How can you keep your car insurance rates as low as possible?
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 at
12:02 am
How can you keep your car insurance rates as low as possible?
Car insurance rates fluctuate from company to company. What tips can you offer others to help secure the most competitive rate?
Yahoo! Canada Answers staff note: This question is asked by Gregory Ellis, co-founder of the the insurance shopping service kanetix.ca. Visit http://www.kanetix.ca/YAHOO_answers for more information.
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Tagged with: discounted Car rates for students
Filed under: General
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But to get the lowest that i could, it helped that i went to an accredited driving school. No citations, no previous accidents. Keep the claims to a minumum and where i live i get a discount for using winter tires.
Joining CAA or AAA would get a discount from some companies.
If you want to cut down on the actual cost of a quotation, and nothing in the past can help you can always take a lower insurance coverage for liability … 1 million instead of 2
or you can take a higher portion that you have to pay in the even of a claim… it is usually flexible.
After all of this, if you think you ae getting gouged, shop around. I had some quotes be almost double the one that i signed on with, and i got a 0$ deductible where i signed.
If you are looking to keep your costs down, you can look at increasing your deductibles, and depending on whether or not you own or lease, you may be able to get away with only have Comprenhensive coverage, no Collission. That means that if you are in an accident, and it is your fault, you have to play to fix your own car though.
If you are looking at getting a vehicle, and you are concerned about insurance costs, never buy new. The first year the insurance rates are always higher because of the depreciation of th vehicle in the first year. Buy or even lease a one or two year old vehicle.
Also, some insurance companies look at all the drives in the household, whether they drive the vehicle or not ( simply because they have access to the keys ). If there are underage drivers in the household or roommates with bad driving records, you may want to stear clear of those companies. Or ask about a driver exclusion form, it promises that thoses drivers will not be driving the vehicle.
Hooking up with a big provider usually is the most competitive price, or so has been my experience.
The higher your deductible is the less your rates too. So go for $1,000 rather than $500 deductible and save.
The vehicle you drive has a lot to do with what you are charged, and believe it or not colour can factor in too. So if you are thinking of buying new, run a few vehicles by your insurance company for a quote before buying!! Only the value of the structures on your property should be insured, not the land itself. If you are driving a junk box you may not want collision insurance on it. How far you drive, business or pleasure, second drivers etc. are also factors.
One thing you MIGHT want to pay more for is making sure you have REPLACEMENT value on your possessions as opposed to the depreciated value which I happened to find out the hard way when robbed.
Wow, judging from some of the answers and ratings it seems most of these people need a crash course on insurance!
And as for the comment below me, I would like to contribute also THAT that MAYBE if government took more seriously it's role it handing out drivers licences to QUALIFIED people, who actually KNEW how to drive and the rules of the road were ENFORCED we wouldn't have such morons causing accidents and giving insurance companies CAUSE/EXCUSES to raise insurance.
Too many unqualified and unsafe drivers on the road, and sadly not enough police to enforce this.
Every day I watch drivers overtake buses at crosswalks (unloading students) in a zone where it is clearly marked "DO NOT PASS FROM HERE TO CROSSWALK".
Do you want to know how many pedestrians are hit as a result of people who can't wait 30 seconds?
It's a two way street on the insurance issue and the onus squarely lies on government who are the only ones who can intervene and make our roads safer.
If citizens cant be responsible citizens, then sadly it just comes back to bite them in the rump. Unfortunately, the law obiding have to pay for their disregard as well.
Sorry for the rant but it's all part and parcel is it not?
My answer to you is not to look for better rates as possible but that we need to change the system, because I'm thinking, if I am free why they "force" me to pay an insurance ?! I don't have the option not to pay an go on on my own risk. I give one more example and that's it.
My license expired and I'm paying insurance 108 $CAD per month even though i don't drive the car for almost 2 months now. The insurance company said to me that, although i don't use the car i must pay "
All I can do is what any sane person would do, drive safe.
Also drive safely and defensively. After an at-fault claim rates skyrocket.
If you can settle a small claim by paying out the other party, do it. You will pay for it with your increased rates anyways.
Whatever you do, don't skimp on liability insurance. $2,000,000 minimum.
The best thing that I have found is that you DO need to shop around for insurance. Depending on how old you are, your gender and the type and color of your car all depends on the rate that you will get. Stay clear of small unknown companies, they do not work out, they might be cheaper, but in the end you will regret it.
Whatever you do, DO NOT CALL YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY.
They're such criminals they should be arrested.
Now, to get the best rates once you have everything else in place, find an independent agent and let them find you the best deal by using their data base of companies.