Car insurance rate » Insurance Rate

Is GEICO Car Insurance Very Good? – Cheap Auto Rates

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:09:28 +0000

Geico is one of the more familiar car insurance brands that we see today because they spends millions every year promoting there Car Auto Insurance as being one of the best you can buy. We want to look at there insurance and see if a cute mascot and a lot of advertising is always the best method to use when searching for affordable car insurance.

The Insurance company has been around for over 70 years and having a big name in the insurance business can be a real plus in giving people great rates.

It is important that when you are searching for Auto Insurance that you get many quotes to see what the best rate you can get is. Also you want to always make sure you compare the policies so that you know for what you are paying you get enough coverage.

You can find an insurance quote that is a great rate but does not give you enough coverage in case you get into an accident. It is very important to have enough coverage in case that you have a loss on your car so that you can get it fixed or replaced. It is also very important that you have enough coverage that in case someone is injured and it is your fault that your coverage will cover them. You do not want to get sued and be in a bad situation because you had too little coverage.

Remember that Geico is a good nationally known insurance company but when you are searching for Auto Insurance make sure that you get multiple quotes.

By: Bryan Burbank

Auto Insurance – Fixed Rate Vs Annual Escalation

admin — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 05:10:38 +0000

It has been established that 65% of South African road users are not insured. There are many reasons why someone would choose not to insure their vehicle. Perhaps they do not even have a choice in the matter, in the respect that they cannot afford any extra monthly expense. Auto insurance can be very costly, and there is also the fact that this monthly fee can fluctuate due to a number of aspects.

The undeniable fact is that car insurance is a necessity on our South African roads, especially when taking into consideration the high accident and motor vehicle theft rate in our country.

When making the decision to acquire auto insurance there are two options for you to consider. You may either choose a fixed rate or an annual escalating rate. An annual escalating rate is liable to fluctuate in accordance to the interest rate situation as well as having a standardized annual increase. There are aspects to this choice that must be taken into consideration: One would need to assess whether this would be a more viable and more importantly, a more affordable option to the fixed rate fee. The fixed rate is a set amount that one will pay on their car insurance each and every month. This rate is not affected by any factors like the annual escalation rate, but as a result it is more expensive.

An annual escalation has a normal percentage rate by which your car insurance premium will increase each year. An annual escalation is also prone to the oscillation of the interest rate. If the interest rate goes down, this is a good thing for the auto insurance holder. They will pay less interest on their fixed premium, and therefore save money. The problem lies when the interest rate goes up. Especially in South Africa’s current economic situation, this can be expensive. If your premium is prone to rise of the interest rate, you could be paying a lot more than you expected.

This is why someone may consider the fixed / flat rate option. Overall it is a more costly monthly amount that you will pay in comparison to the annual escalation rate. It can easily seem like a rather expensive option when compared to the annual escalation fee. One would have to assess, given our current economic situation, whether this would be a wiser choice or not. The higher the interest rate climbs the more one will have to pay on the annual escalation rate. Sometimes, especially now with the national interest rate being so high, this amount can far surpass the seemingly expensive fixed rate option.

There is a safety in choosing the fixed rate option. Many people are very nervous when hearing updates on the state of the interest rate. Having to pay an increase on their car insurance premium can hurt their pockets quite substantially, especially with the rising cost of food and basic living. With the fixed rate option they will not have to worry about paying an exorbitant amount on their car insurance premium at the end of the month, because the fee that they will pay will not change. It may be a bit more expensive than the annual escalation fee in times of low interest rates, but it is an amount that they have agreed on and have come to expect to pay at the end of each month.

In retrospect, perhaps one who has chosen the fixed rate option will have to learn to look the other way in times of low interest rates. People do not want to think that they could be saving money each month had they taken the alternative option. Then again, with today’s growing economic turmoil, choosing that alternative option is almost the same as gambling with something you have absolutely no control over.

By: Andries Malan

How to Find Cheap Washington DC Auto Insurance Rates

admin — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 21:01:25 +0000

Is it possible to find cheap Washington DC auto insurance rates? The car insurance required by law in Washington DC is more than that in many other states. This is probably part of the reason it is also in the top 10 for average auto insurance cost. Washington DC requires the same basic liability and property damage insurance as most other states. However, they also require uninsured motorist bodily and property damage. Don’t give up hope, though, there are some things you can do to reduce your insurance premiums.

1. First, investigate every possible discount available. There are many types of discounts, some are offered by most companies and other, lesser-known discounts, are only offered by a few. Be sure to ask each company you are investigating about their available discounts.

2. Second, take a look at yourself. Your driving record, your daily commute, your credit history and your vehicle can all affect your insurance rate. You can save yourself a lot of money in insurance premiums by driving safely, cleaning up any credit issues, using public transportation or car pools, and selecting a safe, low theft risk vehicle.

3. Third, compare companies. Rates vary widely between companies, even in the same areas. While you always want to contract with a company that has a solid reputation and good rating, you can find differences in the rates companies will charge even for similar policies.

4. Finally, though you do not want to compromise coverage, you can raise your deductible. Raising your deductible to the highest amount you can afford may save you hundreds each year on your premiums while still offering protection in the event of an unforeseen accident.

All of this searching may seem a bit overwhelming, but you can actually get rate quotes from insurance companies very easily online. Those who offer the features you need at rates you are happy with can also be checked easily for stability and ratings. You are really just minutes away from finding a cheaper DC auto insurance rate than you have now.

By: James J. Robinson

Car Insurance Monitoring for Discounted Insurance Rates – Privacy Devouring Monster Eating Us One Bi

admin — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 22:28:58 +0000

For a price, would you let car insurer along for the ride? –
asks a USA Today technology story by Kevin Maney. It seems
that Progressive Insurance and IBM have worked out a scheme to
pay drivers to be safer – by monitoring their every move in
their own cars, and how fast they make that move, and where
they park, and what time they drive.

The program is being tested in Minnesota and in the U.K. in a
privacy busting program that rewards drivers for keeping under
the maximum speed limits and driving during safer times of
day. It’s an interesting twist that is compared here to a
shopper reward card that monitors what you buy, although it
doesn’t give you lower prices if you buy healthy food – which
seems like the best analogy. (But it does let the food chains
know how often you shop and how much you spend on what types
of food, and alcohol, and cigarettes and trashy tabloids.)

Drivers must attach an electronic monitor to their cars that
downloads information which is generated and stored there in
diagnostic chips included in most newer model vehicles. As they
drive, it stores current driving behavior – and location – and
driving times and at the end of the defined time, drivers take
the unit into the house, attach a USB cable and download that
information into their computer and transmit it to
Progressive.

But the insurance discount program does have an interesting
twist in the Minnesota test. Apparently drivers who see from
their downloaded information (or just know they drove badly at
times) that they exceeded maximum speed limits, drove during
expensive times (2am when bars close is most expensive, after
11pm is next) can choose NOT to send that information to
Progressive and pay the normal undiscounted insurance rate.

It appears to have the true benefit of making drivers become
more cautious and drive within limits of the law during safe
hours. There is nothing wrong with this for those willing to
give up the information. This allows those willing to be
monitored the choice to send the information to their insurer
and get a discount or NOT send it to pay normal rates. It’s
worth considering.

I’m among those who continues to use supermarket loyalty
cards, even though I despise the fact that they can see my
purchase history and note my travel habits. The savings are
just too great to pass up. (I used a false name to set the
card up, but quickly noted that they tied together my debit
card name and loyalty card purchases, thus gaining that
information that I had denied them with the false name – now I
use cash.) You certainly can’t do the same with the insurance
driving discounts. Information must be accurate to properly
insure and discount the policy.

The UK program is more invasive and offers far less choice.
Drivers must always download the information from the car
module to gain insurance discounts and the British company
monitors more information from those UK drivers.

The US version may have some merit if choice remains a part of
the equation upon full rollout to American drivers who want
that ten percent discount on auto insurance policies in
exchange for giving up the privacy of their driving habits.

The disturbing part of this, again, as always, is the possible
merging of multiple databases to form near perfect
surveillance pictures of us with each new development. Our
supermarket discounts show that big database what we eat,
what else we buy at the grocery, the insurance information
defines our travels and schedule, our credit and debit card
use defines our spending, travel and lifestyles, while
multiple other databases from airline security info to phone
records can be merged at any time to form near perfect
pictures of our lives for anyone that wants to access it.

Once a national ID (driver licenses will soon carry mandatory
magnetic information and will serve as a defacto national ID),
we can be fully monitored, tracked, analyzed and digitized to
form a truly invasive database of numbers and bits of
information about each of us.

The sources of data about each of us are growing daily. The
concern is the loss or abuse of that data through commercial
and/or governmental negligence and/or criminal intent. The
methods to access that data are growing as the sources
proliferate.

Privacy is something we give up in small bits for small
benefits, like cheaper produce using supermarket loyalty cards
and insurance discounts using car monitors hooked up to our
insurance carrier. We need laws to control and safegaurd each
of those databases and stop any merging of those multiple
sources of data into the ultimate Big Brother database.

I want my car insurance reduced and I’m willing to consider
this newest scheme if I have choice of whether to send my info
to my insurer. I will send it when I’ve been good and won’t
when I have been less good. But I don’t want it merged with my
other sources of data or shared among commercial interests who
may see fit to sell it to each other.

It gets more interesting daily. Who is in control of this
privacy devouring data monster?

By: Mike Valentine

Auto Insurance St. Louis – Finding a Low Rate

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:34:49 +0000

Before you start shopping for your auto insurance St. Louis, you should know what coverage the state of Missouri requires you to purchase. You will need to purchase liability coverage on your auto insurance St. Louis policy for a minimum of $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident, and $10,000 for property damage. Don’t even contemplate purchasing your auto insurance St. Louis and then dropping it, because the Missouri Department of Revenue has begun tracking drivers to make sure they maintain liability coverage. Letting your auto insurance St. Louis lapse could cost you your driver’s license and vehicle registration.

However, liability coverage alone may not be the only auto insurance St. Louis coverage that you want for your vehicle. With the percent of uninsured drivers in Missouri counties ranging from over 11 percent to as low as half a percent, uninsured driver coverage can protect you from costly premium increases and accident repairs should you be involved in an incident with an uninsured driver.

Other coverage to consider for your auto insurance St. Louis coverage includes medical payment coverage, which will reimburse the insured and others for medical or funeral expenses. You may also want rental car reimbursement for your auto insurance St. Louis policy so that you are covered if you need to rent a vehicle while your damaged auto is being repaired. Plus, with so many things that could happen to your car besides a collision or theft, you may want to add comprehensive coverage to your auto insurance St. Louis to protect you in the case of fire, flood, or other disasters.

By: Joshua Miller

Best California Auto Insurance

admin — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 02:28:13 +0000

Auto insurance with optional coverage is required to meet the vast expense of money involved in accidents. In California, auto insurance for drivers is required by the law. Through the best California auto insurance, a driver or car owner gets proper protection against liability for bodily injury and other property damages.

The primary consideration in choosing the best California auto insurance is the insurance price. An inflated insurance rate will increase expenses and may prevent you from purchasing a new car. The best California auto insurance offers good coverage at an affordable rate. It offers comprehensive service over inopportune auto incidents, fire, theft and natural disasters. In addition, the best auto insurance has the credit for handling all types of auto claims fairly and quickly, and shows good financial stability of A+ or above. The best California auto insurance is capable of covering almost all insurance aspects, including the liability and uninsured motorist coverage for $100,000 or $300,000 or $100,000, medical payments for $5,000, collision coverage for $500 and comprehensive coverage for $500.

As auto insurance is mandatory by California law, the demand for auto insurance is high. There are a number of auto insurance agencies with a range of insurance schemes. So, drivers should be careful when selecting their auto insurance. A thorough search of more than 25 auto insurance agencies is essential to choose the best auto insurance. In addition, you can gather information from the online quotes of different insurance companies and from auto insurance specialists. Individuals can evaluate rates and services with different insurance providers and decide on the company that provides the best auto insurance.

A leading auto insurance vendor in California, Progressive Auto Insurance offers the best auto insurance for commercial and non-commercial automobiles. Having a customer base of more than 12 million, the provider is at the top in supplying insurance products into newer territories. California auto insurance is also available online.

By: Eric Morris

Cheapest Vehicle Insurance Rate – More Tips For Massive Savings

admin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:18:36 +0000

Cheapest vehicle insurance rate: You can save a great deal on your auto insurance policy by making use of some other tips I’ve discovered. Here they are for you to make massive savings…

1. Running a business through the internet is a lot cheaper than a brick and mortar approach. By extension, insurance providers spend less online and therefore give a massive discount of about 15% for those who buy their policy online. If you’ll save 15% for buying online then it’s certainly highly advisable.

But do ensure you do NOT present false information. Insurers are mandated by law to cancel any policy once they can prove that the policy holder gave false details.

Don’t also forget to confirm your preferred insurer’s rating and standing with your state’s department of insurance and other financial rating institutions.

2. Folks who have more than one car will make reasonable savings if they insure all those cars with the same insurance company. It’s advisable to insure all your vehicles with the same insurer unless you have a better bargain for a number of your cars with another insurer. Doing some shopping and then checking with what you’ll save with a multi-vehicle discount is a good way to be sure if this serves your best interest. But however you look at it, a multi-vehicle discount is one way to pay less.

3. Many insurance carriers will give you a discount if you join an auto club. Although you shouldn’t expect to attract massive discounts for this, each small discount you can garner will add up to much on the long run.

4. There are cars that cost far more to give adequate auto insurance coverage. So as you check out the wonderful specs of the car you want to buy don’t forget to ask costs too much to insure. Avoid any car that has a high theft rate and/or a poor crash rating.

Furthermore, it will also take much more to insure a car that costs a lot to fix or repair. Asking the right questions will make it easy for you to avoid expensive-to-insure cars and attract more affordable rates.

5. Do your utmost to always ensure your policy never lapses. It will sentence you to high premiums for a long time. This happens to some individuals while they are about switching to another insurance company.

One way to be certain you do NOT make this costly mistake is to let your old policy keep running until you’ve confirmed that the new policy is fully in place. As simple as this may seem, a lot of individuals are bearing the pain of exorbitant rates because of just a little negligence.

6. Get and compare as many auto insurance quotes as you can lay hands on. There are as many as 2,000 insurance carriers in the US and you’ll need to get a wide range of quotes to do a good job of covering their various offers. And, you know what? With quotes sites, you can get five or more quotes per requesting and all it will take you is just about five minutes per site.

By: Chimezirim Chinecherem Odimba

How Much Will My Insurance Rate Increase After One Accident?

admin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:15:19 +0000

It is likely that most people would routinely expect an increase in their auto insurance if they were involved in even one accident. Almost always, any claims that are brought to the insurer will result in an increase. This raise in premiums may not be immediate but when it comes time for your policies renewal, that’s when you will get hit with the new price.

The amount of your premium increase will be dependent on the state in which you live and the factors that are involved with the accident. These would include if the accident was, in any way, alcohol related and mainly who was at fault. Anyone that is found to be involved in an auto accident where alcohol was a contributing factor can expect more dire consequences. The person that was drinking and driving will either not be able to get their policy renewed or will pay much greater premiums than before the accident.

Typically, your insurance company’s rating system and the laws of the state where you reside will play a big part in determining the future of your auto insurance. If you have had a good driving record, have never been involved in any accidents, and alcohol was not involved in the accident then it is possible that you may not see any rate hikes.

Some insurance companies are now offering the “Forgive the first accident” program. Always check to see if your insurance company offers a program similar to that. If you are in the market to buy insurance then definitely inquire about it as part of your routine questions. It is a good thing to have as back up.

Insurance companies calculate your insurance rates by plugging in certain criteria to formulate a figure. The biggest factor to insurance companies is determining risk. An accident free driving record brings forth little risk, equaling lower payments. Once this changes that is when you may see an increase in your premiums.

Another thing to consider is the severity of the accident. If it was a minor fender bender then there may be no ramifications. On the contrary, if the accident was sizable and there was quite a bit of damage involved that is when you are more likely to see a price increase.

By: Chimezirim Chinecherem Odimba

Tampa Florida Car Insurance – Ways To Get Lower Rates

admin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:20:28 +0000

There are several things you can do to ensure you don’t pay more than you should for your Tampa, Florida car insurance. Believe it or not, some people pay twice what they should. The following will help you get the best Tampa, Florida car insurance quotes.

1) Get a car that features daytime running lights, anti-lock brakes, alarm system and any other safety or security gadgets. Such cars enjoy a high safety rating and as a result attract lower Tampa, Florida car insurance rates.

2) Reduce your mileage as much as possible. The more you are behind wheels, the higher your rates will be.

3) You must have heard of defensive driving. If you have not done this, try to take a course in it. Defensive driving courses that are known by your insurance company will surely lower your vehicle insurance rate.

4) Your credit record is an issue you cannot afford to handle carelessly. If you have anything to do with marketing you will realize why this is gradually becoming a more important factor with a lot of insurance companies…

How you handle your bills certainly is a pointer to your principles. If you pay your bills on time most insurance companies will presume that you’re a reliable person and, consequently, a lower risk. Lower risk means lower Tampa, Florida car insurance rates.

5) Opt for higher deductibles. The more your deductible, the less your vehicle insurance premium. Just note that When you make a claim, the insurer will wait for you to contribute the deductible before they can make good their part of the policy.

6) You can lower your Tampa, Florida car insurance rates by asking for quotes from good insurance quotes sites. You’ll realize savings if you visit only one of such sites. But keep this in mind: You will get better results by using at least three.

The plain reason for this is that you will get many more quotes from a wider range of insurance companies. This increases your chances of receiving better Tampa, Florida car insurance rates.

By: Chimezirim Chinecherem Odimba

Car Insurance Tips – Compare Rates

admin — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:52:14 +0000

What Can Affect Your Rate?

It doesn’t matter what type of insurance you plan to attain, your going to have to consider the many factors that can affect your rate. A large factor that determines your rate is your location. Some locations file more claims than others, and insurance companies are well aware of this. This rule applies to any type of insurance, including car, health, or even pets!

Another factor is your personal claim history. This is a huge factor and many people are affected by it. For example, someone who has a few accidents on their driving record, recent or not, will usually have a much harder time finding a good rate on their car insurance. If they are at a large risk they may have a hard time finding a company to insure them at all! People looking to lower their car insurance rates have many options available to them. Car insurance companies like to see individuals who have graduated from some type of driving school. They also like to see the purchase of a safe car, with airbags, seat belts, and anti-theft devices.

Always Compare Insurance Rates!

The best thing you can do that can affect your insurance rate to choose your insurance company wisely. Not all companies are created equal, and some are much more expensive than others. Each company has it’s own system of determining risk factors and therefore your overall price. Companies also have different packages to choose from, with different levels of coverage. Be sure to let your insurance company know what needs you require to find out which plan works best for you and your situation. Shopping around for rates is by far the best way you can get the best rate, so get out there and take notes so you can jot down the pros and cons of each company. Only then will you be able to make the best decision for you and your needs.

An easy way to compare insurance companies is online. Major insurance companies usually have a website that give you free online quotes. It can be as simple as entering in your name, your social, and a few personal questions. Usually you will get an estimate immediately. Eventually you will get a call from a qualified agent who has reviewed your information and can give you a more exact estimate. This is a great way to compare rates. You don’t need to travel, you can compare rates in your underwear and insurance companies will be competing for your business. You can’t be that!

By: Timothy Croy