Learn How to Shop For Trenton New Jersey Car Insurance Like an Expert

Expensive car insurance can dwindle your bank account and make it hard to pay other bills. Comparison shopping is a great way to reduce premiums and put more money in your pocket. Since consumers have many different company options, it’s nearly impossible to choose the lowest cost company.

Smart consumers take time to compare rates before your policy renews due to the fact that insurance rates change regularly. If you had the lowest price last year there is a good chance you can find better rates now. Ignore everything you know about car insurance because I’m going to let you in on the secrets to the quickest way to properly buy coverages while reducing your premium.

Where Can I Get Cheap Trenton Car Insurance?

Finding cheaper car insurance prices can be quick and easy. All that’s required is to take a few minutes comparing rates online from several insurance companies. This can be done using a couple different methods.

The easiest and least time consuming way to find the lowest comparison rates would be an industry-wide quote request form (click to open form in new window). This type of form prevents you from having to do separate forms for each company. In just a few minutes this one form will get you price quotes from many national carriers.

A more time consuming way to shop for car insurance online requires a trip to the website for every company you want to comare to complete a price quote. For instance, we’ll pretend you want to compare rates from Progressive, Safeco and Liberty Mutual. To get each rate you have to take the time to go to each site and enter your policy data, which is why the first method is more popular.

To view a list of companies in Trenton, click here.

Which method you use is up to you, but double check that you are using identical coverage limits on every quote you get. If you have different liability limits it will be impossible to decipher which rate is best in Trenton.

How can GEICO, State Farm and Progressive save drivers who switch?

New Jersey consumers can’t ignore all the ads for car insurance savings by GEICO, State Farm and Progressive. All the companies make the same claim that you’ll save big if you move to their company.

How does each company make almost identical claims?

Insurance companies can use profiling for the driver that is profitable for them. An example of a desirable insured could be between the ages of 40 and 55, is a homeowner, and has great credit. A customer getting a price quote that hits that “sweet spot” is entitled to the best price and is almost guaranteed to save when switching.

Consumers who don’t qualify for the “perfect” profile will have to pay more money and ends up with the customer not buying. The ads say “customers that switch” not “everybody who quotes” save that much. That is how insurance companies can confidently state the savings. Because of the profiling, drivers should quote coverage with many companies. It’s impossible to know which insurance companies will give you the biggest savings.

Are you getting all your discounts?

Car insurance companies don’t necessarily list every discount very well, so we took the time to find some of the more common and the more hidden discounts you could be receiving. If you don’t get every credit you deserve, you’re just leaving money on the table.

• Bundle and Save – When you combine your home and auto insurance with the same company you could get a discount of approximately 10% to 15%.
• Safe Driver Discount – Drivers who avoid accidents can get discounts for up to 45% lower rates than less cautious drivers.
• Payment Method – If you pay your entire premium ahead of time instead of monthly or quarterly installments you could save up to 5%.
• Lower Rates for Military – Being on active duty in the military could be rewarded with lower premiums.
• Student in College – Youth drivers who attend school more than 100 miles from home and don’t have a car can receive lower rates.

It’s important to note that most discounts do not apply to your bottom line cost. Most only cut the cost of specific coverages such as collision or personal injury protection. So even though they make it sound like having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, it just doesn’t work that way.

For a list of insurance companies with the best car insurance discounts in New Jersey, click here.

Tailor your coverage to you

When it comes to choosing proper insurance coverage for your vehicles, there really is no best way to insure your cars. Your needs are not the same as everyone else’s and a cookie cutter policy won’t apply. These are some specific questions might help in determining if your insurance needs will benefit from professional help.

• Do I really need UM/UIM coverage?
• When should I not file a claim?
• Should I drop comprehensive coverage on older vehicles?
• Who is covered by my policy?
• What happens if I owe more than my vehicle is worth?
• Does my liability insurance cover pulling a trailer or camper?

If it’s difficult to answer those questions but one or more may apply to you then you might want to talk to an insurance agent. If you want to speak to an agent in your area, take a second and complete this form or go to this page to view a list of companies. It only takes a few minutes and can provide invaluable advice.

More tips and info about car insurance can be read at the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance website. New Jersey drivers can learn about insurance regulations, read industry bulletins, learn about specific coverages, and read enforcement actions against agents and companies.

Additional helpful sites include this site for car insurance rates in New Jersey and this list of agents in Trenton, NJ.

Shop smart and save

As you shop your coverage around, never skimp on critical coverages to save a buck or two. There have been many cases where an insured cut full coverage to discover at claim time that saving that couple of dollars actually costed them tens of thousands. The ultimate goal is to get the best coverage possible at a price you can afford.

We just showed you many ways to reduce car insurance prices online. The key concept to understand is the more rate comparisons you have, the higher the chance of saving money. Drivers may discover the lowest premiums are with a smaller regional carrier. These companies may have significantly lower rates on certain market segments compared to the large companies like Allstate and Progressive.