2013 Tesla Model S Car Insurance Cost – 5 Policy Discounts

Looking for lower car insurance rates for your Tesla Model S? Did you fall for a flashy sales pitch and buy high-priced car insurance? Believe me when I say there are a lot of people just like you who feel imprisoned by their car insurance policy.

You have so many insurance companies to insure vehicles with, and even though it’s nice to have a choice, more choices can make it harder to compare rates and find the lowest cost car insurance.

This information will instruct you on the most effective way to quote insurance and some tips to save money. If you are paying for car insurance now, you should be able to cut costs considerably using these techniques. But drivers must know how big insurance companies determine prices because it can help you find the best coverage.

Ways to get insurance quotes

To find cheap rates, there are a couple of ways to obtain and compare prices from lots of insurance companies. The recommended way to lower the rate you pay for Tesla Model S insurance is to get quotes online. It’s really quite simple and can be done by using one of the methods below.

• The best way consumers can make multiple comparisons is to use a rate comparison form (click to open form in new window). This easy form saves time by eliminating separate forms for every prospective company. Filling out one form will get you price quotes from multiple low-cost companies.
• A less efficient way to analyze rates requires a visit to the website for every company you want to comare to request a price quote. For sake of this example, let’s assume you need rates from Farmers, GEICO and Liberty Mutual. You would need to navigate to each company’s site to input your insurance information, which can get old fast. For a list of links to insurance companies in your area, click here.

Whichever method you choose, try to use nearly identical information for every quote you compare. If you have different limits and deductibles on each one it will be nearly impossible to get a fair rate comparison. Having just a slight variation in coverages may result in large price differences. Keep in mind that having more price comparisons helps improve the odds of finding better pricing. Not every company does rate quotes online, so you also need to get prices from the smaller companies as well.

Car insurance discounts are available to slash your rates

Some insurance providers don’t necessarily list every policy discount very clearly, so the list below contains both the well known as well as the least known ways to save on car insurance.

• More Vehicles More Savings – Insuring more than one vehicle on a single policy qualifies for this discount.
• Homeowners Discount – Owning a home can save a few bucks since owning and maintaining a home is proof of financial responsibility.
• Use Seat Belts – Using a seat belt and requiring all passengers to buckle their seat belts can save up to 15% off the medical payments premium.
• Senior Citizen Discount – Drivers over the age of 55 may be able to get a small decrease in premiums on Model S insurance.
• Accident Forgiveness – Not really a discount, but a handful of insurance companies allow you one accident before hitting you with a surcharge if you are claim-free for a certain period of time.

Discounts reduce rates, but you should keep in mind that most of the big mark downs will not be given to the entire policy premium. Some only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as liability and collision coverage. Even though it appears adding up those discounts means a free policy, company stockholders wouldn’t be very happy.

A few of the larger companies and the discounts they provide include:

• State Farm offers premium reductions for anti-theft, student away at school, safe vehicle, Drive Safe & Save, multiple autos, and good driver.
• Esurance has savings for online shopper, anti-lock brakes, DriveSense, good student, and paid-in-full.
• Progressive discounts include good student, continuous coverage, multi-vehicle, online quote discount, online signing, and multi-policy.
• Liberty Mutual offers discounts for exclusive group savings, new vehicle discount, multi-car, multi-policy, preferred payment discount, and good student.
• Auto-Owners Insurance may have discounts that include anti-theft, safe driver, multi-policy, paperless, air bags, anti-lock brakes, and student away at school.
• GEICO may include discounts for five-year accident-free, membership and employees, multi-policy, driver training, and good student.

If you are trying to find affordable insurance quotes, ask every company which discounts they offer. Depending on the company, some discounts may not be offered in your state. To view insurers that offer some of these discounts, click this link.

Everyone needs different auto insurance coverages

When it comes to buying adequate coverage for your personal vehicles, there really is no best way to insure your cars. Every insured’s situation is different and a cookie cutter policy won’t apply. For example, these questions might point out whether you might need an agent’s assistance.

• What if I owe more than I can insure my car for?
• Is my ex-spouse still covered by my policy?
• Does my policy pay for OEM or aftermarket parts?
• Does insurance cover damages from a DUI accident?
• Is my Tesla Model S covered if I use it for business?
• Do I get a pro-rated refund if I cancel my policy early?
• Is upholstery damage covered by car insurance?

If it’s difficult to answer those questions, then you may want to think about talking to an agent. If you want to speak to an agent in your area, simply complete this short form or click here for a list of auto insurance companies in your area.

Insurance coverages 101

Learning about specific coverages of a insurance policy can be of help when determining the best coverages for your vehicles. Policy terminology can be confusing and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording. Below you’ll find the usual coverages available from insurance companies.

Med pay and Personal Injury Protection (PIP) – Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance kick in for bills for things like hospital visits, dental work and ambulance fees. They are utilized in addition to your health insurance program or if you do not have health coverage. Medical payments and PIP cover not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants as well as getting struck while a pedestrian. Personal Injury Protection is not available in all states but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) – This protects you and your vehicle when other motorists are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. It can pay for hospital bills for your injuries and also any damage incurred to your Tesla Model S.

Since many drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits, it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. So UM/UIM coverage is very important. Frequently your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages are similar to your liability insurance amounts.

Liability coverages – This coverage protects you from damage or injury you incur to other people or property that is your fault. It protects YOU against other people’s claims. It does not cover your injuries or vehicle damage.

It consists of three limits, bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. As an example, you may have limits of 50/100/50 which stand for a limit of $50,000 per injured person, $100,000 for the entire accident, and property damage coverage for $50,000. Alternatively, you may have a combined single limit or CSL which limits claims to one amount with no separate limits for injury or property damage.

Liability coverage protects against claims like court costs, repair bills for other people’s vehicles and pain and suffering. How much coverage you buy is up to you, but consider buying as large an amount as possible.

Comprehensive insurance – This coverage covers damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. You first have to pay a deductible then the remaining damage will be covered by your comprehensive coverage.

Comprehensive coverage protects against claims such as damage from getting keyed, a tree branch falling on your vehicle, damage from flooding and rock chips in glass. The most a insurance company will pay at claim time is the market value of your vehicle, so if the vehicle is not worth much consider removing comprehensive coverage.

Collision – This pays for damage to your Model S from colliding with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. You first must pay a deductible and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.

Collision insurance covers things like damaging your car on a curb, hitting a mailbox, scraping a guard rail and colliding with another moving vehicle. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so consider dropping it from vehicles that are older. You can also increase the deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.