Did you come to the realization that you have an expensive car insurance policy? It’s quite common and you’re not alone. Vehicle owners have so many car insurance companies to buy insurance from, and though it is a good thing to have a choice, it can be more difficult to adequately compare rates.
Lots of factors are considered when pricing auto insurance. Some of the criteria are obvious like your driving record, although some other factors are not as apparent such as whether you are married or your commute time.A large part of saving on insurance is knowing the rating factors that come into play when calculating the rates you pay for insurance. If you have some idea of what impacts premium levels, this allows you to make educated decisions that may result in cheaper rates.
Lowering your 1996 Buick Regal insurance coverage rates isn’t really that difficult. The only thing you need to do is take a couple of minutes to get quotes provided by online insurance companies. Comparing prices online can be done in a couple of different ways.
The first (and easiest) way to find the lowest comparison rates is to use a rate comparison form click to view form in new window. This style of form prevents you from having to do repetitive form entry for each company. Filling out one form gets you price quotes from all major companies.
A different way to analyze rates is to manually visit each individual company website and request a quote. For instance, let’s assume you want to see prices from USAA, State Farm and Liberty Mutual. You would have to spend time on each company’s site and enter your policy data, which is why the first method is quicker.
To view a list of companies in your area, click here.
It’s up to you how you get prices quotes, just try to use equivalent deductibles and coverage limits for each quote you get. If the quotes have different deductibles it will be next to impossible to truly determine the lowest rate.
Consumers can’t escape the ads for the lowest price insurance from the likes of GEICO, State Farm and Progressive. They all seem to advertise the message that you’ll save big after switching to them.
How is it possible that every company can make almost identical claims? Here is the trick they use.
Many companies have underwriting criteria for the type of insured that will generate a profit. One example of a profitable insured may need to be a married female, has never had a policy lapse, and drives less than 7,500 miles a year. Anyone that hits that “sweet spot” gets the lowest prices and have a good chance to save if they switch.
Potential insureds who don’t qualify for these criteria may be required to pay higher premiums which usually ends up with the customer buying from a different company. If you pay close attention to the ads, they say “customers who switch” not “all people who quote” will save that much if they switch. That’s the way insurance companies can make the claims of big savings. Because of these techniques, you really need to get auto insurance quotes as often as possible. Because you cannot predict the company that will give you lower car insurance rates than your current company.
Insurance is neither fun to buy or cheap, but there are discounts available to help offset the cost. Some trigger automatically at the time of purchase, but some discounts are required to be asked for before you get the savings. If you check and find you aren’t receiving every discount you deserve, you are paying more than you should be.
A little disclaimer on discounts, most credits do not apply to your bottom line cost. A few only apply to individual premiums such as liability and collision coverage. Just because you may think all the discounts add up to a free policy, that’s just not realistic.
To find companies that offer many of these discounts, click here to view.
When it comes to choosing the right insurance coverage, there is no best way to insure your cars. Everyone’s situation is unique so this has to be addressed. For instance, these questions can help discover if you would benefit from an agent’s advice.
If you’re not sure about those questions but a few of them apply, then you may want to think about talking to a licensed insurance agent. To find an agent in your area, simply complete this short form or you can go here for a list of companies in your area. It is quick, free and can help protect your family.
Learning about specific coverages of your insurance policy can help you determine appropriate coverage for your vehicles. Policy terminology can be impossible to understand and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording. Shown next are the usual coverages available from insurance companies.
Liability coverage
Liability insurance protects you from damages or injuries you inflict on other people or property that is your fault. It protects YOU from legal claims by others, and doesn’t cover damage sustained by your vehicle in an accident.
It consists of three limits, bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. You might see liability limits of 100/300/100 that translate to a limit of $100,000 per injured person, a limit of $300,000 in injury protection per accident, and $100,000 of coverage for damaged propery.
Liability insurance covers things such as funeral expenses, attorney fees, court costs and bail bonds. How much liability coverage do you need? That is up to you, but consider buying as large an amount as possible.
Comprehensive insurance
This pays to fix your vehicle from damage OTHER than collision with another vehicle or object. You need to pay your deductible first and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive coverage pays for claims such as hitting a bird, vandalism, damage from a tornado or hurricane, damage from flooding and a broken windshield. The maximum amount you’ll receive from a claim is the actual cash value, so if the vehicle’s value is low it’s not worth carrying full coverage.
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM)
Your UM/UIM coverage provides protection when other motorists are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. Covered losses include hospital bills for your injuries and also any damage incurred to your Buick Regal.
Since many drivers carry very low liability coverage limits, their limits can quickly be used up. So UM/UIM coverage should not be overlooked.
Collision insurance
This covers damage to your Regal resulting from colliding with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. You will need to pay your deductible then the remaining damage will be paid by your insurance company.
Collision insurance covers claims like hitting a parking meter, colliding with a tree, driving through your garage door, sustaining damage from a pot hole and backing into a parked car. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so consider dropping it from lower value vehicles. Drivers also have the option to raise the deductible to bring the cost down.
Med pay and Personal Injury Protection (PIP)
Coverage for medical payments and/or PIP pay for short-term medical expenses for things like rehabilitation expenses, X-ray expenses, pain medications and doctor visits. They can be used to cover expenses not covered by your health insurance policy or if you do not have health coverage. They cover you and your occupants and will also cover getting struck while a pedestrian. PIP coverage is not universally available but can be used in place of medical payments coverage
As you go through the steps to switch your coverage, you should never reduce coverage to reduce premium. In many cases, consumers will sacrifice comprehensive coverage or liability limits to discover at claim time that it was a big error on their part. The ultimate goal is to buy the best coverage you can find for the lowest cost, not the least amount of coverage.
Lower-priced insurance is definitely available online in addition to local insurance agencies, so you need to shop auto insurance with both to get a complete price analysis. There are still a few companies who do not offer the ability to get a quote online and many times these smaller companies only sell coverage through independent agencies.
In this article, we covered many ways to shop for 1996 Buick Regal insurance online. The most important thing to understand is the more times you quote, the better your comparison will be. Consumers may even find the lowest premium rates come from the least-expected company. Some small companies may have significantly lower prices on certain market segments compared to the large companies like Progressive and GEICO.
More detailed insurance information can be found at these sites: