Car insurance is a large part of the budgets of many households. With premiums continuing to increase, it is important to find ways to possibly lower the rates you pay.
You should be able to lower your rates if you increase the amount of the deductible. By increasing your deductible from $200 to $500 you could lower the rates for collision and comprehensive insurance by 15 percent to 30 percent. If you increase it to $1,000 you may be lower your premiums up to 40 percent. The deductible is the amount you pay for repairs before the insurance company starts paying for repairs. If you have money in savings to pay for possible damages or repairs, it may be worth increasing the deductibles to save money on your insurance premiums.
If your car is older and not of much value, it may be worth the savings in rate prices to drop collision and/or comprehensive insurance. Most lending companies and banks require you to have full coverage insurance on a vehicle if you have a loan for the vehicle. Once you pay off the loan, you may decide to drop some of the coverage. Most states require drivers to have at least liability insurance.
Review your car policies every year or so to see if there have been changes in your driving habits or the vehicles you own. Most vehicle insurance rates are partly determined by how many miles you drive annually. It is an assumption that the more miles you drive, the greater your risk of being involved in an automobile accident becomes. One way to decrease the number of miles reported to the insurance company is to start carpooling if you live close to someone else that works with you or near you. You may have also sold vehicles and forgot to drop the insurance on them.
It sometimes costs more to insure vehicles than it costs to repair them. For example, if the deductible for an insurance claim is $1,000, but the cost of the repair is $500, then the insurance is more useful for repairs in excess of $1,000. However, the deductible also influences the cost of monthly or bi-annual insurance premiums. Generally, the higher the deductible is, the lower the monthly or bi-annual premium becomes. There are also certain vehicles that are more susceptible to theft, which in turn makes them more expensive to insure.
One way you may not have considered is to have a good credit score. In the past, your credit history and credit score were mainly used to determine interest rates for loans. Now, it is often considered for possible job offers, when renting an apartment and determining insurance rates.
By limiting the number of speeding tickets and other traffic violations can keep your car insurance rates lower. In certain instances, these violations are reported to your insurance company and your rates may increase. Some insurance companies advertise claims of reducing rates for every six months or a year without an accident and other incentives for safe driving.
Many insurance companies offer lower rates if you insure multiple vehicles and other items such as recreational vehicles and motorcycles. Having other insurance such as homeowners insurance and life insurance togther with the same company may reduce your rates further.
With the increasing prices of car insurance, there are some ways you may be able to lower the cost of car insurance.