How to Know You're Wasting Money for Car Insurance in Annandale

Did you fall for a flashy sales pitch and buy high-priced car insurance? Trust us when we tell you many Annandale consumers feel financially strained by their car insurance policy.

Drivers have so many to pick from, and though it is a good thing to have a selection, too many choices makes it more difficult to compare rates.

It's important to compare prices at least once a year since rates are constantly changing. Just because you had the lowest price a couple years back the chances are good that you can find a lower rate today. Forget all the misinformation about car insurance because we're going to demonstrate the proper way to find the best coverage while lowering your premiums.

Finding the best rates in Annandale is not that difficult. If you currently have car insurance, you stand a good chance to be able to cut costs considerably using this strategy. Although Minnesota car owners do need to know how companies sell insurance online because it can help you find the best coverage.

These discounts can lower your rates

Companies that sell car insurance don't list all their discounts very clearly, so we researched some of the more common and the harder-to-find car insurance savings.

Discount for Life Insurance - Companies who offer life insurance give a discount if you purchase life insurance from them.
Defensive Driver - Taking a driver safety course could possibly earn you a 5% discount and easily recoup the cost of the course.
Discount for Good Grades - A discount for being a good student can save 20 to 25%. Earning this discount can benefit you until age 25.
Bundle and Save - When you combine your home and auto insurance with one insurance company you may save 10% to 20% off each policy.
Anti-theft System - Anti-theft and alarm systems prevent vehicle theft and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
Multi-car Discount - Buying coverage for more than one vehicle on the same car insurance policy qualifies for this discount.
Homeowners Discount - Owning a house in Annandale may trigger a car insurance policy discount because owning a home shows financial diligence.

A little note about advertised discounts, most credits do not apply the the whole policy. Most only cut the price of certain insurance coverages like collision or personal injury protection. Just because you may think you would end up receiving a 100% discount, you won't be that lucky.

To see a list of companies offering car insurance discounts in Minnesota, follow this link.

Compare the Market for Car Insurance in Annandale

Most companies like GEICO, State Farm and Progressive provide price estimates directly from their websites. Getting quotes is quite simple as you just type in the coverage amounts you desire as detailed in the form. Once you submit the form, their rating system will obtain reports for credit and driving violations and generates pricing information. This streamlines rate comparisons, but the time it takes to visit several different sites and type in the same information is not the best way to spend an afternoon. But it's very important to do this if you want to find better car insurance pricing.

The preferred way to find better car insurance pricing is to use a quote form that obtains quotes from a bunch of companies at once. The form is fast, helps eliminate reptitive entry, and makes online shopping much more enjoyable and efficient. Immediately after you send the form, it gets priced and you can choose any one of the price quotes you receive. If one or more price quotes are lower than your current rates, you simply finish the application and buy the new coverage. The whole process just takes a couple of minutes and you will find out if you're overpaying now.

To find out what other companies charge, click here to open in new window and input your coverage information. If you have coverage now, it's recommended you duplicate deductibles and limits as close as possible to your current policy. This makes sure you will be getting comparison quotes based on the exact same insurance coverage.

How to Lower your Car Insurance Rates

An important part of buying insurance is that you know some of the elements that go into determining your car insurance rates. Knowing what impacts premium levels empowers consumers to make smart changes that may reward you with better car insurance rates.

Listed below are a partial list of the pieces used by your company to calculate rates.

Lower miles equals lower premium - The more miles you rack up on your car in a year the more you will pay for car insurance. Almost all companies rate vehicles based upon how you use the vehicle. Vehicles that are left in the garage receive lower rates than vehicles that are driven to work every day. Verify your car insurance policy shows how each vehicle is driven, because improper ratings can cost you money.
Don't get talked into coverage you don't need - There are many extra coverages that you can buy on your policy. Coverages for rental car reimbursement, towing coverage and additional equipment coverage are examples of these. These may sound like a good investment when talking to your agent, but now you might not need them so eliminate them to save money.
Tickets mean higher rates - Your driving citation history has a lot to do with how much you pay for insurance. Drivers who don't get tickets tend to pay less for car insurance than bad drivers. Just one moving violation can bump up the cost forty percent or more. Drivers who have serious citations like DUI or reckless driving may need to submit a SR-22 form with their state motor vehicle department in order to continue driving.
Where you reside plays a part - Choosing to live in a small town can be a good thing when it comes to car insurance. City drivers have much more traffic and longer commute times. Lower population means a lower chance of having an accident as well as less vandalism and auto theft.
One company can mean more discounts - Most companies will give a discount to policyholders who consolidate policies with them in the form of a multi-policy discount. Even if you're getting this discount it's in your best interest to compare rates to verify if the discount is saving money. You may still be able to find a better deal by insuring with multiple companies.
Don't skimp on liability - Liability insurance provides coverage if ever you are found to be at fault for personal injury or accident damage. Liability provides legal defense up to the limits shown on your policy. This coverage is very inexpensive compared to physical damage coverage, so buy as much as you can afford.
Marriage brings a discount - Having a wife or husband can actually save you money when buying car insurance. It translates into being more responsible it has been statistically shown that being married results in fewer claims.

Are you falling for claims of savings?

Car insurance companies such as GEICO, State Farm and Progressive constantly bombard you with ads on television and other media. They all seem to say the same thing about savings if you switch your coverage to them. How does each company make the same claim? This is how they do it.

Different companies are able to cherry pick for the type of customer that is profitable for them. For instance, a desirable insured could be between 25 and 40, has no tickets, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. Any new insured who fits that profile will qualify for the lowest rates and as a result will probably save when switching.

Drivers who are not a match for these standards will have to pay higher premiums which usually ends up with business going elsewhere. The ad wording is "drivers who switch" not "everybody who quotes" save that much money. That's the way companies can truthfully advertise the way they do. Because of the profiling, drivers must get quotes from several different companies. It's just too difficult to predict which car insurance company will provide you with the cheapest rates.

Final considerations

As you go through the steps to switch your coverage, make sure you don't reduce coverage to reduce premium. In many instances, an insured dropped liability coverage limits only to discover later that the savings was not a smart move. The ultimate goal is to purchase a proper amount of coverage for the lowest price.

The cheapest car insurance is available from both online companies as well as from independent agents in Annandale, so you should compare both to have the best chance of lowering rates. Some car insurance companies don't offer the ability to get a quote online and most of the time these small, regional companies sell through independent agents.

You just learned a lot of information how to compare car insurance prices online. The key thing to remember is the more rate quotes you have, the higher the chance of saving money. You may be surprised to find that the most savings is with a smaller regional carrier. These smaller insurers may cover specific market segments cheaper than the large multi-state companies such as .

Even more information is located at the Minnesota Department of Commerce website. Consumers can file complaints about an insurance agent or broker, discover disciplinary actions, file complaints about a company, and view agent and company licensing information.

Additional helpful sites include Auto Insurance 101 and this page where you can research Annandale insurance agents.