Searching for lower auto insurance rates for your Chevrolet Equinox? Have you fallen victim to high-priced auto insurance? Trust us, there are lots of people in the same boat. You have so many insurers to insure vehicles with, and even though it’s nice to have a selection, lots of choices makes it harder to compare company pricing.
You should take the time to do rate comparisons quite often because rates go up and down regularly. Just because you found the best rates on Equinox coverage a year ago a different company probably has better rates today. You can find a lot of misleading information regarding auto insurance online but with this article, you’re going to get some great ways to reduce your auto insurance bill.
Companies offering auto insurance don’t always advertise every available discount in a way that’s easy to find, so we took the time to find some of the more common and also the lesser-known savings tricks you should be using. If you aren’t receiving every discount you deserve, you’re paying more than you need to.
A little note about advertised discounts, some of the credits will not apply to your bottom line cost. A few only apply to the price of certain insurance coverages like comprehensive or collision. So even though they make it sound like you could get a free insurance policy, it doesn’t quite work that way.
Car insurance companies that possibly offer some of the above discounts include:
It’s a good idea to ask each company which discounts you may be entitled to. All car insurance discounts may not be available in every state.
When it comes to buying adequate coverage for your vehicles, there is no one size fits all plan. Coverage needs to be tailored to your specific needs and your policy should reflect that. These are some specific questions could help you determine if your situation may require specific advice.
If you don’t know the answers to these questions, you might consider talking to a licensed insurance agent. If you don’t have a local agent, simply complete this short form or you can go here for a list of companies in your area. It only takes a few minutes and can provide invaluable advice.
Consumers get pounded daily by advertisements that promise big savings by companies like 21st Century, Allstate and State Farm. All the companies have a common claim that you’ll save big after switching to them.
How do they all make the same claim?
Insurance companies have a certain “appetite” for the type of driver that is profitable for them. For example, a profitable customer might be profiled as between 25 and 40, a clean driving record, and has great credit. A customer who meets those qualifications will qualify for the lowest rates and as a result will probably save when they switch companies.
Potential insureds who do not match the “perfect” profile will have to pay more money which leads to the customer not buying. The ads say “drivers who switch” not “everybody who quotes” save money. That’s why companies can truthfully make those claims. Because of the profiling, you absolutely need to get quotes from several different companies. You cannot predict which company will provide you with the cheapest Chevy Equinox insurance rates.
Learning about specific coverages of a auto insurance policy helps when choosing the best coverages and the correct deductibles and limits. Auto insurance terms can be difficult to understand and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording. These are the usual coverages available from auto insurance companies.
Uninsured Motorist or Underinsured Motorist insurance – This coverage protects you and your vehicle’s occupants from other drivers when they do not carry enough liability coverage. This coverage pays for medical payments for you and your occupants as well as damage to your Chevy Equinox.
Since many drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits, it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. So UM/UIM coverage is very important.
Comprehensive coverage (or Other than Collision) – Comprehensive insurance pays for damage from a wide range of events other than collision. You first must pay your deductible then the remaining damage will be covered by your comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive coverage protects against things such as hitting a deer, theft and falling objects. The most you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.
Insurance for medical payments – Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage provide coverage for immediate expenses for things like surgery, dental work, X-ray expenses, prosthetic devices and rehabilitation expenses. The coverages can be used to cover expenses not covered by your health insurance policy or if you lack health insurance entirely. Medical payments and PIP cover all vehicle occupants and will also cover being hit by a car walking across the street. PIP is not universally available but can be used in place of medical payments coverage
Liability coverages – Liability insurance provides protection from damage or injury you incur to other’s property or people that is your fault. This insurance protects YOU against other people’s claims, and doesn’t cover damage sustained by your vehicle in an accident.
Coverage consists of three different limits, per person bodily injury, per accident bodily injury, and a property damage limit. You commonly see limits of 50/100/50 that means you have $50,000 in coverage for each person’s injuries, a limit of $100,000 in injury protection per accident, and property damage coverage for $50,000.
Liability coverage pays for claims like emergency aid, court costs, attorney fees, funeral expenses and medical services. How much coverage you buy is up to you, but consider buying as high a limit as you can afford.
Collision coverages – Collision insurance pays to fix your vehicle from damage from colliding with a stationary object or other vehicle. You will need to pay your deductible and then insurance will cover the remainder.
Collision insurance covers claims such as hitting a parking meter, colliding with a tree and scraping a guard rail. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so you might think about dropping it from vehicles that are older. You can also bump up the deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.
We covered many ways to shop for 2010 Chevy Equinox insurance online. It’s most important to understand that the more rate comparisons you have, the better your comparison will be. Consumers could even find that the most savings is with an unexpected company. These companies may have significantly lower rates on certain market segments than the large multi-state companies such as State Farm, GEICO and Nationwide.
As you shop your coverage around, do not reduce needed coverages to save money. There have been many situations where an insured dropped comprehensive coverage or liability limits only to discover later that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. The aim is to purchase a proper amount of coverage for the lowest price, not the least amount of coverage.