Save Money by Avoiding These Mistakes when Buying Car Insurance

Buying car insurance isn't hard, is it? Not really, if you are prepared, but there a lot of common mistakes that people make when shopping for insurance for their cars that cost them a lot of money. You might be surprised how much money you will save if you don't make these mistakes when buying your car insurance.

One of the biggest mistakes consumers make when buying car insurance is not seeking out the discounts available to them that can save lots of money. If you haven't had an accident, you could no doubt get a discount. You should seek one from the companies you shop with. If you are young and have excelled in school, you might qualify for a discount, and you should ask the companies you shop with if there is one available. If you are a homeowner, you might qualify for a discount. If you have great credit, there might be a discount available to you. Don't be afraid to ask companies you are shopping with about discounts available to you.

You might find some of these discounts when you shop online for multiple companies. If you do shopping in person in your area, don't forget to ask companies if they offer the kinds of discounts you find online.

In some states, if you don't drive much, you might save on your insurance if you buy "usage based" insurance based on how much you drive. Check into this. If this doesn't exist, you may still qualify for low mileage coverage.

Some people don't give themselves adequate time to shop around for car insurance with multiple providers, and that is a big mistake. You might be losing out on a good deal if you don't shop around.

Many people also don't check out the companies they are shopping with. This is a big mistake. How do you know the company you are shopping with is reliable? How do you know it pays claims adequately and in a timely manner? Ask the Better Business Bureau about each company, or your state's insurance agency. Ask anyone you know who uses the insurance of the company you are considering about his experience.

When you are considering buying car insurance, don't make the mistake of choosing the wrong amount for your deductible. Deductibles usually start at $100 and go up. How much could you afford to pay out of pocket if your car were damaged before the insurance company would pay its share? If you choose too low a deductible, you might pay a lot more for your insurance. If you choose too high a deductible, you might not be able to afford to pay your share of your car's damages. Consider your budget carefully before making this important decision. When you make this decision, you should consider how good a driver you are, if there are young drivers who will use your car, and the area you are in.

You should also consider the best payment plan for your insurance. You might be able to pay monthly, quarterly, annually, or semi-annually. Some of the options, for example, semi-annually, might allow you to spread your semi-annual premiums into two payments. The more your payments are spread out, the more total you will pay, although each payment will be lower, and you should consider this. Nevertheless, you need a payment option, whatever it is, that you can afford.

If you have personal property that is stolen from your car, it is not covered in your car's insurance policy. Don't think you can buy a policy that does offer such coverage. If such a thing happens once you have insurance, file a claim instead on your home insurance, if the stolen items are more than your deductible. If you have photos or videos of the items, you will be better prepared. If you carry expensive items in your car, you might want to a rider to your policy above normal limits.

If you are in an accident in some states you may be entitled to what is called a diminished value claim. That means no matter how well your car is repaired it will be worth less after being in an accident. You won't be able to make such a claim on your own insurance, buy you might be able to make such a claim on the other driver's insurance policy, if he is at fault. That is one thing you could find out about before buying insurance.

Before you are in an accident, you should ask about "accident forgiveness," which might keep your rates from going up, once one occurs. Your age can be a factor in this as well, and you might save enough if you are older that an increase in rates after an accident might not hurt you as much as others. You could ask about this when shopping around for insurance.

If you change insurance companies, officially cancel your old policy. Don't make the mistake of just ignoring bills from the old company.

Before you buy insurance, you should know that it will be a mistake to add your teenage driver to your policy just because he has a permit. Wait until he is licensed, but don't forget to add him to the policy when he is, to avoid back premiums. If you are in a high-risk insurance pool, however, you may have to add him to the policy when he has a permit.

How much money can you save when you are buying car insurance, if you avoid the listed mistakes? Who knows, but no doubt it could be a lot.

Citations:

Don't Make these Costly Mistakes when Selecting a Car Insurance Provider in Portland, Oregon, no author listed, Articlesbase.com

12 things you don't know about car insurance that could cost you by Insure.com