on your declarations page. This guarantees you will get a price comparison for similar coverage.
Consumers can’t ignore all the ads for the lowest price auto insurance by 21st Century, Allstate and State Farm. They all have a common claim that you can save after switching to their company.
How does each 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 makes them money. A good example of a profitable customer could be between the ages of 30 and 50, a clean driving record, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. A driver that hits that “sweet spot” receives the best rates and most likely will save quite a bit of money when switching.
Potential customers who fall outside this ideal profile must pay a more expensive rate which usually ends up with the customer not buying. The ads say “drivers who switch” not “everybody who quotes” save money. This is how companies can state the savings. This illustrates why you should get a wide range of price quotes. Because you never know which company will provide you with the cheapest Volkswagen Passat insurance rates.
It’s important that you understand some of the elements that go into determining the rates you pay for insurance coverage. When you know what positively or negatively controls the rates you pay allows you to make educated decisions that could result in much lower annual insurance costs.
Listed below are a few of the “ingredients” companies use to determine premiums.
Companies that sell car insurance don’t always advertise all available discounts in a way that’s easy to find, so we took the time to find both the well known as well as the least known savings tricks you should be using. If you aren’t receiving every discount possible, you are throwing money away.
Keep in mind that some of the credits will not apply to all coverage premiums. A few only apply to the price of certain insurance coverages like liability, collision or medical payments. Even though it may seem like you would end up receiving a 100% discount, it doesn’t quite work that way.
A partial list of companies who might offer these money-saving discounts may include but are not limited to:
Double check with every prospective company which discounts they offer. Savings may not be available in your state.
When it comes to buying coverage for your vehicles, there isn’t really a perfect coverage plan. Every situation is different so this has to be addressed. These are some specific questions might point out if you will benefit from professional help.
If you don’t know the answers to these questions, then you may want to think about talking to a licensed insurance agent. To find an agent in your area, simply complete this short form or you can go here for a list of companies in your area. It’s fast, free and may give you better protection.
Knowing the specifics of a car insurance policy aids in choosing which coverages you need at the best deductibles and correct limits. Policy terminology can be impossible to understand and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording. Shown next are typical coverages available from car insurance companies.
This coverage will cover damage that occurs to other people or property in an accident. This coverage protects you against claims from other people. It does not cover your own vehicle damage or injuries.
It consists of three limits, bodily injury for each person injured, bodily injury for the entire accident and a property damage limit. Your policy might show values of 25/50/25 which means $25,000 bodily injury coverage, a total of $50,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and $25,000 of coverage for damaged propery.
Liability coverage pays for things like emergency aid, structural damage and pain and suffering. How much liability should you purchase? That is a personal decision, but you should buy as much as you can afford.
This pays for damage to your Passat resulting from a collision with another car or object. A deductible applies then the remaining damage will be paid by your insurance company.
Collision can pay for things such as damaging your car on a curb, hitting a parking meter, crashing into a ditch and rolling your car. This coverage can be expensive, so you might think about dropping it from vehicles that are 8 years or older. It’s also possible to increase the deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.
Comprehensive insurance coverage will pay to fix damage that is not covered by collision coverage. You first have to pay a deductible and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive coverage protects against things such as a broken windshield, fire damage, hitting a deer, a tree branch falling on your vehicle and rock chips in glass. The highest amount your car 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.
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage pay for short-term medical expenses for things like ambulance fees, rehabilitation expenses, nursing services and surgery. The coverages can be utilized in addition to your health insurance policy or if you lack health insurance entirely. Medical payments and PIP cover you and your occupants and will also cover being hit by a car walking across the street. Personal Injury Protection is not available in all states but can be used in place of medical payments coverage
Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage gives you protection when the “other guys” do not carry enough liability coverage. It can pay for hospital bills for your injuries as well as damage to your Volkswagen Passat.
Due to the fact that many drivers only purchase the least amount of liability that is required, their limits can quickly be used up. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is very important.
While you’re price shopping online, you should never buy less coverage just to save a little money. There have been many situations where an insured cut uninsured motorist or liability limits only to regret that it was a big mistake. The aim is to buy enough coverage for the lowest price while not skimping on critical coverages.
The cheapest 2008 Volkswagen Passat insurance can be purchased from both online companies as well as from independent agents, and you need to comparison shop both to have the best rate selection. Some auto insurance companies don’t offer online price quotes and usually these smaller companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.
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