Are you a victim of high-priced car insurance? Trust us when we tell you there are many people just like you. Insurance companies such as GEICO and Progressive continually hit you with catchy ads and consumers find it hard to sift through the bull and find the best price available.
If you have a policy now or are shopping for new coverage, you can learn to reduce the price you pay while maximizing coverage. Finding affordable coverage is quite easy. Consumers just need to learn the most effective way to shop their coverage around online.
Car Insurance Comparison Rates
There are a lot of ways to shop for car insurance, and some are more efficient than others. You could waste a few hours driving to agents in your area, or you could use the web to accomplish the same thing much quicker.
Many insurance companies take part in a program that enables customers to submit one quote, and each company provides a quote for coverage. This saves time by eliminating quote requests to every company. To find out how much you can save on car insurance click here to open in new window.
The single downside to pricing coverage this way is that consumers can’t choose the insurers you want to price. If you would rather choose individual companies to request quotes from, we put together a list of low cost car insurance companies in your area. Click to view list.
It’s up to you how you get prices quotes, just ensure you are comparing identical coverages and limits on every quote you get. If your comparisons have differing limits it will be very difficult to determine the lowest rate for your Mazda B2300 Pickup.
Discounts are available to cut your rates
Insuring your vehicles can cost a lot, but there are discounts available to cut the cost considerably. Some trigger automatically when you quote, but less common discounts must be asked about before you get the savings. If you’re not getting every credit you qualify for, you’re just leaving money on the table.
- Military Rewards – Having a deployed family member may qualify for rate reductions.
- Drive Safe and Save – Drivers who don’t get into accidents can pay as much as 50% less for B2300 pickup coverage than less cautious drivers.
- Multi-policy Discount – If you insure your home and vehicles with one insurance company you could get a discount of at least 10% off all policies.
- Driver Safety – Taking part in a defensive driving course can save you 5% or more if your company offers it.
- Sign Early and Save – Some companies give discounts for switching policies prior to your current policy expiring. It can save you around 10%.
- Organization Discounts – Affiliation with certain professional organizations may earn a discount when buying car insurance for B2300 pickup coverage.
- New Car Discount – Insuring a new car can cost up to 25% less since new cars are generally safer.
Drivers should understand that most discount credits are not given the the whole policy. Most cut the price of certain insurance coverages like comprehensive or collision. Even though it may seem like it’s possible to get free car insurance, companies don’t profit that way. Any qualifying discounts will bring down the amount you have to pay.
Are insurance agents a thing of the past?
Certain consumers would rather buy from a licensed agent and that is a personal choice. Agents are trained to spot inefficiencies and help submit paperwork. The biggest benefit of comparing rates online is that you can obtain better rates and still have an agent to talk to. Buying from local businesses is definitely important in smaller rural communities.
Once you complete this form (opens in new window), your insurance coverage information is submitted to participating agents who will return price quotes for your coverage. You won’t need to leave your computer because quoted prices will be sent to your email. How cool is that?!
The different types of insurance agents
When researching local agents, there are a couple of types of insurance agents to choose from. agents are classified as either captive or independent. Either one can insure your vehicles, but it’s worth learning the differences since it may influence buying decisions.
Independent Insurance Agents
These agents do not work for one specific company but rather can write business with lots of companies depending on which coverage is best. If your agent finds better pricing, the business is moved internally and that require little work on your part. When searching for an agent, you should always contact at a minimum one independent agency for the best price selection.
Agency Captives
Captive agencies are contracted to one company and some examples include AAA, State Farm, Farmers Insurance and Allstate. They usually cannot shop your coverage around so they have to upsell other benefits. These agents are usually quite knowledgeable on their company’s products which can be an advantage.
To view a full list of insurance agencies, visit this page.
Selecting an insurance agent needs to be determined by more than just the premium amount. Some important questions to ask are:
- Do you have coverage for a rental car if your vehicle is in the repair shop?
- Is vehicle damage repaired with OEM or aftermarket parts?
- Does the agent have professional designations like CIC, CPCU or AIC?
- Are they able to influence company decisions when a claim is filed?
- What is the agency’s Better Business Bureau rating?
- How long has their agency been open?
- Are you getting all the discounts the company offers?
Upon receiving acceptable answers to any questions you have and a low price estimate, you’ve probably found an auto insurance agent that meets your needs to adequately provide car insurance.
Your personal situation dictates your coverage
When choosing the best car insurance coverage, there is no perfect coverage plan. Every insured’s situation is different and your policy should reflect that. Here are some questions about coverages that can aid in determining whether or not you will benefit from professional help.
- Am I covered when driving on a suspended license?
- Does having multiple vehicles earn me a discount?
- Will my vehicle be repaired with OEM or aftermarket parts?
- What can I do if my company won’t pay a claim?
- Are there companies who specialize in insuring high-risk drivers?
- Should I sign the liability waiver when renting a car?
If you’re not sure about those questions but you think they might apply to your situation then you might want to talk to a licensed insurance agent. If you want to speak to an agent in your area, complete this form or you can go here for a list of companies in your area. It’s fast, doesn’t cost anything and may give you better protection.
Why you might be paying too much to insure your Mazda B2300 Pickup
Smart consumers have a good feel for the factors that play a part in calculating car insurance rates. Knowing what influences your rates helps enable you to make changes that will entitle you to much lower annual insurance costs.
Shown below are a few of the “ingredients” that factor into prices.
- Higher safety ratings means cheaper insurance – Vehicles with high crash test scores are cheaper to insure. The safest vehicles protect occupants better and lower injury rates translates into fewer and smaller insurance claims passed on to you as lower rates. If your Mazda earned at least four stars on Safercar.gov or an “acceptable” rating on iihs.org you may qualify for a discount.
- Keep rates low by being claim-free – Insurance companies provide lower rates to policyholders who file claims infrequently. If you file claims often, you can look forward to either higher rates or even cancellation. Your insurance policy is intended to be relied upon for the large, substantial claims.
- How’s your driving record? – Your driving record has a big impact on rates. Even a single moving violation can increase rates by as much as thirty percent. Good drivers have lower premiums than people who have multiple driving citations. Drivers who get severe violations like DWI, reckless driving or hit and run convictions may be required to file a SR-22 with their state DMV in order to drive a vehicle legally.
- Better credit scores mean better rates – Credit history is a huge factor in determining your rates. If your credit history is not that good, you could be paying less to insure your Mazda B2300 Pickup by improving your credit score. Consumers who have high credit ratings tend to be less risk to insure than drivers with lower credit scores.
- Do you need those extra coverages? – There are a lot of add-on coverages you can purchase if you aren’t careful. Coverages like rental car reimbursement, better glass coverage and additional equipment coverage are examples of these. They may seem like a good idea when you first buy your policy, but now you might not need them so get rid of them and save.
- More than one policy can earn a discount – Most insurance companies will award you with lower prices to policyholders who consolidate policies with them such as combining an auto and homeowners policy. Discounts can amount to 10 percent or more. Even with this discount, it’s in your best interest to compare rates to make sure you are getting the best deal.
- What type of vehicle do you drive? – The performance of the car you drive makes a big difference in how high your rates are. Because the Mazda B2300 Pickup falls in the pickup truck class, insuring your vehicle will cost similar in price compared to average rates. Economy passenger vehicles generally receive the lowest base rates, but other factors influence the final cost greatly.
- How your age affects price – Young drivers tend to get distracted easily in a vehicle so they pay higher car insurance rates. Mature drivers are more responsible, statistically cause fewer accidents and get fewer tickets.
In the end, you save
As you shop your coverage around, you should never sacrifice coverage to reduce premiums. Too many times, an insured cut collision coverage to discover at claim time that a couple dollars of savings turned into a financial nightmare. Your goal should be to purchase plenty of coverage for the lowest price.
In this article, we presented a lot of techniques to lower your Mazda B2300 Pickup insurance rates. The key thing to remember is the more rate quotes you have, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. Drivers may discover the biggest savings come from a lesser-known regional company. These smaller insurers may have significantly lower rates on certain market segments as compared to the big name companies such as State Farm or Progressive.
