Learn How to Pay Less and Get More for Stockton, CA Car Insurance

Did you fall for a flashy sales pitch and buy an overpriced car insurance policy? Believe me, there are lots of people in the same boat. Having so many car insurance companies to choose from, it is hard for the average consumer to locate the best car insurance company.

How to Get Cheap Car Insurance in Stockton

Getting a lower price on insurance is surprisingly easy. The only thing you need to do is spend a little time to compare rate quotes online from several insurance companies. This can be done in a couple of different ways.

1. The first (and easiest) way to compare a lot of rates at once would be an industry-wide quote request form (click to open form in new window). This type of form eliminates the need for boring form submissions for each company you want a rate for. A single form will get you rate comparisons from many national carriers.
2. A more time consuming way to obtain and compare quotes online requires visiting the website for each individual company to complete a price quote. For sake of this example, let’s say you want to compare Auto-Owners, State Farm and American Family. To get rate quotes you would need to go to every website to input your insurance information, and that’s why the first method is more popular.

   For a list of links to insurance companies in Stockton, click here.

Which method you use is up to you, but double check that you are using identical coverage information for every company. If you enter differing limits it’s not possible to decipher which rate is best in Stockton.

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

California consumers get pounded daily by advertisements that promise big savings from companies such as Progressive, Allstate and GEICO. They all seem to say the same thing of big savings if you switch your policy.

But how can every company make almost identical claims? It’s all in the numbers.

All companies can use profiling for the driver they prefer to insure. For instance, a driver they prefer might be a mature driver, a clean driving record, and drives less than 7,500 miles a year. Any new insured who fits that profile will get very good rates and as a result will probably pay quite a bit less when switching companies.

Drivers who are not a match for these standards must pay higher premiums which usually ends up with the customer not buying. The ads state “drivers who switch” but not “drivers who get quotes” save that much. That’s the way insurance companies can confidently advertise the savings. This illustrates why you absolutely need to get quotes from several different companies. Because you never know which insurance companies will provide you with the cheapest rates.

Don’t miss out on these money-saving discounts

Companies that sell car insurance do not list all their discounts very well, so the following is a list of some of the best known and the harder-to-find savings tricks you should be using. If you don’t get every credit available, you’re paying more than you need to.

• Student in College – Children who are attending college and don’t have a car can receive lower rates.
• Discounts for Safe Drivers – Safe drivers can pay as much as 50% less than drivers with accidents.
• Safety Course Discount – Taking a course teaching defensive driving skills can save you 5% or more and easily recoup the cost of the course.
• Anti-theft Discount – Anti-theft and alarm systems can help prevent theft and will save you 10% or more.
• Payment Discounts – If you pay your entire premium ahead of time instead of monthly or quarterly installments you can actually save on your bill.
• Claim Free – Claim-free drivers pay much less when compared to bad drivers.
• Use Seat Belts – Requiring all passengers to wear their seat belts can save 10% or more off your PIP or medical payments premium.
• New Car Discount – Insuring a new car can save up to 30% compared to insuring an older model.
• Organization Discounts – Participating in certain professional organizations could trigger savings when buying car insurance.
• Drive Less and Save – Keeping the miles down could qualify for lower rates on the low mileage vehicles.

It’s important to note that some credits don’t apply to your bottom line cost. Some only apply to the cost of specific coverages such as liability, collision or medical payments. Just because you may think you would end up receiving a 100% discount, you’re out of luck.

For a list of companies with the best car insurance discounts in California, click here.

Do I need special coverages?

When buying adequate coverage, there really is no one size fits all plan. Each situation is unique so your insurance should reflect that Here are some questions about coverages that might help in determining whether or not you might need an agent’s assistance.

• Can I afford to pay high deductible claims out of pocket?
• Why am I required to get a high-risk car insurance policy?
• Should I sign the liability waiver when renting a car?
• Is my dog or cat covered if injured in an accident?
• What companies insure drivers after a DUI or DWI?
• I don’t drive much so do I pay less?

If you don’t know the answers to these questions but a few of them apply, you might consider talking to a licensed insurance agent. To find an agent in your area, take a second and complete this form or you can go here for a list of companies in your area. It is quick, free and can help protect your family.

Additional detailed information can be read at the California Department of Insurance website. Visitors are able to download brochures, find disaster information, get help finding coverage, and learn about specific coverages.

Do the work, save more money

While you’re price shopping online, make sure you don’t reduce coverage to reduce premium. Too many times, drivers have reduced uninsured motorist or liability limits and discovered at claim time they didn’t have enough coverage. The ultimate goal is to buy a smart amount of coverage at the best price, not the least amount of coverage.

We just covered many ideas to get a better price on car insurance. The key concept to understand is the more times you quote, the better chance you’ll have of finding lower rates. You may even find the most savings is with an unexpected company. Regional companies can often provide lower rates in certain areas compared to the large companies like GEICO and State Farm.

Lower-priced car insurance can be bought both online and with local Stockton insurance agents, so you should be comparing quotes from both to have the best chance of lowering rates. Some companies do not offer the ability to get a quote online and these small, regional companies work with independent agents.