5 Ways You Can Buy Car Insurance for Less in Helena

Finding the cheapest Helena car insurance on the internet can be challenging for consumers new to buying insurance online. Since there are so many companies competing online, how can you even start to compare them all to find the best pricing?

It’s smart to shop coverage around quite often because rates are rarely the same from one policy term to another. Despite the fact that you may have had the best deal six months ago there may be better deals available now. There is too much inaccurate information about car insurance online, so with this article, you’re going to get some tested techniques to stop overpaying for insurance.

Free Helena Car Insurance Quotes

Shopping for lower car insurance rates can be challenging if you don’t utilize the most efficient way to do it. You can waste a lot of time talking about coverages with agents in Helena, or you can stay home and use online quoting for quick rates.

Many insurance companies participate in an industry program where prospective buyers submit their information once, and each participating company provides a quote. This system prevents you from having to do repetitive form submissions for every car insurance company.

To enter your information into the quoting system, click here (opens in new window).

One minor caviat to using this type of system is you cannot specify which providers you want to price. So if you prefer to pick from a list of companies to compare prices, we have assembled a list of low cost car insurance companies in Montana. Click here for list of insurance companies in Montana.

It’s your choice how you get your quotes, but double check that you are using exactly the same coverage limits for every company. If you enter mixed coverages it’s not possible to determine the best price in Helena.

Cut your premium with these 5 discounts

Car insurance companies don’t always list all their discounts very clearly, so we researched both well-publicized and the harder-to-find car insurance savings. If you’re not getting every credit possible, you are paying more than you should be.

• Resident Student – Children who attend school more than 100 miles from home and do not have access to a covered vehicle can be insured at a reduced rate.
• Braking Control Discount – Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles are safer to drive and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
• Paperless Signup – Certain companies give back up to $50 simply for signing on their website.
• Anti-theft Discount – Anti-theft and alarm systems are stolen less frequently and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
• New Vehicle Savings – Insuring a new car can save up to 30% since new cars are generally safer.

As a disclaimer on discounts, many deductions do not apply to your bottom line cost. Most cut specific coverage prices like physical damage coverage or medical payments. Even though it may seem like you would end up receiving a 100% discount, companies don’t profit that way.

Car insurance coverages and their meanings

Understanding the coverages of a car insurance policy helps when choosing the best coverages and the correct deductibles and limits. The coverage terms in a policy can be confusing and nobody wants to actually read their policy.

Medical expense coverage

Med pay and PIP coverage reimburse you for immediate expenses for dental work, EMT expenses, rehabilitation expenses and funeral costs. They can be used in conjunction with a health insurance policy or if there is no health insurance coverage. Coverage applies to you and your occupants in addition to if you are hit as a while walking down the street. Personal injury protection coverage is not universally available and may carry a deductible

Uninsured or underinsured coverage

Your UM/UIM coverage protects you and your vehicle when the “other guys” do not carry enough liability coverage. This coverage pays for hospital bills for your injuries as well as damage to your vehicle.

Since many Montana drivers have only the minimum liability required by law (25/50/10), it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is a good idea.

Auto collision coverage

This pays for damage to your vehicle from colliding with another car or object. You will need to pay your deductible then the remaining damage will be paid by your insurance company.

Collision insurance covers claims such as sideswiping another vehicle, rolling your car, driving through your garage door, hitting a parking meter and colliding with a tree. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so you might think about dropping it from vehicles that are 8 years or older. You can also bump up the deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.

Liability insurance

Liability insurance protects you from damage that occurs to a person or their property. Liability coverage has three limits: bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. You might see limits of 50/100/50 which means a limit of $50,000 per injured person, $100,000 for the entire accident, and property damage coverage for $50,000.

Liability coverage pays for things like pain and suffering, legal defense fees and medical expenses. How much liability should you purchase? That is your choice, but buy as large an amount as possible. Montana requires drivers to carry at least 25,000/50,000/10,000 but you should think about purchasing more liability than the minimum.

Comprehensive protection

This coverage covers damage that is not covered by collision coverage. You need to pay your deductible first then the remaining damage will be covered by your comprehensive coverage.

Comprehensive coverage pays for things like a broken windshield, rock chips in glass and hitting a deer. The highest amount you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the actual cash value, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.

More tips and info about car insurance can be found at the Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance website. Consumers can find out industry alerts, file complaints about an insurance agent or broker, and read enforcement actions against agents and companies.

Other useful links include this page for car insurance in Montana and this link where you can get more info about Helena car insurance.

One last thing about your coverage

When you buy insurance online, it’s a bad idea to buy poor coverage just to save money. There are a lot of situations where drivers have reduced physical damage coverage and discovered at claim time that they should have had better coverage. Your strategy should be to get the best coverage possible at the best price while not skimping on critical coverages.

Low-cost car insurance can be sourced from both online companies in addition to many Helena insurance agents, and you need to comparison shop both to get a complete price analysis. Some insurance companies do not provide online price quotes and most of the time these small, regional companies sell through independent agents.

In this article, we presented quite a bit of information on how to reduce car insurance prices online. It’s most important to understand that the more providers you compare, the better likelihood of reducing your rate. Consumers could even find that the lowest rates come from a small mutual company.