Compare 1997 BMW 5 Series Insurance Quotes

Locating the cheapest insurance for a BMW 5 Series could be a lot of work, but you can learn these tips and make it easy.

There are more efficient ways to find insurance coverage online so you’re going to learn the quickest way to price shop coverage for a BMW and obtain the best price possible from both online companies and local agents.

Get lower-cost rates by earning discounts

The cost of insuring your cars can be expensive, but you may find discounts that you may not even know about. Certain credits will be shown at the time of quoting, but once in a while a discount must be manually applied in order for you to get them.

  • Good Drivers – Drivers who don’t get into accidents can save up to 40% or more on their insurance coverage quote for 5 Series coverage than drivers with accident claims.
  • Auto/Home Discount – If you combine your home and auto policies with the same company you may save at least 10 to 15 percent or more.
  • Clubs and Organizations – Participating in qualifying clubs or civic groups is a simple method to lower premiums on your next renewal.
  • Student Discounts – A discount for being a good student may save you up to 25%. The good student discount can last until age 25.
  • Federal Government Employee – Active or retired federal employment can save as much as 8% for 5 Series coverage with certain companies.
  • Low Miles Discount – Maintaining low annual mileage may enable drivers to earn better rates on cars that stay parked.
  • Paper-free Discount – A few insurance coverage companies give back up to $50 for buying your policy digitally online.
  • Include Life Insurance and Save – Larger insurance carriers have a break if you buy life insurance from them.

Consumers should know that some credits don’t apply to the entire cost. Some only apply to specific coverage prices like comprehensive or collision. Just because it seems like you could get a free insurance coverage policy, it’s just not the way it works.

Large insurance coverage companies and some of the premium reductions they offer are outlined below.

  • State Farm may offer discounts for accident-free, good student, Drive Safe & Save, multiple autos, passive restraint, and Steer Clear safe driver discount.
  • GEICO has discounts for daytime running lights, five-year accident-free, multi-policy, federal employee, driver training, and emergency military deployment.
  • Allstate discounts include defensive driver, farm vehicle, passive restraint, new car, early signing, and FullPay discount.
  • SAFECO may include discounts for homeowner, teen safe driver, accident prevention training, bundle discounts, and teen safety rewards.
  • Farm Bureau policyholders can earn discounts including safe driver, renewal discount, multi-policy, youthful driver, and good student.
  • Progressive may have discounts that include multi-policy, homeowner, online quote discount, multi-vehicle, continuous coverage, good student, and online signing.
  • AAA offers premium reductions for multi-policy, anti-theft, pay-in-full, good student, and AAA membership discount.

When quoting, ask each insurance company how many discounts you can get. Some discounts may not be offered everywhere.

Why your insurance prices might be higher

Part of the car insurance buying process is learning a few of the rating criteria that play a part in calculating your car insurance rates. When consumers understand what impacts premium levels, this enables you to make decisions that may result in better car insurance rates.

The itemized list below are some of the factors used by companies to determine your premiums.

  • Consolidate and save – The majority of insurance companies provide a discount to customers that purchase more than one policy such as combining an auto and homeowners policy. The discount can add up to five, ten or even twenty percent. Even if you already get this discount, consumers should still check prices from other companies to confirm you are receiving the best rates possible.
  • Lower prices with theft deterrents – Selecting a car model with an alarm system can earn a premium discount. Advanced theft deterrents like tamper alarm systems, vehicle immobilizer technology and General Motors OnStar can thwart car theft and help bring rates down.
  • High deductibles equal low rates – Coverage for physical damage, also known as collision and other-than-collision, is used to repair damage to your BMW. Some examples of covered claims are collision with another vehicle, flood damage, and windstorm damage. Deductibles for physical damage define how much you are willing to pay in the event of a claim. The more of the claim the insured has to pay upfront, the less your car insurance will be for 5 Series coverage.
  • Bad credit hurts insurance rates – Credit history is likely to be a major factor in your rate calculation. If your credit rating is low, you may save money insuring your 1997 BMW 5 Series by taking the time to improve your credit score. Drivers who have excellent credit tend to be less risk to insure as compared to drivers with worse credit.
  • Eliminate extra policy coverages – Policies have optional add-on coverages that sound like a good idea at the time if you aren’t careful. Insurance for things like replacement cost coverage, accident forgiveness, and extra equipment coverage may not be needed and are just wasting money. These coverages may sound good when buying your policy, but if you’ve never needed them in the past remove them and pocket the money.
  • Cars with good safety ratings lower rates – Safer cars tend to have lower insurance rates. Vehicles built for safety result in less severe injuries and fewer injuries means your insurance company pays less and thus lower rates.
  • Male prices may be higher – Statistics show that females tend to be a little less risky than males. However, don’t assume that women are better drivers. Men and women are in fender benders at about the same rate, but males have costlier accidents. Men also statistically get higher numbers of serious violations like DUI and reckless driving. Males from age 16 to 21 cause the most accidents and are penalized with high car insurance rates.

Your insurance coverage coverage should be tailored to you

When choosing proper insurance coverage for your personal vehicles, there really is not a “perfect” insurance plan. Everyone’s needs are different.

For example, these questions may help you determine if your situation would benefit from professional advice.

  • When should my teen driver be added to my policy?
  • Why is insurance for a teen driver so high?
  • How much liability insurance is required?
  • Should I buy more coverage than the required minimum liability coverage?
  • Does my insurance cover my expensive audio equipment?
  • Is motorclub coverage worth it?

If you don’t know the answers to these questions but one or more may apply to you, you might consider talking to an agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, fill out this quick form. It’s fast, free and can provide invaluable advice.

Save $452 a year! What?

Consumers can’t get away from all the ads that promise big savings for switching from the likes of State Farm, Allstate and GEICO. All the companies advertise claims that you can save just by switching your coverage to them.

That’s great but how can every company claim to save you money? This is the trick they use.

All companies have specific guidelines for the type of insured that will most likely be profitable. One example of this type of driver may need to be a married male, carries high limits, and has great credit. Any person who matches those parameters will get a cheap rate quote as well as save quite a bit of money when switching.

People who fall outside these stringent criteria will probably have to pay more expensive rates with the end result being the customer buying from a different company. If you listen closely, the ads state “customers that switch” not “everyone who quotes” save that much when switching. That’s the way companies can make those claims.

Because of the profiling, it is so important to get insurance coverage quotes from several different companies. It’s impossible to know the company that will have the best prices for your profile.

Auto insurance coverages explained

Learning about specific coverages of your auto insurance policy can help you determine appropriate coverage at the best deductibles and correct limits. The coverage terms in a policy can be impossible to understand and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording.

Coverage for medical expenses – Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage provide coverage for immediate expenses such as nursing services, pain medications and EMT expenses. The coverages can be utilized in addition to your health insurance policy or if you do not have health coverage. Coverage applies to not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants and also covers getting struck while a pedestrian. PIP is only offered in select states but can be used in place of medical payments coverage

Comprehensive auto insurance – Comprehensive insurance covers damage that is not covered by collision coverage. You first have to pay a deductible and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.

Comprehensive coverage protects against claims like damage from a tornado or hurricane, rock chips in glass and hitting a deer. The most a auto insurance company will pay at claim time is the market value of your vehicle, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.

Coverage for uninsured or underinsured drivers – This gives you protection from other motorists when they either are underinsured or have no liability coverage at all. Covered losses include hospital bills for your injuries and also any damage incurred to your 1997 BMW 5 Series.

Because many people have only the minimum liability required by law, it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is very important. Frequently your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages are identical to your policy’s liability coverage.

Collision coverage – Collision coverage pays to fix your vehicle from damage resulting from a collision with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. A deductible applies then your collision coverage will kick in.

Collision coverage pays for claims like colliding with another moving vehicle, damaging your car on a curb and backing into a parked car. This coverage can be expensive, so you might think about dropping it from lower value vehicles. Another option is to choose a higher deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.

Liability insurance – This coverage will cover injuries or damage you cause to people or other property in an accident. It protects YOU from legal claims by others, and does not provide coverage for damage sustained by your vehicle in an accident.

Coverage consists of three different limits, bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. You might see limits of 100/300/100 which means a $100,000 limit per person for injuries, $300,000 for the entire accident, and property damage coverage for $100,000. Another option is one limit called combined single limit (CSL) which limits claims to one amount with no separate limits for injury or property damage.

Liability can pay for claims such as funeral expenses, medical services, repair costs for stationary objects and repair bills for other people’s vehicles. How much coverage you buy is up to you, but consider buying as much as you can afford.

One last thing about your coverage

We just covered many tips how you can reduce 1997 BMW 5 Series insurance prices online. It’s most important to understand that the more providers you compare, the better your comparison will be. You may even discover the lowest priced insurance comes from some of the smallest insurance companies.

Discount 1997 BMW 5 Series insurance is possible from both online companies and from local agencies, and you need to comparison shop both to have the best chance of lowering rates. Some insurance providers may not have online quoting and these smaller providers prefer to sell through local independent agents.

When buying insurance coverage, it’s a bad idea to buy less coverage just to save a little money. There have been many situations where someone sacrificed liability limits or collision coverage only to regret that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. The ultimate goal is to buy a smart amount of coverage at the lowest possible cost, but do not sacrifice coverage to save money.

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