San Antonio, TX Auto Insurance Savings the Insurance Agents Don’t Want You to Know About

Searching for affordable San Antonio auto insurance over the internet can be challenging for people who are new to buying insurance on the web. With so many choices of insurance companies available, how can San Antonio drivers even start to compare them all to find the best available rates?

Finding affordable coverage in San Antonio is not that difficult. If you are paying for car insurance now, you will be able to reduce your rates substantially using these tips. But Texas consumers do need to learn how companies sell online and apply this information to your search.

How to Compare Auto Insurance Costs in San Antonio, Texas

All major auto insurance companies like GEICO, State Farm and Progressive provide prices on the web. This process is quite easy as you just enter your personal and coverage information into a form. Upon sending the form, their system automatically orders credit information and your driving record and gives you a price quote based on these and other factors.

This makes it a lot easier to compare rates but the time it takes to visit many different websites and type in the same information can get tiresome after awhile. But it is imperative to compare as many rates as possible if you want to find the lowest price.

The easiest way to get multiple rate quotes uses one simple form to return rates from more than one company. It saves time, requires less work, and makes price shopping online much more efficient. After sending the form, it gets priced and you can select any of the resulting price quotes. If you find a better price it’s easy to complete the application and buy the policy. This process can be completed in less than 10 minutes and could lower your rates considerably.

To compare rates using this form now, click here to open in a new tab and begin entering your coverage information. If you currently have coverage, we recommend you complete the form with the coverage information identical to your current policy. Doing this guarantees you will have comparison quotes for the exact same coverage.

Save money by taking advantage of these discounts

Companies do not advertise every available discount very clearly, so we took the time to find both well-publicized as well as the least known auto insurance savings.

• Paperwork-free – Some insurance companies will discount your bill up to fifty bucks for buying your policy online.
• Defensive Driver – Completing a course teaching defensive driving skills could possibly earn you a 5% discount if you qualify.
• Senior Citizens – Mature drivers can possibly qualify for better auto insurance rates.
• Accident Free – Drivers who don’t have accidents pay less when compared with frequent claim filers.
• Pay Now and Pay Less – If paying your policy premium upfront instead of making monthly payments you could save up to 5%.
• Military Rewards – Being on active duty in the military may qualify for rate reductions.
• Employee of Federal Government – Simply working for the federal government may qualify you for a discount with select insurance companies.
• Discount for Life Insurance – Select insurance companies reward you with better rates if you take out a life insurance policy as well.

It’s important to understand that most discount credits are not given to the entire policy premium. Most cut the price of certain insurance coverages like physical damage coverage or medical payments. So when it seems like you can get free auto insurance, it doesn’t quite work that way.

Components of your insurance rates

An important part of buying insurance is that you know the rating factors that play a part in calculating auto insurance rates. When you know what positively or negatively determines base rates empowers consumers to make smart changes that may reward you with better auto insurance rates.

Shown below are a partial list of the pieces used by your company to calculate rates.

• Bump up deductibles to save – Coverage for physical damage, termed comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy, protects your car from damage. Examples of covered claims are a windshield shattered by a rock, vandalism, and rolling your vehicle. The deductibles are the amount of money you are required to spend if you file a covered claim. The more money you’re willing to pay, the less your company will charge you for insurance.
• Mature drivers pay less – Youthful drivers in Texas tend to get distracted easily when behind the wheel so auto insurance rates are higher. Older insureds are more responsible, file fewer claims and receive fewer citations.
• Traffic citations inflate rates – Your driving citation history has a big impact on rates. Drivers with clean records have lower premiums compared to drivers with tickets. Even one citation may increase your cost forty percent or more. Drivers who have flagrant citations such as hit and run, DWI or reckless driving convictions may need to file a proof of financial responsibility form (SR-22) with their state motor vehicle department in order to keep their license.
• Better credit means lower rates – Having a bad credit rating is a important factor in determining your rates. People with good credit tend to be more responsible than drivers with lower credit scores. If your credit rating can use some improvement, you could pay less to insure your by improving your credit score.
• Theft deterrents lower rates – Purchasing a vehicle with an alarm system can save you a little every year. Anti-theft devices like GM’s OnStar, tamper alarm systems and vehicle immobilizers all aid in stopping car theft.
• Extra add-on coverages are wasting money – There are a lot of extra bells and whistles you can purchase if you aren’t careful. Coverages like rental car reimbursement, better glass coverage and term life insurance may be wasting your money. These may sound like a good investment at first, but if they’re wasting money get rid of them and save.
• Pay less after the wedding – Being married can get you a discount on your auto insurance policy. Marriage means you’re more responsible and statistics show being married results in fewer claims.

Do drivers who switch really save?

GEICO, State Farm and Progressive constantly bombard you with television and radio advertisements. All the companies say the same thing that you’ll save big if you switch your policy. How do they all make almost identical claims?

Insurance companies are able to cherry pick for the driver that is profitable for them. For instance, a desirable insured could possibly be over the age of 50, a clean driving record, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. A customer getting a price quote who matches those parameters gets the lowest rates and as a result will probably save quite a bit of money when switching.

Potential customers who do not match this ideal profile will have to pay higher prices which leads to business not being written. The ads state “drivers who switch” but not “drivers who get quotes” save that much money. This is how insurance companies can confidently make those claims. Because of the profiling, you absolutely need to quote coverage with many companies. You cannot predict which auto insurance company will provide you with the cheapest rates.

Buy online or local, you save

We’ve covered quite a bit of information on how to get a better price on auto insurance. The most important thing to understand is the more quotes you get, the better your chances of lowering your rates. Drivers may discover the lowest priced auto insurance comes from a company that doesn’t do a lot of advertising.

Discount auto insurance can be bought from both online companies as well as from independent agents in San Antonio, and you should compare price quotes from both to have the best selection. There are still a few companies who don’t offer online quoting and these small, regional companies work with independent agents.

Insureds switch companies for a variety of reasons including poor customer service, unfair underwriting practices, policy non-renewal and delays in paying claims. It doesn’t matter why you want to switch finding a new company can be easy and end up saving you some money.

Even more information is located at the Texas Department of Insurance website. Consumers can read industry bulletins, discover disciplinary actions, and find out which companies have the most complaints.

The following information may also be useful.

• Pricing Comparisons for San Antonio Car Insurance Agents