Ocean City Maryland Car Insurance Buying Tips You Aren’t Supposed to Know

Have you had enough of scraping the payment together to buy car insurance? You’re in the same situation as the majority of other car owners in Maryland. You have so many auto insurance companies to purchase coverage from, and although it’s nice to have a selection, having more insurance companies makes it harder to find a good deal.

It’s smart to compare rates at least once a year due to the fact that insurance rates change regularly. Despite the fact that you may have had the best deal six months ago you may be paying too much now. There is a lot of wrong information about car insurance online, so we’re going to give you some great ideas on how to find affordable car insurance.

This information will instruct you on the best way to quote coverages and some money-saving tips. If you have car insurance now, you will most likely be able to reduce your rates substantially using these tips. Maryland consumers just need to know the most efficient way to shop for car insurance online.

You probably qualify for some discounts

Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, but companies offer discounts that many people don’t even know exist. Most are applied when you purchase, but some may not be applied and must be asked for before they will apply. If you aren’t receiving every discount you deserve, you’re just leaving money on the table.

• Homeowners Savings – Simply owning a home can help you save on car insurance because of the fact that having a home is proof that your finances are in order.
• Sign Online – A few companies give back up to $50 just for signing your application on their website.
• Multi-policy Discount – If you have multiple policies with the same insurance company you may earn up to 20% off your total premium.
• Theft Prevention Discount – Vehicles equipped with anti-theft or alarm systems are stolen less frequently and will save you 10% or more.
• Defensive Driving Course – Successfully completing a course teaching defensive driving skills could save 5% or more and easily recoup the cost of the course.
• Clubs and Organizations – Affiliation with a qualifying organization is a good way to get lower rates when buying car insurance.
• 55 and Retired – If you qualify as a senior citizen, you may be able to get a small decrease in premiums.
• Good Student – Getting good grades can save 20 to 25%. The discount lasts until age 25.

It’s important to understand that most of the big mark downs will not be given to your bottom line cost. Most only reduce specific coverage prices like comp or med pay. Just because you may think adding up those discounts means a free policy, companies don’t profit that way. But any discount will help reduce the cost of coverage.

To choose providers with the best car insurance discounts in Maryland, click here.

Ocean City Rates are Influenced by These Factors

Smart consumers have a good feel for the different types of things that help determine your car insurance rates. When you know what positively or negatively influences your rates helps enable you to make changes that may reward you with much lower annual insurance costs.

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

• Pleasure use saves money – Driving more miles in a year’s time the more you’ll pay to insure your vehicle. The majority of insurers apply a rate determined by how the vehicle is used. Autos used primarily for pleasure use can get a lower rate compared to those used for work or business. Double check that your car insurance coverage properly reflects the proper vehicle usage, because it can save money.
• Drive a safer car and pay less – Vehicles with good safety scores tend to have better insurance rates. These vehicles result in less severe injuries and any reduction in injury severity translates into fewer and smaller insurance claims passed on to you as lower rates.
• Women pay lower rates – Statistics show women tend to be less risk to insure than men. However, this does not mean men are worse drivers. Both sexes have accidents at a similar rate, but the male of the species have costlier accidents. Men also tend to get more serious tickets like reckless driving and DUI. Young males are most likely to cause an accident and therefore are the most expensive to insure.
• Never allow your policy to lapse – Not having insurance is against the law and as a result your rates will increase for letting your insurance lapse. And not only will insurance be more expensive, but not being able to provide proof of insurance might get you a steep fine or even jail time.Then you may be required to provide proof of insurance in the form of an SR-22 filing with the Maryland motor vehicle department.
• Cautious drivers pay less – Whether or not you get tickets impacts your car insurance rates tremendously. Drivers with clean records tend to pay less for car insurance compared to drivers with tickets. Just one speeding ticket may increase your cost by twenty percent. Drivers with flagrant tickets such as hit and run, DWI or reckless driving convictions are required to submit a SR-22 or proof of financial responsibility to the state department of motor vehicles in order to keep their license.
• Do you have enough liability coverage? – Your policy’s liability coverage will protect you if a jury decides you are liable for causing damage or personal injury in an accident. Liability insurance provides legal defense coverage which can be incredibly expensive. Carrying liability coverage is mandatory and cheap as compared to coverage for physical damage, so buy as much as you can afford.

Is there deception in advertising?

Maryland drivers constantly see and hear ads for cheaper car insurance by companies like GEICO, State Farm and Progressive. All the ads make the same claim of big savings if you change to them.

But how can every company say the same thing? It’s all in the numbers.

All the different companies have a certain “appetite” for the right customer that earns them a profit. For instance, a desirable insured might be profiled as over the age of 40, a clean driving record, and has excellent credit. A driver who meets those qualifications gets the lowest rates and as a result will probably save quite a bit of money when switching.

Potential customers who don’t qualify for this ideal profile will have to pay more money and ends up with business going elsewhere. Company advertisements say “drivers who switch” but not “drivers who get quotes” save that kind of money. This is how insurance companies can state the savings.

Because of the profiling, drivers must quote coverage with many companies. It’s impossible to know the company that will provide you with the cheapest rates.

More information can be read on the website for the Maryland Insurance Administration through this link. Maryland consumers can discover disciplinary actions, read consumer alerts, and learn about insurance regulations.

One last thing

As you shop your coverage around, it’s very important that you do not buy poor coverage just to save money. There are a lot of situations where someone sacrificed full coverage to discover at claim time they didn’t purchase enough coverage. Your aim should be to find the BEST coverage at the best price.

Affordable car insurance can be sourced both online as well as from independent agents in Ocean City, and you should be comparing both in order to have the best chance of saving money. There are still a few companies who don’t offer the ability to get a quote online and usually these smaller companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.