Consumer Tested Strategies to Save on Prescott Auto Insurance

Did you fall for a flashy sales pitch and buy an underperforming, overpriced auto insurance policy? Believe me when I say you are not the only one feeling buyer's remorse. Drivers have so many to buy insurance from, and although it's a good thing to be able to choose, too many choices makes it more difficult to compare rates.

How to Lower your Auto Insurance Rates

Consumers need to have an understanding of some of the elements that go into determining the price you pay for auto insurance. Knowing what impacts premium levels empowers consumers to make smart changes that could result in big savings.

Listed below are a few of the "ingredients" used by your company to calculate premiums.

Drive a safer car and pay less - Vehicles with good safety scores are cheaper to insure. Safe vehicles protect occupants better and lower injury rates means lower claim amounts and thus lower rates.
Do you know your deductibles? - Your deductibles represent how much money you are willing to pay if you file a covered claim. Coverage for physical damage, otherwise known as comp (or other than collision) and collision, is used to repair damage to your car. A few examples of covered claims could be colliding with a building, collision with an animal, and burglary. The higher the amount you have to pay, the less your auto insurance will be.
Discounts for multiple policies - Most companies will award you with lower prices to customers who consolidate policies with them in the form of a multi-policy discount. Even if you're getting this discount you still need to comparison shop to verify if the discount is saving money. You may still be able to find a better deal by insuring with multiple companies.
Battle of the sexes - Statistics demonstrate that women are safer drivers than men. That doesn't necessarily mean that women are BETTER drivers than men. They both are in accidents in similar percentages, but the male of the species cause more damage. Men also tend to get cited for more serious violations such as DWI and reckless driving. Youthful male drivers are most likely to cause an accident and are penalized with high auto insurance rates.
Proper usage rating affects rates - The more miles you rack up on your car in a year the more you'll pay to insure your vehicle. Almost all companies apply a rate based upon how you use the vehicle. Vehicles not used for work or commuting qualify for better rates than vehicles that are driven to work every day. Ask your agent if your auto insurance policy shows how each vehicle is driven.
Where you live can impact rates - Choosing to live in less populated areas is a positive aspect when insuring your vehicles. City drivers regularly have more traffic problems and a longer drive to work. Less people living in that area means a lower chance of having an accident.

How to Compare Auto Insurance Quotes in Prescott, Wisconsin

All major auto insurance companies like 21st Century, Allstate and State Farm provide price estimates on the web. Getting online rates is quite simple as you just enter the coverages you want as detailed in the form. After the form is submitted, the company's rating system will obtain your driving record and credit report and gives you a price quote based on these factors. Being able to quote online streamlines rate comparisons, but the process of having to visit different websites and enter the same data into a form is repetitive and time-consuming. But it's very important to perform this step if you want to find the best price on auto insurance.

The preferred way to lower your rates uses one simple form that gets prices from many companies. The form is fast, requires less work, and makes quoting online much easier to do. After sending the form, it gets priced and you can choose any one of the resulting price quotes.

If a lower price is quoted, you can click and sign and buy the new coverage. The whole process takes less than 15 minutes and you will find out if you're overpaying now.

To save time and find out if lower rates are available, click here to open in new window and enter your vehicle and coverage information. To compare your current rates, we recommend you complete the form with deductibles and limits as close as possible to your current policy. This makes sure you will receive an apples-to-apples comparison for the exact same coverage.

Are you getting all your discounts?

Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, but discounts can save money and there are some available that many people don't even know exist. Certain discounts will be applied when you complete an application, but lesser-known reductions have to be manually applied before they will apply. If you're not getting every credit possible, you are paying more than you should be.

Fewer Miles Equal More Savings - Driving fewer miles can earn lower rates on the low mileage vehicles.
Multi-car Discount - Buying coverage for more than one vehicle with the same company may reduce the rate for each vehicle.
Anti-lock Brake Discount - Vehicles equipped with ABS or steering control are safer to drive and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
Save over 55 - If you're over the age of 55, you may qualify for a small decrease in premiums.
Discount for Life Insurance - Companies who offer life insurance give a discount if you purchase auto and life insurance together.
Student in College - Children who attend school more than 100 miles from home and do not have a car can be insured at a reduced rate.

A little note about advertised discounts, most credits do not apply to all coverage premiums. Most only reduce individual premiums such as liability and collision coverage. So when the math indicates all those discounts means the company will pay you, you won't be that lucky. Any amount of discount will bring down the cost of coverage.

To choose insurers offering auto insurance discounts in Wisconsin, follow this link.

How can 21st Century, Allstate and State Farm save drivers who switch?

Wisconsin consumers can't ignore all the ads that promise big savings from the likes of 21st Century, Allstate and State Farm. All the companies say the same thing about savings if you switch your coverage to them.

How does each company make almost identical claims?

All the different companies are able to cherry pick for the type of customer that makes them money. For example, a profitable customer could possibly be between the ages of 30 and 50, has no driving citations, and has a short commute. A driver who fits that profile will get the preferred rates and as a result will probably save when switching.

Consumers who are not a match for these standards must pay higher rates which usually ends up with the driver buying from a lower-cost company. The ads state "customers that switch" not "everybody who quotes" save that much money. That's the way companies can truthfully make the claims of big savings.

This illustrates why you need to get a wide range of price quotes. It is impossible to predict which auto insurance company will fit your personal profile best.

Additional information can be found on the website for the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance located here. Wisconsin consumers can find disaster information, report car insurance fraud, read consumer alerts, and learn about insurance regulations.

And the best car insurance company is...

Cheaper auto insurance can be found online as well as from independent agents in Prescott, and you should compare price quotes from both to get a complete price analysis. Some insurance providers don't offer online price quotes and usually these regional insurance providers provide coverage only through local independent agents.

As you shop your coverage around, it's very important that you do not reduce coverage to reduce premium. There are a lot of situations where someone sacrificed uninsured motorist or liability limits only to regret that saving that couple of dollars actually costed them tens of thousands. The proper strategy is to get the best coverage possible at a price you can afford while not skimping on critical coverages.