Nobody I know looks forward to buying auto insurance, particularly when the price is too high. With consumers having so many options when it comes to auto insurance, it’s nearly impossible to choose the most cost effective provider.
You need to get comparison quotes on a regular basis since rates are rarely the same from one policy term to another. Even if you got the lowest price on fortwo insurance last year there may be better deals available now. Forget anything you know (or think you know) about auto insurance because you’re about to find out one of the easiest ways to eliminate unnecessary coverages and save money.
Auto Insurance Prices Online
Getting a cheaper price on Smart fortwo insurance is a fairly straight forward process. Consumers just need to take a couple of minutes comparing price quotes online from several insurance companies. This can be accomplished in several different ways.
- Probably the best way to get quotes for comparison is to use a rate comparison form click to view form in new window. This method prevents you from having to do separate quotes to each individual auto insurance company. A single form will get you rate comparisons .
- A more time consuming way to get quotes online is spending the time to visit the website for every company you want to comare to complete their respective quote request forms. For example, let’s assume you want to compare rates from USAA, Progressive and State Farm. To get rate quotes you would need to spend time on each company’s site to enter your coverage information, which is why the first method is quicker. For a list of links to insurance companies in your area, click here.
It’s up to you which method you use, but be sure to compare apples-to-apples coverage limits for every company. If you enter higher or lower deductibles it will be impossible to make an equal comparison.
Policy discounts you shouldn’t miss
The cost of insuring your cars can be expensive, but discounts can save money and there are some available that you may not know about. Certain discounts will be triggered automatically when you get a quote, but some must be manually applied prior to getting the savings. If you aren’t receiving every discount available, you’re just leaving money on the table.
- Anti-lock Brake Discount – Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles can avoid accidents and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
- Passive Restraints and Air Bags – Cars that have air bags may earn rate discounts up to 30%.
- Student in College – Youth drivers living away from home attending college without a vehicle on campus may qualify for this discount.
- Defensive Driving Course – Taking a course teaching defensive driving skills could save 5% or more if you qualify.
- Use Seat Belts – Requiring all passengers to wear their seat belts can save up to 15% on the medical payments or PIP coverage costs.
- Federal Government Employee – Being employed by or retired from a federal job can save as much as 8% on fortwo insurance with a few auto insurance companies.
- New Vehicle Savings – Adding a new car to your policy is cheaper compared to insuring an older model.
- E-sign – Certain companies will give a small break simply for signing online.
Consumers should know that some of the credits will not apply to the entire cost. Most only reduce individual premiums such as comp or med pay. Even though it may seem like adding up those discounts means a free policy, companies wouldn’t make money that way. Any qualifying discounts will cut the amount you have to pay.
Smart fortwo insurance premiums are calculated by many factors
Smart consumers have a good feel for the different types of things that go into determining auto insurance rates. When you know what positively or negatively controls the rates you pay empowers consumers to make smart changes that could result in better auto insurance rates.
- Equipment add-ons that lower auto insurance rates – Owning a car with a theft deterrent system can get you a discount on your auto insurance. Theft prevention features such as tamper alarm systems, vehicle immobilizer technology and General Motors OnStar can help prevent your vehicle from being stolen.
- Better credit means lower rates – Credit score is a big factor in your rate calculation. So if your credit is lower than you’d like, you could save money insuring your Smart fortwo by improving your credit score. Consumers who have good credit tend to be less risk to insure than those with poor credit.
- Don’t cancel a policy without a new one in place – Driving with no insurance is illegal and your next policy will cost more because you let your insurance expire. And not only will your rates increase, but being ticketed for driving with no insurance might get you a license revocation or jail time.
- Bundling policies can get discounts – Many insurers give discounts to policyholders who consolidate policies with them, otherwise known as a multi-policy discount. Even with this discount, you may still want to compare rates to verify if the discount is saving money.
Keep this in mind
We’ve covered many tips how you can reduce Smart fortwo insurance prices online. The key concept to understand is the more quotes you get, the higher your chance of finding lower rates. Consumers may even find the most savings is with an unexpected company. Some small companies may cover specific market segments cheaper than the large multi-state companies such as Allstate, GEICO and Progressive.
When you buy insurance online, it’s not a good idea to buy poor coverage just to save money. There have been many cases where someone sacrificed comprehensive coverage or liability limits and found out when filing a claim that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. Your aim should be to purchase plenty of coverage at an affordable rate while still protecting your assets.