How to Know You're Throwing Money Away for Auto Insurance in West Sayville

Are you tired of scraping the payment together each month for car insurance? Your situation is no different than the majority of other car owners in New York. You have so many to buy insurance from, and although it's nice to be able to choose, lots of choices makes it harder to compare rates.

Learn How to Buy Auto Insurance Cheaper

Consumers need to have an understanding of the different types of things that come into play when calculating auto insurance rates. Knowing what influences your rates helps enable you to make changes that could result in better auto insurance rates.

The list below includes a few of the "ingredients" that factor into premiums.

Liability insurance protects assets - The liability section of your policy will protect you if a jury decides you are liable for damages caused by your negligence. It provides for a legal defense up to the limits shown on your policy. Carrying liability coverage is mandatory and cheap compared to insuring for physical damage coverage, so do not cut corners here.
Small claims can cost you - Auto insurance companies in New York award lower rates to drivers who do not rely on their insurance for small claims. If you file claims often, you can expect higher rates. Car insurance is intended to be relied upon for major claims that would cause financial hardship.
Lower rates with optional equipment - Driving a car with an alarm system can get you a discount on your auto insurance. Anti-theft devices such as vehicle immobilizer systems, General Motors OnStar and LoJack tracking systems all hinder car theft.
Sex matters - The statistics show that women are safer drivers than men. However, don't assume that men are WORSE drivers than women. Men and women have accidents in similar percentages, but the male of the species cause more damage and cost insurance companies more money. Men also tend to receive more costly citations like reckless driving and DUI.
Do you need the policy add-ons? - There are a lot of extra bells and whistles that you can get tricked into buying if you aren't careful. Coverages for vanishing deductibles, accidental death and membership fees may be costing you every month. These coverages may sound good when you first buy your policy, but your needs may have changed so eliminate them to save money.
Consolidate policies to earn discounts - The majority of insurers will award you with lower prices to people who have multiple policies with them in the form of a multi-policy discount. Even with this discount, you still need to comparison shop to confirm you are receiving the best rates possible. Consumers may find better rates by splitting coverages up.
Traffic citations inflate rates - Whether or not you get tickets has a lot to do with how much you pay for insurance. Only having one moving violation may increase your cost by twenty percent. Drivers with clean records have lower premiums than people who have multiple driving citations. Drivers with severe tickets like hit and run, DWI or reckless driving convictions are required to submit a SR-22 or proof of financial responsibility with the DMV in their state in order to drive a vehicle legally.

How much can you save with discounts?

Insurance can cost an arm and a leg, buy you may qualify for discounts to help offset the cost. Most are applied at quote time, but a few need to be manually applied in order for you to get them. If you're not getting every credit available, you are paying more than you should be.

Organization Discounts - Affiliation with a qualifying organization is a good way to get lower rates when buying auto insurance.
Drivers Education - Cut your cost by having your teen driver enroll in driver's education in high school.
Pay Upfront and Save - If you pay your entire premium ahead of time instead of making monthly payments you could save 5% or more.
Senior Discount - If you're over the age of 55, you can possibly qualify for a discount up to 10%.
Defensive Driving Course - Taking a course teaching defensive driving skills could save 5% or more if your company offers it.

It's important to note that most discounts do not apply to the entire cost. Some only apply to individual premiums such as physical damage coverage or medical payments. So despite the fact that it appears you could get a free auto insurance policy, you're out of luck. But any discount will bring down the amount you have to pay.

To choose insurers with the best auto insurance discounts in New York, click here to view.

Save 15 percent in 15 minutes? Is it for real?

New York drivers can't ignore all the ads for the lowest price auto insurance from companies such as Allstate, GEICO and Progressive. All the companies make an identical promise that you can save if you move your policy.

How does each company say the same thing?

Different companies can use profiling for the right customer that makes them money. For example, a profitable customer might be profiled as over the age of 40, has no tickets, and drives less than 7,500 miles a year. A propective insured who meets those qualifications will qualify for the lowest rates and is almost guaranteed to save when switching.

Potential insureds who don't meet these standards must pay more money and ends up with business not being written. The ad wording is "customers that switch" but not "drivers who get quotes" save that kind of money. That's why insurance companies can advertise the way they do.

This illustrates why you should get quotes from several different companies. It's not possible to predict the company that will provide you with the cheapest rates.

More information can be found on the website for the New York Department of Financial Services located here. New York drivers can find out which companies have the most complaints, download brochures, view a list of available companies, and learn about insurance regulations.

A tidy conclusion

Lower-priced auto insurance is possible on the web in addition to many West Sayville insurance agents, and you need to comparison shop both in order to have the best chance of saving money. Some auto insurance companies do not provide online price quotes and usually these regional insurance providers provide coverage only through local independent agents.

When shopping online for auto insurance, it's very important that you do not buy poor coverage just to save money. In too many instances, an insured dropped physical damage coverage only to regret at claim time that a couple dollars of savings turned into a financial nightmare. Your focus should be to get the best coverage possible at a price you can afford while not skimping on critical coverages.