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

Did you fall for a flashy sales pitch and buy high-priced car insurance? Trust us when we tell you many Brockport consumers feel financially strained by their car insurance policy. Insurance companies such as State Farm, Allstate, GEICO and Progressive continually bombard you with fancy advertisements and it is challenging if not impossible to sift through the bull and effectively compare rates to find the best deal.

It's important to take a look at other company's rates at least once a year due to the fact that insurance rates are constantly changing. Just because you had the best rates a few years ago the chances are good that you can find a lower rate today. There is a lot of bad advice regarding car insurance online but I'm going to show you some great ways to save money.

Take advantage of discounts

Companies offering auto insurance don't always list all their discounts in a way that's easy to find, so the following is a list of both the well known and the harder-to-find savings tricks you should be using. If you aren't receiving every discount possible, you're paying more than you need to.

  • Life Insurance - Companies who offer life insurance give better rates if you take out a life insurance policy as well.
  • Defensive Driver - Completing a defensive driving course could possibly earn you a 5% discount and easily recoup the cost of the course.
  • Passive Restraints and Air Bags - Factory air bags and/or automatic seat belt systems can qualify for discounts of 20% or more.
  • Payment Discounts - If you pay your entire premium ahead of time instead of paying each month you may reduce your total bill.
  • College Student - Kids in college living away from home attending college and do not have a car may qualify for this discount.
  • Save with a New Car - Buying coverage on a new vehicle can be considerably cheaper since new cars are generally safer.

A little note about advertised discounts, most discounts 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 can get free auto insurance, you won't be that lucky.

To see a list of companies offering car insurance discounts in Brockport, click here to view.

New York car insurance quotes

How to Compare Brockport Car Insurance Costs

Finding cheaper car insurance prices can be quick and easy. Just take a couple of minutes comparing rate quotes provided by online insurance companies. It is quite easy and can be accomplished in just a few minutes using one of these methods.

  • The best way to get quotes for comparison is to use a rate comparison form click here to open form in new window. This easy form prevents you from having to do repetitive form entry for every car insurance company. Completing one form will return quotes direct from many companies.
  • A slightly less efficient method to compare rate quotes is to take the time to go to the website for each individual company to complete their respective quote request forms. For sake of this example, we'll pretend you want to compare rates from , and . To get rate quotes you would need to spend time on each company's site and enter your information, and that's why the first method is more popular.

    To view a list of companies in Brockport, click here.

It's your choice how you get your quotes, but compare exactly the same coverages and limits on every quote you get. If you enter different deductibles it will be very difficult to determine which rate is truly the best in Brockport.

Brockport Rates are Influenced by These Factors

An important part of buying insurance is that you know the different types of things that go into determining the rates you pay for car insurance. Having a good understanding of what impacts premium levels enables informed choices that may reward you with lower car insurance prices.

  • 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. Most insurance companies charge to insure your cars based upon how you use the vehicle. Cars and trucks left parked in the garage get more affordable rates than those used for commuting. Make sure your car insurance policy is rated on how each vehicle is driven.
  • Don't get talked into coverage you don't need - There are many extra coverages that you can buy when buying car insurance. Insurance for roadside assistance, towing coverage and term life insurance may be costing you every month. These may sound like a good investment when talking to your agent, but if they're wasting money eliminate the coverages to reduce your premium.
  • Credit scores impact car insurance rates - Credit score is a huge factor in calculating your car insurance rates. So if your credit score is lower than you'd like, you could pay less to insure your by improving your credit score. Drivers who have high credit ratings tend to be better drivers and file fewer claims than drivers who have poor credit.
  • Lower rates with optional equipment - Choosing a vehicle with anti-theft technology or alarm system can help bring down rates. Anti-theft features like tamper alarm systems, vehicle immobilizer technology and General Motors OnStar can thwart car theft.
  • Mature drivers pay less - Older insureds are viewed as being more responsible, tend to file fewer claims and receive fewer citations. Youthful drivers are statistically proven to be more careless when behind the wheel and because of this, their car insurance rates are much higher.
  • Pay less after the wedding - Getting married can actually save you money on your policy. It means you're more responsible it has been statistically shown that being married results in fewer claims.
  • Are you male or female? - Statistics demonstrate women are more cautious behind the wheel. That doesn't necessarily mean that men are worse drivers. Women and men tend to get into accidents at a similar rate, but the males cause more damage. They also receive more costly citations like DUI and reckless driving. Youthful male drivers tend to get in the most accidents and therefore have the most expensive car insurance rates.

Are car insurance companies telling the truth?

Consumers in New York can't get away from ads that promise big savings by GEICO, State Farm and Progressive. They all seem to make an identical promise about savings if you switch to their company.

How can each company claim to save you money? This is how they do it.

All companies are able to cherry pick for the driver that is profitable for them. A good example of a desirable insured might be between 30 and 50, has no tickets, and has a short commute. Any driver who meets those qualifications will qualify for the lowest rates and most likely will save when they switch companies.

Drivers who don't qualify for the requirements will have to pay a higher premium and ends up with the customer not buying. The ad wording is "drivers who switch" not "people who quote" save that much. That's the way companies can truthfully make the claims of big savings. Because of the profiling, drivers must get as many quotes as possible. You cannot predict which car insurance company will fit your personal profile best.

In the end, you save

As you shop your coverage around, it's not a good idea to reduce coverage to reduce premium. In many instances, an insured dropped collision coverage and discovered at claim time that saving that couple of dollars actually costed them tens of thousands. The ultimate goal is to purchase a proper amount of coverage for the lowest price.

Cheaper car insurance is available both online and also from your neighborhood Brockport agents, so compare prices from both to have the best selection. Some insurance providers may not provide the ability to get a quote online and most of the time these small insurance companies sell through independent agents.

We just presented many tips how you can 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 best prices are with a smaller regional carrier. These smaller insurers may cover specific market segments cheaper than their larger competitors like .

car insurance in Brockport

Even more information can be read at the New York Department of Financial Services website. Visitors are able to file complaints about an insurance agent or broker, discover disciplinary actions, find out industry alerts, and view a list of available companies.