Feel like you’re a prisoner to high-priced car insurance? Trust us, you’re not the only one.
There is such a variety of car insurance companies to buy insurance from, and even though it’s nice to be able to choose, it can be more difficult to find a good deal.
It’s a great practice to take a look at other company’s rates before your policy renews since insurance rates are rarely the same from one policy term to another. Even if you think you had the best deal on Caravan insurance on your last policy you may be paying too much now. There is a lot of wrong information about car insurance online, so with this article, you’re going to get some tested techniques to quit paying high car insurance rates.
This article will help educate you on how car insurance quotes work and some tips to save money. If you currently have car insurance, you will be able to cut costs considerably using these techniques. But car owners must understand the way insurance companies price insurance differently and apply this information to your search.
Quick Car Insurance Quotes
When shopping for car insurance there are multiple ways of comparing rates from car insurance companies in your area. The quickest method to compare insurance prices consists of obtaining rate quotes online. This is very easy and can be done in several different ways.
The fastest way consumers can make multiple comparisons is to use a rate comparison form like this one (opens in new window). This easy form prevents you from having to do boring form submissions for every car insurance company. One quote request gets you coverage quotes instantly.
A slightly less efficient method to get quotes online is to take the time to go to the website of each company and request a quote. For sake of this example, we’ll pretend you want to compare State Farm, Allstate and GEICO. To get each rate you have to go to every website to input your insurance information, and that’s why the first method is more popular. For a list of links to companies insuring cars in your area, click here.
The most time-consuming way to get comparison rates is driving around to insurance agents’ offices. The internet can eliminate the need for a local agent unless you require the personal advice that only a license agent can provide. Drivers can find lower rates online and still use a local agent and we’ll cover that in a bit.
However you get your quotes, be sure to compare identical quote information with every price quote. If you use differing limits you can’t possibly truly determine the lowest rate. Just a small difference in coverages may result in large price differences. And when comparison shopping, obtaining a wide range of quotes helps you find a better price.
Are you getting all your discounts?
Car insurance is not cheap, but discounts can save money and there are some available that many people don’t even know exist. Certain discounts will be applied when you quote, but a few must be manually applied before they will apply.
- Payment Discounts – If you pay your bill all at once instead of making monthly payments you could save 5% or more.
- Good Students Pay Less – A discount for being a good student can save 20 to 25%. The good student discount can last well after school through age 25.
- Use Seat Belts – Buckling up and requiring all passengers to buckle their seat belts could cut 10% or more on the medical payments or PIP coverage costs.
- Defensive Driving Course – Completing a course in driver safety could save 5% or more depending on where you live.
- Own a Home – Being a homeowner can help you save on car insurance due to the fact that maintaining a home requires personal responsibility.
As a disclaimer on discounts, some of the credits will not apply to the overall cost of the policy. Most cut the cost of specific coverages such as medical payments or collision. Just because you may think you can get free auto insurance, companies don’t profit that way. But any discount will bring down your premiums.
For a list of insurers offering car insurance discounts, click here to view.
Buying car insurance from a local agent
Some people would prefer to buy from a licensed agent and there is nothing wrong with that. One of the great benefits of getting online price quotes is the fact that you can find lower rates and still have an agent to talk to. Supporting small agencies is definitely important in smaller communities.
By using this form (opens in new window), your information is immediately sent to agents in your area who will return price quotes for your coverage. You never need to drive around because quoted prices will be sent straight to your inbox. It doesn’t get any easier! It’s the lowest rates AND an agent nearby.
If you want to contact a specific insurance agent in your state, visit this page.
Deciding on an insurance company requires more thought than just the bottom line cost. Ask your prospective agent these questions:
- How long have they worked with personal auto insurance coverage?
- What is the agency’s Better Business Bureau rating?
- Do you have coverage for a rental car if your vehicle is in the repair shop?
- How long has their agency been in business?
- Are there any hidden costs in their price quote and does it include driving and credit history?
- Are they properly licensed to sell insurance in your state?
- Do they have any clout with companies to ensure a fair claim settlement?
Upon getting positive responses to these questions and a low price estimate, chances are good that you have found a company that will insure your vehicles.
Factors that can influence Dodge Caravan insurance rates
An important part of buying insurance is that you know the different types of things that come into play when calculating the rates you pay for car insurance. Understanding what controls the rates you pay enables informed choices that could result in better car insurance rates.
The list below includes a few of the “ingredients” car insurance companies consider when setting premiums.
- Your occupation can affect rates – Careers like judges, social workers and accountants tend to pay higher rates than average attributed to high stress levels and long work hours. On the flip side, jobs such as pilots, athletes and retirees have the lowest average rates on Caravan insurance.
- Performance influences rates – The type of car you own makes a substantial difference in the rate you pay. Because the Dodge Caravan is classified as a van and minivan, rates will be similar in price than the average rate where you live. Low performance passenger cars generally have the cheapest insurance rates, but there are many factors that impact the final cost.
- More people means more accidents – Being located in small towns and rural areas can be a good thing when buying car insurance. Less people living in that area translates into fewer accidents and a lower car theft rate. Drivers who live in large cities tend to have much more traffic to deal with and longer commutes to work. Longer commute distances means higher likelihood of an accident.
- Protect your assets with liability insurance – The liability section of your policy will protect you when you are found liable for damages from an accident. It will provide for a legal defense which can cost thousands of dollars. Liability insurance is quite affordable compared to insuring for physical damage coverage, so buy as much as you can afford.
- Don’t get talked into coverage you don’t need – There are quite a few add-on coverages that you can buy when buying car insurance. Coverages for vanishing deductibles, towing coverage and term life insurance may be wasting your money. These may sound like a good investment when you first buy your policy, but if they’re wasting money eliminate them to save money.
- Equipment add-ons that lower car insurance rates – Owning a car with anti-theft technology or alarm system can help lower your rates. Theft prevention devices such as GM’s OnStar, tamper alarm systems and vehicle immobilizers can help prevent your vehicle from being stolen.
Can switching companies really save?
Car insurance companies such as Allstate, GEICO and Progressive constantly bombard you with ads on TV and radio. They all seem to make the same claim about savings if you switch to them. But how can every company make the same claim? This is how they do it.
All the different companies have a preferred profile for the driver they prefer to insure. For example, a profitable customer might be profiled as between 30 and 50, has no driving citations, and has a high credit rating. A propective insured who fits that profile will qualify for the lowest rates and most likely will save when switching.
Drivers who fall outside the “perfect” profile must pay higher premiums and ends up with the customer not buying. The ad wording is “customers who switch” not “everybody who quotes” save that much. That’s the way companies can claim big savings.
This illustrates why it is so important to compare many company’s rates. Because you never know which insurance companies will have the lowest rates.
In the end, you save
While you’re price shopping online, never reduce coverage to reduce premium. There are many occasions where someone sacrificed liability limits or collision coverage and discovered at claim time that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. The proper strategy is to purchase plenty of coverage at an affordable rate while still protecting your assets.
In this article, we covered quite a bit of information on how to shop for Dodge Caravan insurance online. The key thing to remember is the more times you quote, the better chance you’ll have of finding lower rates. You may even discover the best prices are with a small mutual company. They can often provide lower rates in certain areas as compared to the big name companies such as Progressive and GEICO.
