Shop around and do it yearly. Don’t just keep paying the invoice over and over without comparison shopping. Below are a few suggestions to help you get the best deal available on your automobile insurance policy.

Insurance agents really have a lot of leeway. They can price match and they can offer many discounts. There are also many decisions you can make about your policy that will save you a bundle. For example, if you change your deductible on your collision from a $50 deductible to a $1000 deductible, you’re inline for a huge premium savings. If you don’t think you could come up with $1000 out of pocket, then change it to a $500 deductible; you’ll still save a sizable amount on your annual premium payment.

You can also get more of a savings if you change your comprehensive deductible. Many people needlessly carry full coverage on their older vehicle. They originally purchased the vehicle new, paid for full coverage and to this day, continue to pay the same high rate. Their ten year old vehicle may be worth $1000 or less, yet they continue to pay $250-$450 every six months (total $500 to $900 dollars a year) to keep full coverage on their old vehicle.

However, if they have an accident and totaled their vehicle, the insurance company will only pay them the wholesale value of the vehicle. The amount they would receive could be $1000 or less. A vehicle that old just needs the insurance that protects the other person in case of an accident.

Another method to save more on your insurance is by combining your vehicles and other insurance together to get you additional savings. All insurance companies offer a multi-car discount (if yours doesn’t, it’s time to switch companies). Further, many will discount more if you have your homeowners or renters policy with them.

There are a few other discounts that you may not be taking advantage of. It seems obvious, but make sure you are getting the correct rate for your age. There are discounts for various ages than can save you lots of money. Check with your agent on this one. Also alarm systems on your vehicle are usually good for a discount. Additionally, anti-lock brakes and air bags can also help lower your premiums.

Don’t just keep paying the invoice when it comes in. Your insurance bill should be an automatic trigger for you to make a few phone calls to see if you can save even more money on your auto insurance premiums.

With all this traveling in and out, back and forth around the maze that is the United States infrastructure, its easy to underst and why auto insurance is required in order to own an operate a car. For car buyers, an effort needs to be made on the part of insurance companies to provide information on the different types of auto insurance available. These include bodily injury and liability, collision, comprehensive, full glace, liability, medical coverage, personal injury protection, and underinsured or uninsured motorist.

Liability insurance coverage is imperative to have as a driver. This insurance covers any injuries or damages to property that may occur during an accident. Two types of liability include bodily injury liability insurance and property damage liability insurance.

Medical insurance is different in that it focuses on the driver and passengers of the car. This will cover any medical treatment for the driver and the passengers. In addition, the medical insurance may or may not offer disability insurance and pain and suffering compensation.

Uninsured or under-insured drivers insurance will pay any costs that you or your passengers may experience if an accident should occur with a driver who is uninsured or underinsured.

Collision insurance deals with the cost of damage caused by a collision to your car that may affect the book value. Comprehensive deals more with damage caused by v andalism, natural disasters, theft or other kinds of damage.

There are several other types of car insurance. These include glass replacement insurance, towing insurance etc. These types of insurance are often not required and are not popular as they are often costly.

Now that you know what types of car insurance are out there, the next step is to find a credible insurance agent. The first place to investigate this is through family and friends. Referrals will help you sort those agents that you want to investigate further. You will want to speak with several different agents before you make your final decisions. Ask any and all questions you may have. That is what the agent is there for.

One morning a friend of mine was running late for class at school. His wife was throwing together some kind of breakfast while he gathered his laptop, notebook, and picked out the books he was going to need for school that day. He zipped up his pack and ran outside to warm the car up. Except, there was no car. It had been stolen. My friend ran into one disappointment after another that week as he first found the insurance company wouldn’t pay for a rental, then that the damage the thief did to the car would only be covered up to the deductible and that somehow he was going to have to come up with the 500 dollars before the car could be fixed.

He had supposed he had done due diligence by going to one of those car insurance quotes sites and finding the lowest priced quote. He had thought by getting cheap car insurance he had beat the system somehow. In reality, his cheap car insurance turned out to be crappy car insurance. His problem stemmed from a lack of information about his car insurance.

Before you buy your next auto insurance policy be sure you know all of the facts about the company’s service policies. Cheap car insurance is only cheap if the product is as good as the more expensive car insurance. A good place to start is with a free car insurance quote, however obtaining an auto insurance quote is not going to be enough unless you know what kind of service you expect and whether or not the company quoted will provide it. The two A’s will keep you straight. They are, Assets and Assistance.

Assets

You want to make certain that your car insurance quote includes every asset you could want or need in an emergency. When you are high and dry without a car, will your insurance cover your transportation needs? Check to make certain that the company you are buying car insurance from will provide you with an auto rental if something goes wrong. If your car is stolen–as my friend’s was– undrivable, or in the car repair shop for a few days you want to make certain that a car will be available to you. If not, you will be forced to call your in-laws and give them one more reason why you aren’t good enough for their daughter. Check that you have road-side assistance, some variation on lock-out service, and towing service provided by some insurance company. Remember the car insurance quote is only low if the car insurance product is good.

Assistance

Find out what the auto insurance company’s customer service is like before you buy from them. How do you find out something like that? First, there is no way to know for certain what type of people you will end up dealing with, but there are ways to know the probability of having a good experience. First, there is the low tech way of asking your family and friends what their experiences have been. The lemon auto insurance companies will immediately pop up in a network search of that kind, but let’s say that you are a hermit and have no family or friends, or like one friend of mine, your family is all from the catskill mountains without cars or running water. If that is the case then you will need to try the high tech method: use the internet. One way is to make use of the Better Business Bureau’s search engine. At www.betterbusinessbureau.org you can find if any complaints have been registered against the auto insurance company in question and whether or not the company has resolved those complaints. I have checked the auto insurance companies that have treated my family poorly and they all seem to have a complaint–not made by me–against their name.

Another way to check the customer service of a company is to find a claims telephone number on their website and call it up. If their claims people are nice to you, the likelihood of the customer service being a positive team has just raised. After you have assessed the courtesy level of the auto insurance company’s service department, then politely thank them for their time and hang up. No explanation necessary, they will just move on to their next call without giving you another thought. This technique is based on the theory that there are two kinds of companies: the ones who stock their sales teams with friendly people and put all the low-paid mean folks in their claims departments and the ones who stock both with friendly, professionals. Usually, this simple test will tell you the type of company with which you are dealing.

If the quoted auto insurance policy has both the assets you desire and a high quality of customer service, then the quote is a true quote. Remember if you think you might end up actually using the car insurance–which we should all assume we will–then check these two things before running after the apparently low premiums.

Well the first thing you may want to do is visit the all auto insurance center which is a resource center that explains auto insurance in detail. You can also search the net and visit plenty of other good sites to better underst and your coverage.

There are many things that affect your insurance rates. Your driving record, how many tickets you’ve had in the past, where you live, how much you drive, what type of car you have, what type of coverage you buy, and where you buy your insurance company.

Many people have reported saving up to 40% by purchasing auto insurance online. The most important thing to remember when shopping online is to purchase your insurance from a reputable insurance company. You can always check the rating of the insurance company you are planning to deal with.

You should always get at least 5 or 6 quotes so you can compare thoroughly. When comparing make sure you are comparing same policies. If not it would rather be like comparing Victoria Secrets lingerie to Walmart lingerie. Not a fair comparison!

You will need to be able to provide the company you are asking for a quote from with information relating to your driving record. There is no point in fibbing. Because the auto insurance company will validate all information you provide. If you lie your rates will go up or the insurance company may cancel your policy.

All auto insurance is not created equal for many reasons. Companies use a formula to determine rates. We won’t get into the details of the formula but basically they calculate out the number of drivers they cover, the costs for the previous year including operating, accident, and liability claims, then they do some math and come out with their rates. Much is determined by the amount of payouts they’ve had.

We mentioned earlier about purchasing from an insurance company that is rated well. If you save a bundle of money but the insurance company you purchased your policy from has a tendency not to honor and pay out on claims but rather weasels their way out. Then the savings aren’t worth anything. Or if the insurance company is a fly by night operation here today and gone tomorrow, they’ll be gone with your money and you won’t have insurance. No savings in that scenario! So make sure to check! Unless of course you recognize the insurance company.

Companies like Geico, Allstate, Hartford, State Farm, Progressive, and of course several other big companies can be found online.

Most companies offer online quotes which is very h andy. No more sitting on the telephone waiting to speak to an agent. No more driving half way across the city to get rates then driving half way around the city to get another rate then…. Okay I’m sure you get the picture! It’s tiring just thinking about it. It’s so much easier just to pull up a chair and put your mouse to work.

Hopefully we’ve brought to your attention that all auto insurance is not created equal. We thought we’d mention it again just incase ? So shop around and save money!