Did you fall for a flashy sales pitch and buy an overpriced auto insurance policy? Believe me when I say there are many consumers feeling the pinch from expensive auto insurance.
Multiple insurance companies compete for your business, and it can be difficult to compare rates to get the lowest rate
It’s a good idea to take a look at other company’s rates quite often due to the fact that insurance rates are variable and change quite frequently. Just because you found the best rates for Sentra coverage a couple years back you will most likely find a better rate today. Ignore everything you know about auto insurance because we’re going to demonstrate how to use the internet to buy cheaper auto insurance.
An important part of buying insurance is that you know some of the elements that help determine your car insurance rates. Having a good understanding of what determines base rates helps enable you to make changes that could result in lower car insurance prices.
Properly insuring your vehicles can get expensive, but companies offer discounts to reduce the price significantly. Certain discounts will be triggered automatically when you complete an application, but lesser-known reductions have to be specifically requested prior to receiving the credit.
It’s important to understand that many deductions do not apply to the overall cost of the policy. A few only apply to the cost of specific coverages such as comp or med pay. So even though they make it sound like having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, car insurance companies aren’t that generous. Any amount of discount will cut your premiums.
Companies that may offer these discounts include:
It’s a good idea to ask each insurance company what discounts are available to you. Discounts may not be available everywhere.
When buying adequate coverage, there is no “best” method to buy coverage. Everyone’s situation is a little different and your policy should reflect that. For instance, these questions can help discover if you could use an agent’s help.
If it’s difficult to answer those questions but a few of them apply, you may need to chat with a licensed agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, take a second and complete this form or you can also visit this page to select a carrier
Learning about specific coverages of a car insurance policy aids in choosing appropriate coverage at the best deductibles and correct limits. Policy terminology can be confusing and nobody wants to actually read their policy. Shown next are the usual coverages found on the average car insurance policy.
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage
This protects you and your vehicle from other drivers when they are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. This coverage pays for hospital bills for your injuries and damage to your Nissan Sentra.
Due to the fact that many drivers have only the minimum liability required by law, their liability coverage can quickly be exhausted. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is a good idea. Frequently your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages are similar to your liability insurance amounts.
Medical payments coverage and PIP
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage provide coverage for bills for dental work, nursing services and X-ray expenses. They are used in conjunction with a health insurance policy or if you lack health insurance entirely. Coverage applies to not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants and also covers being hit by a car walking across the street. PIP is only offered in select states but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage
Comprehensive coverage
This coverage will pay to fix damage from a wide range of events other than collision. You need to pay your deductible first and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive can pay for things like a broken windshield, fire damage, hitting a bird, damage from flooding and falling objects. The most your car insurance company will pay 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.
Auto liability insurance
Liability coverage will cover damage that occurs to other’s property or people. It protects YOU from claims by other people, and does not provide coverage for damage sustained by your vehicle in an accident.
Liability coverage has three limits: per person bodily injury, per accident bodily injury, and a property damage limit. You commonly see policy limits of 50/100/50 which stand for a $50,000 limit per person for injuries, a total of $100,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and a limit of $50,000 paid for damaged property. Some companies may use one number which is a combined single limit which provides one coverage limit rather than limiting it on a per person basis.
Liability coverage protects against things like funeral expenses, repair bills for other people’s vehicles, pain and suffering and loss of income. How much liability coverage do you need? That is up to you, but consider buying higher limits if possible.
Collision protection
This will pay to fix damage to your Sentra caused by collision with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. You first must pay a deductible then the remaining damage will be paid by your insurance company.
Collision coverage protects against things such as scraping a guard rail, colliding with a tree, hitting a parking meter, sustaining damage from a pot hole and driving through your garage door. This coverage can be expensive, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from lower value vehicles. Drivers also have the option to choose a higher deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.
As you restructure your insurance plan, it’s a bad idea to reduce coverage to reduce premium. There are many occasions where an insured cut collision coverage only to regret that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. Your aim should be to get the best coverage possible at an affordable rate.
Throughout this article, we presented a lot of tips how to compare 1996 Nissan Sentra insurance prices online. It’s most important to understand that the more rate quotes you have, the higher the chance of saving money. Consumers may even find the lowest priced insurance coverage comes from a small mutual company. These companies may have significantly lower rates on certain market segments as compared to the big name companies such as Allstate or State Farm.
Discount insurance is definitely available from both online companies in addition to many insurance agents, so compare prices from both to have the best selection. There are still a few companies who do not provide online price quotes and most of the time these regional insurance providers sell through independent agents.