5 Things to Know About Getting a Low Mileage Discount on Your Car Insurance

Driving fewer miles each year can translate into significant savings on your car insurance costs. Insurance companies love to reward those who drive less miles with better premium rates. For many drivers, qualifying for these low mileage rates can be challenging. There are a few things that you can do to help qualify for the low-mileage savings.

The number of miles considered 'low' can vary by insurance company.

Most insurance companies have at least three tiers for their mileage prices for car policies. Somewhere between 5,000 and 7,500 miles per year on a vehicle is considered to be low mileage for insurance. At this level, the car is regarded as a pleasure vehicle rather than a business necessity. Drivers who routinely keep their vehicle parked most of the time and drive about 100 miles per week or less will qualify easily for this discount.

Insurance companies do not tend to inspect your odometer for accurate reporting.

Most car insurers are not really concerned if you exceed these mileage numbers by a few hundred miles or even a thousand or so. If you just take one extra trip per year on vacation, you can slap a couple of thousand miles on your car. This can result in that 7,500-mile estimate becoming 8,500 or 9,000 miles. As long as you are in the ballpark of the insurance company's estimates, you will be OK. If you routinely drive 12,000 miles per year, it is best to confess so that you do not end up embarrassed and with no coverage after an accident.

The second tier of mileage that the car insurers look at happens at about double of the first tier.

Somewhere around 15,000 miles, most insurance companies begin to elevate their rates. More driving means more opportunities for accidents. A few insurance companies actually make this their first tier. For most, the rates go up after you pass 7,500 miles and again as you get beyond 15,000. These rate increases are not too severe.

When you pass 25,000 to 30,000 miles of driving per year, your rates will hit the maximum without going to a high-risk policy.

At this level, you may still call this pleasure driving, but insurers will regard this as business use. Very few people drive this many miles without long commutes or using the car for business purposes. The policy prices reflect the greater risk associated with this type of use and the increased level of exposure to risk from the higher mileage.

In order to qualify for low-mileage discounts, there are some steps that you can take.

The obvious one is to find a way to drive less. This can be done by carpooling or taking mass transit to work. You can also combine trips so that you drive less often. Find places closer to home to shop and to work. While it is rarely cheaper to insure two cars than one, having two cars can let you reduce the miles driven on one vehicle. In some instances, this can result in a significant savings. If you and your spouse share the same car, having two cars may bring you other good benefits, too.