Is Your Warren Rhode Island Car Insurance Too High? Start Saving Today

Scraping up a payment for overpriced car insurance can empty your savings account and make it impossible to make ends meet. Doing a price comparison is a smart way to cut your insurance bill.

There are many auto insurance companies to purchase coverage from, and though it is a good thing to have a choice, it can be more challenging to compare rates and cut insurance costs.

How insurance companies determine rates

An important part of buying insurance is that you know the factors that come into play when calculating the price you pay for car insurance. Understanding what influences your rates allows you to make educated decisions that can help you get better car insurance rates.

A clean driving record saves money – Even one citation can bump up the cost by twenty percent. Drivers who don’t get tickets get better rates than people who have multiple driving citations. If you have severe violations like DUI or reckless driving may find they need to file a SR-22 with the DMV in their state in order to drive a vehicle legally.
Where do you drive? – The more miles you rack up on your car in a year the more you will pay for car insurance. Most companies rate vehicles based upon how you use the vehicle. Autos left parked in the garage can get a lower rate compared to those used for work or business. Make sure your car insurance policy properly reflects how each vehicle is driven, because it can save money.
Add-on coverages can add up – There are quite a few extra coverages that can waste your money on your car insurance policy. Things like rental car reimbursement, accident forgiveness and motor club memberships are some examples. They may seem like a good idea initially, but if you don’t need them remove them from your policy.
Lower rates come with age – Teenage drivers in Rhode Island have a tendency to be less responsible when driving so they pay higher car insurance rates. Having to add a teen driver to your car insurance policy can be very expensive. More mature drivers tend to be more responsible, statistically cause fewer accidents and receive fewer citations.
The type of vehicle makes a difference – The make and model of the vehicle you are buying insurance for makes a significant difference in how high your rates are. Economy passenger cars usually have the lowest rates, but the cost you end up paying is determined by many additional factors.
Men are more aggressive – Statistics demonstrate that men are more aggressive behind the wheel. However, this does not mean men are worse drivers. Men and women tend to get into accidents at a similar rate, but men have costlier accidents. Men also have more aggressive citations such as reckless driving. Young males are several times more likely to be in an accident and thus pay the highest rates.

Do you qualify for discounts?

Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, but there are discounts available to cut the cost considerably. Certain discounts will be triggered automatically at the time you complete a quote, but lesser-known reductions have to be inquired about prior to getting the savings.

Drivers Ed for Students – Make teen driver coverage more affordable by requiring them to enroll in driver’s education in school.
Drive Less and Save – Keeping the miles down could be rewarded with better rates on cars that stay parked.
55 and Retired – If you’re over the age of 55, you may be able to get a discount up to 10%.
Paperless Signup – Certain companies will discount your bill up to fifty bucks simply for signing digitally online.
Safe Drivers – Drivers who don’t get into accidents may save up to 50% more than drivers with accident claims.
Military Rewards – Being deployed with a military unit could mean lower rates.
Accident Forgiveness – A few companies allow you one accident before your rates go up if you are claim-free for a certain period of time.
More Vehicles More Savings – Having multiple cars or trucks on one policy may reduce the rate for each vehicle.
Homeowners Discount – Simply owning a home may trigger a car insurance policy discount because of the fact that having a home is proof that your finances are in order.
Use Seat Belts – Drivers who require all occupants to buckle their seat belts can save 10% or more off the personal injury premium cost.

A little note about advertised discounts, most discounts do not apply to the entire policy premium. Most only cut individual premiums such as physical damage coverage or medical payments. Just because it seems like you could get a free car insurance policy, you’re out of luck. Any qualifying discounts will help reduce your premiums.

To see a list of companies who offer car insurance discounts in Rhode Island, click this link.

Quote online but work with a neighborhood agent

Some people prefer to get advice from a local agent. One of the great benefits of getting online price quotes is you may find the best rates and still choose a local agent. Supporting local insurance agencies is important especially in Warren.

To make it easy to find an agent, after completing this simple form, your coverage information is immediately sent to insurance agents in Warren who will give you bids for your business. You don’t have to drive around because quoted prices will be sent to the email address you provide. How cool is that?! It’s the lowest rates without the usual hassles of price shopping. Warren auto insurance

Do you need an independent or captive car insurance agent?

If you’re trying to find a reliable agent, there are a couple of different types of agents from which to choose. Insurance agencies in Warren can either be independent (non-captive) or captive.

Independent Agents (or Brokers)

Independent insurance agents are not required to write business for one company but rather can write business with lots of companies and possibly get better coverage at lower prices. To transfer your coverage to a different company, they simply move the coverage in-house without you having to go to a different agency. When comparison shopping, it’s a good idea to include price quotes from at a minimum one independent agency to ensure the widest selection of prices.

The following is a list of independent agents in Warren that can give you competitive price quotes.

Raffile Insurance – 596 Metacom Ave – Warren, RI 02885 – (401) 247-1083
John Andrade Insurance – 10 Child St – Warren, RI 02885 – (401) 245-6658

Agency Captives

Captive agents have only one company to place business with and examples are Allstate, State Farm and Farmers Insurance. Captives cannot place coverage with different providers so always compare other rates. They are trained well in insurance sales which can be an advantage.

Shown below is a short list of captive insurance agents in Warren willing to provide price quote information.

Allstate Insurance Co – 631a Metacom Ave – Warren, RI 02885 – (401) 247-0012

To view a complete directory of captive agents in Warren, visit this link.

Picking an insurance agency needs to be determined by more than just the premium amount. These questions are important to ask:

How often do they review policy coverages?
How many years of experience in personal lines insurance coverages do they have?
Do you have coverage for a rental car if your vehicle is in the repair shop?
Is the agency involved in supporting local community causes?
If your car is totalled, how to they determine the replacement cost?
What insurance companies do they work with?
Do they receive special compensation for putting your coverage with one company over another?

Once you have good answers to these questions and a low price estimate, chances are good that you have found an insurance agent that will properly insure your vehicles.

Learn more about Rhode Island car insurance

Much more information about car insurance in Rhode Island is located on the website for the Rhode Island Division of Insurance Regulation through this link. Consumers can read consumer alerts, find out which companies have the most complaints, and read industry bulletins.

Shop smart and save

In this article, we covered a lot of information how to compare car insurance prices online. The key thing to remember is the more you quote, the better chance you’ll have of finding lower rates. You may be surprised to find that the lowest rates come from a small local company. These companies can often insure niche markets at a lower cost than the large multi-state companies such as Allstate or State Farm.

When shopping online for car insurance, don’t be tempted to skimp on coverage in order to save money. Too many times, drivers have reduced liability coverage limits to discover at claim time that saving that couple of dollars actually costed them tens of thousands. Your goal should be to get the best coverage possible at the best price.