How to Know You're Spending Too Much for Auto Insurance in Alvarado

Paying for high-priced auto insurance can overdraw your personal savings and put a big crunch on your finances. Comparison shopping is a great way to cut your insurance bill.

Insurance companies such as State Farm, Allstate, GEICO and Progressive all claim big savings with fancy advertisements and consumers find it hard to sift through the bull and do the work needed to find the best deal.

It's important to get comparison quotes on a regular basis since insurance rates are constantly changing. Just because you found the lowest rates a few years ago the chances are good that you can find a lower rate today. So just ignore everything you know about auto insurance because it's time to teach you the tricks you need to know to save on auto insurance.

Are you getting all your discounts?

Companies don't list all their discounts in a way that's easy to find, so we break down some of the best known and also the lesser-known discounts you could be receiving.

Life Insurance Discount - Companies who offer life insurance give better rates if you take out life insurance.
Sign Online - A few companies give back up to $50 for buying your policy digitally online.
Own a Home - Owning a house in Alvarado can save you money due to the fact that maintaining a home is proof that your finances are in order.
Drivers Ed for Students - Have your child complete a driver education course if it's offered in school.
Seat Belt Usage - Using a seat belt and requiring all passengers to buckle their seat belts could save 15% off the personal injury premium cost.
Payment Method - By paying your policy upfront instead of paying each month you could save 5% or more.

A little note about advertised discounts, some of the credits will not apply to all coverage premiums. Most only cut specific coverage prices like collision or personal injury protection. Just because you may think adding up those discounts means a free policy, you won't be that lucky.

To see a list of companies who offer auto insurance discounts in Alvarado, click here.

Which Auto Insurance is Cheapest in Alvarado, Minnesota?

Most companies provide insurance quotes on their websites. Getting online quotes doesn't take much effort as you just type in the coverages you want as detailed in the form. Once you submit the form, their system will obtain reports for credit and driving violations and generates pricing information based on these and other factors. Online quotes makes it a lot easier to compare rates but the time it takes to visit different websites and enter the same data into a form is monotonous and tiresome. But it's very important to have as many quotes as possible if you want to find the best price on auto insurance.

The preferred way to find lower prices requires only one form that obtains quotes from a bunch of companies at once. The form is fast, helps eliminate reptitive entry, and makes rate comparisons much more enjoyable and efficient. After sending the form, it gets priced and you can select your choice of the price quotes you receive. If you find a better price you simply finish the application and buy the policy. The whole process takes less than 15 minutes and you will find out if you're overpaying now.

To quickly find out if lower rates are available, click here to open in new window and submit your coverage information. To compare your current rates, we recommend you type in your coverages as close as possible to your current policy. This makes sure you will have a price comparison based on the exact same insurance coverage.

Understand what determines the rate you pay

An important part of buying insurance is that you know the factors that help determine auto insurance rates. Having a good understanding of what impacts premium levels helps enable you to make changes that may reward you with much lower annual insurance costs.

The following are a few of the "ingredients" that factor into rates.

Please use or commuting - Driving more miles in a year's time the more you will pay for auto insurance. The majority of insurers price each vehicle's coverage based upon how you use the vehicle. Cars used primarily for pleasure use qualify for better rates than vehicles that are driven to work every day. Double check that your auto insurance coverage is rated on the proper vehicle usage.
Being married is a good thing - Having a spouse can get you a discount on auto insurance. It usually means you are more responsible and statistics show married drivers get in fewer accidents.
Claim-free discounts can add up - Car insurance companies in Minnesota generally give cheaper rates to insureds who do not rely on their insurance for small claims. If you are a frequent claim filer, you can expect either a policy non-renewal or much higher rates. Your insurance policy is intended to be relied upon for the bigger claims that can't be paid out-of-pocket.
Don't cancel a policy without a new one in place - Allowing your auto insurance policy to lapse will be a quick way to increase your auto insurance rates. And not only will your rates increase, but being ticketed for driving with no insurance may earn you a license revocation or jail time.
Occupation reflects on rates - Did you know your auto insurance rates can be affected by your occupation? Jobs such as lawyers, social workers and dentists are shown to have the highest average rates due to high stress levels and long work days. Other occupations such as pilots, historians and performers pay the least.
Theft deterrents lower rates - Purchasing a vehicle with a theft deterrent system can help bring down rates. Theft prevention features like vehicle immobilizer systems, General Motors OnStar and LoJack tracking systems all aid in stopping auto theft.

How can GEICO, State Farm and Progressive save drivers who switch?

Auto insurance companies such as GEICO, State Farm and Progressive continually stream ads on television and other media. They all seem to have a common claim about savings after switching your policy. How can each company say the same thing? It's all in the numbers.

Insurance companies have a preferred profile for the right customer that is profitable for them. For example, a desirable insured might be profiled as over the age of 40, insures multiple vehicles, and has a short commute. A propective insured that hits that "sweet spot" will qualify for the lowest rates and as a result will probably save when they switch companies.

Drivers who are not a match for the requirements will have to pay higher premiums and this can result in business not being written. The ad wording is "customers who switch" not "everybody who quotes" save that kind of money. This is how companies can truthfully make the claims of big savings. Because of the profiling, drivers must compare many company's rates. It's not possible to predict which insurance companies will fit your personal profile best.

Shop smart and save

As you shop your coverage around, it's not a good idea to reduce coverage to reduce premium. In many instances, drivers have reduced uninsured motorist or liability limits only to regret that saving that couple of dollars actually costed them tens of thousands. The ultimate goal is to purchase a proper amount of coverage at the best price.

Cheaper auto insurance can be sourced on the web in addition to many Alvarado insurance agents, and you need to comparison shop both to have the best chance of lowering rates. Some insurance providers do not provide the ability to get a quote online and most of the time these regional insurance providers sell through independent agents.

For more Minnesota auto insurance information

Even more information can be found at the Minnesota Department of Commerce website. Minnesota drivers can file complaints about an insurance agent or broker, get help finding coverage, download brochures, and find a variety of consumer forms.