Having to pay for overpriced car insurance can drain your personal savings and put a big crunch on your finances. Comparing price quotes is a great way to cut your insurance bill.
Big-name insurance companies like Progressive, GEICO and Farmers Insurance constantly bombard you with ad campaigns and it is difficult to sift through the bull and find the best price available.
Most companies provide prices for coverage on their websites. Getting online quotes is quite easy as you simply enter your coverage information into the quote form. Once entered, their system collects your credit score and driving record and generates pricing information determined by many factors. Online quotes makes comparing rates easy, but the process of having to visit each company’s website and repetitively fill out multiple forms is not the best way to spend an afternoon. But it’s absolutely necessary to compare as many rates as possible if you want to find the best price on car insurance.
An easier way to compare rates uses one simple form that gets prices from several different companies. The form is fast, reduces the work, and makes rate comparisons much more enjoyable. As soon as the form is sent, it is rated with multiple companies and you can pick your choice of the returned quotes.
If a lower price is quoted, you can click and sign and purchase coverage. The whole process can be completed in a matter of minutes and you will find out if you’re overpaying now.
In order to fill out one form to compare multiple rates now, click here to open in new window and input your coverage information. If you have a policy now, it’s recommended that you enter identical to your current policy. This way, you will have an apples-to-apples comparison for similar coverage.
Properly insuring your vehicles can get expensive, but you can get discounts to cut the cost considerably. Certain discounts will be applied at the time of quoting, but less common discounts must be asked for before being credited.
Keep in mind that most of the big mark downs will not be given to the overall cost of the policy. Most cut the price of certain insurance coverages like liability and collision coverage. So despite the fact that it appears all the discounts add up to a free policy, you’re out of luck. But any discount will cut your overall premium however.
When choosing proper insurance coverage, there isn’t really a best way to insure your cars. Your needs are not the same as everyone else’s and a cookie cutter policy won’t apply. For instance, these questions may help you determine if your insurance needs could use an agent’s help.
If you don’t know the answers to these questions but a few of them apply then you might want to talk to an insurance agent. If you don’t have a local agent, simply complete this short form or go to this page to view a list of companies.
Having a good grasp of your policy can be of help when determining appropriate coverage and proper limits and deductibles. The terms used in a policy can be confusing and reading a policy is terribly boring. These are typical coverage types found on most car insurance policies.
Liability coverages – Liability insurance can cover damages or injuries you inflict on people or other property by causing an accident. It protects YOU from legal claims by others. It does not cover your own vehicle damage or injuries.
Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: bodily injury for each person injured, bodily injury for the entire accident and a property damage limit. You might see limits of 100/300/100 that means you have $100,000 bodily injury coverage, a per accident bodily injury limit of $300,000, and property damage coverage for $100,000. Some companies may use a combined limit which limits claims to one amount without having the split limit caps.
Liability can pay for things such as court costs, emergency aid, funeral expenses, repair bills for other people’s vehicles and legal defense fees. How much liability coverage do you need? That is a personal decision, but buy as much as you can afford. Vermont requires minimum liability limits of 25,000/50,000/10,000 but you should consider buying more coverage.
UM/UIM Coverage – Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage protects you and your vehicle when the “other guys” either are underinsured or have no liability coverage at all. Covered claims include injuries sustained by your vehicle’s occupants as well as your vehicle’s damage.
Because many people have only the minimum liability required by law (which is 25/50/10), it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. For this reason, having high UM/UIM coverages is important protection for you and your family. Usually your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages are identical to your policy’s liability coverage.
Medical costs insurance – Coverage for medical payments and/or PIP reimburse you for short-term medical expenses for things like doctor visits, EMT expenses, funeral costs, nursing services and rehabilitation expenses. The coverages can be used to fill the gap from your health insurance program or if you are not covered by health insurance. Medical payments and PIP cover all vehicle occupants and will also cover getting struck while a pedestrian. Personal injury protection coverage is not available in all states but can be used in place of medical payments coverage
Collision coverages – Collision coverage will pay to fix damage to your vehicle caused by collision with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. You first must pay a deductible then the remaining damage will be paid by your insurance company.
Collision coverage protects against claims such as backing into a parked car, sideswiping another vehicle, crashing into a building, colliding with a tree and colliding with another moving vehicle. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from lower value vehicles. Drivers also have the option to choose a higher deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.
Comprehensive or Other Than Collision – This coverage will pay to fix damage from a wide range of events other than collision. You need to pay your deductible first then the remaining damage will be covered by your comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive can pay for claims like hail damage, falling objects and vandalism. The highest amount you’ll receive from a claim is the cash value of the vehicle, so if the vehicle’s value is low it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.
Additional car insurance information is located on the website for the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation. Click here for link. Visitors are able to read industry bulletins, find disaster information, report car insurance fraud, and view agent and company licensing information.
The following information may also be useful.