Toyota 4Runner Insurance – 10 Discounts You Might be Unaware of

Nobody looks forward to buying car insurance, especially when their premiums are too high.

Drivers have multiple auto insurance companies to choose from, and although it’s a good thing to have a selection, lots of choices makes it harder to compare rates and find the lowest cost car insurance.

How to Get Car Insurance

There are a variety of methods to compare car insurance quotes, but some are less time-consuming than others. You can spend countless hours talking to agents in your area, or you could save time and use the internet to get rate comparisons in just a few minutes.

Most of the larger companies take part in a program where prospective buyers submit one quote, and each company then returns a price quote. This eliminates the need for form submissions for each company you want a rate for.

To compare rates using this form now click here (opens in new window).

The only drawback to using this type of system is you cannot specify which insurance companies you want to price. So if you want to choose specific providers to compare prices, we have a page of the cheapest car insurance companies in your area. View list of insurance companies.

It’s up to you which method you use, but double check that you are using the exact same coverages with each company. If your comparisons have differing limits it will be very difficult to determine which rate is truly the best. Slightly different coverages may result in large price differences. Just remember that getting more free quotes helps you find better pricing.

Do you qualify for these ten discounts?

Car insurance can cost a lot, buy you may qualify for discounts that many people don’t even know exist. Some trigger automatically when you purchase, but a few must be specially asked for in order for you to get them.

Bundle and Save – If you insure your home and vehicles with one insurance company you will save up to 20% off your total premium.
Accident Free – Drivers with accident-free driving histories pay much less when compared to frequent claim filers.
Lower Rates for Military – Being deployed with a military unit could mean lower rates.
Life Insurance Discount – Companies who offer life insurance give a discount if you purchase life insurance from them.
Payment Method – If you pay your bill all at once instead of monthly or quarterly installments you can actually save on your bill.
Discount for Swiching Early – Some companies give discounts for switching policies before your current policy expires. The savings is around 10%.
Drivers Education – Cut your cost by having your teen driver successfully complete driver’s ed class in school.
Defensive Driving Course – Completing a defensive driving course can save you 5% or more if your company offers it.
Paperwork-free – Some insurance companies may give you up to $50 for buying a policy and signing up digitally online.
Seat Belts Save – Using a seat belt and requiring all passengers to use a seat belt can save up to 15% off the personal injury premium cost.

Consumers should know that most discount credits are not given to your bottom line cost. Some only reduce individual premiums such as physical damage coverage or medical payments. So even though it sounds like it’s possible to get free car insurance, you won’t be that lucky. But any discount will cut the cost of coverage.

Comparing rates from local agents

A small number of people would prefer to buy from a licensed agent and there is nothing wrong with that. The biggest benefit of getting online price quotes is you may find lower rates and still have an agent to talk to. Supporting local businesses is especially important in smaller rural communities.

To make it easy to find an agent, after completing this simple form, your information is transmitted to participating agents who will compete to get your business. You won’t need to leave your computer due to the fact that quote results will go straight to your inbox. How cool is that?! You’ll get the best rates and work with a local agent.

Is a captive or independent auto insurance agent right for you?

When finding a reliable agent, there are two types of agencies that differ in how they can insure your vehicles. Agencies are classified as either independent (non-captive) or captive.

Independent Insurance Agents

These agents are not locked into one company but rather can write business with many different companies depending on which coverage is best. If your agent finds better pricing, the agent simply finds a different carrier and you won’t have to switch agencies.

When shopping rates, it’s a good idea to include at least one independent agent to get the best comparison.

Captive Insurance Agents

Captive agents have only one company to place business with and some examples include Farmers Insurance, American Family, State Farm and Allstate. They usually cannot compare other company’s rates so they have no alternatives for high prices. Captives are well schooled on the products they sell and that can be a competitive advantage. insurance cheap

For a full directory of agencies, visit this page.

Selecting an auto insurance agent should depend on more than just a low price. Some important questions to ask are:

Is assistance available after office hours?
Are they properly licensed to sell insurance in your state?
Do they receive special compensation for putting your coverage with one company over another?
How much will you save each year by using a higher deductible?
If you have an accident, are you able to get your vehicle repaired at the shop of your choice?
How many years of experience in personal lines insurance coverages do they have?

After receiving positive feedback to all your questions as well as a affordable price, chances are good that you have found a car insurance agent that is a good match to insure your vehicles.

Car insurance coverages explained

Learning about specific coverages of car insurance aids in choosing the right coverages for your vehicles. The coverage terms in a policy can be ambiguous and coverage can change by endorsement. These are the usual coverages available from car insurance companies.

Coverage for medical payments

Coverage for medical payments and/or PIP reimburse you for immediate expenses for dental work, hospital visits and rehabilitation expenses. They are used to fill the gap from your health insurance policy or if you do not have health coverage. Coverage applies to not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants in addition to getting struck while a pedestrian. Personal injury protection coverage is not universally available but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage

Liability coverages

Liability coverage can cover damage that occurs to people or other property. This coverage protects you against other people’s claims. It does not cover damage to your own property or vehicle.

Liability coverage has three limits: bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. You commonly see policy limits of 100/300/100 that translate to $100,000 bodily injury coverage, a per accident bodily injury limit of $300,000, and a limit of $100,000 paid for damaged property. Occasionally you may see a combined limit which provides one coverage limit and claims can be made without the split limit restrictions.

Liability can pay for things like loss of income, emergency aid, repair costs for stationary objects, repair bills for other people’s vehicles and court costs. How much liability should you purchase? That is a decision to put some thought into, but consider buying as much as you can afford.

Collision protection

Collision insurance pays for damage to your 4Runner resulting from a collision with another car or object. You will need to pay your deductible and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.

Collision insurance covers claims such as scraping a guard rail, backing into a parked car, driving through your garage door, crashing into a ditch and colliding with a tree. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from lower value vehicles. You can also bump up the deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.

Uninsured and underinsured coverage

Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage gives you protection when other motorists either have no liability insurance or not enough. Covered claims include injuries to you and your family and also any damage incurred to your Toyota 4Runner.

Since many drivers only purchase the least amount of liability that is required, their limits can quickly be used up. That’s why carrying high Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage should not be overlooked. Usually these coverages do not exceed the liability coverage limits.

Comprehensive coverages

This pays to fix your vehicle from damage OTHER than collision with another vehicle or object. You need to pay your deductible first and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.

Comprehensive coverage pays for things such as a broken windshield, rock chips in glass, hail damage and damage from a tornado or hurricane. The maximum payout a car insurance company will pay at claim time is the ACV or actual cash value, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value it’s not worth carrying full coverage.

Compare but don’t skimp

In this article, we covered quite a bit of information on how to get a better price on Toyota 4Runner insurance. The key thing to remember is the more price quotes you have, the better chance you’ll have of finding lower rates. Consumers could even find that the lowest rates come from an unexpected company. These companies can often provide lower rates in certain areas as compared to the big name companies such as Progressive or GEICO.

As you go through the steps to switch your coverage, make sure you don’t skimp on critical coverages to save a buck or two. There have been many situations where an insured cut liability coverage limits and learned later that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. The proper strategy is to purchase a proper amount of coverage at a price you can afford.

Discount Toyota 4Runner insurance can be found from both online companies and with local insurance agents, so compare prices from both to have the best chance of lowering rates. Some companies do not offer the ability to get a quote online and many times these small insurance companies only sell through independent insurance agents.