Autos and motos: all news and articles

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1. Driving less lets you save more

Driving less than 7,500 in the course of the year makes you eligible for a low-mileage discount with your insurance carrier. You can save even more money with discounts if using public transportation on a regular basis during the weekdays.

2. Use your auto only for personal purposes

Most insurance carriers will increase your premium or add additional coverage (and price, respectively) for driving more due to business purposes. But if there’s no way to avoid the business use of your auto, you should inform your agent or broker about it, to make sure your vehicle is properly covered in all cases.

3. Raise the deductible

Deductibles and insurance rates are inversely related – the higher is your deductible, the lower is your annual rate. And by raising your deductible from $250 to $500 you will be able to save up to 15% on your rates. On the flip side, you will have to pay more from your pocket if an accident takes place.

4. Monitor your credit rating

Your credit rating is one of the key factors influencing the premium you will have to pay, as insurance companies use it to determine how risky you are as customer. The better your credit score, and the cleaner your record is of due credits and unpaid bills, the “safer” you are considered and the lower your rates will be.

5. Safe driving helps

Having no tickets or car accidents in your driving record for a period between three or five years (depends on the insurance company), will give you really good insurance discount. Getting even one minor speeding ticket can boost your insurance rates up to 10% higher.

6. Buy a less risky auto

Auto insurance companies all have different ratings for evaluating the risk factor of a vehicle, However, most insurance carriers agree in defining sports, muscle cars, flashy and exotic vehicles as being high risk objects, because they are most common targets for theft and vandalism, and also because the owners of such vehicles tend to drive aggressively and risky in general.

7. Move to another place

Living in an urban area is definitely comfortable and convenient for most of us. But living in an urban area will make insuring your car a lot more expensive than in rural areas. Heavy traffic, high theft rates, accident risks – these are what cities are known for, and that’s exactly what makes insurance rates considerably higher in much more populated places across the country.

8. Have a garage

Storing your auto in a garage means that it’s less likely to be hit by another car, stolen or vandalized. Some insurance companies will offer a small discount if you keep your car in a garage.

9. Increase the safety of your vehicle

Most insurance companies tend to offer special discounts to drivers, who install security devices on their cars such as automatic seat belts, anti-lock brakes, airbags and anti-theft systems. The more secured your car is against theft or vandalism, the more likely you will get a discount.

10. Do some comparison shopping

If you are looking for a new policy or already have one, there’s no better way to get cheap auto insurance than shopping around. Make sure to get as many quotes from different companies as possible and compare not only the prices but the amounts and types of coverage too.
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***If you are like most people, then you have come to the realization that car insurance can just be plainly expensive; especially when you continue to purchase it through a local independent insurance agent. More and more people are turning to the internet for their auto insurance quotes; and for a good reason. Websites which sellonline car insurance are doing so in bulk. Sure you won’t get that personal service you would see through an independent agent, but let’s face it, how often does anyone actually make use of that friendly service. By going for bulk, these websites are not looking to add a lot to the actual cost of the premiums.

However, before you go and actually purchase your auto insurance online, there are a couple of things you need to do. Start off simply by calling around to the local insurance agents in your area and ask for car insurance quotes. Remember to tell the truth when they ask the questions because once the insurance plan is issued, when the insurance company finds out that you lied, and they will, they will cancel your policy. Of course we only need to get an idea of the variations in pricing from one agent to the next so never actually tell them if they are the lowest or not because they do already know.

From there, it is time to move to the computer and begin looking online for the best insurance rates. Online is where you will find the lowest possible premiums, but keep in mind that there will almost never be a physical agent you will be able to deal with in the event of an accident, but rather a representative of the company.

Once you have found the best price, do not stop and purchase the plan, but rather make sure you get all of the quotes that you can. You will quite often find that when you jump to a conclusion that you have found the lowest possible quote, the very next website you stop at might be even lower; so check them all out.

They will want certain pieces of information from you such as your car title and VIN number in order to complete the purchase. After using a credit card and finalizing the payment, you will be able to immediately print out the car insurance slip. If you accidentally miss the printable page, then simply check your inbox because the website will have also sent you a copy just in case.

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***There’s a terrible temptation when you are looking to buy your first vehicle or replace what you currently drive. So many different factors come into play. A young man’s dream car may be a babe magnet, others may have to move a family around town. No matter what your needs, the hard cold reality is the cost of insuring your choice. Never commit to buying a vehicle before you have used the online search engine on this or any comparable site to get multiple quotes for each make and model you have on your shortlist. It’s free to use these engines and the information you get back can save you a small fortune. How does an insurance company set the rates for each type of vehicle?

The Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) is funded by the insurance industry and it collects information about every traffic accident in the US, breaking it down to every potentially relevant variable from the make and model, the driver, and the cost of repairing the damage both to the humans involved and the vehicles. To support this data collection function, it also has “fun” by running crash tests, looking at how best to survive through seat belts and airbags, to design issues, to the influence of road conditions. Its purpose is not only to assist the insurance industry, but also to help the consumer by improving the design of vehicles and of the roads, thereby reducing injuries, deaths and property damage. To help you make good decisions, the Institute publishes safety ratings for all major vehicles on the roads — see http://www.iihs.org/ratings/default.aspx. It also collects data on the other ways in which you might experience loss. The most common is theft, both from the vehicle and of the vehicle. Here we come to fascinating details. Did you know you are twice at risk of theft if you drive a two-door as against a four-door vehicle? Convertibles have the highest theft risks. Check out the National Insurance Crime Bureau for a top 10 list of most stolen vehicles: https://www.nicb.org/newsroom/news_archive/2007_hot_wheels

So here comes the crunch. You get to see the top layer of summarised data at both sites. This is very useful and it will help you make good choices about what to buy. The insurers get to see all the data and base their premium rates on the probability and cost of loss. They also know about you as a driver. Put you in a car with a bad safety record or a strong probability of theft, and you may find the cheapest car insurance unaffordable. But if you buy a vehicle with a top ranking for crashworthiness and take basic precautions on theft, your premiums just became affordable. What should you look for in a new vehicle? Buy a vehicle with good locks and remember not only to lock it but take the keys away with you. Then instal an alarm or immobilizing device to cut off the fuel. Tracking devices are increasingly standard and help the police find your vehicle. Put all this together with good seat belts, airbags, antilock brakes and the other features and your dream cheapest car insurance became real.-