10 Ways to Reduce the Cost of Your Car Insurance

Trying to keep car insurance premiums low is a priority for most drivers. Often this effort feels like a losing battle. By taking advantage of a few tips, you may be able realize significant savings in your current and future car insurance expenditures.

Shop for car insurance with multiple agents or brokers.

Treat buying car insurance the same way that you do other major purchases. Shop for the best deals. You have to be careful that you get the coverage that you want and need. Make a list of what you expect to have covered by your new policy. Present this list to several different agents and brokers. When they present you with quotes, eliminate the ones that did not stay with your list and select the best priced insurance from the remaining pool. For quotes that are nearly identical, pick the agent that you feel the most comfortable doing business with.

Keep young drivers and extremely old drivers off of your policy.

Age matters when it comes to car insurance rates. Drivers under 26 and over 80 will raise your insurance rates. It may be impossible to avoid having people in these age ranges on your policy. If you have the option, have your insurance policy exclude these drivers from your coverage. The savings can be substantial.

Drive fewer miles per year.

People who drive less pay less for car insurance. Driving your car less than 7,500 or 5,000 miles per year can make a nice impact on your rates. This may require carpooling or taking public transportation at times, but the discount on the car insurance may make it worth the effort.

Avoid buying "extras" on your car insurance policy.

Some insurance agents like to add additional small coverages to policies. Items like towing, rental cars after accidents, and emergency road service are often not worth the cost. These can be purchased cheaper from other sources like adding it on to your cell phone. If you only need towing every three or four years, just put $100 in the bank and replenish it when you use it.

Consider changing insurance companies every three to five years.

This is somewhat like shopping for the policy. However, insurance companies sometimes allow premium levels to creep upward on existing customers. Their idea is that it is easier to pay a few dollars more each year than to switch companies. While you may not always be able to save money by switching insurers, it is good to go through the process to verify that your rates are still competitive.

Drop the collision coverage on older vehicles without a lien.

When you pay a car off, look at the option of dropping your collision coverage and banking the difference in premium costs. If you have to have a car and may not be able to afford to repair or replace it without insurance, you may need to keep this coverage. However, not having collision coverage can save you hundreds of dollars per year in insurance costs. By banking the extra savings, it will help you to save toward replacing the car in a few years.

Check on the cost of insurance before making a decision to buy a specific type of car.

The type of car that you choose to drive will have a direct effect on the cost of your car insurance. Sports cars and cars that are frequently the target of thieves will raise your rates. Driving older or more family-type vehicles can lower the rates considerably. Likewise, keeping a clean driving record without tickets and accidents will help with this effort to keep rates low.

Specify a higher deductible on the collision and comprehensive coverage.

Raising deductibles is not quite the assurance of an insurance bargain that it may seem. It will save you money. However, the savings may only be slight. When packaged together with other discounts, this one can make a good discount even better. High deductibles are your way to bet that you will not have an accident. Make sure that your deductibles are not set so high that it will keep your from being able to repair or replace the car if needed.

Keep liability coverage at the legal minimum.

While it is usually recommended that you set the liability limits to fit your personal financial risk, leaving them at the legal minimum will save a decent amount of cash. You are assuming more risk, but if money is tight, this may be a risk worth taking until times get better in your personal finances.

Package your car insurance with other insurance policies.

Insurance companies like to sell multiple policies to the same person. They believe that this will keep you from leaving the fold when small rate increases hit. So consider buying your insurance in a package. The most common way to do this is to buy homeowners insurance and car insurance from the same company. However, multiple cars, renters insurance and a few other types of policies may qualify you for these same discounts.