Tightwads Guide to Saving on Jamesville Car Insurance

Sick and tired of trying to scrape together enough money each month for car insurance? You're in the same situation as many other New York drivers. Because there are so many choices of insurance companies, it is hard for the average consumer to pick the lowest price insurance company.

The purpose of this post is to instruct you on the most effective way to quote insurance and some tips to save money. If you are paying for car insurance now, you should be able to reduce your rates substantially using this strategy. New York vehicle owners just need to know how to shop for car insurance online.

These discounts can lower your rates

Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, but discounts can save money and there are some available to help offset the cost. Most are applied at the time of quoting, but some may not be applied and must be asked for before you will receive the discount. If you don't get every credit available, you're paying more than you need to.

Fewer Miles Equal More Savings - Keeping the miles down could qualify for better rates on cars that stay parked.
Driver's Ed - Have your child enroll in driver's education in high school.
Lower Rates for Military - Having a family member in the military can result in better rates.
Braking Control Discount - Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles prevent accidents and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
Good Students Pay Less - A discount for being a good student can be rewarded with saving of up to 25%. The good student discount can last up to age 25.
More Vehicles More Savings - Buying coverage for multiple cars or trucks on the same car insurance policy could earn a price break for each car.
Auto/Life Discount - Select insurance companies reward you with a break if you buy auto and life insurance together.
Paperless Signup - A handful of insurance companies will give a small break for buying a policy and signing up online.
Pay Upfront and Save - If paying your policy premium upfront instead of paying each month you could save up to 5%.

Consumers should know that many deductions do not apply to the entire cost. The majority will only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as liability and collision coverage. So when it seems like having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, companies don't profit that way. But all discounts will help reduce the cost of coverage.

To see a list of insurers with the best car insurance discounts in New York, click this link.

Fast and Easy Jamesville Car Insurance Quotes

Most companies give price estimates on the web. The process is quite simple as you just enter the amount of coverage you want as detailed in the form. Once you submit the form, their rating system will obtain information on your driving record and credit history and provides a quote based on these and other factors. This streamlines rate comparisons, but the work required to visit each company's website and repetitively complete many quote forms is monotonous and tiresome. But it's very important to have as many quotes as possible in order to get better car insurance pricing.

The preferred way to find cheaper rates utilizes a single form that gets prices from a bunch of companies at once. The form is fast, requires much less work on your part, and makes rate comparisons much easier. After sending your information, your coverage is rated and you are able to buy any or none of the price quotes you receive.

If the quotes result in lower rates, you can simply submit the application and purchase the new policy. This process can be completed in a matter of minutes and may result in a nice savings.

If you want to find out what other companies charge, click here to open in new window and begin entering your coverage information. If you have your current policy handy, we recommend you copy the limits and deductibles identical to your current policy. This makes sure you will have 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 the rating factors that come into play when calculating your car insurance rates. When you know what positively or negatively controls the rates you pay empowers consumers to make smart changes that could result in big savings.

The list below includes some of the items used by your company to calculate premiums.

Better crash test results mean better rates - Vehicles with good safety scores tend to have better insurance rates. Safe vehicles protect occupants better and fewer injuries translates into fewer and smaller insurance claims passed on to you as lower rates.
More claims means more premium - If you are a frequent claim filer, you can definitely plan on higher rates. Auto insurance companies in New York give discounts to people who do not file claims often. Insurance coverage is meant to be used in the event of major claims that would cause financial hardship.
Save money with special equipment - Driving a car that has an advanced theft prevention system can help lower your rates. Anti-theft devices such as LoJack tracking devices, vehicle tamper alarm systems or GM's OnStar system all hinder your vehicle from being stolen.
Do you know you're credit rating? - A driver's credit rating is a large factor in your rate calculation. People with excellent credit tend to be more responsible as compared to drivers with lower credit ratings. If your credit rating can use some improvement, you could pay less to insure your by improving your rating.
How's your driving record? - Whether or not you get tickets has a big impact on rates. Drivers who don't get tickets receive lower rates than people who have multiple driving citations. Only having one ticket can bump up the cost by twenty percent. Drivers with severe tickets such as DUI or reckless driving are required to submit a SR-22 form with their state motor vehicle department in order to drive a vehicle legally.
Low deductibles can be expensive - Physical damage deductibles represent how much money you are required to spend out-of-pocket in the event of a claim. Insurance for physical damage to your car, termed comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy, insures against damage to your car. A few examples of covered claims are colliding with a building, vandalism, and windstorm damage. The more expense you have to pay, the less your company will charge you for insurance.
More miles equals more premium - The more you drive every year the more you'll pay to insure your vehicle. Almost all companies rate vehicles based on how the vehicle is used. Autos not used for work or commuting get more affordable rates than vehicles that are driven to work every day. Ask your agent if your car insurance policy properly reflects the correct driver usage.

Are you falling for claims of savings?

Consumers can't get away from ads for the lowest price auto insurance from the likes of 21st Century, Allstate and State Farm. All the companies make the same claim that you'll save big if you move your coverage to them.

But how can every company make the same claim?

All the different companies can use profiling for the type of customer that is profitable for them. A good example of a profitable customer could be over the age of 40, has no tickets, and has great credit. A customer who matches those parameters gets the lowest rates and as a result will probably save a lot of money.

Potential insureds who are not a match for this ideal profile must pay more money which leads to business going elsewhere. Company advertisements say "people who switch" not "everybody who quotes" save that much money. That's why companies can advertise the savings.

This illustrates why drivers must get a wide range of price quotes. Because you never know the company that will give you the biggest savings.

And the best car insurance company is...

Discount car insurance is possible from both online companies as well as from independent agents in Jamesville, and you need to comparison shop both to have the best chance of lowering rates. There are still a few companies who don't offer the ability to get a quote online and usually these small insurance companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.

As you prepare to switch companies, do not reduce coverage to reduce premium. There are a lot of situations where an insured dropped collision coverage and discovered at claim time that the small savings ended up costing them much more. The proper strategy is to buy the best coverage you can find at an affordable rate while not skimping on critical coverages.

More New York car insurance information

Much more information about car insurance in New York can be read on the website for the New York Department of Financial Services through this link. Consumers can find disaster information, download brochures, view a list of available companies, and find out industry alerts.

Additional helpful sites include this page for car insurance prices in New York and this page of Jamesville insurance agents.