How Much Does 2006 Dodge Stratus Insurance Cost?

Trying to find lower auto insurance rates for your Dodge Stratus? Did you fall for a flashy sales pitch and buy overpriced auto insurance? Trust us when we tell you there are many consumers feeling the pinch from expensive auto insurance.

Companies like Progressive, State Farm and GEICO all claim big savings with ads and it is challenging if not impossible to ignore the flying pigs and cute green geckos and do the work needed to find the best deal.

It is always a good idea to compare prices occasionally due to the fact that insurance rates trend upward over time. Even if you think you had the lowest price on Stratus coverage a year ago you can probably find a better price now. Starting now, forget all the misinformation about auto insurance because I’m going to teach you how to use the internet to properly buy coverages and cut your premium.

If you currently have car insurance, you will most likely be able to cut costs considerably using these techniques. Buying car insurance is not that difficult. But drivers can benefit from knowing how insurance companies sell insurance online because it can help you find the best coverage.

Don’t pay full price with these discounts

Properly insuring your vehicles can get expensive, but you can get discounts that many people don’t even know exist. Larger premium reductions will be automatically applied when you purchase, but some may not be applied and must be manually applied before you get the savings.

  • Military Discounts – Having a deployed family member may qualify for rate reductions.
  • Early Switch Discount – Select companies give a discount for buying a policy before your current policy expires. It’s a savings of about 10%.
  • No Claims – Good drivers with no accidents can earn big discounts when compared with accident-prone drivers.
  • Pay Upfront and Save – If paying your policy premium upfront rather than paying monthly you may reduce your total bill.
  • No Charge for an Accident – Certain companies will forgive one accident before raising your premiums if you are claim-free for a certain period of time.
  • Distant Student – Children who are attending college and do not have access to a covered vehicle may be able to be covered for less.
  • Anti-theft System – Anti-theft and alarm systems are stolen less frequently and earn discounts up to 10%.
  • Drive Less and Save – Fewer annual miles on your Dodge could be rewarded with lower rates on the low mileage vehicles.

Consumers should know that some of the credits will not apply to the entire cost. Most cut the cost of specific coverages such as comprehensive or collision. So when the math indicates all the discounts add up to a free policy, it just doesn’t work that way. But any discount will bring down the cost of coverage.

To see a list of insurance companies with discount car insurance rates, click here to view.

Factors determining your Dodge Stratus insurance premium

An important part of buying insurance is that you know the different types of things that help determine your auto insurance rates. Having a good understanding of what determines base rates helps enable you to make changes that may reward you with lower auto insurance prices.

The following are a partial list of the pieces that factor into rates.

  • Do you work long hours in a high stress job? – Jobs such as real estate brokers, executives and dentists tend to have the highest average rates because of high stress and lots of time spent at work. Other occupations such as farmers, historians and the unemployed receive lower rates on Stratus coverage.
  • Car features impact rates – Choosing a vehicle with an alarm system can help bring down rates. Theft prevention features such as LoJack tracking devices, vehicle tamper alarm systems or GM’s OnStar system can thwart car theft.
  • Higher deductibles cost less – Physical damage coverage, also known as collision and other-than-collision, is used to repair damage to your Dodge. Some examples of claims that would be covered are colliding with a building, collision with an animal, and windstorm damage. Physical damage deductibles are how much you are willing to pay in the event of a claim. The more the insured has to pay upfront, the lower your rates will be on Stratus coverage.
  • Older drivers pay less – Young drivers have a tendency to be more careless when behind the wheel so they pay higher auto insurance rates. Older insureds are viewed as being more responsible, statistically cause fewer accidents and get fewer tickets.
  • Women pay lower rates – Statistics have proven women tend to be less risk to insure than men. However, this does not mean men are WORSE drivers than women. Women and men have accidents at a similar rate, but men have costlier accidents. Men also get more serious tickets like DUI and reckless driving. Male drivers age 16 to 19 are most likely to cause an accident and therefore are the most expensive to insure.

Your personal situation dictates your coverage

When buying the right insurance coverage, there is no best way to insure your cars. Coverage needs to be tailored to your specific needs and your policy should reflect that. For instance, these questions might point out whether or not you might need professional guidance.

  • Can I afford low physical damage deductibles?
  • Am I covered by my spouse’s policy after a separation?
  • Should I get collision insurance on every vehicle?
  • When can my company non-renew my policy?
  • Do I have coverage when pulling a U-Haul trailer?
  • Which companies will insure high-risk drivers?
  • Am I covered when delivering products for my home-based business?
  • Is my custom paint covered by insurance?

If you don’t know the answers to these questions, you may need to chat with an agent. If you want to speak to an agent in your area, fill out this quick form or click here for a list of insurance coverage companies in your area.

Misconceptions in car insurance advertisements

Companies like Allstate and Progressive constantly bombard you with ads on television and other media. All the ads say the same thing that you can save if you switch your policy. But how can every company say the same thing? It’s all in the numbers.

Insurance companies have a preferred profile for the type of driver that earns them a profit. For instance, a profitable customer might be profiled as a mature driver, has no driving citations, and has a short commute. A driver who meets those qualifications gets the lowest rates and is almost guaranteed to save when they switch companies.

Consumers who are not a match for the requirements will have to pay a more expensive rate and ends up with business going elsewhere. Company advertisements say “drivers who switch” not “everyone that quotes” save that kind of money. That is how insurance companies can confidently state the savings.

Because of the profiling, you absolutely need to compare many company’s rates. It is impossible to predict the company that will provide you with the cheapest Dodge Stratus insurance rates.

Parts of your auto insurance policy

Knowing the specifics of a auto insurance policy can be of help when determining which coverages you need and proper limits and deductibles. Auto insurance terms can be confusing and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording. Shown next are typical coverages offered by auto insurance companies.

Comprehensive insurance – Comprehensive insurance coverage covers damage from a wide range of events other than collision. You first have to pay a deductible and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.

Comprehensive insurance covers claims like hail damage, a broken windshield, rock chips in glass and damage from a tornado or hurricane. The highest amount you’ll receive from a claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if the vehicle’s value is low consider dropping full coverage.

Liability auto insurance – Liability coverage can cover damages or injuries you inflict on other’s property or people in an accident. It protects YOU from legal claims by others, and does not provide coverage for damage to your own property or vehicle.

It consists of three limits, bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. You might see policy limits of 50/100/50 that translate to a $50,000 limit per person for injuries, a per accident bodily injury limit of $100,000, and a limit of $50,000 paid for damaged property. Some companies may use a combined limit which limits claims to one amount without having the split limit caps.

Liability insurance covers things such as repair bills for other people’s vehicles, loss of income, pain and suffering, attorney fees and emergency aid. How much liability coverage do you need? That is a decision to put some thought into, but buy higher limits if possible.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) – Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage protects you and your vehicle’s occupants from other motorists when they do not carry enough liability coverage. It can pay for injuries to you and your family as well as damage to your Dodge Stratus.

Due to the fact that many drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits, it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. That’s why carrying high Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage is very important. Usually the UM/UIM limits are set the same as your liablity limits.

Med pay and Personal Injury Protection (PIP) – Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance provide coverage for immediate expenses such as chiropractic care, prosthetic devices, surgery, doctor visits and ambulance fees. They are often utilized in addition to your health insurance program or if you lack health insurance entirely. It covers not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants and will also cover any family member struck as a pedestrian. PIP is not universally available and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay

Collision coverages – This will pay to fix damage to your Stratus from colliding with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. You have to pay a deductible and then insurance will cover the remainder.

Collision insurance covers claims like scraping a guard rail, hitting a mailbox and crashing into a building. Paying for collision coverage can be pricey, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from older vehicles. You can also raise the deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.

Final considerations

Cost effective 2006 Dodge Stratus insurance is attainable online and also from your neighborhood agents, and you need to comparison shop both to have the best chance of lowering rates. There are still a few companies who may not provide online price quotes and many times these smaller companies only sell through independent insurance agents.

We covered a lot of tips how to save on insurance. The key thing to remember is the more rate comparisons you have, the better chance you’ll have of finding lower rates. Consumers may even find the best prices are with some of the smallest insurance companies. Smaller companies can often provide lower rates in certain areas than the large multi-state companies such as Allstate or State Farm.

As you restructure your insurance plan, never buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. There are a lot of situations where drivers have reduced collision coverage to discover at claim time that it was a big error on their part. Your aim should be to find the BEST coverage at the best price, not the least amount of coverage.

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