Insurance Buying tips
When looking for car insurance, it pays to shop around. You will notice that for the same amount of coverage, you may get auto insurance quotes all over the map. Also it does not make sense to settle for the cheapest car insurance quote out there. When deciding on a car insurance company, we should definitely do online research. You can verify some of the information independently by using third party sources. Pay close attention to the amount of complaints that have been filed against an insurance company. We have put together a list of Insurance Buying tips that will help you save time and money. Here we go: | |||
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Insurance buying tip #1 -Understand all the auto insurance mumbo jumbo.At the very basic level, you need to know the difference between liability protection, comprehensive and collision, uninsured and underinsured. The more educated you are, the better you can negotiate your insurance coverage.Insurance buying tip #2 - How much insurance coverage do you really need?This is the most important insurance buying tip. Having said that, this is also a complicated question and has quite a few factors associated with it:-One factor is the State you live in. Different states carry different minimum amounts for liability coverage insurance. For example I am in the small state of Texas, where the limits are 30/60/25, it does not make any sense for me to have 100/300/100 insurance coverage unless I am loaded which I am not! -What is the cost of your car? If you drive an expensive German import like BMW, your insurance coverage is going to cost a lot more than if you're driving let's say Ford Taurus (nothing against Ford, infact I own their stock). -Another factor for insurance coverage is the age of your vehicle . If you're like me and driving a 1997 Toyota 4Runner, you definitely do not need comprehensive and collision. -Finally if you are leasing or just bought a new car with a bank loan, you have no choice but to have full insurance coverage (meaning liability + comp/collision)
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Insurance buying tip #3 - Make sure you review your driving recordThis tip on Auto Insurance will make you better informed. Before you go shopping for auto insurance, make sure that you have a good idea of your driving history. This means that if you have any traffic violations, accidents, insurance claims etc., you need to know all this before you start dialing numbers of any insurance agents. | |||
Insurance buying tip #4 - Review your Insurance policy every now and thenThis insurance tip is often ignored by consumers. Make sure you review your auto insurance policy every now and then and adjust it as needed. If you do not plan to travel a lot in your car, maybe it does not seem sensible to have Roadside assistance on your car insurance policy. | |||
Insurance buying tip #5 - Shop Online for Auto insurance quotesBack in the "old school" days, in order to get auto insurance, you would first gather your vehicle information, your driver's license, significant others information and a host of insurance agent numbers to dial. You still need a lot of that information but nowadays the process to look for Auto insurance quotes online is a lot easier. This critical tip on auto insurance will save you time and money! We have put together a list of auto insurance companies with independent reviews of their quote generation process. | |||
Insurance buying tip #6 - Call your local Insurance AgentOnline insurance websites are crowed with the big insurance companies like Allstate, Farmers, Progressive, and Geico etc. It may be worth your while to walk down the street or call up a local neighborhood insurance agent. You may land an affordable insurance coverage package if you follow this insurance tip. | |||
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Insurance buying tip #7 - Be informed about and ask for Insurance discountsInsurance companies offer a lot of discounts to attract new customers. These include but are not limited to good driving record, credit rating, safety equipment like ABS, Alarm, multi-policy discount, homeowner discount, senior discount among others. Make sure you mention these when buying a new auto insurance policy. | |||
Insurance buying tip #8 - Choose a reliable insurance companyBefore settling for an insurance company, make sure you call your State's department of insurance and look for the number of complaints against that particular company. You can also look for AM Best and Standard and Poor's ratings. | |||
Insurance buying tip #9 - Review the insurance policy before you signThis one is hard to do as your policy has pages and pages of the legal gibberish. However this maybe of critical importance in time of need. Personally I had one situation where my significant other backed into my car as she did not bother looking back! Duh. Our friendly insurance company (name ryhmes with Charmers) at the time denied the insurance claim as both the cars involved in the claim were owned by us, needless to say we had to pay this from our pocket! I was unaware of this but was pointed to the legal details on this of course by our friendly neighborhood agent!Insurance buying tip #10 - Review the Auto Insurance before you buy a new vehicleIf you are in the market for a new vehicle, please do some research on the intended vehicle. Check the insurance rate before you make the purchase. If that vehicle is a popular stolen item or rated high for auto insurance, maybe you should move onto another vehicle that will save you money on the car insurance. | |||
Buying Insurance Tips - Related LinksTop tips and tricks when buying InsuranceTips for insurance from Insurance.com Insurance Advice from Edmunds.com How to buy car insurance and avoid scams | |||
