How to Insure your Mercury Mountaineer on a Tight Budget
If buying car insurance was fun, we'd do it as a recreational sport. But unfortunately, it's difficult for a lot of people and we always seem to pay more than we should. Finding insurance for your Mercury Mountaineer that you can actually afford is probably no different.
Step One: Insurance Quotes
If you haven't shopped for car insurance for awhile you might remember the days when the only option was to visit a local insurance agent. Not anymore!
You can now shop all the best car insurance companies and compare rates for a Mercury Mountaineer and you don't even have to visit each individual website!
Take the first step by clicking the link below. By answering a few questions you'll be able to compare rates quickly and easily.
Quote Tip! In order to accurately compare rates for your Mountaineer, it's critical that you use the same limits and deductibles for liability and physical damage coverages like comprehensive and collision. If you use different limits, you will not be able to accurately compare rates between carriers.
Step Two: How to Save on Mountaineer Insurance
Once you have quotes in hand, you can then consider some of the other techniques for lowering your Mountaineer insurance rates.
- If you are a senior citizen or belong to a particular professional organization, you may qualify for a break on insurance.
- You can save money on your physical damage coverage (comprehensive and collision) by increasing your deductibles. Higher deductibles mean you are willing to pay more before the insurance company covers a claim.
- If you don't need the larger engine and four-wheel drive that an SUV gives you, you might consider trading down to a passenger car to save on insurance.
- If you're a young driver, you will pay more to insure a Mountaineer. There isn't anything you can do about your age, but rates will drop as you mature.
- A lead foot will result in higher insurance rates. Slow down, don't get tickets and you'll pay less.
- Air bags, antilock brakes, traction control, and stability control all help lower the cost of insurance due to reducing the risk of injury in an accident.
- Try to maintain a claim-free discount on your car insurance policy. Obviously you can't prevent large claims, but if they are smaller and you can afford to pay them out-of-pocket, do so.
- Vehicles that tend to get stolen or have high repair costs will cost you more to insure. If your Mountaineer falls into either category, it could cost you.
- If you have a high credit score, you will be rewarded with lower insurance rates. Conversely, if your credit rating is on the low site, your rates will be higher.
- Many insurance companies will give you a small discount if you've recently completed a driver's training course.
- Having any gaps in coverage (known as a lapse) is bad in the eyes of any insurance company. Make sure you keep coverage in force at all times by synchronizing the expiration and effective dates of your policies.
- Most insurance companies will give you a discount on your car insurance if you also own a home. Some go even farther and give you discounts if you package your homeowners and auto insurance with them.
Step Three: Bind Coverage and Cancel your Old Policy
If you have found a good price by comparing quotes and also made informed decisions regarding policy limits, deductibles and other policy options that are available, you can now purchase the policy and bind coverage.
If you didn't have a prior policy, then you can make the new policy effective any time. But if you're moving bewteen companies and don't want a lapse in coverage, make sure the effective date of the new policy is exactly the same as the cancellation date of the old policy.
If you are adding a vehicle to an existing policy and not buying a new one, just make sure to get the vehicle added as soon as possible. Every insurance company offers a grace period to add new vehicles, so make sure you get the Mercury added prior to the expiration of this grace period. Coverage that extends from an existing policy is only as good as your current coverage. So if you don't carry full coverage on any vehicles, you won't have it on your new Mountaineer.
Once you have purchased your policy, print out the insurance card that must go in your vehicle. This card fulfills the state law requiring you to prove financial responsibility. If you have received a DUI, reckless driving citation or caused an accident without insurance, you may be required to file an SR-22 with your state DMV. Make sure your new company is aware of the SR-22 filing requirement.
More Resources
To do more research on car insurance, visit the Insurance Information Institute website.
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