Find the cheapest auto insurance quotes. Learn how to get a car insurance quote, what they are, and how to save.
One of the best ways to find cheap car insurance quotes online is to spend time comparing coverages and periodically doing the exercise of quoting rates from multiple companies. What you pay for car insurance depends on things like your age and location, and prices can vary dramatically between providers. The best time to shop around is when you’re renewing your coverage and make sure your current rate is still your most affordable option.
Why Compare Auto Insurance Quotes?
We recommend comparing at least three quotes each time you shop. As you’ll see in a moment, auto insurance premiums depend on a wide variety of factors that are unique to each driver. Depending on his profile and history, what he pays for his policy is different from what his friends, family and neighbors pay.
Each company has a process for evaluating driver profiles and assigning rates. A speeding ticket can increase your annual premium cost by $500 with one provider and $1,000 with another, for example. On the other hand, one company may give you a nice discount for owning a home, while another may not.
In addition, any change or personal event can impact what the coverage costs you, for example in the case of married couples, insurance companies are often willing to offer you a discount since some consider married people to be a lower risk than single people. This also applies if you move or change your employment status.
Factors Affecting Auto Insurance Rates
The first thing that affects the price of your auto insurance is the amount of coverage you want. State-required minimum coverage can be much cheaper than full coverage insurance. The deductible you select also affects what you pay for your auto insurance policy. You will have a lower bill with a higher deductible and vice versa.
Some other factors that affect the cost of coverage are as follows:
- Vehicle: Sports cars, luxury vehicles and cars with high theft rates are more expensive to insure.
- driving history: Drivers who have violations and at-fault accidents on their driving records pay more. On the other hand, drivers with clean records may qualify for safe driving discounts from many companies.
- Location: Cities and densely populated areas have higher rates of accidents and theft, so people who live in these places generally pay more for car insurance. Rates can also vary significantly by zip code.
- credit score: Most states allow insurers to use credit scores as a determining factor when setting auto insurance premiums. A poor credit history will generally increase rates.
- Age: Teens and drivers under the age of 25 typically pay more for car insurance.
- homeowners: renters can pay more for auto insurance than homeowners.
- Marital status: Married drivers tend to pay less for insurance.
- Gender: Your gender can affect how much you pay for car insurance coverage.
How to Compare Auto Insurance Quotes
There are several ways to quote and compare: you can go to an insurance agent or deal with each company directly through a phone call or online quote request. You can also use a quote comparison tool, which is an efficient option if you don’t need help choosing your policy. These tools provide you with these tools:
In addition, here are some more details:
- Online Quote Comparison Tool: You can use a single free tool to compare rates from different providers at the same time.
- Online Form Submission– Most providers offer instant quotes through forms on their websites.
- By phone– You can call individual auto insurance providers and receive quotes over the phone.
- independent agent: You can give your information to an agent who will search and obtain quotes for you. In general, this can be more expensive than contacting a company directly, but you will get personalized service.
No matter which way you want to compare policies, you’ll always need the following information in order to get a quote:
- Year, make, model, and Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) for the car.
- Vehicle mileage.
- Address where the driver resides and the vehicle is stored.
- Vehicle owner information.
- Names and dates of birth of everyone listed on the policy
- Driver’s license numbers.
- Current insurance company and policy expiration date.
- Current coverage limits.
- Driving history including tickets and accidents.
Our recommendation is to use a car insurance comparison tool as it is often the fastest way to get prices from multiple companies. Instead of giving your information to each supplier separately, you enter your information once and the tool retrieves quotes from many companies instantly.
Compare auto insurance quotes from the best providers
In other articles we’ve written, we’ve covered the differences and attributes of the most popular insurers. Our top five picks for auto insurance are Progressive, State Farm, Geico, Liberty Mutual, and USAA. All of these providers offer affordable coverage on average, but some insurers are better than others for certain drivers depending on the profile. Based on our analysis of rate estimates and discount opportunities, here’s where each company stands out:
- progressive: more affordable for high-risk drivers
- StateFarm– Most affordable for college students
- Geico– Most affordable for the average driver
- Liberty Mutual: More affordable for teens
- USAA– Most affordable for military members and their families.
Our recommendations for auto insurance
So which car insurance is the cheapest? The answer depends. But our review team believes that Progressive is generally the best option in terms of pricing and coverage. If you are from a military family, USAA is a great option with high industry ratings.
In the case of Progressive, it has a wide range of discounts that many different drivers may qualify for and competitive prices are some of the reasons why it has an excellent reputation and millions of customers.
For those who may be eligible for USAA, USAA offers a number of discounts and a variety of resources for transitioning in and out of military life. Remember that your auto insurance coverage is only available to military members, veterans, and their immediate family members.
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