Consumer Tested Strategies to Save on Fridley Car Insurance

Expensive car insurance can take a big chunk out of your bank account, especially in this economy. Comparison shopping is a great way to lower your monthly bill.

Having so many companies and agents to choose from, it's difficult to pick the right insurer.

More discounts equal less premium

Car insurance companies do not list all available discounts very well, so we took the time to find both the well known and also the lesser-known discounts you could be receiving.

  • Multi-car Discount - Having more than one vehicle on the same car insurance policy can get a discount on all vehicles.
  • Auto/Home Discount - When you combine your home and auto insurance with the same insurance company you could get a discount of approximately 10% to 15%.
  • Early Signing - Some companies give discounts for buying a policy before your current expiration date. This can save 10% or more.
  • Good Student Discount - A discount for being a good student can be rewarded with saving of up to 25%. This discount can apply until age 25.
  • Senior Citizens - Mature drivers may qualify for a discount up to 10%.
  • No Claims - Drivers who don't have accidents can save substantially when compared with bad drivers.

As a disclaimer on discounts, some of the credits will not apply to your bottom line cost. Most only apply to specific coverage prices like physical damage coverage or medical payments. So even though they make it sound like having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, car insurance companies aren't that generous.

To see a list of insurers offering car insurance discounts in Minnesota, click here.

How to Get Cheap Car Insurance in Fridley, MN

Most companies provide insurance quotes on the web. Obtaining pricing doesn't take much effort as you just enter your required coverages into the quote form. Once you submit the form, the system will obtain your credit score and driving record and returns a price quote based on many factors. This makes it a lot easier to compare rates but the process of having to visit multiple sites and complete many quote forms can get tiresome after awhile. Unfortunately, it is important to compare as many rates as possible if you want to find a lower rate.

Quote rates the easy way

The preferred way to compare car insurance pricing makes use of a single form to get prices from more than one company. It's a real time-saver, reduces the work, and makes price shopping online much more enjoyable. As soon as the form is sent, it gets priced and you can choose any or none of the price quotes you receive. If you find a better price you can click and sign and buy the policy. The whole process takes 15 minutes at the most and you'll know if lower rates are available.

In order to find out how much you're overpaying now, click here and enter your information. If you currently have coverage, we recommend you copy your coverages identical to your current policy. This makes sure you will get a rate 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 go into determining the rates you pay for car insurance. When you know what positively or negatively impacts premium levels helps enable you to make changes that could result in big savings.

  • Higher deductibles cost less - The deductibles represent how much money you are willing to pay in the event of a claim. Coverage for physical damage, commonly called comprehensive (or other-than-collision) and collision coverage, is used to repair damage to your car. Some examples of claims that would be covered would be colliding with a building, collision with an animal, or theft. The higher the amount the insured has to pay upfront, the bigger discount you will receive.
  • Big city or small town - Residing in less populated areas is a positive aspect when talking about car insurance. Urban drivers have more traffic problems and a longer drive to work. Fewer people means reduced accidents.
  • What type of vehicle do you drive? - The performance of the car you are insuring makes a huge difference in your rates. The lowest base rates are generally reserved for lower performance four cylinder passenger cars, but the cost you end up paying is determined by many additional factors.
  • Bad driving skills means higher rates - Drivers with clean records get better rates than bad drivers. Even a single moving violation may increase your cost by as much as thirty percent. Drivers with serious tickets like hit and run, DWI or reckless driving convictions are required to file a proof of financial responsibility form (SR-22) to the state department of motor vehicles in order to continue driving.
  • Are you male or female? - Statistics have proven women tend to be less risk to insure than men. That doesn't necessarily mean that men are WORSE drivers than women. They both cause accidents in similar percentages, but the male of the species cause more damage. Men also tend to get more serious tickets like DUI and reckless driving. Youthful male drivers are the most expensive to insure and therefore have the most expensive car insurance rates.

It's not one size fits all

When choosing the right insurance coverage for your personal vehicles, there really is no perfect coverage plan. Every situation is different and your policy should reflect that. Here are some questions about coverages that can help discover if you will benefit from professional help.

  • Am I covered when driving on a suspended license?
  • What are the best liability limits?
  • Does my car insurance cover rental cars?
  • Do I need to file an SR-22 for a DUI in Minnesota?
  • Should I put collision coverage on all my vehicles?
  • Are there companies who specialize in insuring high-risk drivers?
  • Is my vehicle covered for flood damage?

If you can't answer these questions but you know they apply to you then you might want to talk to a licensed agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, fill out this quick form or go to this page to view a list of companies.

Switch companies and save? Really?

Allstate, GEICO and Progressive constantly bombard you with ads in print and on television. All the companies have a common claim about savings if you switch your policy. But how can every company claim to save you money? It's all in the numbers.

All the different companies have a preferred profile for the right customer that is profitable for them. For example, a profitable customer might be between the ages of 40 and 55, has no prior claims, and chooses high deductibles. Any driver that hits that "sweet spot" is entitled to the best price and therefore will save a lot of money.

Consumers who do not match this ideal profile must pay higher prices and this can result in the customer not buying. The ads state "customers who switch" not "everyone that quotes" save that kind of money. This is how companies can truthfully state the savings. This illustrates why drivers must compare as many rates as you can. You cannot predict which insurance companies will give you the biggest savings.

Do the work, save more money

Cheap car insurance is available both online in addition to many Fridley insurance agents, so you should be comparing quotes from both in order to have the best price selection to choose from. Some insurance companies do not provide the ability to get a quote online and usually these regional insurance providers provide coverage only through local independent agents.

When buying insurance coverage, don't be tempted to reduce coverage to reduce premium. In too many instances, consumers will sacrifice physical damage coverage only to regret at claim time that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. Your focus should be to buy a smart amount of coverage at the best price while not skimping on critical coverages.

We just presented a lot of techniques to compare car insurance prices online. The key thing to remember is the more rate comparisons you have, the better chance you'll have of finding lower rates. Drivers may discover the lowest priced car insurance comes from some of the smallest insurance companies. These smaller insurers may have significantly lower rates on certain market segments as compared to the big name companies such as .

Minnesota car insurance quotes

Learn more about car insurance in Minnesota

Even more information can be found at the Minnesota Department of Commerce website. Visitors are able to report car insurance fraud, view agent and company licensing information, learn about specific coverages, and file complaints about a company.

Additional helpful sites include this page for Minnesota car insurance and this page for help finding agents in Fridley, MN.