Is Your Douglasville Car Insurance Too High?

People not familiar with buying insurance online can find finding affordable Douglasville car insurance quite difficult.

It’s a good idea to do rate comparisons on a regular basis because insurance rates tend to go up over time. Even if you think you had the best deal six months ago a different company probably has better rates today. So just block out anything you think you know about car insurance because you’re about to learn the fastest and easiest way to properly buy coverages and cut your premium.

Learn How to Lower your Rates

It’s important that you understand some of the elements that go into determining the rates you pay for car insurance. When you know what positively or negatively influences your rates helps enable you to make changes that may reward you with much lower annual insurance costs.

High crash test scores lower rates – Vehicles with good safety scores can get you lower premiums. Safe vehicles protect occupants better and fewer injuries translates into savings for insurance companies and more competitive rates for policyholders.
Keep rates low by being claim-free – Companies in Georgia award cheaper rates to insureds who do not file claims often. If you file claims often, you can pretty much guarantee either policy cancellation or increased premiums. Your insurance policy is designed for larger claims.
How’s your driving record? – Good drivers have lower premiums than their less careful counterparts. Only having one moving violation can increase rates twenty percent or more. If you have dangerous violations like DWI, reckless driving or hit and run convictions may find they need to file a SR-22 to the state department of motor vehicles in order to prevent a license revocation.
Discounts for married couples – Having a spouse helps lower the price on car insurance. Having a spouse translates into being more mature than a single person it has been statistically shown that married couples file fewer claims.
Younger drivers pay higher rates – Mature drivers are more responsible, tend to file fewer claims and tend to be better behind the wheel. Youthful drivers are statistically proven to be more careless in a vehicle and because of this, their car insurance rates are much higher.
Performance makes a difference – The make and model of the car you drive makes a significant difference in how high your rates are. The cheapest insurance rates are generally reserved for small economy passenger cars, but other factors influence the final cost greatly.

Save money by taking advantage of these discounts

Companies offering auto insurance don’t necessarily list all their discounts very well, so we took the time to find both the well known and the more hidden savings tricks you should be using.

Discount for Life Insurance – Select insurance companies reward you with better rates if you take out life insurance.
New Car Discount – Insuring a new car can be considerably cheaper since new cars are generally safer.
No Accidents – Claim-free drivers pay much less when compared to accident-prone drivers.
Distant Student – Youth drivers who are attending college and do not have a car may qualify for this discount.
Passive Restraints – Cars that have air bags or motorized seat belts may earn rate discounts of 20% or more.
Defensive Driver – Taking part in a course teaching defensive driving skills can save you 5% or more if you qualify.

Keep in mind that some of the credits will not apply to the entire cost. Most only cut the price of certain insurance coverages like physical damage coverage or medical payments. Just because it seems like you would end up receiving a 100% discount, car insurance companies aren’t that generous.

Can’t I compare rates from local Douglasville agents?

A small number of people would prefer to sit down with an agent and that is OK! One of the great benefits of getting online price quotes is that you can obtain lower rates and still choose a local agent.

To make it easy to find an agent, after completing this simple form, your insurance data is emailed to participating agents in Douglasville who will give you bids for your insurance coverage. You never need to even leave your home because quoted prices will be sent directly to your email. Now that’s easy! You can find better rates and a licensed agent to work with.

Deciding on a company shouldn’t rely on just a cheap price. These are valid questions to ask: Douglasville insurance comparisons

Do the companies they represent have a solid financial rating?
Do they feel the quoted coverages are adequate?
If you have an accident, will your rates go up?
Are there any discounts that you might be missing?
Is assistance available after office hours?
Do clients work directly with the agent or are most inquiries handled by a CSR?

Compare rates from both independent and captive insurance agents

When looking for an insurance agent, there are two different agency structures from which to choose. Agents can either be captive or independent (non-captive).

Captive Agents

Captive agencies work for only one company and some examples include American Family, Liberty Mutual and AAA. They generally cannot compare other company’s rates so keep that in mind. They are usually quite knowledgeable on the products they sell which helps them sell insurance even at higher premiums. Consumers sometimes purchase coverage from captives mostly because of the prominence of the brand and the convenience of having a single billing for all their coverages.

The following are captive insurance agencies in Douglasville that can give you price quote information.

Allstate Insurance – 7421 Douglas Blvd # G – Douglasville, GA 30135 – (770) 949-0463
State Farm Insurance – 3417 Highway 5 # E – Douglasville, GA 30135 – (770) 949-5863

Independent Agents

Independent agencies are not locked into one company but rather can write business amongst many companies enabling the ability to shop coverage around. If your agent finds better pricing, your agent can switch companies and you won’t have to switch agencies.

When shopping rates, it’s a good idea to contact at a minimum one independent agency to ensure the widest selection of prices. Many write coverage with different regional companies which can save you money.

Listed below are independent insurance agencies in Douglasville that can give you comparison quotes.

Handley Insurance – 6977 Concourse Pkwy # B – Douglasville, GA 30134 – (770) 489-9444
Glen Slater Agency – 3313 Highway 5 # D – Douglasville, GA 30135 – (770) 942-8016
Glen Slater Insurance – 3313 Highway 5 – Douglasville, GA 30135 – (770) 947-4284
Bill Upton Agency – 2121 Fairburn Rd # B – Douglasville, GA 30135 – (770) 947-5880
Direct General Ins Agency – 6071 Fairburn Rd – Douglasville, GA 30134 – (770) 489-0203

To view a full list of licensed insurance agents in Douglasville, go to this page.

Upon getting positive responses to these questions and a low price estimate, you have narrowed it down to an insurance agency that meets your needs to provide car insurance coverage.

More tips and info about car insurance is available at the Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner website. Georgia drivers can view agent and company licensing information, read enforcement actions against agents and companies, and find a variety of consumer forms.

One last thing

In this article, we presented a lot of tips how to lower your car insurance rates. The most important thing to understand is the more providers you compare, the better likelihood of reducing your rate. Consumers may even find the lowest priced car insurance comes from a small mutual company.

The cheapest car insurance can be purchased online and also from your neighborhood Douglasville agents, and you should compare price quotes from both to have the best chance of lowering rates. There are still a few companies who may not provide you the ability to get quotes online and usually these smaller companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.

When shopping online for car insurance, don’t be tempted to skimp on critical coverages to save a buck or two. Too many times, consumers will sacrifice liability coverage limits and learned later they didn’t purchase enough coverage. Your strategy should be to buy the best coverage you can find for the lowest price, not the least amount of coverage.