The 10 Best Ways to Lower Your Car Insurance Bill

Money saved is money earned. Many people spend more than is absolutely necessary on their daily bills, the things that they take for granted. With just a little thought, prudence, and effort, you can slice many of your routine expenses down to size. Here are ten of the best ways that you can save real cash on your automobile insurance bill:

1. Drive safely. Goes without saying, right? Drive defensively, slow down to avoid costly tickets (which will raise your insurance rates tremendously), and be aware of your surroundings. Avoid problems before you have to extricate yourself from them.
2. Drive less. Commute to work or use public transportation. Don’t use your car for business purposes. Insurance companies usually offer discounts if you drive less than a certain number of miles yearly, and if you only use your car for personal trips.
3. Shop around for insurance, preferably before you buy your car. This can be done conveniently online. Get quotes from several different insurance companies on several different types of cars. This will give you an idea of which types of cars are more or less expensive to insure. You’ll probably find that sports car that you want will cost you much more to insure than the not-so-flashy sedan. Why? Because car thieves target the sportster. Also, its parts are more expensive if it needs repair from an accident. Insurance companies take all of this into account when setting rates.
4. Buy a safe, low-profile vehicle, like the not-so-flashy sedan. Do a market survey for vehicles that have higher safety ratings. Visit the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) website for more information.
5. Take care of your credit. If you haven’t heard by now, insurance companies look at your credit profile as one way of determining the rate that you’ll pay for coverage. Better credit equals lower premium. If you have spotty credit, take steps to repair and rebuild it. It’ll save you money in every area of your financial life.
6. Raise your deductible. This could knock off a significant portion of your insurance bill. A word of caution though: make sure that you budget to have the money on-hand to cover the deductible should you need to repair your car. Create an emergency vehicle repair fund. If you never need it, it just sits in your savings account collecting interest. It could be worse, huh?
7. Avoid duplication of medical coverage. If you have a good healthcare program, you probably don’t need to pay your car insurance company for medical bills coverage.
8. Look into insuring your vehicle with the same company that insures your home or life. Many companies offer substantial discounts for multiple-policy coverage; they want to be your only insurance resource. Also, if you have more than one vehicle, most companies will give you a discount for insuring both through them.
9. Consider eliminating collision coverage if you have an older vehicle. Collision is a large chunk of the insurance bill; this could save you significantly. Another word of caution: consider the value of your vehicle. Also consider that if you do collide with something, you’ll have to replace your car on your own.
10. Take a defensive driving course. Many insurance companies will discount your rates if you’ve successfully completed one recently.
11. (Because we always deliver more than we promise) Explore other discounts. Many companies offer a loyalty discount: if you stay with them for a number of consecutive years your rates will drop. Also, consider membership clubs such as AAA or AARP, for example. Club membership discounts can sometimes be substantial. That’s it; happy savings!