When we lived in Pennsylvania, it was very easy for us to save money on our car insurance. We were insured through Erie Insurance (based, not coincidentally in Erie, PA) and enjoyed low rates from them by agreeing to insure our cars and our home through their agency, thereby acquiring a multi-policy discount. For us, it was advantageous to have all of our insurance eggs in one basket, so to speak.
But really, a lot of other factors can go into the car insurance quote mix. For instance, did you know that living in one county vs. another can make a huge difference in your car insurance rate? When we lived in a smaller, more rural county before making our move to Erie, we enjoyed car insurance costing us about $800 per year. Once we moved, however, our insurance spiked up about $150 per year, which is why that multi-policy discount looked really good. Moving to a county with a larger city will net you a higher rate than living just across the county line.
When we moved to Virginia, we were quite pleased to find that GEICO offered a discount because of our credit union affiliation. It wasn't much, but any discount is money in your pocket. After we'd been insured for a while, we got a letter in the mail inviting us to allow GEICO to check our credit report and if it was favorable, they would offer us a discount, which they did do. It wasn't the max available, but it was about 7%... just for having good credit.
One other thing you really need to keep an eye on is your older cars. If your car's value is very low, you might want to consider just carrying liability and not carrying collision, especially if you opted for a high deductible on your policy. So if you have older cars, check their values at a place like kbb.com to make sure you aren't over insuring your car and wasting money.
I recently posted about how my husband and I switched cars... with him taking my older model because it has higher gas efficiency. We were able to sign on to the GEICO site and change the driver information. Sure enough, my premium did drop, about two dollars. In our case, we have two cars at least 8 years old or older. But for someone else if you have an older car and a newer model, switching drivers might net you more than just pocket change.
One last thought. When we lived in PA and newly married, we were insured through State Farm. We were young then; early 20s. However, State Farm's rates were much higher than Erie Insurance's because at 24, I wasn't quite an "adult" by State Farm's standards. Switching from State Farm to Erie Insurance cut our rate by more than 25% because Erie Insurance considered me an adult at 24 and not as high a risk. Getting married will also cut your rates, since married people tend to take less risks, so for you engaged couples, there's hope on the horizon for your insurance rates to go down.
There are many factors that go into the calculation of insurance rates, more than just whether or not you have had a ticket or an accident lately. Ask these types of questions of your agent or prospective car insurance companies. You may be surprised to find a hidden discount you didn't know you were missing and save yourself a lot of money on your next car insurance policy.
2 comments:
I am also feeling the same as many of friends were saying that they do have a cheaper policy but I was not able to get the reason. I will ask my insurance agent all these questions that you have told in your post to get the discount.
I am also feeling the same as many of friends were saying that they do have a cheaper policy but I was not able to get the reason. I will ask my insurance agent all these questions that you have told in your post to get the discount.
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