How to Know You're Spending Too Much for Auto Insurance in Petersburg

Expensive auto insurance can empty your checking account and make it hard to pay other bills. Shopping your coverage around is a smart way to make sure you're not throwing money away.

Because you have many companies and agents to choose from, it can be challenging to find the best provider.

It's important to compare prices on a regular basis since insurance rates are constantly changing. Even if you got the best deal a year ago there is a good chance you can find better rates now. So ignore everything you know about auto insurance because it's time to teach you the proper way to find lower rates on auto insurance.

How to Lower your Auto Insurance Rates

Consumers need to have an understanding of some of the elements that go into determining auto insurance rates. 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 more you drive the more you pay - The more miles you rack up on your car in a year's time the more you will pay for auto insurance. Almost all companies price each vehicle's coverage based on their usage. Vehicles left parked in the garage can get a lower rate as compared to vehicles used primarily for driving to work. Make sure your auto insurance policy properly reflects how each vehicle is driven, because it can save money.
Battle of the sexes - Statistics have proven women tend to be less risk to insure than men. That doesn't necessarily mean that women are BETTER drivers than men. Women and men cause accidents at about the same rate, but the males cause more damage. They also get cited for more serious violations like reckless driving and DUI. Young males are several times more likely to be in an accident and are penalized with high auto insurance rates.
Do you know you're credit rating? - Credit score is a large factor in determining what you pay for auto insurance. Therefore, if your credit is lower than you'd like, you could save money insuring your by improving your rating. People with excellent credit tend to be more responsible than those with poor credit.
How many coverages with the same company - Most companies will give a discount to people who buy several policies from them, otherwise known as a multi-policy discount. Even with this discount, you may still want to comparison shop to verify if the discount is saving money.
Equipment add-ons that lower auto insurance rates - Purchasing a vehicle that has an advanced theft prevention system can help lower your rates. Anti-theft features such as LoJack tracking devices, vehicle tamper alarm systems or GM's OnStar system all aid in stopping your car from being stolen.
Liability insurance protects assets - Liability insurance is the protection if ever a jury decides you are liable for personal injury or accident damage. Liability insurance provides legal defense coverage starting from day one. This coverage is very inexpensive compared to physical damage coverage, so buy as much as you can afford.

How to Lower Your Auto Insurance Cost in Petersburg, Illinois

All major auto insurance companies allow you to get price estimates online. Getting online quotes is quite simple as you just type in the coverages you want into the quote form. After the form is submitted, their system will obtain your driving and credit reports and quotes a price. This streamlines rate comparisons, but having to visit many different websites and fill out multiple forms can get tiresome after awhile. Unfortunately, it is important to perform this step in order to find a lower rate.

There is a better way!

The preferred way to find lower prices requires only one form that obtains quotes from several different companies. It's a real time-saver, eliminates repetitive work, and makes price shopping online a lot less work. After your information is entered, it is rated and you can choose any or none of the resulting price quotes.

If the quotes result in lower rates, it's easy to complete the application and buy the policy. The entire process only takes a few minutes and could lower your rates considerably.

To quickly find out how much you're overpaying now, click here and begin entering your coverage information. If you have a policy now, it's recommended you input deductibles and limits exactly as shown on your declarations page. This makes sure you will get rate quotes for the exact same coverage.

More discounts equal less premium

The price of auto insurance can be rather high, but discounts can save money and there are some available that many people don't even know exist. Certain discounts will be triggered automatically at the time you complete a quote, but some must be specifically requested prior to getting the savings.

Discount for Life Insurance - Some companies give a break if you buy a life insurance policy as well.
Accident Waiver - Some insurance companies permit an accident before hitting you with a surcharge as long as you don't have any claims prior to the accident.
Anti-lock Brake Discount - Vehicles equipped with ABS or steering control are safer to drive and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
Anti-theft Discount - Anti-theft and alarm systems are stolen less frequently and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
Payment Discounts - If you pay your bill all at once instead of making monthly payments you could save up to 5%.

It's important to note that most credits do not apply to all coverage premiums. Most cut the cost of specific coverages such as collision or personal injury protection. So even though they make it sound like all the discounts add up to a free policy, you're out of luck. But any discount will help reduce your premiums.

To choose companies offering auto insurance discounts in Illinois, follow this link.

Switch companies and save? Really?

Auto insurance companies such as GEICO, State Farm and Progressive constantly bombard you with ads in print and on television. They all seem to say the same thing that you can save if you switch your coverage to them. But how can every company say the same thing?

All companies have a preferred profile for the type of customer that makes them money. An example of a desirable insured might be profiled as between the ages of 40 and 55, insures multiple vehicles, and has excellent credit. A propective insured who fits that profile gets the lowest rates and therefore will save a lot of money.

Potential customers who do not match this ideal profile will have to pay a more expensive rate which usually ends up with business not being written. The ads say "people who switch" not "everyone that quotes" save that much money. This is how insurance companies can make those claims.

Because of the profiling, you need to get as many quotes as possible. It's not possible to predict which insurance companies will have the lowest rates.

More information is available on the website for the Illinois Department of Insurance through this link. Illinois drivers can file complaints about an insurance agent or broker, learn about insurance regulations, find out industry alerts, and read consumer alerts.

Other informative sites include Wikipedia and this page where you can research Petersburg insurance agents.

Final considerations

While you're price shopping online, do not reduce coverage to reduce premium. In many instances, drivers have reduced liability limits or collision coverage only to find out they didn't purchase enough coverage. The ultimate goal is to purchase plenty of coverage at an affordable rate.

Lower-priced auto insurance can be found on the web as well as from independent agents in Petersburg, so you should be comparing quotes from both to have the best rate selection. Some companies don't offer online price quotes and most of the time these smaller companies sell through independent agents.