The first mistake people make is getting the state minimum coverage to “save money.” This usually comes back to haunt them if they get into an accident as the state minimums are rarely enough to cover the damages.
The second mistake is they don’t do the right things to reduce the cost of their insurance before they buy. A lot of these things have to be done way before you buy the policy, but some can be done while you are shopping. To reduce your rate:
- Shop around and compare quotes online. No one carrier is the cheapest across all customer types.
- Increase your deductible to lower your rate if you can afford to do it.
- Keep a good credit history
- Reduce coverage on older cars as these drive up the premium
- If you don’t drive your car that often, take advantage of low mileage discounts
- Buy your home and auto policies from the same company
- Drive safely and don’t get tickets – this is pretty obvious
- Find out if there are some coverages you can drop given the type of car you are driving. If your car is worth less than the amount of the deductible, it probably does not make sense to have collision and comprehensive coverage, as these will never pay out more than the car is worth.
Thnx!