Have you had enough of scraping the payment together to pay your car insurance bill each month? Your situation is no different than many other drivers.
With consumers having so many companies to choose from, it can be impossible to choose the cheapest company.
Performing a rate comparison can take hours if you don’t understand the easiest way. You could spend the better part of a day driving to insurance companies in your area, or you could use online quoting to accomplish the same thing much quicker.
Most of the larger companies belong to an insurance system that allows shoppers to only type in their quote data once, and each company provides a quote based on that information. This eliminates the need for repetitive form submissions to each company.
To participate in this free quote system, click to open in new window.
The one disadvantage to doing it this way is you cannot specify the providers you want pricing from. So if you prefer to choose individual companies to request quotes from, we put together a list of auto insurance companies in your area. View list of insurance companies.
However you get your quotes, double check that you are using the exact same coverage information for each price quote. If you enter higher or lower deductibles it’s impossible to make a fair comparison for your Mercedes-Benz S350. Just a small difference in coverage limits can make a big difference in price. And when price shopping your coverage, more quotes helps you find the best offered rates.
Companies like Allstate, GEICO and Progressive consistently run ads on TV and radio. All the ads have a common claim about savings if you change to them. How can each company make the same claim?
All the different companies have a certain “appetite” for the type of driver they prefer to insure. A good example of a desirable insured might be profiled as between 25 and 40, has no tickets, and has a short commute. A propective insured who meets those qualifications will qualify for the lowest rates and most likely will save when switching.
Potential insureds who don’t measure up to the “perfect” profile will be quoted more money which usually ends up with the customer not buying. The ads say “customers who switch” not “everybody who quotes” save that much. That’s why companies can advertise the way they do.
This emphasizes why it’s extremely important to get a wide range of price quotes. It’s impossible to know which insurance companies will have the lowest rates.
It’s important that you understand some of the elements that go into determining the rates you pay for auto insurance. Understanding what controls the rates you pay enables informed choices that will entitle you to better auto insurance rates.
The cost of insuring your cars can be expensive, buy you may qualify for discounts to reduce the price significantly. Some trigger automatically when you quote, but lesser-known reductions have to be inquired about before they will apply.
As a disclaimer on discounts, most credits do not apply to the overall cost of the policy. Most only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like liability, collision or medical payments. So even though it sounds like you would end up receiving a 100% discount, companies don’t profit that way. But all discounts will reduce the cost of coverage.
To see a list of companies who offer auto insurance discounts, follow this link.
When it comes to buying coverage, there isn’t really a cookie cutter policy. Everyone’s situation is a little different so this has to be addressed. For instance, these questions might help in determining if you might need an agent’s assistance.
If you don’t know the answers to these questions then you might want to talk to an insurance agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, complete this form or go to this page to view a list of companies.
A small number of people just want to buy from a local agent. The biggest benefit of price shopping on the web is you can get better rates and still choose a local agent. And supporting small agencies is especially important if you live in a smaller city or town.
For easy comparison, once you complete this quick form, your insurance data gets sent to insurance agents who will give you bids for your insurance coverage. There is no need to visit any agencies as quotes are delivered directly to your email. How’s that for easy! Get lower rates AND an agent nearby.
When researching a reputable insurance agent or broker, there are a couple of different types of agents that differ in how they can insure your vehicles. Insurance agencies are categorized either captive or independent (non-captive).
These agents are not required to write business for one company so they can insure your vehicles with lots of companies depending on which coverage is best. To transfer your coverage to a different company, the agent simply finds a different carrier and you won’t have to switch agencies. When shopping rates, it’s recommended you include price quotes from at a minimum one independent agency to get the best comparison.
This type of agents write business for a single company and examples are Farmers Insurance or State Farm. These agents are not able to place coverage with different providers so they have no alternatives for high prices. These agents receive extensive training on the products they sell and that can be a competitive advantage.
For a complete listing of agencies, click here.
Picking an insurance agency should depend on more than just a cheap price. These questions are important to ask:
Once you have positive feedback to these questions and an affordable coverage quote, it’s possible that you found an auto insurance agent that is a good match to adequately provide auto insurance.
When trying to cut insurance costs, it’s a bad idea to reduce coverage to reduce premium. There are too many instances where drivers have reduced liability limits or collision coverage only to regret at claim time that saving that couple of dollars actually costed them tens of thousands. The aim is to purchase plenty of coverage at a price you can afford while still protecting your assets.
Discount Mercedes-Benz S350 insurance is definitely available from both online companies as well as from independent agents, and you need to comparison shop both to get a complete price analysis. Some auto insurance companies don’t offer you the ability to get quotes online and these small insurance companies work with independent agents.