When purchasing insurance it is important to determine whether or not it’s legitimate, it satisfies your needs as a consumer, and if it is cost efficient. One can discover this by simply doing their research. The most important rule when purchasing insurance, of any kind, long-term, short term car insurance, etc. is to do your research. Understanding your needs will help you determine what is best for you and allow you to prioritize those needs – is it more important to have a cheap policy or an expensive policy with an insurance agent that provides great customer service? You also have to explore all options that are out there and find the ones that compete with your current policy. There are many online tools and resources that will provide you with a free quote from several sources. Often times this is the easiest and most convenient method of finding cheap insurance. This also allows you to be more informed of what options are available and what your price point may be. This gives you the leverage you need to negotiate with an insurance company that you might be interested in using.
But to truly be able to find the cheapest insurance you have to understand what insurance is. When you sign a contract with an insurance company you are basically saying, I will pay this much this often and when something bad happens, you guys will cover it. The insurer determines how much they want you to pay them by assessing your risk. They want to ensure that, if something bad does happen then it will be covered by your payments and not out of their pocket. So ask yourself – how much of a risk am I? Because, as the driver, you do have a certain level of control in determining the cost. How often you drive, what you drive, your driving history, where you drive etc. all of these play a factor in determining the cost of your insurance.
Now that we understand that assessing our risk is how an insurer determines the cost of our insurance the ultimate goal is to lower our risk. Taking a defensive driving course is a good way of gaining safe driving habits therefore lowering your risk as a driver and earning a significant discount. Having a security system on your vehicle is also another way to help lower the risk of theft and other property damage, etc. Other ways to lower your insurance premiums would include driving a more modest car. If the cost of insurance is really a problem for you than you probably shouldn’t be driving a red corvette convertible. This often means to insurance companies that you like to drive fast therefore your more at risk of getting into an accident and if you do get into an accident, corvettes can be expensive to fix. Another, possible and seemingly obvious way to get a lower premium would be to simply ask. Inquiring about low mileage, good driver, group discounts, etc. could prove to save you a significant amount of money.
In this society where credit is so heavily relied on, insurers no longer just assess your risk as a driver but also how much of risk you are financially. So it’s not unusual for an insurer to look at your credit history.
Insurance is something that we all need and, often times, all find to be too expensive. But if taken seriously, the task of finding quality insurance at a reasonable price could turn out to be well worth it. Because, as I said before you do have some control over the matter and fortunately these are not the only ways of saving money. So do your research and invest the time now to prevent yourself from throwing away money later.