7 Ways You Can Buy Car Insurance for Less in Pleasant Hill Missouri
Did you fall for a flashy sales pitch and buy an overpriced car insurance policy? Believe me, many Pleasant Hill consumers feel financially strained by their car insurance policy.
Insurance companies such as GEICO and Progressive persitently shower you with TV and radio ads and it is difficult to sift through the bull and effectively compare rates to find the best deal.
It's important to price shop coverage at least once a year since rates are constantly changing. Just because you found the best deal a couple years back a different company probably has better rates today. Starting now, block out anything you think you know about car insurance because we're going to show you the proper way to lower your annual insurance bill.
Be sure to get all your discounts
Companies that sell car insurance don't always publicize all their discounts in a way that's easy to find, so here is a list some of the more common and the harder-to-find ways to save on car insurance.
- Auto/Life Discount - Companies who offer life insurance give better rates if you take out a life insurance policy as well.
- Drive Less and Save - Fewer annual miles can qualify you for better rates on cars that stay parked.
- Homeowners Discount - Owning a house in Pleasant Hill may earn you a small savings due to the fact that maintaining a home requires personal responsibility.
- Federal Government Employee - Active or retired federal employment can save as much as 8% with select insurance companies.
- Anti-theft Discount - Vehicles equipped with anti-theft or alarm systems help deter theft and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
- Drivers Ed for Students - Make teen driver coverage more affordable by requiring them to complete a driver education course if it's offered in school.
- No Claims - Drivers with accident-free driving histories can earn big discounts as compared to drivers who are more careless.
A little note about advertised discounts, many deductions do not apply the the whole policy. Some only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like collision or personal injury protection. So even though they make it sound like you can get free auto insurance, you won't be that lucky.
Is there truth in advertising?
Car insurance companies such as GEICO, State Farm and Progressive continually stream television and radio advertisements. They all seem to make the same claim about savings after switching your policy. How can each company make the same claim? This is how they do it.
All companies are able to cherry pick for the right customer that earns them a profit. An example of a desirable insured could be over the age of 50, has no tickets, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. Any new insured who matches those parameters will get very good rates and is almost guaranteed to save when they switch companies.
Potential customers who don't measure up to the requirements will have to pay a more expensive rate which leads to business going elsewhere. The ads say "drivers who switch" but not "drivers who get quotes" save that kind of money. That's the way companies can truthfully advertise the way they do. Because of the profiling, drivers should get quotes from several different companies. It's just too difficult to predict which car insurance company will provide you with the cheapest rates.
Even more information is available at the Missouri Department of Insurance website. Consumers can file complaints about an insurance agent or broker, discover disciplinary actions, report car insurance fraud, and download brochures.
Shop smart and save
As you go through the steps to switch your coverage, it's a bad idea to skimp on coverage in order to save money. In many instances, an insured dropped liability limits or collision coverage only to find out that the savings was not a smart move. The ultimate goal is to find the BEST coverage for the lowest price.
Cheaper car insurance can be sourced from both online companies in addition to many Pleasant Hill insurance agents, and you should be comparing both to have the best rate selection. Some car insurance companies do not provide you the ability to get quotes online and most of the time these smaller companies sell through independent agents.
