Things You Must Know Before Shopping for Portage Car Insurance Online

Are you sick and tired of being strong-armed to buy car insurance? Your situation is no different than most other car owners in Michigan.

Big companies like GEICO, Farmers Insurance and State Farm persitently shower you with catchy ads and it is difficult to sift through the bull and take the time to shop coverage around.

Finding Car Insurance Deals in Portage, MI

There are multiple methods to shop for car insurance, and some are more efficient than others. You could waste a few hours talking about coverages with agents in Portage, or you could save time and use the web to get rates in a matter of minutes.

Many popular insurance companies enroll in a system that allows shoppers to submit one quote, and every company returns a competitive quote based on the submitted data. This saves time by eliminating quote forms for every car insurance company.

To find out what other companies charge click to open in new window.

The one downside to getting quotes like this is that you can’t choose which companies to get pricing from. So if you prefer to pick individual companies to request quotes from, we put together a list of companies who write car insurance in Michigan. View list of Michigan insurance companies.

It doesn’t matter which method you choose, just ensure you’re using identical quote information for each comparison quote. If you use differing limits you will not be able to make an equal comparison in Portage. Having just a slight variation in insurance coverages may cause a big price difference. And when price shopping your coverage, more quotes provides better odds of finding the best rates.

Don’t pay full price with these discounts

Insuring your vehicles can cost a lot, buy you may qualify for discounts that many people don’t even know exist. Certain discounts will be applied when you complete an application, but some may not be applied and must be specially asked for before you will receive the discount.

• No Claims – Good drivers with no accidents pay less when compared with bad drivers.
• Accident Waiver – Certain companies will allow you to have one accident before your rates go up so long as you haven’t had any claims prior to the accident.
• Homeowners Pay Less – Owning a house in Portage may trigger a car insurance policy discount due to the fact that maintaining a home shows financial diligence.
• Save with a New Car – Buying coverage on a new vehicle is cheaper since new cars are generally safer.
• Organization Discounts – Participating in certain professional organizations could trigger savings on your policy.

Consumers should know that most discounts do not apply to your bottom line cost. The majority will only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like physical damage coverage or medical payments. So when the math indicates you can get free auto insurance, companies don’t profit that way. But all discounts will reduce your premiums.

To see a list of providers with the best car insurance discounts in Portage, click here to view.

Rate influencing factors

An important part of buying insurance is that you know some of the elements that help determine the rates you pay for car insurance. Having a good understanding of what determines base rates helps enable you to make changes that could result in better car insurance rates.

The following are some of the factors that factor into premiums.

• Theft deterrents lower rates – Choosing a vehicle with an alarm system can get you a discount on your car insurance. Theft prevention features like vehicle immobilizer systems, General Motors OnStar and LoJack tracking systems can thwart auto theft.
• An active claims history can cost you – If you frequently file small claims, you can expect either a policy non-renewal or much higher rates. Insurance companies in Michigan give better rates to drivers who do not file claims often. Auto insurance is intended for the bigger claims that can’t be paid out-of-pocket.
• Don’t let your coverage lapse – Driving without insurance is a misdemeanor and as a result your rates will increase for letting your coverage have a gap. Not only will you pay more, but being ticketed for driving with no insurance may earn you a revoked license or a big fine.Then you may be required to provide proof of insurance in the form of an SR-22 filing with the Michigan DMV.
• Traffic violations increase rates – A bad driving record has a big impact on rates. Good drivers receive lower rates than their less careful counterparts. Even one speeding ticket can increase rates by twenty percent. If you have dangerous violations like DWI, reckless driving or hit and run convictions may find they need to file a SR-22 with their state motor vehicle department in order to prevent a license revocation.
• Extra coverages can waste money – There are a lot of extra bells and whistles you can purchase on your car insurance policy. Insurance for rental car reimbursement, better glass coverage and term life insurance are examples of these. They may seem good at first, but if they’re wasting money eliminate the coverages to reduce your premium.
• Your location is important – Choosing to live in a small town can be a good thing when insuring your vehicles. Lower population translates into fewer accidents and a lower car theft rate. Drivers in populated Michigan areas regularly have much more traffic to deal with and much longer commute distances. Higher commute times translates into higher accident risk.

Do car insurance companies bend the truth?

Car insurance companies such as Progressive, GEICO, Allstate and State Farm continually stream television and radio advertisements. They all seem to make an identical promise about savings after switching to their company. How does each company make the same claim? This is how they do it.

Insurance companies have a preferred profile for the driver that is profitable for them. For example, a profitable customer might be between 30 and 50, has no driving citations, and drives newer vehicles. A customer who fits that profile will get very good rates and as a result will probably pay quite a bit less when switching companies.

Potential insureds who do not match the requirements must pay a higher premium which usually ends up with the customer not buying. Company advertisements say “people who switch” but not “drivers who get quotes” save that kind of money. That’s why insurance companies can confidently advertise the savings.

This illustrates why you absolutely need to get as many comparisons as possible. Because you never know the company that will fit your personal profile best.

More effort can pay off

Throughout this article, we presented quite a bit of information on how to get a better price on car insurance. It’s most important to understand that the more quotes you get, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. You may even discover the best prices are with a small local company. They may often insure only within specific states and give getter rates compared to the large companies like Allstate, GEICO and Progressive.

Discount car insurance is available online in addition to many Portage insurance agents, so compare prices from both in order to have the best chance of saving money. Some insurance providers do not provide online price quotes and these small, regional companies work with independent agents.

More information can be read on the website for the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation found here. Visitors are able to read state legal mandates and laws, read consumer alerts, get help finding coverage, and find out industry alerts.