How to Get Cheap Motorcycle Insurance
Posted by Steve in Motorcycle Insurance on April 21st, 2010
Riding a balls to the wall sportbike, like this Ducati 1198S may be good for a hell of a great time, but it probably won't get you any love from your insurance agent.
If you ride a motorcycle, it’s probably one of the great joys of your life. What’s probably not so joyous though, are the insurance premiums you have to pay. This is especially true if you’re riding a new Harley or maxed out sport bike.
Risk Factors Considered By Insurance Companies -
What You Ride – Just as with cars, the price of your insurance is heavily influenced by the cost of your bike and it’s speed potential. A brand new Ducati Superbike 1198 S Corse Special Edition is going to set you back far more for insurance than would a Kawasaki 500 Vulcan. The Duck is far more expensive to purchase, and has much greater speed potential. In addition, the person who buys a sportbike is basically stating their intention to push the limit at least once in a while. That all ads up to more risk in the eyes of the insurance company.
Some other factors that can affect the cost of your insurance include many of the same things that will cause you to pay more for car insurance. These include:
Age – Fair or not, old fogeys tend to skate on insurance premiums. Most older folks are more risk averse than younger people, and risk aversion is sweet music to an insurance company’s ears.
Address – Your zip code says a lot about you and your neighbors, both of which influence the risk that both your bike and your insurance provider will be exposed to. Your neighborhood and it’s inhabitants can ignore your bike or make it disappear one night. Theft risk is definitely factored in when actuaries do their work.
Parking in a garage at night can get you cheaper insurance than leaving your bike parked on the street, especially in a neighborhood that you wouldn’t really want to hang around in at night. The same holds true with where you park if you ride it to work, and the route you take to get there and back each day.
Getting Cheaper Insurance -
Here are some ways that can get you cheaper insurance for your motorcycle. If you’re planning on moving anytime soon, pick a location that is looked upon favorably by your insurance company. Speaking of your insurance company, check others besides the one you already have. Some providers give you a much better deal on insuring motorcycles than others. They evaluate the risk factors and set pricing differently, so it can really pay off to shop around.
Manually checking the myriad insurance providers can me a tedious process, to say the least. Thankfully, modern technology has found a great answer to make things much easier. Due to the power of the Internet, you can easily get quotes from a large variety of different insurance companies and find the one with the cheapest quote for your particular bike and situation. One of the leading such services on the Internet is Insureme.com. Check them out now – Click here to get a fast, free motorcycle insurance quote.
If you’re planning on buying a new ride, ask an agent before you choose a bike. Often a small difference in motorcycle can make a comparatively large difference in what you’ll pay each month.
Put an alarm on your bike and always keep it locked up. Most companies will offer you discounts for theft prevention measures.
Completing special rider classes can often cut your insurance premiums. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been riding since you bought that Indian back from the war, either. If your company offers a discount for completing a rider safety class, take the class. Who knows, you might meet someone else in the same boat who you can ride with.
Make sure that you are only insuring the amount that you need and that you keep your deductible high. As with other vehicles, both of these strategies can really help lower your insurance rates.
Following these simple guidelines can get you cheap motorcycle insurance, but in order to get it, you have to actually do something. Discover how low your rates can be by checking dozens of top insurance companies with the simple click of a mouse here
How to Compare Car Insurance So You Get the Cheapest Rates
Posted by Steve in compare car insurance on December 14th, 2009
Insuring this new BMW 335d may not be cheap, but if you compare rates, you'll at least be able to get the lowest insurance rates to go with your low fuel bills.
It’s no secret that car insurance is expensive. Even cheap car insurance can cost you plenty, especially if you have a poor driving record, young drivers in your family, an expensive car, or a bad credit score. You can also be penalized for where you live. Different cities, and even neighborhoods have widely different car insurance rates, due to crime rates, accident frequency, and road quality, among other things. With all these variables in play, you might well guess that it is pretty tough to compare car insurance so you can get the best rates.
You’d be right. To top it off, there are hundreds of different car insurance companies operating in most markets, further adding to the confusion. Many of these different insurance companies have different specialties and view risks differently. Your current carrier may well offer the best rates, especially when your factor in the other discounts you can get from them, such as multi car and multi line discounts.
On the other hand, they may not be the best company to look at. The first thing you should do before trying to compare different companies is to determine how much insurance you really need. For example, look at the size of your policy and it’s deductible. Carrying a policy with a low deductible on an older car is one of the best ways to pay more for insurance than you need to. So, even if you don’t change companies, simply lowering your deductible can chop a healthy amount from your bill.
Once you have determined how much insurance you should be carrying, the size of your deductible, and the extent of your coverage, you can begin to shop around. The first place to start is your existing company. See what they will offer you. In this economic climate, everyone is looking for a better deal, and you shouldn’t be any different. Their rates will give you something to compare others to.
Rather than tediously digging through the dozens or hundreds of other companies that can get you a policy, you should take advantage of modern technology, which thankfully has a solution to the problem.
Due to the Internet, it is relatively easy to let one of the many insurance lead companies do the work for you. They’ll take down your information and put your policy out for bid to the myriad of insurance companies that handle your specific kind of insurance. In seconds, or at the most a few hours, you’ll get back a number of quotes on your requested policy from a number of reputable companies, allowing you to compare them and easily choose the one that best fits your needs and financial picture.
One of the leading companies in this field is InsureMe.com.
Click here now to get a free, fast, no obligation auto insurance quote from them. They have been in business for almost two decades and some customers report saving 50% on their car insurance. Think about it. In a few minutes, you could be paying half of what you are paying now!
An Important Tip to Get Cheap Car Insurance
Posted by Steve in How to get cheap insurance on November 24th, 2009
Confusion is the enemy to safety. That's why distraction free environments are one of the keys to safe driving.
One of the ways you can get cheaper car insurance is to keep your driving record accident free. A top priority in this regard is to keep your driving environment distraction free. In today’s fast food, communication laden age, that’s no easy task. There are always phone calls, a burger on your lap, and texts and IMs to contend with, not to mention the age old distractions of kids in the back seat or the hot looking guy / gal in the convertible next to you.
The subject of texting while driving has been in the news quite a bit over the previous year. Car and Driver Magazine even did a feature article on it. You may not believe it, but texting while driving is more dangerous that driving moderately (but legally) drunk for many people. Many of those same people who would never even think of hopping behind the wheel when even the tiniest bit tipsy routinely send and receive text messages while navigating in and out of traffic.
So, if you want to keep your insurance costs down, keep the qwerty keyboard firmly in the console, where it belongs, not in your hands, where your thumbs can concoct a novel in 140 characters faster than you can score a touchdown against the Lion’s defense.
Here are some other great tips to keep you driving safely behind the wheel, and make sure your car insurance is as cheap as possible -
Tip to Drive Safely – Make sure you’re not too tired to drive. In today’s fast paced society driving while tired (DWT) is an increasingly common phenomenon. Over 100,000 people every year get into accidents because they’ve simply dozed off while driving. You may think that only happens during late night stints on some deserted freeway, but it can hit (no pun intended) much closer to home.
I actually had one of my employees drive one of our service vans into a parked car in our parking lot because he simply fell asleep – at 10:00 in the morning! Thankfully he was only going about 10mph at the time of the collision, but he could have just as easily hit a pedestrian instead of a parked BMW (yes, it really was). Even at 10mph, a pedestrian is going to lose against a mini van.
Be sure you are not overly tired before climbing behind the wheel. The life and car you save may well be your own.
Another tip to keep you safe and accident free is to do more than simply check your mirrors before you change lanes; actually look to the side to see if someone found their way into your blind spot. It takes only a ½ second and you could easily avoid an accident that way.
Use your navigator to do the dirty work for you. I’m not talking about the Garmin on your dash, I’m referring to the bloke occupying the passenger seat. They’re your co-driver. Let them do what a co-driver does; enter addresses into the nav unit, change CDs, iPOD songs or radio stations, answer the phone, or generally do anything that takes your attention from the road. Keeping your attention on the road 100% of the time is paramount to keeping your car out of the gutter; that’s where you mind belongs, not your car.
Staying accident free is one of the most important things you can do to keep your car insurance as cheap as possible, not to mention all the other benefits you get by avoiding accidents.
Important Questions to Ask Your Auto Insurance Agent
Posted by Steve in How to get cheap insurance on July 3rd, 2009
If you want to get the best insurance coverage for the cheapest price, there are certain questions you have to ask your insurance agent. Here they are....
If you want to get cheap auto insurance, you probably would also like to get good auto insurance. It is important that you get a good value and find a company that will take care of you before a claim and after. That involves not only examining insurance company ratings, but questioning your insurance agent to ensure that they are the correct ones to suit your needs.
A good agent can not only save you money, but make sure you get the proper coverage. They’ll look at your particular situation and suggest changes in your coverage that will make sure the most insurance bang for the buck, without leaving you hanging out in the breeze.
To make sure you can choose the best auto insurance agent for your needs, here are some questions you must ask. After all, if you choose the right agent, you could form a relationship that may last longer than almost any other.
How long have you been in business? – For a business relationship that is so important, and potentially so long lasting, you should make sure that your agent will be around when you need them. One measure of this is how they’ve been in business so far. That also speaks to how well they satisfy their customers. The other reason experience matters is that, as with any professional, the longer they have been in business, the more they have seen, and the greater chance they will be able to help you should the need arise.
Are you a full time insurance agent? – With the ease of starting a home business, some agents are only in the insurance business part time, operating out of their homes. There is nothing at all wrong with a home business, and there are some fantastic businesses that are operated out of homes. If your prospective agent is a part timer however, they may not have the commitment or support to you that you really need when choosing an insurance agent.
Which insurance companies do you represent? – There are two types of agents; captive agents and independent agents. Captive agents have exclusive contracts with a single insurance provider. Independent agents, on the other hand, work with several companies. A good agent that works with several companies is usually positioned to give you a better deal, and make sure a particular insurance product and policy is better for your needs. That is simply because they have so many more companies products to choose from.
Do you carry errors and omissions insurance? – A good agent still makes mistakes once in a great while, all people do. The mistake could be a misinterpretation or a miscommunication that results in you not getting the proper coverage. Such a mistake could cause you devastating consequences, especially if you use them for other insurance in addition to auto insurance. Errors and omissions insurance simply helps protect you in the event your agent makes such a mistake.
Can I get all the financial data for your insurance companies? – Making sure a prospective insurance company is financially healthy is of vital importance. You are giving them your hard earned money, and should expect they are financially healthy. It is relatively easy to accomplish, because there are several organizations that specialize in investigating and providing this sort of information. AM Best, and Moody’s are industry leaders and are very well respected. Ask for their ratings of any insurance company that you are considering.
What kind and how much car insurance is required in my state? – States have different requirements relating to car insurance. You need to be sure that you are meeting all requirements without getting more insurance than you need.
Do you provide periodical insurance coverage reviews, and how often do you do so? – Make sure you go over those with any agent or prospective agent. It can help you get cheaper car insurance without having any gaps in coverage. This is especially important as your economic or family situation changes.
Do I have any coverage gaps? Coverage gaps are areas or situations for which you have no coverage. where you have no coverage. They may not mean anything to you, or they may be extremely important, but you’ll never know unless you ask.
These are questions that your should ask your insurance agent, weather you are interviewing a prospective agent, or have an agent you are already working with.
Why do So Few People Try to Get Cheaper Car Insurance?
Posted by Steve in How to get cheap insurance, Top Rated Car Insurance on June 20th, 2009
If you own a Maybach, the price of insurance is probably the least of your worries, except maybe for what Lloyds charges to insure your yacht. For the rest of us however, cheap car insurance would be a real help
A report appearing today in Canadian Underwriter, a Canadian Insurance Industry publication, indicated that Canadians in Alberta don’t typically look for competitive auto insurance quotes when shopping for insurance, and when they do so, only 25% use websites. The other 75% visit their insurance brokers or call them on the telephone to get their quotes.
However, the interesting thing about the survey was this; although most don’t seek competitive quotes for their car insurance, 25% of those surveyed thought they, or someone else in their household, had been charged “excessively high automobile insurance rates”.
That begs the question, if you feel that you have been charged too much for your insurance, why would you not shop for a better price, especially since it so easy to do so using the Internet to quickly find quotes. The other interesting finding is that of those few who did look for cheaper car insurance by getting multiple quotes, most looked at 3 or fewer different providers before making their decision.
With the plethora of different insurers available, and the Internet to provide an easy way to solicit quotes, it is surprising that so many people would not take advantage of it to get cheaper insurance rates.
Which are the Cheapest Cars to Insure for Teenagers
Posted by Steve in young drivers on June 8th, 2009
The New VW Tiguan is an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety "Top Pick", one of the best ways to get cheap insurance.
Which are the cheapest cars to insure for teenagers? If you are a teenager or have one that you’re footing the bills for, that is a pretty pertinent question. As insurance takes a pretty nice chunk of your monthly income, getting the cheapest insurance can really help with the monthly bills. One of the most important factors in how much you pay for insurance is your choice of cars.
Insurance companies look at various risk factors when setting rates. Teens have 3 big strikes against them as risk factors; they have limited driving experience, high testosterone levels (boys, of course), and poor judgment. Combine that with peer pressure, and it is a not a recipe for cheap car insurance.
Putting teens in powerful cars can lead to unfavorable or tragic consequences. That is why letting junior have the keys to your new SRT-8 isn’t always the best course of action. There are other factors that dictate how expensive a car is to insure besides power output, though. Available safety features, crash test results, replacement cost, and its likely hood of being stolen factor in as well. There is probably a bit of incantations and mumbo jumbo that insurance companies throw in when they are determining rates, too.
Here are some cars your teenagers can drive that will be a bit easier on your wallet when the insurance bills come due.
The Ford Fusion is a safe, economical car that is inexpensive to insure and great to drive.
Ford Fusion – Ford’s midsize sedan is a great car for teens to drive. It is safe, gets relatively good gas mileage, and is subdued enough to help teens repress the urge to show off somewhat. There is even a hybrid version available that helps keep fuel costs low. We are experiencing relatively low fuel prices now (although they are rising rapidly), but this situation will probably change in the not too distant future. The Fusion also has the handling and safety features to help keep drivers from getting in an accident in the first place. Consumer reports predicts the Fusion’s reliability as much better than average.
Honda Civic – Honda’s little compact is already popular with teens, but unfortunately many of those kids are exactly the ones the insurance companies are worried about. Honda’s have a plethora of performance parts available because it is the the car kids love to modify for go fast use. That being said, it still has much to recommend it as a car for teenagers to drive. It gets fantastic fuel mileage, is extraordinarily reliable, and drives very well. It also scores very well in safety tests scoring a best pick from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Toyota Camry – Toyota’s ubiquitous mid sized sedan has been a best seller for years, and with good reason. It drives very well, if not providing loads of excitement behind the wheel, gets five star safety ratings all around, is economical, and very reliable. As an added bonus, not too many kids will be hot rodding around in a Camry, versus a new Camaro.
Hyundai Sonata - This car looks a bit like a cross between a Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, but is is all Hyundai. For those who remember the Korean manufacturer’s dismal reliability ratings of 15 years ago, you need to take a fresh, new look at this company. They have followed much the same path as Japanese auto manufacturers did 3 decades before them. Now they make reliable, full featured cars, that consistently rate at the top of their categories for value. The Sonata is a great car for teens because it scores very well on safety tests, handles fairly well, and has enough power to get out of an accident, but not enough to promote getting into one. The car also has a 100,000 mile warranty, which should make parents smile a bit.
Toyota Corolla - Toyota’s little compact has been a best seller for years, and with good reason. It scores very well in crash tests, is reliable, gets superb fuel economy with the smaller engine option, and drives well. It can be a little short on features in some of its lower trim levels, but hey, do your kids really need power windows?
Volkwagen New Beattle - VW’s blast from the past may look somewhat like the old Beetle from the days of flower power and funny smelling cigarettes, but it is a totally different car. It even drives the front wheels, rather than the rear. It has been with us for a decade now, and is a favorite of kids everywhere. Best of all it is very inexpensive to insure compared to many other cars. That low insurance cost, combined with good fuel economy makes it a great car for teenagers.
If you’re shopping for an SUV for your kids here are some low insurance cost picks
Hyundai Sante Fe - This mid sized SUV is one of the cheapest SUVs to insure and it is a good value, making it a great SUV for your kids to drive. It also received an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety “Best Pick” for 2008, meaning it will protect better than most in a crash.
Mazda Tribute – This re-badged Ford Escape is for some reason less expensive to insure than it’s U.S. badged twin. Nonetheless, it is a great all weather ride in all wheel drive guise, gets pretty good fuel economy for an SUV and is among the least expensive vehicles to insure. Top that off with the Tribute’s (and Ford Escape’s) “best pick” safety status from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and you’ve got a real winner for teenage drivers.
VW Tiguan – VW’s latest entry into the small SUV segment has gotten great reviews, however it can get a bet spendy in if you check the box for AWD at the top trim levels. It also requires premium gas for its turbocharged, direct injected, 2.0 liter power plant. What it does do however, is deliver another “top pick” for safety from the IIHS, ensconce the driver and passengers in a fantastic interior, and deliver great gas mileage with good performance. In the aforementioned IIHS tests, the Tiguan had the strongest roof, supporting 4 times the vehicles weight, some comfort if you’re ever in a rollover accident. These safety ratings should give excellent insurance rates for the Tiguan.
If your teenager is driving, you’ll need to get insurance, and there’s no sense in making an already expensive proposition even more so. Get one of the cheapest cars to insure for your teenager and help keep your rates down. Another important way to help get the lowest insurance rates to compare among different companies. Not all companies price teenage drivers the same, so comparing rates can have you paying less. It can be a chore getting quotes from all the different companies out there, so you get it done for you automatically at by clicking here.
How to Get Cheaper Car Insurance
Posted by Steve in How to get cheap insurance on May 24th, 2009
Car insurance is so expensive that for many people it is their largest expense after food, housing, and their car itself. If you fall into that category, there are some things you can do to get cheaper insurance. In most cases you will get the same coverage as you had before, you’ll just pay less money for the privilege. In some cases you may even see your coverage improve, even as your rate goes down. That’s a pretty nice deal if you can get it.
How to Get Cheaper Insurance Tip 1
Clean up your driving record. That’s kind of a no brainer, and it’s the first thing that pops into most people’s head when they think about ways to lower their insurance premium. But the fact is that it is the one thing that is within your control that has the greatest effect on your insurance rates. Not only does it affect the rates you pay with your existing insurer, in many cases you’ll be able to go with a company that told you to take a hike when your record was bad.
How to Get Cheaper Insurance Tip 2
Improve your credit score. That was big news to most people 2 or 3 years ago. Few people knew that your credit score has a large impact not only on the price you pay for credit, but your car insurance rates as well. The reason is simple. There is a statistical correlation between an individual’s driving ability and their credit score. In most cases a poor credit score also means they are more likely to exhibit behavior that isn’t conducive to staying out of trouble on the road.
More importantly for the insurance company, it means those with bad credit are more likely to submit claims that the company will have to pay. It comes down to responsibility and insurance companies feel that your responsibility affects their bottom line. One thing that fewer people know is that insurance companies don’t use your straight FICO score, as lenders do.
Lenders are concerned with the risk you present to them when they’re loaning you their money. If you’re paying their bills on time, an insurance company doesn’t really care about that. They want to know your likelihood of costing them money. They massage the credit score numbers a bit to more accurately reflect your insurance risk. The main thing insurance companies do is put a higher emphasis on your late payments and how late they are. They have noticed a parallel between an individual’s late payments and their claim activity. So, improve your credit score and you can usually get cheaper insurance, weather at your existing company or by switching to another carrier.
How to Get Cheaper Insurance Tip 3
Max out your deductible. The higher your deductible, the lower your premium, so raise that deductible. You’re not going to want to make any claims for anything near the amount of your deductible anyway, so there’s no sense in keeping it under $1,000 or so, you’re just costing yourself money every year. You’ll get cheaper insurance by keeping your deductible as high as you can stomach. If your vehicle is financed, check with your lender to see the maximum deductible they allow.
How to Get Cheaper Insurance Tip 4
Compare rates from different insurance companies. Car insurance companies evaluate risks differently and also specialize in different types of customers. For example, some insurance companies will not high risk customers, and others will charge higher rates than others for the same high risk driver. Comparing rates between the hundreds of auto insurance companies out there can be a real pain.
Thankfully, the Internet provides a much easier solution. It is similar to the way many businesses go through insurance brokers to get the lowest rate for their business insurance. You can take advantage of the same scenario for your car insurance. You can have the different insurance companies actually bid for your business. The competition gets you a lower insurance rate, and you are able to find an insurance company that specializes in your specific situation. Click here to compare rates from different companies and see how much you can save. Think about it. In just a few minutes, you could be paying as little as half of what you are paying for insurance now. Wouldn’t it be nice to have that extra money in your pocket, instead of theirs?
How to Get Cheaper Insurance Tip 5
Look at how many miles you really drive to and from work or school every day. The fewer miles you drive, the lower your rates, so if you’re close to the mark where you’d get a lower rate, you may want to check that mileage figure again. Make the drive so you go the shortest route possible, and take a look at the number on more time. You’d be surprised how much cheaper your insurance can get by dropping down one mileage increment.
How to Get Cheaper Insurance Tip 6
Look at every association you’re affiliated with to see if you’re eligible to get cheaper insurance by being a member. Many groups and associations have affiliate agreements with insurance companies so that their members get cheaper car insurance. Sometimes associations have preferred insurance providers. In this case, switching insurance companies to the one your group or association has an agreement can get you cheaper rates. Check with your associations and also your insurance agent.
How to Get Cheaper Insurance Tip 7
Speaking of discounts, make sure you’re getting all the discount from your insurance company that you are eligible for. Many people spend too much simply because they don’t thoroughly check all the discounts their insurance provider offers. Check out this post on getting discounts on your car insurance to see if you could be missing some too.
There a many ways to get cheaper car insurance. Spend a few minutes and you could save a nice chunk of change.
Rental Car Insurance Coverage – Should You?
Posted by Steve in Types of Insurance on May 14th, 2009
When you're renting, do you really need that rental car insurance coverage?
Should you get that rental car insurance coverage they always offer you before you run through the rain to pick up your nondescript transportation appliance? It is definitely something to consider, what with the insurance company’s propensity to jack your rates through the roof at the slightest sign of trouble. After all, you could avoid a claim on your own insurance that could be just the excuse they’d need to raise your rates (like they’re not high enough already!).
First of all, you should exhaust other options at your disposal, such as any such coverage that might be included with your credit card. Many credit cards include rental car insurance, provided you rent the car on the card in question (makes sense). One thing to be aware of, should you opt for your credit card’s insurance, is that the coverage may be limited to the rental car only. Just dinged a brand new S-550? Ouch! Looks like the damage will come out of your hide or your regular car insurance. That leads to the next point.
A loss damage waiver will help protect you if your rental is damaged, stolen, or abducted by aliens. Another nice feature that is included in many such waivers is a “loss of use” provision. That helps in case the rental car company decides to bill you for the time they can’t rent the car while it is in the shop because of something you were responsible for, such as running over a parking lot bump stop.
Make sure you contact your existing car insurance agent. They’ll be able to examine your present policy and let you know what the limits of your coverage are vis-a-vis rental cars. You don’t want to pay for something needlessly. Although it may give you some piece of mind not to make a claim against your insurance should you wad the rental into a Jersey barrier, you should know that if you are in an accident that was your fault, your insurance company will discover it at some point. In such a case they will likely raise your rates anyway, weather you made a claim or not.
Another thing to be aware of is that rental car coverage will probably not protect you if the accident was caused by excessive speed, DUI, or reckless driving. Unfortunately, bad behavior seems to follow many people when they rent a vehicle. Things they would never dream of while driving their own cars seem to happen regularly while they’re behind the wheel of that hot Hertz Camry. Don’t let this happen to you, no matter how much that 157hp 4-cylinder tugs at the reins.
So, do you need that rental car insurance? Only you can make that decision, but you should make sure you have all the right information before you do. Happy motoring!
Cheap Car Insurance for Teenagers – How to Make Sure Your Teens Drive Better
Posted by Steve in young drivers on May 8th, 2009
It can cost about this much to insure some teenage drivers. Does it have to?
If you are paying the car insurance bills for a teenager you’re well aware of how ungodly expensive they can be. Sure, there are ways to make it cheaper, and I went over some of the ways to get cheaper car insurance for teenagers in a post last month.
The whole problem stems from the fact that the overwhelming majority of teenagers simply don’t drive as well as older people. It’s true. Ask your own if you think I’m making this up. This is because of many things, including inexperience behind the wheel, high testosterone levels, peer pressure, the inability of young people to truly realize the long term effects of stupidity, and any number of other factors.
Well, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, that part of the insurance industry that has so much fun crashing perfectly good vehicles about in their lab, has found a great way to make teens drive better. In a study from the Institute, it was discovered that keeping an eye on your kids when they are driving improves their driving tremendously. Think about it, do you really think that Joe or Joelene would be flying down the county road at 80mph if you were in the car with them?
You know that there is no way that the kids would do many of the things they do, if mom and dad were riding along. That is common sense, and it agrees with the Institutes’s findings. To monitor the kids, a black box was installed in their cars. This wonder of modern technology helps the kids realize when they are trying too hard to imitate Lewis Hamilton, Tanner Foust, or Greg Biffle by sounding an in-car buzzer.
However, the real deterrent from the device is undoubtedly the fact that parents can log on to a website and look at the data. That’s right, mom and dad can jump online and see how fast the kids were driving, if they were braking too hard or if they had their seat belts unbuckled. It works so well that the little, black box gets a 98% approval rating from parents.
There are other devices as well, such as mini GPS tracking systems. Widely used by business to track their fleets and spouses that suspect their partner of cheating on them, they work well to keep an eye on junior, too. They are relatively simple to install, and can download a complete track of the vehicle’s exact whereabouts, speed and length of stops. Want to be sure that Buffy really was studying at the library? Use one of these mini GPS tracking systems. Making sure they know they are being watched will help keep them in line behind the wheel. The better teenagers drive, the lower their insurance rates….in theory anyway.
Cheap Car Insurance for a Woman Driver
Posted by Steve in How to get cheap insurance on May 1st, 2009
Women Drivers Get Cheaper Insurance
There are hundreds of car insurance companies to pick from. If you’re a woman, you should be looking at finding the best car insurance for a woman driver. All companies will not treat women the same from a risk perspective. That is primarily because statistics bear out the fact that, although there exists a derogative stereotype about women being bad drivers, they are actually safer drivers than men. This is obviously a statistical average, and not every women driver is going to be safer than every man driver.
However, there are some facts, according to the insurance commissioners, that back up their propensity to give women lower car insurance rates. Insurance companies are only slightly less versed in statistics than are bookies. If there’s one thing they know, it’s who is more likely to get into an accident. Heck, they probably know what the person ate before the crash. Here are some things that tip the scales in favor of women when it comes to setting auto insurance rates:
- Women get in fewer accidents per driver than do men. This is especially true of younger people.
- On average, men’s claims cost more to settle than do women’s claims.
- Men have a higher incidence of motor vehicle crime per person than do women.
- On average, it takes men more attempts to pass their driver’s test than it takes women.
- Men are less likely to wear seat belts than are women.
The above reasons illustrate why women pay less for car insurance than do men. Simply put, men are more expensive customers than women, so the policies are priced accordingly. Indeed a 2007 Carnegie Mellon University study reports that men have a 77% greater chance of dieing in a motor vehicle crash than do women. That’s a sobering statistic, but it further backs up the justification for the auto insurance pricing gap between men and women.
If you’re a woman, you should know that you will most likely get a far cheaper rate on your car insurance than your male counterparts, even if all other factors are close to equal. Even if your driving record is the same and you own the same make and model of car, as your twin brother, you’ll still pay less. The moral of the story: If you’re a woman driver and your company doesn’t give you comparatively cheap car insurance, you should look elsewhere.
One thing experts recommend to be sure you get the best rates is to shop around and compare. The problem is that there are so many different insurance companies, it’s hard to do. Click here to have it done for you, automatically. It is much faster and easier than manually doing it yourself.
Get a Discount on Your Auto Insurance – You’re Probably Missing a Few
Posted by Steve in Car Insurance Companies, How to get cheap insurance on April 25th, 2009
No matter how many discounts you are eligible for, a Ferrari F-430 wil still cost a bundle to insure.
Auto insurance is expensive, there’s no doubt about it. Recently some companies have started using tactics such as offering discounts to new customers, while raising rates on existing ones. As the bottom fell out of the financial markets, companies started scrambling to make a profit, never mind that the insurance industry had been making good money for years.
Even with all of this turmoil, there are still discounts you are probably eligible for on your auto insurance, and you should be darned sure you’re getting them. Here are some of the most common deductions, as well as some that aren’t so common. Not all of these are offered by all companies, and not all are available in every state.
Good student discount – Available through most insurance companies. If your GPA is above a certain level, typically 3.0, you’re eligible for a reduction in your rates.
Multi car discount – Again, this discount is available from just about every insurance provider. It is a great reason to bring all your vehicles under the same insurance company, which is exactly what they want.
Multi line discount – This one is given for using one company for more than one type of insurance; for example, insuring your vehicles and home through the same company.
Good driver discount – If you have had no accidents, or no accidents and tickets for a specified amount of time, typically at least 3 – 5 years, you are able to get a lower rate. This varies by company.
Over 25 year old discount – (You, not your car) This may be changing from some companies, but it is traditionally one of the ages most looked forward to by American drivers.
Retired military discount – Some companies, such as GEICO, will give discounts to retired military personel. USAA Insurance is only available to military or ex military people, and they have excellent rates, so you are getting a type of military discount for your service to our country.
Scientist / engineer discount – Certain companies, for example 21st Century Insurance, will give you a deduction if you have a college degree in one of the scientific or engineering disciplines.
AARP discount – This is not just a senior citizen discount, but available for members of AARP only. Other organizations have also negotiated discounts from insurance companies, such as some trade and employee unions.
Senior citizen discount – This is one you’ll get solely for reaching a certain age, such as 55 or 62.
Retired discount – This is great if you’re on a fixed income. You can get a discount for being out of work permanently.
Teacher discount
Driver safety / defensive driving course completion discount
Window etching discount – Certain companies will etch your car’s window glass, making to easy to track the valuable glass. Since one of the main things cars are stolen for is to sell the parts, this effectively takes some of the valuable parts off the market. Thieves obviously don’t like this, and are more likely to look elsewhere for easier pickin’s.
Lojack discount – Lojack is a small tracking device you place in your vehicle that allows certain police jurisdictions (the ones with Lojack receivers) to locate your car on a computer screen if it is stolen. This leads them right to it, making recovery a piece of cake. It is easy to see why some insurance companies see value in such a device.
Here are some additional vehicle equipment related discounts you may be able to receive. Check with your provider and be sure they know about ay of these features, should your car have them.
Alarm / Anti-theft device discount – many new cars and trucks come with special keys that are electronically coded to your vehicle. They will not allow the computer to start the car, so it can’t be hotwired without the proper key.
Accident free driver discount
Passive restraint (airbags) discount
Antilock brakes discount
Is My Auto Insurance Company In Trouble? – Signs to Watch Out For
Posted by Steve in Car Insurance Companies on April 22nd, 2009
Few things could be worse than paying a pretty large check to your insurance company every month, only to have them not be there when you need help with a claim. All your premiums; poof! Out the window. Thankfully, there a signs of financial trouble you can watch out for, possibly giving you time to switch to a different company.
Here are some telltale warning signs that could mean your insurer is on thin ice.
A.M. Best status declines –
In my post on the top rated auto insurance companies, I explained how the firm A.M Best ranks insurance companies on financial security. This is a great place to start. If your firm’s AMB rating begins slipping, especially if it falls under “A” status, you should be wary.
Customer service takes a sudden turn for the worse -
It is pretty standard in these days of declining bottom lines for customers to wait on hold. In fact many times you’re not even able to speak with a live person. That should not be that case at your auto insurance provider, however. If you need to chat with a real, warm body, you should be able to get one. If you can’t, or it takes a long time, that is a sure sign of staff cuts in customer service. This may mean they are slashing payroll, traditionally one of a service company’s largest expenses. The bottom line; if you wait for more than 10 minutes on hold, start thinking about what’s going on down at the farm.
Sudden, massive premium increases
Like banks, insurance companies are required by law to keep a certain amount of cash reserves on hand to fund claim payments. If their cash on hand begins to decline, they have only one way to increase it; increase revenue, and fast. To do this they can increase their number of insured or they can generate more revenue from their existing customers. A small rate increase is just business as usual, but a large one, say 40% or more should give you cause for concern. Not that seeing such a large premium increase wouldn’t have you shopping around for a new insurance company anyway, but it can definitely be a warning sign of impending trouble.
Late claim payments –
Any time the company gives you the runaround, or is late paying a claim, it should give you cause for concern, (unless, I have heard, you live in Michigan, where it may be the standard practice for insurance companies when dealing with “No Fault” claims). As a rule, if it takes 90 days to get your check, that is not good.
These are some things to look out for if you want to be sure your company isn’t one of the over 600 insurance companies that have bit the bullet in the last 25 years. If yours does go under, you will be paid through a government program, much like the FDIC protects you bank deposits.
As with anything, you should be vigilant, especially in these turbulent times.
Get Cheap Car Insurance in California (of all places)
Posted by Steve in How to get cheap insurance on April 21st, 2009
California - You can get cheap car insurance, courtesy of the state!
Did you know that if you live in California you can get cheap car insurance, courtesy of the state? It’s true, the State of California has just such a program, known as the California Low Cost Automobile Insurance program. While the insurance itself is not actually purchased through the state, but from participating insurers, the effect is great for those who are suffering through our tepid economy. Relax, it’s not paid for paid for out of state tax revenues (good thing too, since the state has no more money).
Since the year 2000, the program, which has approximately 45,000 participants, can effect a dramatic drop in liability insurance rates. Typically, liability insurance under the program runs between $300 and $400 per year! That’s cheap where I come from, no doubt about it.
Here are the conditions (you knew there had to be some of those, didn’t you?)
Drivers must have a clean driving record (but you can have one at-fault accident), be at least 19 years old, and have at least 3 years of driving experience. Not too bad so far. There are income restrictions you must meet if you want to participate in the program too. You have to be driving a vehicle that does not have a value of more than $20,000. Your combined, family income must not exceed 250 percent of the federal poverty level (currently $26,000 for a single person, $35,000 for two persons and $53,000 for a family of four)
So, there is a way to get cheap car insurance, even in California. Now if you could just sell that house you bought a few years ago…..
Auto Theft Statistics – Where is the Best and Worst Place for Car Theft?
Posted by Steve in How to get cheap insurance on April 16th, 2009
The Camry is relatively safe from theft, and is also fairly cheap to insure. Draw your own conclusions....
It’s no secret that auto theft statistics for some areas are far worse than others. You’re probably pretty safe leaving your car doors unlocked for a couple of hours in Wausau, WI, while doing the same for only a few minutes in Yakima, WA just about guarantees you’ll be walkin’ home!
The level of car theft in a community is one of the main statistics used by the insurance companies to calculate how much you’ll have to fork over every month. Lower auto theft rates naturally translate into lower insurance rates. Sometimes moving only a few miles one way o the other can affect a significant drop in your insurance rates, so if you have the option of moving, talk to your agent about possible locations.
Here are some of the areas in the U.S. with the highest rates of grand theft auto, the real thing, not that time sucker you or your kids spend your Friday nights playing.
According to the FBI’s unified crime report, 1,095,769 vehicles went home with other than their rightful owners in 2007, the last year with complete statistics. Some were stolen by kids having fun, others by people making money. The cars stolen by the kids are often recovered, the others much less so.
Highest Rates of Auto Theft per 100,000 residents:
1 Modesto, CA
2 Laredo, TX
3 Yakima, WA
4 San Diego/Carlsbad/San Marcos, CA
5 Bakersfield, CA
6 Stockton, CA
7 Las Vegas/Paradise, NV
8 Albuquerque, NM
9 San Francisco/Oakland/Fremont, CA
10 Fresno, CA
Notice something? They’re all west of the Rocky Mountains. Why do you suppose that is? In point of fact, over 35% of all car thecfts occur in the 7 western states of WA, CA, NV, NM, UT, AZ, and TX.
Here are the worst states for car theft:
1 California
2 Texas
3 Florida
4 Arizona
5 Michigan
6 Washington
7 Georgia
8 Illinois
9 Ohio
10 New York
If you want your car to be a bit safer when you leave it, try moving to one of these areas. They were reported as the metro areas with the lowest levels of car theft by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
10 Fond du Lac, WI
9 Holland-Grand Haven, MI
8 Madison, WI
7 Johnstown, PA
6 Cumberland, MD
5 Ithaca, NY
4 Logan, UT
3 Glens Falls, NY
2 State College, PA
1 Elmira, NY
So there you have it! Auto theft statistics definitely have an impact on your rates. Getting cheaper insurance can involve a bit of relocation, but it could be worth it. You might just find lower insurance rates and get to keep your car in the bargain.
17 Year Old Car Insurance – How to Get it Cheaper
Posted by Steve in young drivers on April 11th, 2009
Choose Your Car Carefully
Getting car insurance for your 17 year old can be quite an endeavor. If nothing else, it can be very expensive. There are things you can do to get your teenager car insurance cheaper than if you just stumble blindly to your agent’s office and blurt out “Johnny just turned 17, I need some insurance!”
Some of the things fall squarely on the shoulders of Johnny himself (or Jeanette, perhaps). No matter if your teen is a boy or girl, they can help you help them by doing the following to help lower their rates:
Get good grades – Almost every insurance company gives a discount for good students. This can be substantial. To qualify for a good student discount, your child should maintain at least a 3.0 (on a 4 point scale) GPA. Not only will that help them get into a better college, but it will; save you money on their insurance; possibly up to 25%, which is no small potatoes.
Drive a sensible car – Cars likely to be hot-rodded, stolen, or are expensive to repair are commensurately more expensive to insure. If you teen happens to be the one driving this can take on eve greater significance. At age 25 your insurance rates typically go down 10 – 15%, so if you want a fast car, wait until you’re 25 years old to buy it. (NOTE: Some companies are giving a larger break at 30 years old now, rather than 25)
At 17, you’ll want something like a Saturn. Both the ION and L300 have shown to be among the least expensive vehicles to insure. If plastic body panels just don’t fly for you, try a Jeep Liberty Sport, or a 2 year old Toyota Camry. While a Camry may not be what you’d like to drive, they are great cars, and they’ll save you on insurance.
Keep your deductibles high – I’ve said this in other posts, but in most cases you don’t want to turn in a minor accident to the insurance company anyway. If you do, you can kiss cheap insurance goodbye for a few years, at the least. Usually a $1,000 deductible will suffice.
Keep your driving to a minimum. – You can get better rates if you drive fewer miles. If you only use your car for transportation to work and school, you can save money too. Talk with your agent to get the details.
Make sure you shop around. - There’s nothing like comparison shopping to save money, and this is definitely true with car insurance for young people. Some companies treat young drivers with more leniency than do others, so it behooves you to check. Checking all the hundreds of different companies available can be a difficult and time consuming process. Most people have better things to do than making dozens of phone calls to check insurance rates for their children.
Thankfully, technology has an answer. Companies such as InsureMe.com will check your specifics with dozens of companies to get the best rate for your specific situation and get you multiple quotes to choose from. Click here now to have them check how much money you can save by comparison shopping for insurance.
Getting your 17 year old car insurance is going to be expensive, but maybe it doesn’t have to be so expensive….