Nobody I know looks forward to buying auto insurance, in particular when the cost is too high.
Insurance companies such as GEICO, Farmers Insurance and State Farm constantly bombard you with TV and radio ads and it can be hard to see through the deception and find the best price available.
It’s a great practice to compare prices every six months because rates change regularly. If you had the lowest price for Ninety-Eight insurance last year a different company probably has better rates today. So forget anything you know (or think you know) about auto insurance because we’re going to show you the best way to properly buy coverages and cut your premium.
Consumers need to have an understanding of some of the elements that go into determining auto insurance rates. When you know what positively or negatively influences your rates allows you to make educated decisions that will entitle you to big savings.
Listed below are a partial list of the pieces companies use to determine prices.
Most major insurance companies provide coverage prices directly from their websites. Obtaining pricing is quite simple as you just type in your coverage information as requested by the quote form. Upon sending the form, their rating system pulls credit information and your driving record and gives you a price quote based on these factors. This helps simplify price comparisons, but the time it takes to visit many different websites and type in the same information is repetitive and time-consuming. But it’s absolutely necessary to perform this step in order to get the lowest possible prices on insurance coverage.
The preferred way to lower your insurance coverage bill requires only one form to return rates from several different companies. It saves time, eliminates form submissions, and makes rate comparisons much simpler. Immediately after submitting the form, it is rated and you can choose any one of the pricing results.
If a lower price is quoted, you can click and sign and purchase coverage. This process takes 15 minutes at the most and you will know how your current rates stack up.
To quickly fill out one form to compare multiple rates now, click here to open in a new tab and begin entering your coverage information. If you have your current policy handy, we recommend that you enter the coverage information identical to your current policy. This way, you will get an apples-to-apples comparison for exact coverage.
Insurance companies such as Allstate and Progressive continually stream ads on TV and radio. They all seem to make an identical promise that you’ll save big after switching to their company. How does each company say the same thing?
All the different companies have a preferred profile for the right customer that is profitable for them. For instance, a profitable customer might be profiled as between 25 and 40, has no prior claims, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. A propective insured that hits that “sweet spot” will get the preferred rates and as a result will probably save a lot of money.
Potential insureds who don’t qualify for this ideal profile will be quoted more money which usually ends up with business not being written. The ads say “people who switch” not “everyone that quotes” save money. That’s why insurance companies can claim big savings.
This emphasizes why drivers should get quotes from several different companies. You cannot predict which company will fit your personal profile best.
Properly insuring your vehicles can get expensive, but there are discounts available to help bring down the price. Some trigger automatically at the time of purchase, but less common discounts must be inquired about before they will apply.
It’s important to understand that most discount credits are not given to the entire policy premium. Some only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as liability and collision coverage. Even though it may seem like all the discounts add up to a free policy, it just doesn’t work that way. But any discount will reduce the cost of coverage.
Car insurance companies who might offer these benefits include:
Double check with each insurance company how you can save money. Discounts may not apply in every state.
When it comes to buying adequate coverage for your personal vehicles, there isn’t really a single plan that fits everyone. Everyone’s needs are different so this has to be addressed. For example, these questions can help discover if your situation would benefit from an agent’s advice.
If you don’t know the answers to these questions but a few of them apply, you may need to chat with a licensed agent. If you want to speak to an agent in your area, fill out this quick form or you can also visit this page to select a carrier
Knowing the specifics of insurance helps when choosing the right coverages at the best deductibles and correct limits. The terms used in a policy can be impossible to understand and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording. Below you’ll find typical coverages found on the average insurance policy.
Comprehensive coverage – Comprehensive insurance pays for damage from a wide range of events other than collision. A deductible will apply and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive can pay for things like hail damage, hitting a bird, damage from a tornado or hurricane and damage from getting keyed. The most you’ll receive from a claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible it’s not worth carrying full coverage.
Medical payments coverage and PIP – Med pay and PIP coverage provide coverage for immediate expenses for things like doctor visits, pain medications, nursing services and ambulance fees. They can be used to fill the gap from your health insurance plan or if you lack health insurance entirely. Medical payments and PIP cover not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants as well as if you are hit as a while walking down the street. PIP is not universally available and may carry a deductible
Collision coverages – This coverage pays for damage to your Ninety-Eight from colliding with another car or object. You have to pay a deductible and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.
Collision can pay for claims like backing into a parked car, driving through your garage door and scraping a guard rail. Paying for collision coverage can be pricey, so consider dropping it from vehicles that are older. It’s also possible to raise the deductible to bring the cost down.
Liability coverage – This coverage provides protection from damages or injuries you inflict on a person or their property in an accident. It protects YOU from claims by other people, and doesn’t cover damage sustained by your vehicle in an accident.
It consists of three limits, per person bodily injury, per accident bodily injury, and a property damage limit. As an example, you may have values of 100/300/100 that means you have $100,000 in coverage for each person’s injuries, a limit of $300,000 in injury protection per accident, and $100,000 of coverage for damaged propery. Some companies may use a combined single limit or CSL which limits claims to one amount rather than limiting it on a per person basis.
Liability insurance covers things such as loss of income, bail bonds, repair costs for stationary objects, legal defense fees and emergency aid. How much liability coverage do you need? That is up to you, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase as high a limit as you can afford.
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage – Your UM/UIM coverage provides protection from other drivers when they are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. This coverage pays for injuries sustained by your vehicle’s occupants and damage to your 1995 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight.
Because many people carry very low liability coverage limits, it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. For this reason, having high UM/UIM coverages should not be overlooked. Most of the time these limits are similar to your liability insurance amounts.
When you buy insurance online, do not buy less coverage just to save a little money. In many cases, an insured dropped liability coverage limits only to regret at claim time that the savings was not a smart move. The aim is to find the BEST coverage at an affordable rate while still protecting your assets.
Cheaper 1995 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight insurance is possible both online and also from your neighborhood agents, so you should compare both to have the best chance of lowering rates. Some insurance providers may not provide online price quotes and many times these smaller companies only sell through independent insurance agents.
More detailed insurance information can be found by following these links: