Top 8 Ways to Save Money on Car Insurance in Daphne

Paying for high-priced car insurance can drain your bank account and put a big crunch on your finances. Comparison shopping is a smart way to tighten up your finances.

Because there are so many insurance companies to choose from, it can be hard to find the best insurance company.

It’s a great practice to take a look at other company’s rates periodically because rates are rarely the same from one policy term to another. Even if you think you had the best deal on your last policy you will most likely find a better rate today. Forget anything you know (or think you know) about car insurance because you’re about to find out the only way to find great coverage at a great price.

Daphne Car Insurance Prices Online

All major car insurance companies such as Allstate, GEICO and Progressive allow you to get insurance quotes on their websites. The process is fairly straightforward as you just type in the coverage amounts you desire as detailed in the form. Upon sending the form, their rating system automatically retrieves reports for credit and driving violations and provides a quote. Quoting online makes it a lot easier to compare rates but the time required to go to each company’s website and repetitively type in the same information can be a bit tiresome and repetitive. But it is imperative to perform this step in order to find a better rate.

A quicker way to compare car insurance pricing is to use a quote form to get prices from a lot of companies. This type of form saves time, reduces the work, and makes quoting online much more efficient. After sending the form, it is rated with multiple companies and you can pick any or none of the pricing results.

If one or more price quotes are lower than your current rates, you can click and sign and purchase the new policy. The entire process takes just a few minutes to complete and could lower your rates considerably.

To compare rates using this form now, click here to open in new window and complete the simple form. If you have coverage now, it’s recommended you type in the coverages as close as possible to your current policy. This helps ensure you will have rate comparison quotes for exact coverage.

Don’t overlook these eight discounts

Car insurance can cost a lot, buy you may qualify for discounts to help bring down the price. Larger premium reductions will be automatically applied when you quote, but a few need to be asked for prior to receiving the credit.

• Anti-lock Brakes – Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles can reduce accidents and earn discounts up to 10%.
• Federal Employees – Active or retired federal employment could cut as much as 10% off with select insurance companies.
• Safe Driver Discount – Drivers who don’t get into accidents can pay as much as 50% less than drivers with accident claims.
• Accident Forgiveness – A handful of insurance companies will forgive one accident before hitting you with a surcharge so long as you haven’t had any claims for a particular time prior to the accident.
• Life Insurance – Some companies give a break if you buy life insurance.
• E-sign – Some insurance companies may give you up to $50 just for signing your application digitally online.
• Senior Discount – If you’re over the age of 55, you may qualify for a small decrease in premiums.
• Payment Method – If you pay your entire premium ahead of time rather than paying monthly you may reduce your total bill.

It’s important to understand that most of the big mark downs will not be given to your bottom line cost. A few only apply to individual premiums such as physical damage coverage or medical payments. Just because you may think you would end up receiving a 100% discount, it doesn’t quite work that way. But all discounts will cut the amount you have to pay.

For a list of providers with discount car insurance rates in Daphne, click this link.

When should I use an insurance agent?

When it comes to buying coverage for your personal vehicles, there really is not a one size fits all plan. Everyone’s needs are different and a cookie cutter policy won’t apply. For example, these questions might point out if your insurance needs may require specific advice.

• I don’t drive much so do I pay less?
• Does medical payments coverage apply to all occupants?
• What vehicles should carry emergency assistance coverage?
• Do I need PIP coverage since I have good health insurance?
• Does my personal policy cover me when driving my company car?
• Do I need higher deductibles?
• How high should my medical payments coverage be?
• When should I drop full coverage on my vehicle?
• When should my teen driver be added to my policy?

If it’s difficult to answer those questions but a few of them apply, you may need to chat with an insurance agent. To find an agent in your area, complete this form or go to this page to view a list of companies.

Car insurance specifics

Learning about specific coverages of car insurance aids in choosing the right coverages for your vehicles. The coverage terms in a policy can be impossible to understand and nobody wants to actually read their policy. These are the usual coverages found on the average car insurance policy.

Coverage for uninsured or underinsured drivers

This gives you protection when other motorists either have no liability insurance or not enough. Covered claims include medical payments for you and your occupants and also any damage incurred to your vehicle.

Since a lot of drivers only purchase the least amount of liability that is required (25/50/25 in Alabama), their limits can quickly be used up. So UM/UIM coverage should not be overlooked. Frequently these coverages do not exceed the liability coverage limits.

Liability auto insurance

This coverage protects you from injuries or damage you cause to people or other property by causing an accident. This coverage protects you against claims from other people, and does not provide coverage for your injuries or vehicle damage.

Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. As an example, you may have values of 25/50/25 that means you have a $25,000 limit per person for injuries, $50,000 for the entire accident, and $25,000 of coverage for damaged propery. Occasionally you may see one limit called combined single limit (CSL) which combines the three limits into one amount with no separate limits for injury or property damage.

Liability insurance covers claims such as repair costs for stationary objects, loss of income, legal defense fees, bail bonds and court costs. How much liability should you purchase? That is your choice, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase higher limits if possible. Alabama requires minimum liability limits of 25,000/50,000/25,000 but you should consider buying more coverage.

Coverage for medical expenses

Med pay and PIP coverage kick in for short-term medical expenses for funeral costs, dental work, surgery and hospital visits. They can be used to fill the gap from your health insurance policy or if there is no health insurance coverage. Coverage applies to you and your occupants as well as if you are hit as a while walking down the street. PIP coverage is not available in all states and may carry a deductible

Collision protection

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 and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.

Collision insurance covers claims such as scraping a guard rail, rolling your car, colliding with another moving vehicle and crashing into a building. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so consider dropping it from vehicles that are older. You can also choose a higher deductible to bring the cost down.

Comprehensive car insurance

This pays to fix your vehicle from damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. A deductible will apply and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.

Comprehensive can pay for claims like fire damage, damage from flooding, hitting a deer, hitting a bird and falling objects. The highest amount you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the cash value of the vehicle, so if the vehicle’s value is low it’s not worth carrying full coverage.

More information can be read on the website for the Alabama Department of Insurance found here. Consumers can read enforcement actions against agents and companies, report car insurance fraud, and find disaster information.

Other informative sites include NAIC.org’s Understanding your Policy and this page where you can research Daphne insurance agents.