Discount car insurance, pt. 2
In my last post, I began making a list of all of the different discount car insurance deals you can get. Some of them would appear to be the sort of thing which would be applied automatically. For example, you should automaticaly get a safety discount for having air bags if you have a 2007 Mini Cooper, right, because all cars made in 2007 have to have air bags anyway, so it must have one? Wrong. While it’s obvious that your car has air bags, the car insurance company isn’t required to admit to the obvious, so any discount car insurance deal that you qualify for, you will have to ask for in a lot of cases. Here are several more.
- Low mileage discount car insurance. This comes in many different forms. Some car insurance companies will give you a great discount of about fifteen to twenty percent if you drive less than five thousand miles a year. For some people this is not achievable, but a little more within reach is another oft provided discount which gives you a certain amount off of your premium if you drive less than forty miles a day. This is great, especially if you live close to your job. Even if you don’t, though, mixing up your regular commute with walking, riding your bike places, and taking the bus can bring you closer to your goal.
- Group discount car insurance. If you are the employee of a company that requires to use your personal vehicle for business purposes a lot, then you might be able to get car insurance with them. Even if you don’t, you still get to claim that mileage and even your car insurance premium on your taxes and so your saving money either way. Also, some car clubs for high performance cars offer group insurance plans. These are always cheaper because the people who are in the preferred group often cancel out the high risk qualities of others.
- Safe driver discount car insurance. If you have a good driving record and don’t have a history of having a lot of car accident claims or of committing any moving violations, then you probably qualify for the safe driving discount. This is one of the most common types of discounts offered, and usually it is from ten to fifteen percent of your car insurance premium for your high performance car.
- Safety feature car insurance discount. If you install certain safety features on your vehicle, you are qualified for another kind of safety discount with most companies. The majority of the states in the U.S. actually require car insurance companies to give you discount car insurance rates if you have standard safety equipment such as air bags or seat belts installed on your vehicle. However, in many companies you can get further discounts for even more safety features, like if you install an electronic stability control system on your car. This kind of discount car insurance deal is really about helping you help yourself, considering that these protect you while also protecting your wallet.
Discount car insurance
Reader question:
What are all of the kinds of discount car insurance opportunities that I have for my high performance car?
Ashley
Thank you for your question, Ashley.
The list is extremely long and most people will qualify for at least a handful. With most car insurance companies offering so many discounts, it’s a wonder that some people still pay too much for their car insurance. I think that the selection of discounts that a car insurance company provides should be a big factor in your decision whether or not to choose that auto insurance company. When I was searching for a new car insurance company after I got off of my roommate’s policy, I looked up car insurance discounts and made a list of the ones that I qualified for. I then researched different car insurance companies and finally went with the one that offered the most of those discounts. Now, I save over a hundred dollars a month from my original quote and, although I am in a high risk group, I pay the same that most middle aged preferred policy holders pay. I advise you to do the same kind of research.
Anyway, here is a list.
- Multiple policy discount car insurance. This is for when you get your car insurance with the same company that you get other types of insurance. This way, you can get discounted on all of the insurance you have, not just car insurance. I have my car insurance and life insurance with the same company, and I get a very good discount.
- Multiple person/vehicle discount car insurance. This is for when you have more than one person or vehicle on your policy. It’s one of the main reasons that your car insurance rates go down when you get married, although there is certainly more to it than that. If you have someone who is high risk on your policy, make sure that the car insurance company does not assign their name to the most high risk vehicle.
- Higher deductible. The more you pay later, the less you pay now. Except that if you don’t raise your deductible, you are essentially going to be paying a high deductible in premiums every year. Why do that when you can save now and only pay every five or ten years or so when you need to file a car insurance claim? It doesn’t make sense.
- No accidents. This is why it’s always advisable to stay with the same car insurance company, or really it’s advisable to put a lot of thought into the car insurance company when you are looking so that you don’t have to leave them, or at least not for a long time. If you don’t have any accidents for several years, normally three, with the same company then they will usually give you a discount car insurance rate.
This is only a short list of the discount car insurance deals you can get, and I will add more to it later.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Comprehensive car insurance coverage
Reader question:
How do I save money on my comprehensive car insurance coverage for my fast car?
Elijah
Thank you for asking, Elijah.
There are several ways that you can make sure that you will see a drop in the rates for your comprehensive car insurance coverage premium for your fast car. However, to find out the best way to do this, first I suggest that you check with your state’s department of insurance and see if they are a state that mandates a certain type of comprehensive car insurance coverage discount. There are nine states that require by law that car insurance companies give discount car insurance rates to people who have installed anti theft devices which are active and disenabling on their vehicles. These states are:
- Florida
- Illinois
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Massechussets
- New Mexico
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
There are four more states that do not actually require the insurance companies which are licensed by their department of insurance to give out these types of discounts, but they do loudly urge them to do so. While there are different discount car insurance rates that are offered, usually it is somewhere between fifteen and twenty percent, so long as it is the kind of anti theft device that becomes active when ever you get out of your high performance or muscle car.
If you live in Massachusetts, then you may be really in luck. In that state, car insurance companies are required to give a discount fo twenty five percent to the residents of the state who have installed an auto recovery system along with their anti theft device. If you play your cards right, then you get discount car insurance rates drops of up to thirty six percent, just playing on anti theft themes for your comprehensive coverage.
Even in states where insurance companies are not required or even really encouraged to give these kinds of discounts, such as New York and Georgia, they often still do since it brings customers. The savings aren’t as big, though, as they are in other states.
Of course, even beyond saving in this way, there are plenty of other ways to save money on your comprehensive car insurance coverage for your high performance car. First of all, you can raise the deductible, which may cost you something extra at one time but will save you a whole lot in the long run. Another thing that you can do is cut your other coverage. For example, if you have health and life insurance then you might not need personal injury protection; or if you are a good driver, then you might be able to take off the collision coverage of your insurance policy. As a high performance car owner, though, I do suggest that you leave the comprehensive part of the policy on there.
Another thing that you can do is to look into any other discounts that you may be eligible for. There are plenty of states who mandate discounts for things such as safety features, like air bags and seat belts, even though this come on every new car.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
High Performance Car Insurance Coverage
There are several types of car insurance coverage, and one of the most necessary extra coverage categories for owners of high performance vehicles and muscle cars is the high performance car insurance coverage category for comprehensive insurance coverage. This covers such incidents as theft, be it of the entire vehicle or of just a part, like if someone steals your air bags (yeah, it happens, and a lot). It doesn’t cover things that you installed on your vehicle at some point. Like, I have a new sound system on my car, and if I got into a crash, then it would not be replaced regardless of how much I spent on it, simply because I didn’t buy the extra coverage for additions to my high performance car.
Comprehensive high performance car insurance coverage also extends its coverage to natural disasters. This means that if your car is damaged by a flood or a fire, or even by vandalism, then you will be able to file a claim under the comprehensive section of your car insurance policy for your muscle car.
Car insurance companies get the price for this type of coverage from how high a risk a certain vehicle is to incur costs that would result in a car insurance claim. For example, since we own high performance cars, we will pay more for comprehensive high performance car insurance coverage because these types of cars are more likely to get stolen. Components that are often stolen, such as xenon headlights or air bags, also increase the risk and cost and thus your comprehensive premium.
Prices in general for comprehensive coverage are going up, even though losses incurred from vehicle theft in the United States are going down (two percent in the last year). The reason for this is because the cars that are out on the road these days cost more, and thus replacing them and their components costs more as well. About four hundred and twenty one of every hundred thousand cars are stolen in this country. Most of the time, these vehicles which are stolen are gone for good, and only thirteen percent of car thefts or thefts of car components end up resulting with the thief being arrested.
Meanwhile, over the past ten years the cost of high performance car insurance coverage for comprehensive is rising, and has gone up by over ten percent in that time period. It is the worst in urban areas, where vehicles are thirty percent more likely to be stolen than they are in other parts of the country. However, thanks to no fault car insurance laws, states n the north east of the country where there are far more urban areas have in the same amount of time seen their prices remain pretty stagnant. As you can see, the rates are affected by where you choose to live, and if you live in an urban area then you are considered to be higher risk.
Car insurance accident demogaphics
Reader question:
Who is more likely to get into a car insurance accident?
Brian
Thank you for asking, Brian.
If a car insurance company determines that you are in a group that is likely to get into an at fault car insurance accident and thus file a claim, then you will be placed in a higher risk category. This applies even if you did not choose to be a member of that group (age) or if, unlike other members, you have an excellent driving record. You can be charged more on your car insurance premium for being a high risk at fault driver even if you only buy the smallest amount of car insurance coverage possible. Last year, over forty thousand people died in car accidents, and car insurance company look at those statistics as well as claims statistics to determine what are the most dangerous behavioral qualities, and what are the most dangerous demographics. They then base the high performance car insurance premium rates that they charge on that.
- Mileage.
It’s pretty well known that if you keep your driving under five thousand miles a year, or for some companies under forty miles a day, then you can get a discount car insurance rate with many companies. But why is that? After all, a lot of companies don’t provide mechanical breakdown coverage.
The reason is that the more you drive, the more likely you are to get into a car insurance accident. There is one and a half deaths for every hundred million miles that you travel, and car insurance accidents and claims themselves come more frequently.
- Work.
It costs more, most of the time, to get commercial car insurance coverage than to get regular car insurance coverage, especially if the car that you use for your work is a high performance car. The reason for this is that last year and most years, car insurance accidents are one of the main ways that people die or get injured while on the job. That statistic surprised me, too.
- Age.
People over the age of sixty five are more likely to cause a car insurance accident than anyone else, base on statistics. Last year, they were at fault for a total of fifteen percent of all deaths in car insurance accident, and twenty percent of all deaths that involved a car and a pedestrian. As for younger people, who are under the age of twenty five, the numbers are close on the tail of the over sixty five group. For people under the age of twenty five, they are the cause of twelve percent of all traffic accident fatalities and sixteen percent of all deaths in a car insurance accident with a pedestrian.
Now, car insurance companies revisit this information every year, and their rates are always changing. One year might be better for younger drivers than others, depending on how the road wars play out. For example, right now young women pay less for their car insurance premiums than do men. However, over the past few years, women have been getting in more accidents while men have been getting in less. In a a few more years, women may be paying more than men.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Car insurance crash tests
Reader question:
What makes my high performance car more likely to suffer damage in a car insurance accident?
Mikey
Thank you for your question, Mikey.
There are several factors that refer to the safety of your high performance car, but I want to address two of the main ones which I think that every person should consider before they sign on to get a vehicle. After all, among all of the other factors that go into your car insurance premium decision, the damage likely to be incurred or caused by a certain vehicle is a big factor when it comes to a consideration of the safety of the car for car insurance rating purposes. While most people with high performance cars don’t have to worry much about this, many do.
- Is your high performance car crashworthy?
This means, how well does your high performance car hold up when it gets in a certain type of car insurance accident? There won’t be a single answer for all types of high performance cars, because based on how they are made all of these factors vary, even when one safe car is from the same manufacturer of another more dangerous car, or if one car is more dangerous for one model year than it was in the year previously.
There are two organizations that handle the ratings for these cars by giving them tests to determine how they will hold up in different types of crash. One is a government organization, called the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. You can get ratings at its website. The other is one that is given money and run by the insurance business, and it is called the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. You can get ratings from its website, as well.
These organizations test for four different kinds of car insurance accidents. One if a crash at low speeds, another is a crash from the rear, then from the front, and then a side impact car crash test. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is also very helpful in that it gives ratings for things such as a car’s propensity for rollovers, and for tire safety on different brands.
- Bumpers.
Bumpers that don’t match in height and width have caused some of the most expensive car insurance accidents. Even if two cars are going very slowly, much damage can be caused even so because one bumper will go over the other and cause damage significantly. This is why big trucks and sports utility vehicles often aren’t considered safe, because they have higher bumpers and wreak havoc on smaller cars when the two meet in a car insurance accident. These bumpers normally don’t absorb impact very well to protect the car itself, and crumple very easily when force is exerted on them thanks to the material most are made of. When my husband got rear ended by a guy a couple days ago, the guy’s bumper crumpled even though our car is smaller than his by a bunch. That’s just an anecdote, but it’s backed up by studies.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Car insurance accident causes
If you want to avoid car insurance accidents and keep your high performance car insurance premium low, then the most rational thing you can do to maintain the status quo of your car insurance premium is to keep your eye on the road. It sounds like very basic advice, but too many people put it off with the simple excuse of, “but if I just…for one second…there’s nobody close…” and then the next second, they are in a car insurance accident. Have to go through the claim process, they might get injured, and also, their rates will go up and they will stay up for the next five years or so unless the person works very hard against it.
The vast majority of drivers admit to multi tasking while they are driving, a big round number of eighty one percent. I witness this all the time, and frankly, it terrifies me. But then, I’m a very terrified driver. This helps me, because I’ve never gotten into a car insurance accident. But I see people who will talk on the phone, read and write while they drive, with their hands of the wheel, glancing at the road every few seconds like it’s the second priority. These people, and we’re all a part of them, are a huge problem.
Eighty percent of car insurance accidents were caused by somebody not paying attention to somebody in some way. The people who do this are mostly young, with thirty five percent of the admitted multi taskers falling under the age of twenty seven. Regardless of that, though, everybody does it, even if it is only something small such as eating a McMuffin or changing the radio station. All of these can work as distractions, especially taking a cell phone call, and thus can contribute to being in a car insurance accident.
So what types of distraction are the most common, and which ones are more likely to get you into some big trouble?
- Cell phones.
Cell phones cause more distractions than anything else, and they have also caused many accidents. Many states, including my own, have taken steps towards banning the use of cellular phones which are handheld while driving. However, studies show that eve headsets contribute to car insurance accidents, and there is actually no statistical difference between the two.
- Drowsiness.
This is second in line after cell phone use. One of the main causes of distraction while driving is a lack of sleep. This is why it is important to be fully awake before you get in your car to go to work. If you have to drink coffee, then drink coffee. If you have to go jogging for ten minutes, then do that, but under no circumstances should you drive while sleepy.
- Reaching.
I know that even changing the station on the radio can be a distraction, because unless you know where everything is without looking, you have to look away from the road to see the dial. However, the biggest problem that causes the most accidents, even if it is not the most common form of distraction, is when you drop something and reach to pick it up, such as a drink or cell phone.
SR22 form
Reader question:
What makes you more likely to get into a car insurance accident and lose your discount car insurance?
Lucy
Thanks for asking, Lucy.
There are several factors that make car insurance accidents more likely. I’m just going to ignore which groups are more likely to get into car insurance accidents for a minute, so we can concentrate that what it is that people do has a big effect on how easily they are going to get into a car insurance accident. Even if someone is attempting to drive safety, negligence is a big problem and can make you lose your discount car insurance rates.
- Going too fast.
It should come as no surprise that one of the main causes of car insurance accidents is speeding. Thirty percent of al car insurance accidents last year that involved loss of life were caused by someone who was going over the speed limit or racing. Every year, we throw away forty billion dollars in car insurance claims, lawsuits, damages, funeral expenses, and so on simply due to accidents that are caused by someone who is speeding. For reasons of the definition, a car insurance accident is included in these statistics if the speeder was given a ticket for speeding or if the officer filing the police report wrote that one of the causes of the accident was speeding.
- Going too drunk.
Every half hour, a drunk driver gets into a car insurance accident. Pretty sobering, huh? It’s no wonder that SR22 car insurance rates are so high when the risk is so high among people who are prone to drink and drive. Forty one percent of deaths from car insurance accidents happened in an accident involving an intoxicated driver. Last year, almost eighteen thousand people died in alcohol related accidents, several hundred more than the year before. Driving while drunk is the most dangerous negligence, and not only that but it will cause a rise in your car insurance premium that you haven’t seen since you first got your license.
- Combination.
No surprise, but it gets even worse when you put the two together. Among the car insurance accidents that involved drunk drivers, forty percent of those drivers were going over the speed limit when the accident happened. Compare that with other car insurance accidents that do not involve drunk drivers, and the percentage dwindles to fourteen percent.
I cannot stress enough how much danger driving and drinking, or driving over the speed limit causes to you, the driver, your passengers, and other cars. Not only are you so much more likely to get into a car insurance accident, but it’s also a lot easier for your car insurance rates to go up because in either case you will likely be required to file an SR22 form. SR22 forms are required when you have bee convicted of an offense related to drunk driving, and they will affect your car insurance rates for three years and result in loss of license if your car insurance coverage lapses.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
High performance hybrid insurance
The car manufacturers are jumping on to the environmental trend along with everybody else. Cities are trying to decrease emissions into the atmosphere, Chicago has even declared itself a green city. I have a friend in my Sociology class who runs his car on vegetable oil which he bums off a restaurant near his important. Everybody is finding some way to be green, and this has spawned the higher rate of production of hybrid cars, even among manufacturers of high performance and muscle cars. Car insurance companies are not ignorant to this trend, and as with anything new that concerns cars, they have researched it to find a way to see if they can make more money as a result.
Turns out they can, at least in the way of attracting more customers. Meanwhile, if you’re paying all that money for your fancy high performance hybrid, then you can get a relief and a break through discount car insurance just because you own a hybrid car. There are three car insurance companies nationwide which are now offering discount car insurance rates to owners of hybrid cars. Aren’t we non owners of hybrid cars just jealous? I know I am.
A hybrid car by their definition is defined as a vehicle who has a new engine powered by a battery along with an engine powered by gas. So, my friends veggie oil car wouldn’t apply (sorry, Alex), but other cars classified as hybrids would. One company offers a ten percent discount, but not for every type of coverage. While you can apply the discount to your collision, comprehensive, liability, and so on, it doesn’t work with a discount car insurance rate for underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage nor with personal injury protection, which is also called PIP. As for the other two companies, they also give a ten percent car insurance discounted rate for drivers of hybrid vehicles, but it goes for all types of coverage, even personal injury protection. In the state of California, this discount car insurance rate is only dropped by five percent.
Why do they do this? Well, the researchers went to work once the hybrid trend began to rise, and the information they came away with informed them that drivers with hybrid cars, based on who buys them and how many claims are made by them, would be more responsible drivers and less likely to make claims.
The reason for this is because this drivers also have many other characteristics which would have lowered their car insurance rates, even independent of driving a hybrid car, so it’s almost like they’re getting a double discount. These traits include their marital status–drivers of hybrid cars are more likely to be married; their credit–let’s face it, hybrids are expensive and you must have had good credit to get approved to buy one; their age–mostly over twenty five; as well as their driver records and claims history. All of these factors pointed favorably towards drivers of hybrids, allowing high performance car insurance companies to give them discounts.
Discount car insurance law
Many car insurance companies are good enough to provide discount car insurance rates for those who go the extra mile to make heir driving experience a safe one and minimize the risk of at fault car insurance claims. They often do this as a matter of good business, because the company that provides the best incentives is also going to be the one that has the most customers, and those customers will be more determined to behave safely if they are able to save money by doing so. However, what I found out recently when I went to change my car insurance coverage (I’m buying a new car, so now I need comprehensive and collision) and I was looking at state law, is that there are actually a few laws that mandate discounts. Weird, huh? Here’s what they are.
- Defensive driving.
I always suggest that anybody and everybody should take at least one defensive driving course, partially so they can get good discount car insurance rates, and also so they’ll stop cutting me off on the freeway. This is best for those who are over the age of fifty five and might be experiencing significant rate raises soon. The great thing is, though, for older drivers who are worried about being able to find a car insurance company that offers this defensive driving discount, they need worry no more–not only do most high performance car insurance companies offer it, period, but most states actually have a law that states that you have to give discount car insurance rates to people who take defensive driving courses, especially if those people are seniors.
- Safety equipment.
In three different states, there are actually laws that state that require discount car insurance rates be given to people who have air bags and seat belts installed on their vehicle. A lot of these states even determine themselves how much the discount should be. Most of us are already benefiting from this anyway, because what high performance car doesn’t have air bags or seat belts? Talk about a recipe for disaster. So you’re really benefiting from something that is pretty effortless.
- Anti lock brakes.
Two states with some very high car insurance rates among their populace, New York and Florida, mandate that car insurance companies are required to give discount car insurance rates for people whose cars are equipped with anti lock disc brakes.
This is why I suggest that you skim over your state law on what is offered and hat is required in regards to discount auto insurance before you go and get your high performance car insurance policy. It only takes a couple of minutes, and it isn’t as tedious as it sounds (finding out ways to save money is never tedious), and there are plenty of places online where you can get the information. If you don’t want to bother with that, you can even call up the office for your state department of insurance and ask if there are any discount car insurance things that are required by state law.
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