This is primarily because when it comes to insurance, cheap home insurance quotes, cheap life insurance quotes, and cheap health insurance quotes for premiums payable on policies tend to vary from insurer to insurer and as unpredictably, much like the weather.

Best Ways to Get Cheap Car Insurance Quotes

• Keep searching to get multiple rates before making a commitment
• Work out your insurance costs prior to buying your vehicle
• Consider the deductibles
• Reduce comprehensive and/or collision coverage on an old car
• Watch your personal credit score
• Check out low-mileage discounts
• Ask about discounts for group insurance
• Don’t forget to ask about all discounts available
• Avoid coverage lapses
• Avoid installment payments
• Negotiate with your existing insurer
• Go for the blackbox policy
• Don’t include all passengers on your own policy
• Protect your no-claim bonus
• Increase voluntary excess
• Secure the car

That’s why to compare cheap auto insurance quotes, you will have to search the internet thoroughly and patiently because certain critical factors influence the rate and which is beyond your control. These include your age, record of any prior claims and gender. Auto insurance apart, these factors are also applicable when you are comparing quotes for home, life, and health insurance as well.

However, getting the best cheap car insurance quotes online is always possible if you bear the following in mind:

Keep searching to get multiple rates before making a commitment

Keep searching to get multiple rates before making a commitment: Since company prices vary like anything, shop around. This is because you may wind up shelling out double from one insurer to the next easily.

In case you want to know more about how to compare quotes, consider the low-priced carriers first. A map is given by the NAIC or National Association of Insurance Commissioners on its website and which lists the regulators of each state.

Just click on your particular state and you will be linked to the website of its Department of Insurance. There’s a guide for consumer buying that compares insurance premiums offered by multiple companies. It also tells you how many complaints have been logged with each company and how it has responded to the complaint.

Surprisingly, you won’t need to compromise on service quality to get a lower premium because your research will show that many low-priced companies also offer the most competitive service rates. Cheap insurance quotes online are also available from a number of independent and incredibly useful websites.

However, it needs to be borne in mind that these companies may charge carriers a certain commission for each sale and occasionally also overlook insurers that offer the lowest rates because such low-cost carriers don’t pay any commissions.

Work out your insurance costs prior to buying your vehicle

Cheap affordable car insurance quotes also depend a lot on the make, model, and year of your car. All other factors remaining equal, expensive, sporty and/or new cars cost more to insure as compared to cheaper, more utilitarian and older vehicles.

However, a substantial discrepancy could be found even when you compare the costs for insuring similar automobiles. Thus, if you already have shortlisted a couple of models, ask your insurer to check out the rate that each car commands. By doing this, you get ultimately net a windfall in terms of savings when paying your premium.

Reduce comprehensive and/or collision coverage on an old car

Collision and comprehensive coverage demand more premium even if the car is an old one. Cheap affordable car insurance quotes usually don’t work in these cases as you are probably spending more for insurance than what the vehicle is truly worth.

Add up your collision and comp premium and subsequently multiply it by 10. If the car is actually worth less than the figure you’ve got, avoid the coverage. Statistics show that if overexposure is worrying you, in eleven years, a typical policyholder stakes a claim while reporting a complete loss once every fifty years only.

Watch your personal credit score

Many insurers consider credit scores when they make their rate calculations. Thus your personal credit score plays an extremely important part in determining the rate.

A bad score could make you end up paying up as much as 50 percent more. So make sure to keep a good credit score by paying your bills on time and by keeping a hawk’s eye on your credit report that there are no erroneous entries there.

Check out low-mileage discounts

A number of insurers offer discounts to a policyholder who records a lower annual mileage than the set norm. If you have a short commute or travel by pool car, you are most likely to record low mileage and get reduced rates from some companies. So inquire about such discounts, if they are available.

Ask about discounts for group insurance

It’s a common norm among insurers to give special discounts to policyholders who also happen to belong to certain professions or organizations like engineers, teachers or veterans. Ask your carrier for a list of such groups to know whether you qualify. It could just work to your great benefit.

Don’t forget to ask about all discounts available

It is commonly seen that first time car insurers are often ignorant of the subtle nuances of insuring and fail to ask detailed questions like special facilities and discounts offered on their policies. Insurers on the other hand, too, often deliberately keep quiet about these to save on money if a claim is made later.

However, it pays to know that some insurers offer exclusive discounts to a policyholder whose vehicle bears certain safety features such as motorized seatbelts and/or anti-theft devices. Reduced rates are also offered to senior citizens as also students with grades that meet certain specified requirements. So be sure to ask your insurer if they are available when shopping.

There’s a flip side to this, too. Some companies offering these types of discounts also hike up their premium rates considerably and focusing too much on discounts rather than the coverage facilities on offer doesn’t really make sense in the long run. In other words, a high discount could make you end up paying more still.

Avoid coverage lapses

Even the briefest coverage lapse could disqualify you from receiving a discount. Coverage lapses are used to jack up premium rates, says the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. So make sure to pay your premium on time. And should you be switching carriers, don’t quit your existing insurer until and unless the new carrier officially starts giving coverage.

Avoid installment payments

The average insurer charges an administration fee if you pay your premium in installments. That’s why paying your premium in one go makes sense and helps you save on additional and unnecessary costs. This charge, moreover, shoots if the premium amount is small.

However, if it’s a large premium and you get better returns by keeping these funds elsewhere without paying at one go, the installment alternative in all probability will best suit your needs.

Don’t hurry

While shopping for quotes online, a common mistake made by most vehicle owners is that they tend to be in a hurry and fail to garner the best premium by simply accepting their existing insurer’s renewal quote, which in most cases is much higher. Take your time and keep comparing rates till you hit the jackpot.

Compare quality and price

Once you’ve shortlisted a few policies, look at their quality carefully vis-a- vis the premium payable. Then meet your insurer or agent personally and start negotiating on both points to get the best deals. Chances are he’ll agree with your terms to retain you as a client as the market is fiercely competitive and losing a client means a loss to him.

This is most likely to work to your advantage as identifying the best and most reasonable car insurance deal is crucial because of ever rising costs. The recent reforms on compensation payouts has not worked in favor of motorists who face a 10 percent rise in their auto insurance premiums.

Negotiate with your existing insurer

At the time of renewing your motor insurance, if you happen to be unhappy with the renewal quote offered by your current carrier, let him know immediately. However, get a more reasonable quote from a rival insurer first and then ask your current insurer if he can match it at least. That’s why comparing prices is so essential to locate this information and use it as your trump card to get the best deal.

Go for the blackbox policy

This is ideal for young drivers. Also called the telematics policy, these monitor a car insurer’s driving, rewarding those with no records of accidents or claims with special discounts and lower rates.

A black box is installed in the vehicle’s dashboard by the insurer which keeps a close track of the driver’s driving habits. Should you have such a policy and comply with its norms, your premium could drop by around 44 percent in one year. Now, that’s something to really consider.

Don’t include all passengers on your own policy

Cheap affordable car insurance quotes are also available when you name only the vehicle’s regular drivers on your policy. Of course, a new name can always be added for a few days when a person really needs to drive the vehicle.

Protect your no-claim bonus

If you haven’t made a claim on your policy for years together, you will be entitled to a no-claim bonus. This helps you also to cut auto insurance costs. So unless it’s a major accident that requires a major expense to repair the vehicle, protect it. Lower taxes and a strong economy though have helped many people overcome the costs of vital things that they could not afford in 2013, for example.

This however, may increase your premium marginally. This again pales into insignificance against a potential loss of about 90 percent reduction on a hefty premium. You have to note, however, that a no-claims bonus that’s protected, widely varies between insurers.

Moreover, even though an accident another driver causes has no negative impact on such bonuses, those caused by the insured could. This calls for checking your policy very carefully before selecting it.

Increase voluntary excess

When you agree to pay more towards the cost of any repairs caused by an accident, your premium usually comes down. Moreover, if the fault isn’t yours, the excess is recoverable. But don’t allow it to spiral too high, especially if it’s a low value vehicle.

Secure the car

A secured car with alarms, immobilizers, and/or tracking devices usually attracts a discount of about 5 percent on the premium payable for its insurance. If you have a new car which has these facilities, make sure to point it out to your insurer when taking out the policy.

In sum, haggling, avoiding payment of monthly charges and taking your time to identify the best deals will get you the best cheap insurance quotes online.

FAQ

Let’s face it: shopping for car insurance can be overwhelming. With hundreds of companies, coverage types, and policy limits, it’s not an easy purchase to make. Unlike most of the products you buy online, car insurance doesn’t have a clear-cut price tag. Instead, car insurance companies determine your premium based on factors such as your vehicle make, age, credit history, and driving record. Once the insurance company has this information, they use actuarial models to calculate your premium amount. The best way to get an estimate of how much you’ll pay for car insurance is to get an online quote. Insurance companies will ask a set of questions so that they have all the necessary components to calculate an estimate of your premium.

There’s no doubt that shopping for car and filling out numerous quotes is tiring. To help you understand more about car insurance quotes, we compiled a list of questions that are common among all prospective insureds.

Understanding Car Insurance Quotes

To make sure you get the best bang for your buck, you need to know what you’re looking at when you get a quote. In addition, you should be aware of quote comparison tools that will not only save you time, but also help you to get the best deal out there. Below, we’ve gathered common questions that will help you better understand car insurance quotes.

Car Insurance Quotes and Your Credit Score

Contrary to popular belief, getting a car insurance quote won’t lower or raise your credit score. Despite this, there are still a lot of concerns when it comes to car insurance quotes and credit. Insurance companies care about your credit because according to studies, there is a strong correlation between your credit score and the likelihood that you will file a claim. We have compiled some of the most common questions regarding car insurance quotes and your credit score to help clear up any confusion.

Shopping for Car Insurance Quotes Online

Since you can get a quote on almost every insurance company’s website and on numerous quote comparison sites, not many people visit agents in person anymore. With hundreds of sites within reach, choosing the right one for you isn’t a simple task. You have to weed out the unreliable sites and find the ones providing the most accurate, up-to-date quotes. With that said, you don’t want to spend hours to get a quote either. Using a few tips, you can find an accurate quote in no time.

Getting a Quote Online

When you get a quote, you’ll need specific information on hand such as your driving record, vehicle specifications, and demographic data. In order to get the most realistic quote, it’s imperative to provide accurate information. You can either get a quote from the insurance company directly or by using a quote comparison website. Here’s a look at the ins and outs of getting a car insurance quote online.

Common Confusion Surrounding Online Quotes

A lot of times people don’t know what to look at after getting a quote. After all, you need to understand the quote before you bind a policy with a car insurance company. There also may be time when you ask yourself, “why are they asking me for this?” While it might be strange to ask for something, there are a lot of factors that go into calculating your premium rate. The below questions address misconceptions and confusion surrounding online quotes.

Tips on Buying Car Insurance

The next step after getting a quote is to buy insurance coverage. It’s important that you get enough quotes so that you get a competitively priced policy that meets your needs. You’ll also want to make sure you know what each type of coverage entails (i.e. personal injury protection vs. collision coverage). Below are questions that will help guide you when it comes time to purchase car insurance.