How to Know You're Throwing Money Away for Car Insurance in Jamesport

Are you tired of being strong-armed each month for car insurance? Your situation is no different than many other Missouri drivers. Drivers have so many to buy insurance from, and although it's nice to be able to choose, too many choices makes it more difficult to compare rates.

It's important to compare prices before your policy renews since rates are constantly changing. Just because you had the lowest price a few years ago you can probably find a better price now. Forget anything you know (or think you know) about car insurance because we're going to demonstrate the proper way to get good coverage at a lower rate.

The purpose of this article is to let you in on the best way to quote coverages. If you currently have car insurance, you will be able to cut costs considerably using these methods. Missouri drivers only need an understanding of the most effective way to get comparison rates online.

How to Lower your Car Insurance Rates

Consumers need to have an understanding of the factors that go into determining your car insurance rates. Knowing what determines base rates 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.

Are you male or female? - The statistics show that women are safer drivers than men. That doesn't necessarily mean that women are BETTER drivers than men. Men and women tend to get into accidents in similar numbers, but the males cause more damage. They also get more serious tickets such as reckless driving. Male drivers age 16 to 19 are most likely to cause an accident and are penalized with high car insurance rates.
You might want pay the small claims yourself - If you tend to file frequent claims, you can definitely plan on either higher rates or even cancellation. Car insurance companies in Missouri generally give lower rates to policyholders who do not file claims often. Car insurance is meant to be used in the event of major claims that would cause financial hardship.
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 have lower premiums than bad drivers. Even a single citation can bump up the cost by twenty percent. Drivers who have serious citations like DUI or reckless driving may need to file a SR-22 with their state motor vehicle department in order to continue driving.
With age comes lower rates - Young drivers in Missouri are statistically proven to be more careless in a vehicle so they pay higher car insurance rates. Mature drivers are viewed as being more responsible, tend to cause fewer accidents and receive fewer citations.
Consolidate policies to earn discounts - Most insurance companies will give a discount to policyholders who carry more than one policy in the form of a multi-policy discount. If you currently are using one company, you still need to comparison shop to verify if the discount is saving money. You may still be able to find better rates by buying car insurance from a different company.
Bump up deductibles to save - Coverage for physical damage, termed comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy, is used to repair damage to your car. A few examples of covered claims are a windshield shattered by a rock, collision with an animal, and windstorm damage. The deductibles are how much you are willing to pay if you file a covered claim. The more you have to pay, the less your company will charge you for insurance.
Do you know you're credit rating? - Credit score is a important factor in your rate calculation. So if your credit rating is lower than you'd like, you could save money insuring your by spending a little time repairing your credit. People with high credit scores tend to be more responsible than drivers with poor credit.
Car features impact rates - Driving a car with an alarm system can get you a discount on your car insurance. Anti-theft features like LoJack tracking devices, vehicle tamper alarm systems or GM's OnStar system all hinder auto theft.

Save big with these discounts

The cost of insuring your cars can be expensive, but discounts can save money and there are some available that you may not even be aware of. Larger premium reductions will be automatically applied when you complete an application, but less common discounts must be manually applied before they will apply. If you're not getting every credit available, you are paying more than you should be.

55 and Retired - If you're over the age of 55, you may qualify for a small decrease in premiums.
Employee of Federal Government - Employees or retirees of the government can earn a discount up to 10% with select insurance companies.
Good Students Pay Less - This discount can save 20 to 25%. Earning this discount can benefit you until age 25.
College Student - Youth drivers who are attending college and do not have a car may qualify for this discount.
Anti-theft System - Vehicles with anti-theft systems prevent vehicle theft and will save you 10% or more.
Homeowners Pay Less - Owning a house in Jamesport can save you money because owning a home shows financial diligence.
Passive Restraint Discount - Factory air bags may earn rate discounts of up to 25% or more.

It's important to understand that some credits don't apply to the entire cost. Some only reduce individual premiums such as liability, collision or medical payments. So despite the fact that it appears you would end up receiving a 100% discount, it doesn't quite work that way. Any qualifying discounts will bring down your overall premium however.

To choose companies offering car insurance discounts in Missouri, click here.

Car insurance ads bend the truth

Consumers can't ignore all the ads for the lowest price auto insurance from the likes of Progressive, GEICO, Allstate and State Farm. They all seem to have a common claim of big savings if you switch your coverage to them.

How does each company make the same claim?

Different companies can use profiling for the type of customer that makes them money. For instance, a desirable insured could be a mature driver, is a homeowner, and drives less than 7,500 miles a year. Any new insured that hits that "sweet spot" will get very good rates and most likely will save when switching.

Consumers who fall outside these standards will have to pay higher rates and this can result in business going elsewhere. The ads say "customers that switch" not "people who quote" save that much money. That's why insurance companies can confidently advertise the way they do.

Because of the profiling, you should get a wide range of price quotes. It's just too difficult to predict the company that will provide you with the cheapest rates.

Additional car insurance information is located on the website for the Missouri Department of Insurance located here. Consumers can learn about insurance regulations, download brochures, file complaints about a company, and read enforcement actions against agents and companies.

In the end, you save

When shopping online for car insurance, it's very important that you do not buy poor coverage just to save money. There are many occasions where an accident victim reduced liability coverage limits only to discover later that a couple dollars of savings turned into a financial nightmare. Your aim should be to find the BEST coverage at a price you can afford.

You just learned a lot of ways to save on car insurance. The key thing to remember is the more times you quote, the better likelihood of reducing your rate. Consumers may even find the best price on car insurance is with a small local company. Some small companies can often provide lower rates in certain areas than their larger competitors like .