What You Should Know About Insurance Rates

Car Insurance RatesAre you frustrated with how much you are paying for auto insurance? Perhaps one reason for the feelings of irritation is a simple misunderstanding of why you pay what you do. First, a driver must find a cheap rate and know where to look. Then, an understanding of why a person is charged a certain rate. And finally, knowing how to use discounts to pay even less will help a person get the lowest rates possible.

Finding Cheap Rates
Looking for cheap rates? Well look no further than Online Auto Insurance. While we are not an insurer offering coverage, we do pair drivers with insurers to help them find the optimal policy for them. Cheap rates are offered by quite a few companies, but the cheapest of cheap rates are given to those drivers with a spotless driving record, less coverage and insurance friendly vehicles. While comparing one driver’s rates to another to see a range of prices, it is unrealistic to think two drivers can get the same rate unless their background information is the exact same. Instead, drivers should focus on the cheapest rates they can get considering their background information, and the best way to find out which insurer offers the lowest rates is by gathering quotes from insurers.

Gathering quotes to insure an automobile can be a daunting task, especially when you are not familiar with how to do it or you don’t know the best way to do it. Some people might suggest the only real way to gather quotes is by contacting insurers individually either by phone or through their website. After contact has been made, the driver finds out about the company’s prices for the particular coverage they would like to purchase but first must answer questions of the insurer’s representative. This driver could spend anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes on the phone or searching the website to finally get a quote. But the gathering isn’t finished here because more companies need to be contacted to figure out who offers the cheapest rates.

Instead of going through this scenario and spending an hour talking with different insurers, drivers can save their time while they gather policy quotes. They can come to our site, OnlineAutoInsurance.com, and use our quote comparison tool for a quick and effective comparison method. The main difference is, our tool takes less time to use than the traditional way of contacting insurers. We ask one set of questions – which are similar to the questions each insurer would ask – about basic information of the driver and the vehicle. There are also some questions about what kind of coverage and in what amount would like to be purchased. Here’s the great thing; we ask those questions once and when the driver has completed them, we’ll give them a number of quotes. The driver can view these quotes and find the cheapest one. If desired, they can even purchase that policy online right then, no matter what time or day it is, without speaking to any representatives.

What Determines Rates
Have you ever wondered why you get charged the amount you pay? Insurers have a way to figure out how much they would possibly spend on insuring you by calculating a level of risk and assigning it to each driver. Drivers with a high level of risk, or a high chance of filing a claim, are charged more for a policy than a driver who is assigned a low level of risk. How is a level of risk determined? What would be the car accident impact on insurance rates and quotes? All of the answers that are given in our quote comparison tool or to any insurer’s representative are taken together and that is what forms the level of risk.

A high level of risk is assigned to someone who has a driving record with tickets and accidents. The more of either of those activities, the higher the risk level. Drivers who put a certain high number of miles on their vehicle every year or who live in a high crime area are charged more for their insurance. Expensive vehicles cost more to insure, as does a driver with few years of driving experience. How do these things (plus others) prove a driver is going to file a claim? Auto insurance companies have statistics that show the background information, such as that listed above, of drivers who file claims most often. It’s almost as though the insurer can predict who they will need to pay out a claim for and then charges them more to even out the balance.

Getting Lower Rates
Drivers who want lower rates should first use our comparison tool to find the cheapest policy, make necessary changes in their background to lower the premium further, and finally look to discounts. Since we’ve already covered quote gathering and comparison and what determines your rates, we’ll now discuss discounts to show how to get even lower rates. No matter who you are, what age group you’re in, or where you live, there is probably at least one discount that can apply to your premium. All it takes is inquiring about discounts with your insurer.

Most discounts are given because the insurer feels the driver has earned them by displaying responsibility, whether it’s in driving or another part of life. Discounts are available for students who earn a high grade point average because insurers feel if these students can perform well on exams under pressure, they will probably do well in stressful situations on the road. Other discounts, such as the discount for having safety features on a vehicle, help decrease the chance of the vehicle being involved in an accident or getting stolen and not retrieved. The driver benefits from not only those safety features, but also a lower price for their insurance coverage. There are also classes offered by some insurers to help drivers learn better defensive driving skills, which results in saving on premiums as well.

Rates for car insurance coverage are not terribly difficult to understand once they’ve been explained. It will take some time on any motorist’s part to find the cheap rates, but once it has been done the driver will know what to do every time they are in search for the lowest price. Online Auto Insurance is committed to helping all drivers find the lowest car insurance rates that are available.