Buy Rochester New York Car Insurance Like a Bargain Hunter

Comparison shopping for Rochester car insurance can be challenging for beginners to buying insurance online. People have so many options available that it can quickly become a big hassle to compare prices in Rochester.

Smart consumers take time to compare prices every six months because insurance rates fluctuate regularly. If you had the lowest price a year ago you can probably find a better price now. Block out anything you think you know about car insurance because you’re about to find out the quickest way to buy cheaper car insurance.

How much can you save with discounts?

The price of auto insurance can be rather high, but there are discounts available that you may not even be aware of. Certain discounts will be applied at the time of purchase, but some may not be applied and must be requested specifically before they will apply.

Paperless Signup – A few companies will give a small break for buying your policy digitally online.
Seat Belts Save more than Lives – Requiring all passengers to use a seat belt can save up to 15% off your medical payments premium.
Life Insurance Discount – Some companies give lower rates if you buy a life insurance policy as well.
Own a Home – Being a homeowner can save you money because owning a home is proof that your finances are in order.
Student Driver Training – Make teen driver coverage more affordable by requiring them to take driver’s ed class in school.
Memberships – Being a member of a civic or occupational organization may earn a discount when shopping for car insurance.

As a disclaimer on discounts, most of the big mark downs will not be given to your bottom line cost. Most cut the price of certain insurance coverages like liability and collision coverage. Just because it seems like you can get free auto insurance, companies don’t profit that way. Any qualifying discounts will help reduce your overall premium however.

How to Compare Rochester Car Insurance Costs

All major car insurance companies like State Farm and Allstate give price estimates on the web. Obtaining pricing is quite easy as you simply enter the coverage amounts you desire as requested by the quote form. After you complete the form, their system orders credit information and your driving record and gives you a price quote.

This helps simplify price comparisons, but the process of having to visit multiple sites and complete many quote forms gets old quite quickly. But it’s absolutely necessary to have as many quotes as possible if you want to find the lowest car insurance rates.

Compare rates the easy way

The preferred way to get multiple rate quotes makes use of a single form that analyzes rates from many companies. It saves time, requires much less work on your part, and makes comparison shopping much more enjoyable and efficient. Immediately after submitting the form, it is rated and you are able to buy your choice of the pricing results.

If one or more price quotes are lower than your current rates, you can click and sign and purchase coverage. The entire process takes just a few minutes to complete and you’ll know if lower rates are available.

To quickly compare pricing, click here to open in a new tab and fill out the form. If you have a policy now, it’s recommended you type in coverages and limits exactly as shown on your declarations page. This way, you will get rate quotes for similar insurance coverage.

Lower your Rochester Car Insurance Rates

An important part of buying insurance is that you know some of the elements that play a part in calculating car insurance rates. When you know what positively or negatively impacts premium levels enables informed choices that will entitle you to better car insurance rates.

Do you know you’re credit rating? – Having a bad credit history is a huge factor in determining what you pay for car insurance. If your credit score is not that good, you could pay less to insure your by improving your rating. Consumers who have high credit ratings tend to be less risk to insure as compared to drivers with lower credit scores.
Your age impacts your rates – Teenage drivers in New York tend to be careless and easily distracted in a vehicle so car insurance rates are higher. Mature drivers are more cautious drivers, statistically cause fewer accidents and get fewer tickets.
Women pay lower rates – Statistics demonstrate women are more cautious behind the wheel. Now that doesn’t mean women are better drivers. Men and women have accidents at about the same rate, but the men tend to have more serious accidents. Men also statistically have more aggressive citations like reckless driving and DUI.
High numbers of claims are not good – If you file claims often, you can pretty much guarantee higher rates. Auto insurance companies in New York generally give lower rates to insureds who file claims infrequently. Insurance coverage is meant to be used in the event of the large, substantial claims.
How’s your driving record? – Good drivers have lower premiums than their less careful counterparts. Even a single speeding ticket can increase rates twenty percent or more. Drivers with dangerous tickets such as DWI, reckless driving or hit and run convictions are required to file a proof of financial responsibility form (SR-22) to the state department of motor vehicles in order to prevent a license revocation.

Quote online but work with a neighborhood agent

Some people prefer to get advice from a local agent and that is OK! One of the best bonuses of comparing rates online is you may find the lowest rates but also keep your business local. And providing support for small agencies is important especially in Rochester. auto insurance image

After filling out this quick form, the quote information gets sent to companies in Rochester who will return price quotes to get your business. You don’t have to leave your computer due to the fact that quote results will go directly to your email. Now that’s easy! Get lower rates AND an agent nearby.

Best car insurance agent in Rochester

When searching for an insurance agent, there are a couple of different types of agents from which to choose. Agencies in Rochester can either be independent (non-captive) or captive.

Independent Agents (or Brokers)

Independent agencies are not required to write business for one company but instead can place your coverage with many different companies and potentially find a lower price. If you are not satisfied with one company, the business is moved internally and that require little work on your part. When comparison shopping, it’s a good idea to contact multiple independent agents to get the best comparison. Many write coverage with smaller companies who may have lower rates.

Listed below are independent agents in Rochester who can help you get pricing information.

First Niagara Insurance – 733 Linden Ave – Rochester, NY 14625 – (585) 385-2900
Deborah Ham Whitt Agency Inc – 3953 Dewey Ave – Rochester, NY 14616 – (585) 663-0960
Staub and Coon Agency Inc – 3699 W Henrietta Rd – Rochester, NY 14623 – (585) 334-4930
A Action Agency – 1619 Ridge Rd E – Rochester, NY 14621 – (585) 266-7133
Vandermallie Insurance – 1040 University Ave – Rochester, NY 14607 – (585) 586-3289

Captive Insurance Agents

These agents have only one company to place business with and examples are Farmers Insurance, American Family, State Farm and Allstate. They are unable to give you multiple price quotes so they have to upsell other benefits. Captive agents are trained well in insurance sales and that can be a competitive advantage. Some consumers prefer to choose to use a captive agent partially due to the prominence of the brand and strong financial ratings.

Below is a list of captive agencies in Rochester who can help you get rate quotes.

Liberty Mutual Insurance – 135 Corporate Woods # 380 – Rochester, NY 14623 – (585) 424-6050
State Farm Insurance – 3180 Latta Rd # 100 – Rochester, NY 14612 – (585) 227-7110
Allstate Insurance Co – 1807 East Ave – Rochester, NY 14610 – (585) 442-4960

For a complete listing of captive insurance agents in Rochester, please view this page.

Selecting an insurance agent requires more thought than just the premium amount. Here are some questions to ask:

Do you have coverage for a rental car if your vehicle is in the repair shop?
Which insurance companies are they affiliated with?
Are glass claims handled on-site or do you have to take your vehicle to a repair shop?
How much can you save by raising your physical damage deductibles?
Is vehicle mileage a factor when determining depreciation for repairs?
How many years of experience in personal lines insurance coverages do they have?
Do they specialize in personal lines coverage?
Do they make recommendations based only on price?

Upon receiving answers to your satisfaction to all your questions and a good coverage price, it’s possible that you found an auto insurance agent that is a good match to service your policy.

Car insurance ads bend the truth

Car insurance companies such as State Farm and Allstate constantly bombard you with ads in print and on television. They all seem to make an identical promise that you can save if you switch to their company. How can each company say the same thing? It’s all in the numbers.

All the different companies have a certain “appetite” for the type of customer they prefer to insure. A good example of a desirable insured might be profiled as over the age of 40, is a homeowner, and has great credit. A driver who meets those qualifications will qualify for the lowest rates and most likely will save a lot of money.

Potential customers who are not a match for this ideal profile will be quoted higher prices which usually ends up with business not being written. The ads state “customers who switch” but not “drivers who get quotes” save that much. This is how companies can truthfully advertise the savings.

This emphasizes why it is so important to compare as many rates as you can. Because you never know which insurance companies will have the lowest rates.

In Summary

Consumers switch companies for any number of reasons including high rates after DUI convictions, questionable increases in premium, poor customer service and even delays in paying claims. Whatever your reason, choosing a new insurance company is not as hard as you think.

Cheap car insurance can be purchased on the web as well as from independent agents in Rochester, so you should be comparing quotes from both so you have a total pricing picture. Some insurance providers don’t offer the ability to get a quote online and most of the time these small, regional companies sell through independent agents.

In this article, we presented a lot of tips how to reduce car insurance prices online. The key concept to understand is the more quotes you get, the higher the chance of saving money. You may be surprised to find that the best prices are with some of the smallest insurance companies.

More information can be found on the New York Department of Financial Services website through this link. Consumers can read state legal mandates and laws, view agent and company licensing information, find a variety of consumer forms, and find disaster information.

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