Let’s face it, life is more expensive than ever and we all need to save money! Even Elon Musk likes to use coupons when he isn’t blowing 44 Billion on a semi-hostile takeover of Twitter. So let’s get to it. What you need to know, and sometimes what your insurance company doesn’t want you to know about the 10 most common ways to save on auto insurance!
#10. If you have full coverage on a car, raise deductibles from $500 to $1000 or $2500 but unless you have a laundry list of tickets or accidents that savings may not be worth the added out of pocket costs come claim time. Always quote your changes before deciding. Also, your collision deductible does NOT have to match the comprehensive deductible so we recommend only raising collision and leaving the comprehensive deductible lower since that is an inexpensive coverage item.
#9. You can lower your liability limits (injuries and damages caused to others in an accident) but as with above, the savings may not be worth it. The drops in liability protection are significant while the savings maybe small so always quote it first. Conversely, when budget allows we recommend raising liability limits as paying a few dollars extra per month gets you much higher protections while also avoiding potential lawsuits.
#8. Remove rental and towing. If you a have a AAA membership or other roadside protection, many clients feel it’s not worth paying extra for that same coverage on their auto insurance. Although AAA limits your roadside calls per year, and if you go over their allotment in dollars they can charge you for your roadside call. In a case of having Mercury Insurance roadside, they will reimburse you even if your service help came from AAA, so there are a reasons some clients prefer duplicate coverage. If you have Rental car coverage on your auto insurance, it pays up to 30 days of a rental if your vehicle is in for repair for a covered loss. If you have access to other vehicles, or friends or family to drive you around, you may consider removing rental car coverage. Keep in mind, borrowing a friend’s car rarely ends well and when you rent from Budget or Enterprise you know they won’t complain about the crumbs and ketchup stain you left behind. (I’m talking to you mom. That’s the last time I’ll ever ask to borrow your Cadillac again. That’s for sure!)
#7. You can sell your car and take an Uber or scooter. No car, no car insurance right? Talk about a great way to save! Ok, maybe that’s not a great option for you. But on older cars (think 10-12+ years) when the blue book value is low enough you can consider removing full coverage (comp and collision) and having liability only on a car which often equals a lofty savings. Of course that comes with the risk of not getting your car repaired from an at fault accident. So gauge this one carefully.
#6. Pile on those discounts. Every insurance company offers extra ways to save on auto insurance but that information could be buried in the 78 page packet they mail you each year so ask your company or agent if there are any savings or discounts not yet applied to your policy. You may be pleasantly surprised. Some examples from Mercury Insurance are: good student discount or a teaching credential, multi-car, multi-policy, good driver, mature driver, or just having a Costco or AAA membership.
#5. Family package. No, we don’t mean the 16 piece family meal at Pollo Loco, though that is delicious and highly recommended. It never makes sense to split off household family members onto their own auto policies. Always bundle all cars and drivers in the home for the best price. Plus this allows all drivers on one policy to drive all the cars on that policy, which otherwise they would not be able to do for free.
#3. Just kidding. Not #3. It’s actually #4. Wanted to see if you are paying attention. You’re not? Ya, we figured. We should have made it the top 5 ways to save, we’d be done already! Anyway. A top 10 list is always the best way to go. Thank you David Letterman. If you don’t get that joke you’re too young. Where were we? Oh. Annual miles. The more you drive the higher your auto insurance price but many companies now track your miles to ensure accuracy or they have minimum miles driven so they may not let you always lower miles without written proof of your annual pace. Try to gauge if they have your annual miles pace accurate and ask about any special mileage programs they offer as this can sneak in an added savings.
#3. The multi-policy discount. If you own a home you always need to bundle your home and auto together. If don’t own a home and rent an apartment you can also get a renters policy, and still qualify for a multi-policy discount. Plus you get all the important coverage protections of that renters policy itself. If you live with your parents, then lucky for you, unless they charge you rent. Then you should consider trading in your parents for new ones. Instead of having your own one car one driver policy, if you can be a driver on your parents or family auto policy it means you get all their discounts, including their home-auto discount, multi-car or any group discounts.
#2. Tickets and accidents. Since we can’t always outrun the police, unless you have a very fast car, and since it’s never a good idea to flee the scene of an accident, we all may end up with a DMV point eventually. Those pesky DMV points from tickets and accidents, once they find their way onto your insurance record, turn into higher insurance prices! DMV points last for 3 years and a DUI, the mother of all DMV violations, lasts for 10 years! The only way to remove a point from an auto collision claim is by it being not at fault but for tickets (speeding, turning, driving backwards etc) you will often be offered traffic school. Our advice: take it! If you hadn’t already attended traffic school in the prior 18 months you can opt in for an online traffic school course. Traffic school can even be done online now. Just imagine the boredom of an algebra, chemistry and history class all rolled into one, for 6 hours in a row, and that is traffic school. Still it will save you a lot of money getting that off your insurance record! Without it, you have to wait 3 years for it to fall off your record, or you can date someone high up in the DMV hierarchy and sweet talk them into erasing your blemished driving history.
#1. Yes. Here we are. #1! Finally. Our fingers are exhausted from typing. But we saved the best for last. Although we’re pretty sure most people stopped reading back around #5. So for the 3 people still here, the best way to save on car insurance is to get a fast, free quote from another company or agent to see how much they can save you.
Conveniently for you, we just happen to sell insurance. Imagine that. Fancy meeting you here. Fate has brought us together. We can write auto, home, renters, motorcycle, earthquake, even business insurance. We also represent multiple companies although Mercury Insurance tends to have some of our lowest prices. Plus we’re fantastic. And versatile. We can work by phone, email and text but if you like that personal touch, we’re right up the street from CSUN. Did we mention free jelly beans?
Phone 818.368.3764 / Text 818.351.9247 / Email [email protected] / Online doctorins.com/csun
