Car Insurance Tips for The Right Coverage

Car insurance is one of those weird things in life – you know you need it, it always comes in handy when you least expect it (such as when you need an auto body shop), and chances are you pay a pretty penny out of pocket monthly for it, but you don’t necessarily understand it. If you’re looking to get coverage or maximize your current coverage, here are a few tips.

Investigate Deductibles

Deductibles are arguably one of the most confusing parts of your auto insurance coverage, but they are also the place where you can see the biggest impact on your monthly spending. Before you choose a high deductible in order to save more monthly, you should consider your driving habits. Do you go to the mountains a lot? Do you spend a lot of time on the highway, especially during high-traffic periods (i.e. rush hour)? If so, you probably don’t want a high deductible. Even something as seemingly small as a rock flying up from the highway or off the back of a truck and into your windshield can cost you way more than you anticipated if your deductible is high. Look at the last five years of your driving life. How many times have you been in the auto body or glass repair shop? This is a good idea to factor in when considering what coverage is best for you, too.

Factor in Your Vehicle

Whether you like it or not, the type of vehicle you have will impact your insurance rates. The year, make, model, and even color will have an impact on what kind of risk your auto insurance company considers you to be. Think about this when you’re looking for the best rates and see what insights you can get into which companies factor which pieces of information in which ways.

Discounts, Discounts, Discounts

Almost every top-rated (and you should always go with top-rated) insurance company out there offers a plethora of discounts and discount programs. No matter what your coverage levels, you should absolutely take advantage of the programs that make sense for you. Some discounts will be applied automatically for things like automatic payments, paperless billing, bundling auto and home insurance, even something like your status as a credit union member can save you money! Then there are performance-based discounts with things like Smart Drive with State Farm and other similar, device-monitored discount programs. By the time you’re done racking up the discounts, you might be surprised to find that you’re paying a fraction of what you thought you would be!

Don’t Skip Your Annual Rate Check

Even if you’re perfectly happy with your rates, coverage, and insurance company, we always recommend doing an annual rate check. There’s nothing wrong with shopping identical coverage across the top-rated insurance companies and seeing if there’s money to be saved by switching.

Exactly what kind of coverage works best for you will vary depending on your individual needs, but keeping these things in mind as you’re shopping or looking to increase coverage or reduce costs will help you find the right fit, for the right price.