Last Updated on Mar 11, 2020 by James W
Auto insurance is not just a legal requirement but also financial protection in the event of an accident. But just because you must have it doesn’t mean you must pay a fortune for it. While you can’t change some of the aspects that influence the costs of car insurance — such as the type of car you drive, past accidents, and how many miles you commute to and from work each day — there are other things you can do to help lower the costs.
Improve your driving habits.
You can’t wipe past accidents or moving violations from your record, but you can work at being a better driver from this day forward. Don’t go more then five miles over posted speed limits, resist the urge to illegally pass, don’t engage in aggressive driving tactics, and increase following distance in order to lessen the chance of getting into an accident with another driver. By following the rules of the road and interacting in a safer manner around other drivers, you’ll drastically clean up your driving record for the present and future, which can mean lower rates.
Shop around.
Don’t jump for the first decent looking auto insurance quote you see. You may even be able to find one that’s a bit cheaper than the “cheap” one you just discovered. Heck, sometimes you can find comparison quotes on an auto insurance company’s website that shows the cheaper policies from their competitors. Whether you need to find car insurance in Phoenix by tomorrow, or by tonight, by spending some extra time on the phone you could save big.
Ask for a custom policy.
While you may be tempted to save time by agreeing to the first policy that an auto insurance rep rattles off, take the time to ask if any of the features can be lowered or removed altogether. For instance, if there are two vehicles in your household, or you have family living nearby, do you really need rental coverage? And while you may not be able to remove property damage coverage from your policy, you can probably reduce how much is covered – or remove it from your own property altogether (this is known as liability insurance).
Last, but not least, if you have another type of insurance policy with an insurance provider, contact them directly and ask about the possibility of adding on a car insurance policy. Sometimes you’ll get a pretty sweet discount by bundling multiple policies together.
