Tightwads Guide to Saving on New Berlin Auto Insurance

No one in their right mind likes having to buy auto insurance, in particular when they are paying too much.

With so many auto insurance companies to choose from, it's nearly impossible to choose the lowest price insurance company.

It's important to compare prices periodically because prices are constantly changing. If you had the lowest price last year you may be paying too much now. You can find a lot of misleading information regarding auto insurance online, so I'm going to show you some great ways to slash your auto insurance rates.

New Berlin Auto Insurance Comparisons

There are several ways to shop for auto insurance, but one way is easier and takes less work. You could spend your day discussing policy coverages with agents in New Berlin, or you could save time and use the web to get the quickest rates.

All the larger companies belong to a marketplace that allows shoppers to submit their information once, and each company then returns a price quote based on the submitted data. This eliminates the need for quotation requests to each individual auto insurance company.

To submit your quote information now, click here (opens in new window).

The single downside to comparing rates this way is that you can't choose which companies you want to price. So if you prefer to choose specific providers for rate comparison, we have assembled a list of auto insurance companies in Wisconsin. View list of Wisconsin insurance companies.

It doesn't matter which method you choose, just be sure to compare apples-to-apples deductibles and coverage limits on every quote you get. If you enter different values for each quote it's impossible to determine which rate is truly the best in New Berlin. Just a small difference in limits can result in a big premium difference. Keep in mind that comparing a large number of companies provides better odds of finding better pricing.

How to Lower your Auto Insurance Rates

It's important that you understand some of the elements that come into play when calculating the price you pay for auto insurance. When you know what positively or negatively influences your rates empowers consumers to make smart changes that may reward you with lower auto insurance prices.

The list below includes a partial list of the pieces used by your company to calculate rates.

Rural vs Urban Areas - Living in a rural area can be a good thing when insuring your vehicles. City drivers have to deal with much more traffic and longer commute times. Less people living in that area means a lower chance of having an accident as well as less vandalism and auto theft.
Do you know you're credit rating? - Credit rating is a important factor in determining your rates. People with high credit scores tend to be more responsible than drivers who have lower ratings. If your credit history can use some improvement, you could be paying less to insure your by improving your rating.
Special features that cut premiums - Owning a car with an alarm system can help lower your rates. Anti-theft devices such as LoJack tracking devices, vehicle tamper alarm systems or GM's OnStar system can help prevent your car from being stolen.
Bundling policies can get discounts - The majority of companies will give a discount to customers who have multiple policies with them, otherwise known as a multi-policy discount. Even with this discount, you still need to shop around to verify if the discount is saving money.

Be sure to get all your discounts

Companies offering auto insurance don't always publicize all their discounts very well, so we researched both well-publicized as well as the least known auto insurance savings.

Bundle and Save - When you have multiple policies with one company you may earn up to 20% off your total premium.
Passive Restraint Discount - Factory air bags or motorized seat belts can receive discounts up to 30%.
Lower Rates for Military - Having a deployed family member can result in better rates.
Anti-theft Discount - Anti-theft and alarm systems are stolen less frequently and will save you 10% or more.
Club Memberships - Participating in a professional or civic organization could qualify you for a break on auto insurance.

It's important to note that most credits do not apply to the entire policy premium. Most only cut individual premiums such as collision or personal injury protection. So despite the fact that it appears you can get free auto insurance, you're out of luck.

For a list of companies with the best auto insurance discounts in Wisconsin, follow this link.

How do I know if I need professional advice?

When it comes to choosing the best auto insurance coverage for your vehicles, there really is no cookie cutter policy. Everyone's situation is a little different and a cookie cutter policy won't apply. For example, these questions may help highlight whether or not you could use an agent's help.

What are the best liability limits?
Should I drop comprehensive coverage on older vehicles?
Am I covered when pulling a rental trailer?
Do I need special endorsements for business use of my vehicle?
Are rental cars covered under my policy?
Am I covered if I wreck a rental car?

If you don't know the answers to these questions but you think they might apply to your situation then you might want to talk to an insurance agent. If you want to speak to an agent in your area, complete this form or you can go here for a list of companies in your area.

Additional detailed information is located at the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance website. Wisconsin consumers can view agent and company licensing information, find out industry alerts, view a list of available companies, and read consumer alerts.

Other useful links include Wikipedia and this New Berlin agent directory.

Final considerations

As you prepare to switch companies, do not reduce needed coverages to save money. In many instances, someone dropped collision coverage and learned later that the small savings ended up costing them much more. The ultimate goal is to purchase a proper amount of coverage at a price you can afford.

You just read a lot of tips how to lower your auto insurance rates. The key concept to understand is the more rate quotes you have, the better likelihood of reducing your rate. You may even discover the lowest premiums are with some of the lesser-known companies. Smaller companies often have lower prices on specific markets compared to the large companies like .