Archive for the ‘cheap car insurance’ Category
Monday, September 6th, 2010
There are four great ways to obtain cheap car insurance, according to Bankrate’s article “4 shortest routes to cheap car insurance.” The best step before purchasing car insurance or even after is to shop around. You can use online tools to get quotes or call around to different companies. Always ask the companies a lot of questions, including what discounts may be available. Sometimes Erie insurance and other smaller companies can get you better rates than the big guys.
Changing to a higher deductible is another way to lower your car insurance rates. You can decrease your monthly payments by 1/4 simply by increasing your deductible by a few hundred dollars. It’s important to have enough money to cover your increased deductible available in case you need to make a claim, so be sure to save it in your bank account. Another important step to take when trying to lower your car insurance is to take advantage of any discounts that apply to you. Some companies offer discounts for driving fewer miles, having an alarm system, good driving records, and even for taking additional driver’s training classes.
By adding other insurance coverage on with your car insurance, you might be able to make your monthly payments for each cheaper. Companies often give better pricing to customers who insure both their home and auto together. It might save you money to insure more than one car with the same company if you have a family member needing insurance as well. Shop around and ask insurers about any possible discounts they offer to get cheap car insurance for your vehicle.
Tags: car insurance, cheap car insurance, Erie Insurance
Posted in Erie Insurance, car insurance, cheap car insurance | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
According to Laurent Belsie’s article in The Christian Science Monitor, the five states where you will spend the least amount of your median income on car insurance are not necessarily the states with the cheapest car insurance rates. In “Insurance rates: Top 5 states to insure a car for less,” Belsie lists the five states where companies like Esurance will insure your car for less of your median income than all other states. The national average for car insurance payments is $733 per year or 3.5% of one’s income.
Although insurance rates are relatively high in Massachusetts, the median income is as well so residents of the Bay State pay the least percentage of income towards their car insurance. The average cheap car insurance payment of $509 a year equals out to 2% of the annual income in Massachusetts. Minnesota is the second place state, even though they have very harsh winters filled with loads of snow, ice and sleet. Drivers there spend about 2.4% of their median income on their average car insurance payments of $563 per year. Maybe it is because they spend so much time stuck in their houses in a snowdrift!
Hawaii comes in third place, even though they pay the most insurance of all the top five states at $602 a year. They also make much more on average than Americans in other states. Companies like Allmerica car insurance don’t have to worry about snow and ice since residents are driving in beautiful weather year round. The fourth place state is New Hampshire, partly because there are so many less drivers per square mile than neighbors like New York City. Residents pay $595 a year, which is 2.5% of their median income. Utah rounds out the top five with residents paying 2.4% of their income for car insurance of $573 per year. They have a lot of open space and far fewer residents than many other states.
Tags: Allmerica car insurance, cheap car insurance, Esurance
Posted in Allmerica car insurance, Esurance, cheap car insurance | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
Unfortunately for the rest of us, many people in need of extra cash during these tough economic times are getting rid of their car insurance. According to “More local drivers foregoing car insurance to make ends meet” from Washington news station KREM, Marissa Bagg describes this effect from the nationwide recession. Each state in the U.S. requires drivers to carry insurance on their vehicles, but you are not required to show proof when obtaining or renewing a driver’s license. So when forced with a choice to insure their vehicle or buy food for their family, Americans are choosing the latter. It’s always better to look for cheap car insurance to keep yourself safe though.
Companies like Farmers auto insurance may work with you to help you keep your car insured and avoid costly expenses related to not having insurance. Local Washington insurance companies are dealing with the problem in different ways. One company said it has lost 1/4 of its business due to the economy and customers saying they cannot afford to keep car insurance. State Farm Car Insurance is working with consumers and allowing them to suspend their policies in order to save the money needed to pay their premiums and not be considered uninsured. They have seen customers lessening coverage and cutting down on other things though. Before you cancel your car insurance policy, see if you company will work with you to avoid the huge expenses that will come if any accidents occur.
Tags: cheap car insurance, Farmers auto insurance, state farm car insurance
Posted in Farmers auto insurance, cheap car insurance, state farm car insurance | No Comments »
Friday, June 4th, 2010
On June 8 California voters will cast their ballot for or against Proposition 17, the Continuous Coverage Auto Insurance Discount Act. In The Daily Californian article “Prop.17 Would Cut Auto Insurance Rates,” Mike D’Arelli says that passing Prop.17 would help increase competition and help California consumers get better rates from car insurance companies like Nationwide Insurance. Consumers could save hundreds of dollars each year if the auto insurance discount gets extended through Prop.17. The current driving law in California offers a discount to consumers who maintain car insurance through the same company, called the continuous coverage discount. But you lose that discount if you switch car insurance companies. So even though your coverage has been continuous, since it wasn’t with the same company the law says you lose the discount.
Prop.17’s change to the insurance law would modify it so that consumers still receive the continuous coverage discount even if they switch car insurance companies. As most Americans are trying to reduce expenses and save money wherever they can, the ability to shop around for cheap car insurance is really important. More competition in the car insurance market leads to lower rates for consumers. Prop.17 also includes a grace period of 90-days for consumers who stop coverage for a short time because they are unable to drive. Individual insurers can extend that grace period longer than that to maintain a consumer’s continuous coverage discount. There is also a military provision to ensure that men and women serving our country overseas will be able to maintain their discount. California voters will make a decision next week on Prop.17.
Tags: cheap car insurance, Nationwide Insurance
Posted in Nationwide Insurance, cheap car insurance | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
According to “The 5 biggest lies told to car insurance companies,” freelance writer Barbara Marquard says that your little white lies actually mean a lot more than you think. Many consumers lie to their car insurer to get cheap car insurance. What insurers call “premium leakage”, or lost revenue based on inaccurate information from consumers, adds up to nearly 10% of total premium dollars. The top misrepresentation to car insurance companies is under-estimating the amount of miles that you drive. While some people may just not know, many change jobs and increase commutes without telling their insurers. Not listing all of the drivers in the household is another common falsification. Whether it’s a newly licensed teenager or a high-risk adult driver, many drivers are left off of the insurance policies.
Lying about where your car is parked, whether in a garage or not, is the third largest misrepresentation. The fourth is claiming discounts that don’t apply to you or your family any longer. AAA Auto Insurance may offer discounts for members of their roadside assistance program or honor roll students, but if your situation changes, you have to let your insurer know. Distorting how the vehicle is used is the last common misrepresentation. Some consumers don’t let insurers know that they are using their vehicle for business purposes. Insurance companies can find out your missing information through accidents a family member is in, a quality control company they hire, and even your odometer reading at a testing center. With the risk of your policy being canceled, it is in your best interest to be truthful to your car insurance company.
Tags: AAA Auto Insurance, cheap car insurance
Posted in AAA Auto Insurance, cheap car insurance | No Comments »
Monday, April 19th, 2010
In The New York Times article “Where Auto Insurance is Most Expensive,” Jennifer Saranow Schultz highlights the highs and lows of auto insurance. The most expensive premiums are in Louisiana, where the average person pays $2,510.87 per year. Compare car insurance in the rest of the top five states and some aren’t nearly as high as Louisiana. Michigan is the second highest at $2,098.29, followed by Oklahoma at $1,869.39, Montana at $1,857.96, and California at $1,774.41. One of the largest factors in determining these rates seems to be state laws. The state government is affecting how much you pay for your insurance, sometimes even more than your driving record does.
Cheap car insurance can be found in Maine, where the average premium studied was $902.85. Only two other states stayed under $1,000, with Vermont as the second lowest at $968.58 and Ohio as the third lowest with a premium average of $999.86. Rounding out the top five cheapest car insurance states were Wisconsin at $1,010.93 and New Hampshire at $1,011.23. The article also explained that population levels may have a large factor in what companies like Erie Insurance charge consumers for their car insurance. The more rural states may just have fewer crashes because the highways are not as crowded as the more urban states. You’ll have to see if your premium matches up with your state’s average according to this recent study.
Tags: cheap car insurance, compare car insurance, Erie Insurance
Posted in Erie Insurance, cheap car insurance, compare car insurance | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
The state of North Carolina has the eighth lowest car insurance rates in the United States, according to “Report: North Carolina has eighth cheapest car insurance” by Lee Weisbecker of the Triangle Business Journal. If you’re looking for cheap car insurance, North Carolinians pay about $591.11 per year. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners issued the report listing North Carolina as the southern state with the lowest insurance rates. Residents of North Dakota have the lowest car insurance rates in the United States, averaging $511.79 per year. The second lowest rates of $517.62 were in Iowa, according to the data collected from 2003-2007 in all 50 states.
The Insurance Commissioner of North Carolina was pleased with the report’s findings. He recently rolled car insurance rates back to the 2006 price levels and froze them until at least 2011, helping to keep North Carolina as one of the most affordable states in his opinion. State Farm car insurance and other companies operating in North Carolina have their rates set by the insurance commissioner. These standardized rates put caps at the high and low ends of the scale, but are non-existent in most other states. Offering discounts is the only way for car insurance companies to offer lower rates than the standards. North Carolina’s car insurance rates are significantly lower than its neighboring states.
Tags: cheap car insurance, state farm car insurance
Posted in Uncategorized, cheap car insurance, state farm car insurance | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
It looks like the Hummer brand will be shutting down soon, according to “Hummer faces shutdown after Chinese sale collapses” by Dan Strumpf of The Associated Press. Car insurance companies will no longer have new models of the hulking SUV’s to worry about insuring. General Motors Co. was hoping to sell the brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co. of China, but the manufacturer was unable to get clearance from its Chinese regulators by the end of February deadline. General Motors promises to honor the warranties of existing Hummers. They are working with Hummer employees, dealerships, and suppliers to phase out the brand.
The potential for a deal with the Chinese manufacturer came in October, six months after General Motors began trying to sell the Hummer brand because of the losses it was incurring. But Chinese regulators showed a lot of resistance from the start because they do not approve of the rapid growth in the Chinese auto industry. Sales of Hummers peaked in 2006, but Hummer only sold 325 cars last year. The cars range in price from $42,500 to $63,000. Hummer was hit hard by the extreme gas prices of 2008 because of their lack of fuel economy. It wasn’t easy to find cheap car insurance for the large, off-road vehicles either. If Hummer closes as expected, they will join Saturn, Pontiac, and Saab as a brand that GM has discontinued or sold off.
Tags: car insurance companies, cheap car insurance
Posted in car insurance companies, cheap car insurance | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
“New laws restricting under-18 NY drivers take effect in February,” according to John O’Brien of The Post-Standard. While teenagers probably won’t be happy with their new rules, the plan is to make the road safer for everyone. Drivers under the age of 18 account for 20% of all accidents in New York, but only 12% of their drivers. While most people assume the crashes are related to drinking, they usually are not. The problem is inexperience on the road and distractions in the car.
Starting February 22, under-18 drivers will only be permitted one non-family passenger that is under-21 unless the driver’s parent or guardian is also in the car. New drivers will also have to complete 50 hours of driving instead of 20 in order to obtain their learner’s permit, with 15 hours occurring in the dark. In order to get a license, young drivers will have to have their learner’s permit for at least 6 months. The limited-use junior driver’s license that used to exist in NY will be eliminated with this new law.
The new law is good news for insurance companies like Dairyland insurance. Teenagers tend to be nervous drivers because of their inexperience on the road. Adding the distraction and peer pressure of a car full of friends can easily lead to riskier decisions and more accidents. Fewer accidents not only keeps other drivers safe, it can make for cheap car insurance rates as companies pay out less money in claims. New York State’s new law will help teenagers obtain more driving experience before being left alone in their cars and help eliminate the distraction of other teenagers in their vehicle.
Tags: cheap car insurance, Dairyland Insurance
Posted in Dairyland Insurance, cheap car insurance | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
From Yahoo Finance, Insurance.com’s press release “Insurance.com RateWatch: Car Insurance Rates Dropped Significantly in 2009,” they believe that “lower rates look to provide relief to drivers in 2010.” Car insurance rates had a steep increase of 8% in 2008 but dropped by 3.5% in 2009. The average consumer in the United States pays $1,803 per year as of this November. Cheap car insurance can be found by shopping around for companies that have followed the trend of decreasing rates. Smart shoppers took advantage of the lower rates by purchasing new policies this year.
An Estrella Insurance quote could help you get significant savings on your auto policy. Estrella insurance has over 40 agencies throughout Florida and prides themselves on excellent customer service. You can obtain a quote through their website for any kind of automobile coverage that you need. These rate decreases came at just the right time for consumers, many of whom are trying to cut back during difficult economic times. While the largest rate declines occurred in Washington D.C., Nebraska, Vermont, Idaho, and West Virginia, most states did see a decline. Since the car insurance industry expects to see the rates remain steady or decline into 2010, this is a great time to get an Estrella Insurance quote.
Tags: cheap car insurance, Estrella Insurance, Estrella Insurance Quote
Posted in Estrella Insurance, Estrella Insurance Quote, Uncategorized, cheap car insurance | No Comments »
