I can’t think of anyone who looks forward to paying for car insurance, in particular when their premiums are too high. Companies like State Farm, Farmers Insurance, GEICO and Allstate increase brand awareness with ads and consumers find it hard to see past the corporate glitz and take the time to shop coverage around.
Where Can I Get Cheap Car Insurance?
Cutting your car insurance rates is a fairly straight forward process. The only thing you need to do is take a few minutes getting comparison quotes online from several insurance companies. It is quite easy and can be accomplished in several different ways.
- The easiest and least time consuming way to find low rates is an all-inclusive rate comparison click here to open form in new window. This easy form prevents you from having to do boring form submissions for each company you want a rate for. In just a few minutes this one form will get you price quotes .
- A harder way to obtain and compare quotes online is spending the time to visit each individual company website and request a quote. For examples sake, let’s say you want comparison quotes from State Farm, 21st Century and Liberty Mutual. You would have to take the time to go to each site and enter your information, which is why most consumers use the first method. For a list of links to companies insuring cars in your area, click here.
It’s your choice how you get your quotes, but make darn sure you compare apples-to-apples coverages and limits on every quote you get. If you enter different limits and deductibles on each one it’s impossible to make a fair comparison for your Mercury Grand Marquis.
Do you really save 40% when you switch?
Drivers get pounded daily by advertisements for the lowest price auto insurance from companies such as GEICO, State Farm and Progressive. They all have a common claim of big savings if you move your policy.
How do they all say the same thing?
All companies are able to cherry pick for the right customer that earns them a profit. For instance, a desirable insured might be over the age of 50, has no tickets, and drives less than 10,000 miles a year. Any driver who fits that profile will get the preferred rates and is almost guaranteed to save when they switch companies.
Consumers who are not a match for the requirements will be charged higher premiums and this can result in business not being written. The ad wording is “drivers who switch” not “everyone that quotes” save that much money. That is how companies can truthfully claim big savings.
That is why it is so important to get as many comparisons as possible. It’s impossible to know which car insurance company will provide you with the cheapest rates.
These nine discounts can lower your rates
Car insurance is not cheap, but discounts can save money and there are some available that can drop the cost substantially. Certain discounts will be triggered automatically when you purchase, but lesser-known reductions have to be manually applied before they will apply. If they aren’t giving you every credit you qualify for, you’re just leaving money on the table.
- Payment Method – If you pay your entire premium ahead of time instead of monthly or quarterly installments you can actually save on your bill.
- Auto/Life Discount – Larger companies have lower rates if you buy a life insurance policy as well.
- Government Employees – Being employed by or retired from a federal job may qualify you for a discount for Grand Marquis insurance depending on your company.
- Anti-lock Brakes – Vehicles with anti-lock braking systems prevent accidents and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
- Multiple Policy Discount – If you insure your home and vehicles with one insurance company you could get a discount of up to 20% off your total premium.
- Safety Course Discount – Successfully completing a defensive driving course could possibly earn you a 5% discount if you qualify.
- Homeowners Savings – Owning a home can help you save on car insurance due to the fact that maintaining a home demonstrates responsibility.
- Early Signing – Some insurance companies reward drivers for signing up prior to your current policy expiring. This can save 10% or more.
- Organization Discounts – Being a member of a professional or civic organization may earn a discount on car insurance for Grand Marquis insurance.
Consumers should know that most discounts do not apply to all coverage premiums. The majority will only reduce specific coverage prices like liability, collision or medical payments. So when the math indicates all the discounts add up to a free policy, companies don’t profit that way. But any discount will reduce the amount you have to pay.
To choose providers offering car insurance discounts, click here to view.
Car insurance 101
Learning about specific coverages of your car insurance policy can help you determine the right coverages at the best deductibles and correct limits. The terms used in a policy can be ambiguous and nobody wants to actually read their policy. Listed below are the usual coverages found on the average car insurance policy.
Comprehensive or Other Than Collision
This coverage will pay to fix damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. You first have to pay a deductible and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive coverage protects against claims like hitting a deer, a broken windshield, vandalism and hitting a bird. The maximum amount your car insurance company will pay is the market value of your vehicle, so if the vehicle’s value is low consider dropping full coverage.
Auto collision coverage
This will pay to fix damage to your Grand Marquis from colliding with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. A deductible applies and then insurance will cover the remainder.
Collision insurance covers claims such as rolling your car, sideswiping another vehicle and hitting a mailbox. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from lower value vehicles. You can also increase the deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.
Medical costs insurance
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage reimburse you for short-term medical expenses such as nursing services, dental work and EMT expenses. They are used in conjunction with a health insurance policy or if you do not have health coverage. It covers you and your occupants and also covers being hit by a car walking across the street. Personal injury protection coverage is not available in all states but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage
UM/UIM Coverage
Your UM/UIM coverage provides protection from other drivers when they either have no liability insurance or not enough. Covered claims include injuries sustained by your vehicle’s occupants and also any damage incurred to your Mercury Grand Marquis.
Since a lot of drivers carry very low liability coverage limits, it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. For this reason, having high UM/UIM coverages is a good idea. Most of the time these limits do not exceed the liability coverage limits.
Auto liability insurance
Liability insurance can cover damages or injuries you inflict on a person or their property that is your fault. This coverage protects you against claims from other people. It does not cover damage sustained by your vehicle in an accident.
Coverage consists of three different limits, per person bodily injury, per accident bodily injury, and a property damage limit. You might see limits of 25/50/25 which stand for $25,000 bodily injury coverage, a per accident bodily injury limit of $50,000, and property damage coverage for $25,000. Occasionally you may see a combined limit which limits claims to one amount with no separate limits for injury or property damage.
Liability can pay for things such as attorney fees, loss of income, funeral expenses and medical services. How much liability should you purchase? That is up to you, but buy as much as you can afford.
One last thing about your coverage
As you restructure your insurance plan, it’s very important that you do not sacrifice coverage to reduce premiums. There have been many cases where an insured cut full coverage and discovered at claim time that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. The proper strategy is to purchase a proper amount of coverage for the lowest price while not skimping on critical coverages.
Cheap Mercury Grand Marquis insurance can be found from both online companies in addition to many insurance agents, so compare prices from both to have the best rate selection. There are still a few companies who do not provide online price quotes and many times these small, regional companies only sell through independent insurance agents.
