Expensive auto insurance can take a big chunk out of your personal savings and make it hard to pay other bills. Doing a price comparison is free, only takes a few minutes, and is a good way to make sure you’re not throwing money away. Companies like GEICO and Progressive increase brand awareness with ad campaigns and consumers find it hard to see through the deception and effectively compare rates to find the best deal.
Texas Auto Insurance Comparisons
Most major insurance companies such as Progressive, Allstate and GEICO give coverage prices directly from their websites. Obtaining pricing is pretty painless as you just type in into a form. Behind the scenes, the company’s rating system obtains reports for credit and driving violations and returns a price quote. Online quotes streamlines rate comparisons, but the work required to visit several different sites and fill out multiple forms gets old quite quickly. But it is imperative to compare as many rates as possible if you want to find a lower rate.
The smarter way to compare rates uses one simple form to obtain quotes from a lot of companies. It’s a real time-saver, requires much less work on your part, and makes online price comparison much more enjoyable and efficient. After sending the form, it gets priced and you can choose any or none of the pricing results.
If the quotes result in lower rates, you can simply submit the application and buy the new coverage. This process just takes a couple of minutes and could lower your rates considerably.
To compare pricing, simply click here to open in new window and fill out the form. If you have coverage now, it’s recommended you enter the coverage information identical to your current policy. This guarantees you’re receiving a rate comparison for exact coverage.
Beware of misleading auto insurance ads
Consumers can’t get away from ads for the lowest price auto insurance from companies such as Progressive, Allstate and GEICO. They all have a common claim that you’ll save big if you move your policy.
But how can every company make the same claim?
All the different companies are able to cherry pick for the type of driver that earns them a profit. An example of a preferred risk might be a mature driver, has no tickets, and chooses high deductibles. A customer who meets those qualifications is entitled to the best price and is almost guaranteed to cut their rates substantially.
Potential customers who don’t meet these standards must pay higher rates and this can result in business going elsewhere. The ads state “customers that switch” not “everyone that quotes” save that much. This is how insurance companies can confidently claim big savings.
This illustrates why drivers must get as many quotes as possible. It’s just too difficult to predict which insurance companies will give you the biggest savings.
More discounts equal less premium
Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, but there could be available discounts that you may not know about. Some trigger automatically at the time of quoting, but a few must be inquired about before you will receive the discount. If you’re not getting every credit available, you’re just leaving money on the table.
- Payment Method – If you pay your entire premium ahead of time instead of paying each month you could save up to 5%.
- Multiple Policy Discount – If you have multiple policies with one insurance company you could get a discount of at least 10% off all policies.
- Safety Course Discount – Taking a defensive driving course can save you 5% or more depending on where you live.
- Discount for Life Insurance – Some companies give a discount if you purchase life insurance.
- Multiple Cars – Insuring all your vehicles with the same company may reduce the rate for each vehicle.
- Anti-theft System – Vehicles equipped with anti-theft or alarm systems are stolen less frequently and will save you 10% or more.
- Drive Less and Save – Fewer annual miles on your Ford could be rewarded with lower rates on the low mileage vehicles.
- Homeowners Discount – Owning a house may trigger a auto insurance policy discount due to the fact that maintaining a home requires personal responsibility.
- No Charge for an Accident – Certain companies will forgive one accident before raising your premiums so long as you haven’t had any claims for a certain period of time.
- Discount for New Cars – Insuring a new car can be considerably cheaper due to better safety requirements for new cars.
A little note about advertised discounts, most discount credits are not given to your bottom line cost. Some only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like liability and collision coverage. So even though they make it sound like you could get a free auto insurance policy, you won’t be that lucky. Any amount of discount will reduce the cost of coverage.
For a list of insurance companies with discount auto insurance rates in Texas, click this link.
What if I want to buy from a local Texas agent?
A small number of people prefer to visit with an insurance agent and there is nothing wrong with that. Licensed agents can help determine the best coverages and give you someone to call. One of the great benefits of comparing insurance prices online is you may find the best rates but also keep your business local. And providing support for local agencies is definitely important in smaller communities.
After completing this simple form, your insurance coverage information is submitted to local insurance agents who will battle for your business. You never need to leave your house as quotes are delivered directly to your email. How cool is that?!
If you prefer to contact a specific insurance agent in Texas, visit this page.
Picking a company should depend on more than just the premium amount. These are valid questions to ask:
- Do clients work directly with the agent or are most inquiries handled by a CSR?
- Which insurance companies are they affiliated with?
- How much can you save by raising your physical damage deductibles?
- Does the agent have professional designations like CIC, CPCU or AIC?
- Do they have adequate Errors and Ommissions coverage? This protects you if they make a mistake.
- If you have an accident, will your rates go up?
After receiving positive feedback to your questions in addition to an acceptable price estimate, you’ve probably found an insurance company that is a good match to insure your vehicles.
Additional auto insurance information can be found on the website for the Texas Department of Insurance found here. Visitors are able to read state legal mandates and laws, learn about insurance regulations, and read consumer alerts.
Other informative sites include this page for auto insurance in Texas and Travelers car insurance basics.
One last thing about your coverage
Cheaper Ford Taurus insurance can be purchased on the web and also from your neighborhood Texas agents, and you need to price shop both to have the best selection. Some insurance companies may not provide you the ability to get quotes online and usually these small, regional companies provide coverage only through local independent agents.
When buying insurance coverage, it’s a bad idea to buy less coverage just to save a little money. There are a lot of situations where consumers will sacrifice liability coverage limits only to discover later that a couple dollars of savings turned into a financial nightmare. The aim is to purchase plenty of coverage at a price you can afford, not the least amount of coverage.