Free Guide to Cutting Costs on California Car Insurance Online

Did you fall for a flashy sales pitch and buy overpriced car insurance? Trust us when we tell you you're not alone.

Companies like State Farm, Allstate, GEICO and Progressive constantly bombard you with fancy advertisements and it is difficult to sift through the bull and effectively compare rates to find the best deal.

If you have car insurance now, you should be able to save some money using this strategy. Finding the best rates in California is easy if you know what you're doing. But Missouri car owners do need to know the way insurance companies compete online and take advantage of how the system works.

These discounts can lower your rates

Auto insurance companies don't always list all available discounts in a way that's easy to find, so here is a list some of the more common and also the lesser-known ways to save on car insurance.

Club Memberships - Belonging to a civic or occupational organization could trigger savings when buying car insurance.
Multiple Vehicles - Buying coverage for multiple vehicles on one policy can get a discount on all vehicles.
55 and Retired - Older drivers may be able to get better car insurance rates.
Service Members Pay Less - Having a family member in the military may qualify for rate reductions.
Discount for Good Grades - Getting good grades can get you a discount of up to 25%. The discount lasts well after school through age 25.
Auto/Life Discount - Select insurance companies reward you with better rates if you take out a life insurance policy as well.
Federal Government Employee - Simply working for the federal government can save as much as 8% depending on your company.
Auto/Home Discount - When you have multiple policies with one insurance company you may save up to 20% off your total premium.
No Accidents - Drivers with accident-free driving histories can earn big discounts when compared with frequent claim filers.
Passive Restraints - Vehicles equipped with air bags and/or automatic seat belt systems can qualify for discounts of more than 20%.

Drivers should understand that many deductions do not apply to all coverage premiums. Some only apply to specific coverage prices like physical damage coverage or medical payments. So even though it sounds like it's possible to get free car insurance, companies wouldn't make money that way.

For a list of insurers who offer car insurance discounts in California, click this link.

Comprehensive California Car Insurance Comparison

Most major insurance companies give prices online. The process is quite easy as you just enter the coverages you want as detailed in the form. Once entered, their rating system will obtain your driving and credit reports and returns pricing information based on many factors. Online quotes simplifies rate comparisons, but the time it takes to visit different websites and enter the same data into a form can be a bit repetitive. But it's very important to get many rate quotes in order to get better car insurance pricing.

The easy way to compare rates

A more efficient way to lower your rates utilizes a single form to get prices from several different companies. The form is fast, eliminates repetitive work, and makes online quotes much more efficient. After sending your information, your coverage is rated and you can select your choice of the quotes that you receive. If you find a better price you simply finish the application and buy the new coverage. This process only takes a few minutes 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 submit your coverage information. If you have a policy now, it's recommended you enter the limits and deductibles just like they are on your policy. This helps ensure you will have a price comparison based on identical coverages.

The best insurance company isn't always the cheapest

Budget-conscious car insurance can be bought from both online companies and also from your neighborhood California agents, and you need to price shop both to have the best rate selection. There are still a few companies who may not provide online quoting and usually these smaller companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.

When you buy insurance online, it's not a good idea to sacrifice coverage to reduce premiums. In too many instances, someone sacrificed liability limits or collision coverage only to find out that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. Your focus should be to get the best coverage possible at the best price while not skimping on critical coverages.

We just showed you many ideas to get a better price on car insurance. The most important thing to understand is the more rate comparisons you have, the better your comparison will be. Drivers may discover the best price on car insurance is with a small mutual company. These companies may only write in your state and offer lower rates than the large multi-state companies such as .