It may not surprise you to learn that auto insurance companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year to entice drivers like you to switch to their particular company. One of the reasons they are willing to make such massive investments is because they know once you become a policy holder of theirs, you will likely stay with them, even if rates occasionally increase. Statistics resulting from extensive research investments prove this theory, and they are in the business of data. They also understand that changing car insurance carriers can be a hassle.
A little diligence and motivation, however, will uncover numerous hidden car insurance tricks to save money. If you want to know how to save money on car insurance, we’ve got you covered with the following money saving tricks car insurance companies don’t want you to know.
How to Get Discounts on Car Insurance
Your job will affect your your rates, so use the right title. Your job can probably be described in multiple ways. Teachers for example, may be referred to as professors, educators, or as teaching professionals. Sales people may also be called sales representative, account representatives or customer relations personnel.
If you paint houses you may be in home improvement, a contractor or involved in property renovation. Using the right description can save you money while still maintaining the integrity of your quote request.
Get rid of the added options. Auto insurance companies love when you add options like lower deductibles, car rentals, higher coverage than necessary and more. If your car is more than a few years old you should particularly be concerned about the expense vs value ratio of these added options.
Safe drivers often get added discounts, allowing them to save money on their car insurance policy.
Insurance companies love people who pay hundreds extra for full coverage when their car is only worth a few thousand dollars. Does it seem odd to you that as your car gets older and less valuable, your rates continue to increase? That should raise a red flag.
If you pay for car insurance monthly, you are already paying too much. There are affordable options to monthly auto insurance payments. You can significantly save by paying your auto insurance quarterly, semi-annually or annually. If that doesn’t seem possible within your budget, set up auto-payments via a debit or credit card and you can still pay monthly but qualify for similar discounts.
Car Insurance Discounts for Safe Drivers
A driver’s training or defensive driving course may save you money. A safe driving course may not only help minimize the impact of an auto citation, it may help you qualify for cheaper auto insurance rates. Most of these courses may be completed online and are inexpensive to sign up for.
The discounts can more than cover the costs of the easy-to-take online course.
This is one of the most underused tricks to save money on car insurance.
Loyalty doesn’t always translate to lower rates. If you believe staying with the same company is how to save money on car insurance you are probably mistaken. Insurance companies can raise rates routinely across the board to all of their customers to improve margins.
It’s recommended to seek at least annual quotes if you want to save money on your car insurance.
Many companies feel a small increase across many customers is imperceptible, but can result in 10, 15 or 20 percent increase or more to you over a relatively short period of time.
Get at least three new quotes annually. No, insurance companies don’t like the fact that you may be constantly comparing, but that’s why it is such an important tool in how to get discounts on car insurance. You probably check prices at the gas station, the grocery store and when buying anything online so why not get comparative quotes on your car insurance at least every year?
When was the last time you compared auto insurance policies?
Ask about discounts. Insurers are not mandated to tell you about ways to lower your costs. This is your responsibility so make sure you ask about every possible discount you may qualify for.
You can also save money by becoming a safer driver, letting your car insurance company know if you’ve recently married and by improving your credit rating. You may have more control on how to save money on car insurance than you think!
When was the last time you checked if you could be saving money on your car insurance policy? Find out today.
4 comments
well i think it worth the money to invest in insurance.
Absolutely. Worth it to avoid spending exponentially more in the future should something occur.
I always avoid things like these, because I’m already betting with the insurance company that my car will have an accident, and they are betting that it won’t. My neighbor had been complaining about her car insurance being too expensive, turns out she was covering her dang internal electronics of the car, and it’s only a 2014 Honda Pilot, I mean to me it’s not that big of a deal, anyone else ever considered something like that for a relatively recent-ish car?
Good point Randy. A lot of times new cars will have things like this covered in the warranty. Definitely worth checking so you’re not wasting money by being redundant with your insurance policy.