Lower Your 2003 Mercury Mountaineer Insurance Cost

Have you had enough of trying to scrape together enough money to buy car insurance? Your situation is no different than most other car owners.

Big-name insurance companies like Allstate, Liberty Mutual and State Farm all claim big savings with fancy advertisements and it can be hard to ignore the flashy ads and take the time to shop coverage around.

If you have car insurance now, you stand a good chance to be able to cut costs considerably using this strategy. Choosing the best insurance company for you is not that difficult. But car owners benefit from understanding how the larger insurance companies compete online and use this information to your advantage.

How to Compare Insurance Costs

Most major insurance companies such as Progressive, Allstate and Geico allow you to get prices on the web. This process is pretty easy as you just type in the coverage amounts you desire into a form. When complete, their rating system automatically retrieves credit information and your driving record and quotes a price based on these factors. Online quotes streamlines rate comparisons, but the time it takes to visit each company’s website and repetitively fill out multiple forms can be a bit tiresome and repetitive. But it’s absolutely necessary to do this if you want to find a better rate.

An easier way to locate the lowest prices utilizes a single form to get prices from more than one company. This type of form saves time, requires much less work on your part, and makes quoting online much more enjoyable. After sending the form, it is quoted with multiple companies and you can pick any one of the resulting price quotes.

If the quotes result in lower rates, you can simply submit the application and purchase the new policy. It takes 15 minutes at the most and you will know how your current rates stack up.

In order to find out if lower rates are available, click here to open in new window and input your coverage information. To compare your current rates, we recommend you replicate the limits and deductibles identical to your current policy. Using the same limits helps guarantee you are getting a price comparison based on the exact same insurance coverage.

The fine print in insurance coverage ads

Companies like Progressive, Allstate and Geico consistently run ads in print and on television. All the ads have a common claim that you’ll save big if you change your coverage to them. How do they all make almost identical claims? It’s all in the numbers.

Insurance companies have a preferred profile for the type of driver that is profitable for them. A good example of a desirable insured could be over the age of 40, is a homeowner, and chooses high deductibles. A customer who fits that profile will get very good rates and therefore will save when switching.

Drivers who don’t meet the requirements will be charged a more expensive rate and this can result in business going elsewhere. Company advertisements say “customers that switch” not “everyone that quotes” save money. That’s the way insurance companies can confidently claim big savings.

That is why it is so important to compare many company’s rates. It’s just too difficult to predict which company will give you the biggest savings on Mercury Mountaineer insurance.

Policy discounts you shouldn’t miss

Insuring your fleet can be pricey, but discounts can save money and there are some available that can drop the cost substantially. Some trigger automatically at quote time, but a few must be asked for before they will apply.

  • Senior Citizens – Older drivers can possibly qualify for a discount up to 10% on Mountaineer coverage.
  • Passive Restraints – Cars that have air bags and/or automatic seat belt systems can get savings of up to 25% or more.
  • Federal Government Employee – Being employed by or retired from a federal job may qualify you for a discount on Mountaineer coverage with a few auto insurance companies.
  • Low Mileage – Low mileage vehicles could qualify for a substantially lower rate.
  • Student in College – Kids in college who live away from home and do not have access to a covered vehicle can receive lower rates.
  • Auto/Home Discount – If you have multiple policies with the same insurance company you may earn at least 10% off all policies.
  • Multi-car Discount – Insuring more than one vehicle on one policy qualifies for this discount.
  • Life Insurance – Select insurance companies reward you with lower rates if you buy a life insurance policy as well.
  • Seat Belt Usage – Drivers who require all occupants to wear their seat belts could save 15% off the personal injury premium cost.
  • Drivers Ed for Students – Cut your cost by having your teen driver enroll in driver’s education if it’s offered in school.

A little note about advertised discounts, most discount credits are not given to the overall cost of the policy. Most only cut the price of certain insurance coverages like comprehensive or collision. Just because it seems like all those discounts means the company will pay you, you won’t be that lucky. Any amount of discount will cut your premiums.

For a list of insurance companies offering auto insurance discounts, follow this link.

Insurance agents can help

When it comes to buying the best auto insurance coverage for your personal vehicles, there isn’t really a “best” method to buy coverage. Each situation is unique so this has to be addressed. For example, these questions can aid in determining whether or not you might need an agent’s assistance.

  • Do I need rental car coverage?
  • How many claims can I have before being cancelled?
  • Am I covered when driving on a suspended license?
  • Is my teenager covered with friends in the car?
  • Is my custom paint covered by insurance?
  • Is my teen driver covered when they drive my company car?

If you don’t know the answers to these questions but you think they might apply to your situation, you may need to chat with an agent. If you don’t have a local agent, fill out this quick form or click here for a list of auto insurance companies in your area.

Learn about car insurance coverages for a Mercury Mountaineer

Knowing the specifics of your car insurance policy aids in choosing the right coverages and proper limits and deductibles. The coverage terms in a policy can be difficult to understand and coverage can change by endorsement. Listed below are typical coverages offered by car insurance companies.

Med pay and Personal Injury Protection (PIP)

Med pay and PIP coverage reimburse you for immediate expenses such as nursing services, hospital visits and chiropractic care. They are utilized in addition to your health insurance policy or if you lack health insurance entirely. It covers you and your occupants in addition to if you are hit as a while walking down the street. Personal injury protection coverage is not universally available but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage

Liability insurance

Liability insurance provides protection from damage or injury you incur to people or other property by causing an accident. It protects YOU from claims by other people, and does not provide coverage for your own vehicle damage or injuries.

Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: bodily injury for each person injured, bodily injury for the entire accident and a property damage limit. Your policy might show limits of 50/100/50 that means you have a $50,000 limit per person for injuries, a limit of $100,000 in injury protection per accident, and property damage coverage for $50,000. Some companies may use a combined single limit or CSL that pays claims from the same limit rather than limiting it on a per person basis.

Liability coverage pays for claims like attorney fees, medical expenses, funeral expenses and emergency aid. How much liability coverage do you need? That is a personal decision, but you should buy higher limits if possible.

Collision coverage protection

This pays for damage to your Mountaineer resulting from colliding with another car or object. You will need to pay your deductible then the remaining damage will be paid by your insurance company.

Collision coverage protects against claims like colliding with a tree, backing into a parked car, crashing into a building and damaging your car on a curb. Paying for collision coverage can be pricey, so you might think about dropping it from lower value vehicles. Drivers also have the option to bump up the deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM)

Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage gives you protection when the “other guys” either have no liability insurance or not enough. Covered losses include hospital bills for your injuries and also any damage incurred to your Mercury Mountaineer.

Since a lot of drivers only purchase the least amount of liability that is required, it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is very important. Usually these coverages do not exceed the liability coverage limits.

Comprehensive insurance

Comprehensive insurance coverage covers damage that is not covered by collision coverage. You need to pay your deductible first then the remaining damage will be covered by your comprehensive coverage.

Comprehensive insurance covers claims like vandalism, theft, falling objects, hail damage and damage from flooding. The maximum amount you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if the vehicle’s value is low it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.

Make a quick buck

We just covered many ways to compare 2003 Mercury Mountaineer insurance prices online. The most important thing to understand is the more price quotes you have, the higher your chance of finding lower rates. Drivers may discover the best price on insurance coverage is with some of the lesser-known companies. These smaller insurers often have lower prices on specific markets than the large multi-state companies such as Geico and State Farm.

Discount insurance can be sourced online as well as from independent agents, and you need to price shop both to have the best selection. A few companies don’t offer you the ability to get quotes online and many times these small, regional companies only sell through independent insurance agents.

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