Tightwads Guide to Saving on Joplin Auto Insurance

Have you had enough of being strong-armed each month for car insurance? You're in the same situation as many other Missouri consumers. Because you have many choices of insurance companies, it can be challenging to locate the most affordable insurance company.

It's important to shop coverage around once or twice a year since insurance rates are constantly changing. Even if you got the best price last year a different company probably has better rates today. Block out anything you think you know about auto insurance because you're about to learn the tricks you need to know to lower your rates without sacrificing coverage.

These discounts can lower your rates

The cost of insuring your cars can be expensive, buy you may qualify for discounts to reduce the price significantly. Certain discounts will be applied at the time you complete a quote, but a few need to be asked for prior to getting the savings. If you don't get every credit available, you are throwing money away.

  • Senior Discount - If you qualify as a senior citizen, you may be able to get a small decrease in premiums.
  • Payment Method - If you pay your entire premium ahead of time instead of monthly or quarterly installments you could save up to 5%.
  • Bundle and Save - If you have multiple policies with one insurance company you will save approximately 10% to 15%.
  • Passive Restraint Discount - Factory air bags can receive discounts of 20% or more.
  • Driver's Ed - Make teen driver coverage more affordable by requiring them to complete a driver education course if it's offered in school.
  • Driver Safety - Taking part in a course teaching defensive driving skills could save 5% or more if you qualify.

A little note about advertised discounts, most discount credits are not given to the entire cost. Some only reduce individual premiums such as liability, collision or medical payments. So when the math indicates having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, you won't be that lucky. Any amount of discount will help reduce the cost of coverage.

Joplin auto insurance comparison

Tips to Get Lower Joplin Rates

Smart consumers have a good feel for the different types of things that help determine auto insurance rates. When you know what positively or negatively impacts premium levels empowers consumers to make smart changes that may reward you with big savings.

The following are a few of the "ingredients" used by your company to calculate rates.

  • Do men or women drive better? - The statistics show women tend to be less risk to insure than men. However, this does not mean women are BETTER drivers than men. They both are in accidents in similar percentages, but the males have costlier accidents. They also receive more costly citations like reckless driving and DUI. Youthful male drivers are most likely to cause an accident and therefore are the most expensive to insure.
  • Equipment add-ons that lower auto insurance rates - Driving a car with an alarm system can help lower your rates. Theft prevention features like LoJack tracking devices, vehicle tamper alarm systems or GM's OnStar system all hinder car theft.
  • Where you live can impact rates - Being located in less populated areas can be a good thing when buying auto insurance. Drivers who live in large cities tend to have much more traffic and longer commute times. Less people living in that area means a lower chance of having an accident.
  • High credit ratings translate to low rates - Credit history is a important factor in your rate calculation. If your credit is not that good, you could potentially save money when insuring your by improving your rating. People with high credit scores tend to be more responsible than drivers who have lower credit scores.
  • Extra add-on coverages are wasting money - There are a ton of extra bells and whistles that you can buy if you aren't careful. Things like rental car reimbursement, towing coverage and additional equipment coverage may be costing you every month. These may sound like a good investment when you first buy your policy, but now you might not need them so remove them from your policy.
  • Safer cars are cheaper to insure - Vehicles with good safety scores can get you lower premiums. These vehicles protect occupants better and better occupant protection translates into fewer and smaller insurance claims passed on to you as lower rates.
  • Do you have a high stress job? - Did you know your auto insurance rates can be affected by your occupation? Jobs such as lawyers, business owners and stock brokers have the highest rates because of high stress levels and lots of time spent at work. On the other hand, occupations such as farmers, students and performers get better rates.

Are you falling for claims of savings?

Missouri drivers get pounded daily by advertisements for the lowest price auto insurance from the likes of Progressive, GEICO, Allstate and State Farm. They all seem to make an identical promise about savings after switching your coverage to them.

But how can every company say the same thing?

All the different companies can use profiling for the type of customer that earns them a profit. For example, a desirable insured might be profiled as between the ages of 30 and 50, has no tickets, and has great credit. A propective insured who meets those qualifications will get very good rates and as a result will probably save a lot of money.

Potential customers who are not a match for this ideal profile will have to pay a more expensive rate and ends up with business not being written. The ads say "customers that switch" not "everybody who quotes" save that much money. That's why companies can truthfully advertise the savings.

Because of the profiling, drivers should get a wide range of price quotes. It's not possible to predict the company that will give you the biggest savings.

More Missouri auto insurance information

Additional information can be found on the website for the Missouri Department of Insurance located here. Missouri drivers can learn about insurance regulations, view a list of available companies, view agent and company licensing information, and find out industry alerts.

Also read more on this Car Insurance FAQ and this page of insurance agents in Joplin.

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And the best car insurance company is...

As you prepare to switch companies, don't be tempted to skimp on coverage in order to save money. There are many occasions where an insured dropped physical damage coverage only to regret at claim time that the small savings ended up costing them much more. Your aim should be to find the BEST coverage at a price you can afford.

In this article, we covered some good ideas how you can reduce auto insurance prices online. The most important thing to understand is the more times you quote, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. Consumers may even find the lowest rates come from the least-expected company. Regional companies may cover specific market segments cheaper than the large multi-state companies such as .