Expensive auto insurance can drain your personal savings and put a big crunch on your finances. Comparison shopping is a smart way to make sure you’re not throwing money away.
Big-name insurance companies like GEICO, 21st Century and Progressive continually bombard you with fancy advertisements and it is challenging if not impossible to sift through the bull and effectively compare rates to find the best deal.
Consumers should take time to take a look at other company’s rates on a regular basis since insurance rates go up and down regularly. Despite the fact that you may have had the best deal for CR-V insurance six months ago other companies may now be cheaper. You’ll find quite a bit of inaccurate information about auto insurance on the web, but we’re going to give you some good information on how to save money.
If you are paying for car insurance now, you stand a good chance to be able to reduce your rates substantially using this strategy. Buying car insurance is not rocket science. But drivers benefit from understanding the methods companies use to market on the web and use this information to your advantage.
Auto insurance companies don’t always publicize every available discount in an easy-to-find place, so we took the time to find some of the best known as well as the least known ways to save on auto insurance.
As a disclaimer on discounts, most of the big mark downs will not be given to the overall cost of the policy. The majority will only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like comprehensive or collision. So when the math indicates having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, you won’t be that lucky.
A partial list of companies that possibly offer these money-saving discounts are:
Before buying, ask all companies you are considering which discounts they offer. Discounts might not apply in every state.
When it comes to choosing coverage, there is no “best” method to buy coverage. Every insured’s situation is different and your policy should reflect that. Here are some questions about coverages that may help highlight if your insurance needs might need an agent’s assistance.
If you don’t know the answers to these questions but you think they might apply to your situation, you might consider talking to a licensed agent. If you don’t have a local agent, complete this form or you can also visit this page to select a carrier
Knowing the specifics of your car insurance policy aids in choosing which coverages you need 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. These are typical coverages available from car insurance companies.
This pays for damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. You need to pay your deductible first and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive coverage protects against things such as fire damage, hail damage, falling objects, a tree branch falling on your vehicle and vandalism. The highest amount you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the cash value of the vehicle, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value consider dropping full coverage.
This protects you from damage or injury you incur to people or other property. Liability coverage has three limits: per person bodily injury, per accident bodily injury, and a property damage limit. You might see liability limits of 100/300/100 that translate to a $100,000 limit per person for injuries, $300,000 for the entire accident, and a total limit of $100,000 for damage to vehicles and property.
Liability can pay for claims like pain and suffering, medical services, legal defense fees, medical expenses and funeral expenses. How much liability coverage do you need? That is up to you, but buy higher limits if possible.
Your UM/UIM coverage protects you and your vehicle’s occupants when other motorists do not carry enough liability coverage. It can pay for injuries to you and your family as well as damage to your Honda CR-V.
Since many drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits, their liability coverage can quickly be exhausted. That’s why carrying high Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage is important protection for you and your family.
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage provide coverage for expenses like EMT expenses, X-ray expenses, doctor visits and prosthetic devices. They are utilized in addition to your health insurance program or if you do not have health coverage. They cover not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants in addition to being hit by a car walking across the street. PIP is not an option in every state but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage
Collision coverage pays to fix your vehicle from damage caused by collision with a stationary object or other vehicle. A deductible applies and then insurance will cover the remainder.
Collision insurance covers things such as damaging your car on a curb, colliding with another moving vehicle and backing into a parked car. This coverage can be expensive, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from older vehicles. You can also increase the deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.
As you shop your coverage around, don’t be tempted to sacrifice coverage to reduce premiums. There are a lot of situations where someone sacrificed full coverage and learned later that it was a big mistake. The aim is to buy a smart amount of coverage at the best price while not skimping on critical coverages.
In this article, we covered a lot of techniques to lower your 2011 Honda CR-V insurance rates. The key thing to remember is the more companies you get rates for, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. You may even find the biggest savings come from a company that doesn’t do a lot of advertising. Smaller companies often have lower prices on specific markets than their larger competitors like Allstate and Progressive.
For more information, take a look at the resources below: