4 Ways to Get the Cheapest Car Insurance

By Alicia Geigel on August 5, 2018

We are all too familiar with car insurance commercials starring our friends Gecko and Flo, since they dominate just about every commercial break thinkable. On these commercials, we hear similar words like “cheap,” “affordable,” “quote,” “rate,” etc. Most of the time, you’re probably not paying much attention to these various pitches, however, if you find yourself in a situation where you need car insurance, comparing the different coverage options can be one of the smartest tools you can use in the process.

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While most of us drive, only a select amount know the ins and outs of car insurance, where to look, what the cheapest options are, how to get it, etc. With a plethora of insurance companies and a variety of policy types out there, figuring out the most effective and cheapest insurance can be difficult. If you’re someone who has little knowledge of car insurance, like me, having a step by step guide or a list of tips on finding cheap car insurance can make the process a whole lot easier.

Are you someone who needs to get car insurance sometime soon? Have no idea where to begin searching? Unsure if you can find a cheap and affordable rate? Check out these four ways to get cheap car insurance below!

As stated earlier, I am someone who has little to no knowledge of car insurance, so when researching different packages and policies, I was thrown off by the insurance terminology and the large amount of policies.

Laura Adams of the Huffington Post writes about this misinformation, stating, “A recent insuranceQuotes survey found that significant numbers of consumers between the ages of 18 and 30 are misinformed or confused about various aspects of both auto and health insurance. For instance, 48 percent of millennial respondents said driving a red car increases your premium (it doesn’t), while 35 percent said one’s home ZIP code does not affect the cost of auto insurance (it does).” Being misinformed like this can not only make the process of getting  car insurance difficult, but it can also result in either getting an overpriced policy or being underinsured — not good!

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Here are four simple ways to navigate the car insurance world and snag an affordable policy-

1. Compare, Compare, Compare: When it comes to shopping for car insurance, one of the smartest things to do is to compare different companies and shop around. No one company is the same, and neither are the policies each company promotes. Depending on the company, you may be seen as a high-risk, average-risk, or low-risk factor/driver, so it only makes sense that you would want to go with a company that views you as either average or low risk since you’ll get lower rates!

In a blog post by the Baltimore Examiner, they note, “look for as many options as possible, compare them, and stick with the one that offers you the most benefits.”

2. Combine Policies: If you have multiple cars, a home, etc., one way to save money on insurance policies is to combine them. Typically, it is less expensive to group policies together instead of purchasing individual ones separately because most companies offer some form of a multiple-policy discount, which will save you money altogether!

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3. Maintain a Clean Driving Record: This tip is perhaps more well known but it does not mean that it’s not an effective way to get cheaper insurance. The less likely you are to get into an accident, have driving/traffic violations, etc., the more likely the chance that you’ll get a cheaper rate of insurance. This is due to the simple fact that you are considered less of a risk and because of that, insurance companies won’t have to pay out more money to cover your reckless expenses. So don’t text and drive, run red lights, or fall asleep at the wheel — stuff like this can save you tons in the long run!

4. Make Payments on Time: Part of adulting is having bills to pay, whether that is a phone bill, a credit card bill, a cable bill, etc. It is super important to pay your bills on time for multiple reasons, but one being that your credit score is heavily affected by late payments. A bad credit score means that insurance companies can possibly raise the rate of your policy, which won’t work in your favor.

According to an analysis by Nerdwallet, “having poor credit can boost people’s car insurance rates by hundreds of dollars a year compared with having good credit.” Just be mindful of when your bills are due and always try to make more than the minimum payment on any kind of debt you have to boost your credit score!

Finding a good car insurance policy that won’t break your budget and drain your bank account can be exhausting and frustrating. However, if you shop around and consider all the options out there, you’ll have no trouble finding an inexpensive policy with good benefits. As always, good luck!

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