Have you fallen victim to an underperforming, overpriced insurance policy? Trust us, there are many people just like you.
Consumers have many insurance companies to buy insurance from, and even though it’s nice to have multiple companies, it makes it harder to find the lowest cost provider.
Finding affordable coverage is not that difficult. Just about every driver who carries insurance coverage most likely will be able to find lower rates. Nevertheless, vehicle owners can benefit by having an understanding of how insurance companies market on the web and take advantage of how the system works.
The method we recommend to compare car insurance rates is to realize most of the larger companies participate in online systems to compare rate quotes. The only thing you need to do is provide a small amount of information such as whether you have decent credit, marital status, driver details, and distance driven. Your rating data is instantly submitted to many of the top insurers and you will receive price estimates within a short period of time.
Insurance companies such as 21st Century, Allstate and State Farm consistently run television and radio advertisements. They all seem to make the same claim about savings if you change your coverage to them. How does each company say the same thing? It’s all in the numbers.
Insurance companies are able to cherry pick for the right customer that makes them money. An example of a profitable customer could be over the age of 50, has no driving citations, and drives newer vehicles. A customer who meets those qualifications will get the preferred rates and therefore will pay quite a bit less when switching companies.
Potential insureds who don’t meet this ideal profile will be charged higher rates which leads to the customer not buying. The ads say “customers who switch” but not “drivers who get quotes” save money. That’s why insurance companies can advertise the savings. That is why it is so important to quote coverage with many companies. It’s impossible to know which company will have the lowest Ford Freestyle insurance rates.
Companies don’t always advertise every discount very well, so we took the time to find both well-publicized as well as the least known savings tricks you should be using.
It’s important to understand that some credits don’t apply to all coverage premiums. The majority will only reduce individual premiums such as medical payments or collision. Just because you may think all those discounts means the company will pay you, companies wouldn’t make money that way.
For a list of companies offering insurance coverage discounts, click here to view.
When it comes to choosing coverage, there is no best way to insure your cars. Everyone’s needs are different so your insurance should reflect that Here are some questions about coverages that may help highlight whether or not you would benefit from an agent’s advice.
If you’re not sure about those questions but you think they might apply to your situation, you may need to chat with a licensed insurance agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, fill out this quick form or you can go here for a list of companies in your area.
Understanding the coverages of auto insurance can be of help when determining which coverages you need and the correct deductibles and limits. The coverage terms in a policy can be difficult to understand and coverage can change by endorsement. Shown next are the normal coverages available from auto insurance companies.
Medical expense coverage – Med pay and PIP coverage provide coverage for bills for things like X-ray expenses, funeral costs and nursing services. They can be used in conjunction with a health insurance policy or if you lack health insurance entirely. Medical payments and PIP cover not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants and also covers if you are hit as a while walking down the street. PIP is only offered in select states and may carry a deductible
Auto liability – Liability insurance can cover damage or injury you incur to other’s property or people by causing an accident. It protects YOU against other people’s claims. It does not cover damage to your own property or vehicle.
Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. You might see limits of 100/300/100 which stand for $100,000 bodily injury coverage, a per accident bodily injury limit of $300,000, and property damage coverage for $100,000.
Liability insurance covers claims like bail bonds, repair bills for other people’s vehicles, medical services, repair costs for stationary objects and legal defense fees. How much liability coverage do you need? That is a decision to put some thought into, but buy as much as you can afford.
Collision coverages – Collision insurance covers damage to your Freestyle from colliding with an object or car. You have to pay a deductible then the remaining damage will be paid by your insurance company.
Collision can pay for claims like driving through your garage door, hitting a mailbox, backing into a parked car, scraping a guard rail and crashing into a building. Paying for collision coverage can be pricey, so you might think about dropping it from vehicles that are 8 years or older. It’s also possible to raise the deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.
Comprehensive protection – This pays to fix your vehicle from damage from a wide range of events other than collision. A deductible will apply and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive insurance covers things like fire damage, damage from a tornado or hurricane and hitting a bird. The most you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible consider dropping full coverage.
Uninsured or underinsured coverage – This coverage provides protection from other drivers when they either are underinsured or have no liability coverage at all. It can pay for injuries to you and your family as well as your vehicle’s damage.
Since a lot of drivers carry very low liability coverage limits, their liability coverage can quickly be exhausted. That’s why carrying high Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage is a good idea.
We covered quite a bit of information on how to lower your 2005 Ford Freestyle insurance rates. The key thing to remember is the more rate quotes you have, the higher the chance of saving money. You may be surprised to find that the most savings is with a small local company. These smaller insurers often have lower prices on specific markets compared to the large companies like Progressive or GEICO.
When shopping online for insurance, it’s not a good idea to reduce needed coverages to save money. There are a lot of situations where someone sacrificed liability limits or collision coverage and discovered at claim time that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. Your strategy should be to purchase plenty of coverage for the lowest price while still protecting your assets.
Additional information can be found at the links below