8 Money Saving Ideas Shown to Save on Car Insurance Costs in Moorhead

Expensive car insurance can empty your checking account and put a big crunch on your finances. Doing a price comparison is a great way to help make ends meet. Many insurers vie for your insurance dollar, so it can be very hard to choose a provider and get the definite lowest rate possible.

If you are insured now or are shopping for new coverage, you can use this information to cut your premiums and still get good coverage. Finding affordable coverage in Moorhead is not rocket science. Minnesota drivers just need to understand the tricks to compare company rates online.

Do you qualify for a discount?

Insuring your vehicles can cost a lot, but there could be available discounts that you may not know about. Larger premium reductions will be automatically applied at the time of purchase, but less common discounts must be specially asked for prior to receiving the credit. If you aren’t receiving every discount you deserve, you are paying more than you should be.

• Claim Free – Claim-free drivers pay less when compared with bad drivers.
• Sign Early and Save – Some companies give discounts for switching to them before your current expiration date. It can save you around 10%.
• Homeowners Pay Less – Being a homeowner may trigger a car insurance policy discount because owning a home is proof that your finances are in order.
• Theft Prevention Discount – Vehicles with anti-theft systems can help prevent theft and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
• Anti-lock Brakes – Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles can avoid accidents and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
• Discounts for Safe Drivers – Insureds without accidents can pay as much as 50% less than less cautious drivers.
• Use Seat Belts – Buckling up and requiring all passengers to buckle their seat belts could cut 10% or more off your PIP or medical payments premium.
• Clubs and Organizations – Belonging to certain professional organizations may earn a discount on your policy.

Drivers should understand that most discounts do not apply the the whole policy. Most only reduce specific coverage prices like medical payments or collision. So even though they make it sound like you could get a free car insurance policy, companies wouldn’t make money that way. Any qualifying discounts will bring down your premiums.

Where Can I Get Cheap Moorhead Car Insurance?

Most companies such as State Farm and Allstate allow you to get pricing online. Getting online rates is pretty easy as you simply type in the amount of coverage you want as detailed in the form. When the form is submitted, the system will obtain your credit score and driving record and provides a quote based on these factors. Being able to quote online helps simplify price comparisons, but the time it takes to visit several different sites and enter the same data into a form is not the best way to spend an afternoon. But it’s absolutely necessary to compare as many rates as possible if you are searching for the lowest possible prices on car insurance.

There is an easier way!

A more efficient way to find better car insurance pricing utilizes a single form that obtains quotes from several different companies. This type of form saves time, eliminates repetitive work, and makes comparison shopping much more enjoyable and efficient. After your information is entered, it is rated and you are able to buy any of the price quotes you receive.

If a lower price is quoted, you simply finish the application and purchase the new policy. The whole process can be completed in a matter of minutes and may result in a nice savings.

In order to use this form to compare rates, click here and enter your information. To compare your current rates, we recommend you complete the form with your coverages as close as possible to your current policy. This way, you will get a price comparison for exact coverage.

Car insurance coverage information

Learning about specific coverages of car insurance can be of help when determining the right coverages for your vehicles. The coverage terms in a policy can be difficult to understand and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording. Listed below are the usual coverages found on the average car insurance policy.

Uninsured and underinsured coverage – This protects you and your vehicle’s occupants from other drivers when they either are underinsured or have no liability coverage at all. It can pay for medical payments for you and your occupants as well as your vehicle’s damage.

Since a lot of drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits (30/60/10 in Minnesota), it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. So UM/UIM coverage should not be overlooked. Frequently the UM/UIM limits are identical to your policy’s liability coverage.

Coverage for medical payments – Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance provide coverage for expenses like funeral costs, EMT expenses, X-ray expenses and prosthetic devices. They can be used to fill the gap from your health insurance program or if there is no health insurance coverage. They cover not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants and will also cover any family member struck as a pedestrian. PIP is not an option in every state and may carry a deductible

Collision coverage – This will pay to fix damage to your vehicle resulting from colliding with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. A deductible applies and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.

Collision coverage pays for things like crashing into a building, rolling your car, backing into a parked car, sideswiping another vehicle and colliding with another moving vehicle. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from older vehicles. Another option is to increase the deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.

Coverage for liability – This coverage provides protection from damage that occurs to other people or property in an accident. It consists of three limits, per person bodily injury, per accident bodily injury, and a property damage limit. As an example, you may have values of 50/100/50 which stand for $50,000 bodily injury coverage, a limit of $100,000 in injury protection per accident, and $50,000 of coverage for damaged propery. Alternatively, you may have a combined single limit or CSL which provides one coverage limit with no separate limits for injury or property damage.

Liability coverage pays for things like loss of income, medical services, medical expenses and bail bonds. The amount of liability coverage you purchase is up to you, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase as much as you can afford. Minnesota state law requires minimum liability limits of 30,000/60,000/10,000 but it’s recommended drivers buy higher limits.

Comprehensive coverages – Comprehensive insurance pays for damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. A deductible will apply and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.

Comprehensive coverage protects against claims like damage from getting keyed, hail damage, falling objects and rock chips in glass. The maximum payout you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the actual cash value, so if the vehicle’s value is low consider dropping full coverage.

The best insurance company isn’t always the cheapest

We’ve covered quite a bit of information on how to compare car insurance prices online. The most important thing to understand is the more rate comparisons you have, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. You may even find the lowest rates come from some of the smallest insurance companies. These smaller insurers may have significantly lower rates on certain market segments as compared to the big name companies such as State Farm, GEICO and Nationwide.

Discount car insurance is definitely available both online and also from your neighborhood Moorhead agents, so you should be comparing quotes from both to have the best selection. Some insurance companies may not provide the ability to get a quote online and these small, regional companies work with independent agents.

When you buy insurance online, it’s very important that you do not reduce coverage to reduce premium. Too many times, consumers will sacrifice physical damage coverage only to find out that they should have had better coverage. Your goal should be to find the BEST coverage at the best price while still protecting your assets.

Minnesota car insurance information

Additional information can be read on the website for the Minnesota Department of Commerce located here. Visitors are able to learn about insurance regulations, read industry bulletins, and find a variety of consumer forms.