Want lower insurance rates for your Ford Escape Hybrid? Are you a victim of high-priced insurance? Trust us when we tell you you are not the only one feeling buyer’s remorse.
Companies like State Farm and Geico continually bombard you with ad campaigns and it is challenging if not impossible to ignore the propoganda and take the time to shop coverage around.
Performing a rate comparison can take hours if you don’t know the most efficient way. You can spend countless hours talking to insurance companies in your area, or you could use online quotes to quickly compare rates.
Most of the best insurance companies participate in an industry program where insurance shoppers enter their policy data once, and each company returns a competitive quote based on the submitted data. This saves time by eliminating quotation requests for each company you want a rate for. To find out how much you can save on insurance coverage click here to start a free quote.
The one disadvantage to doing it this way is you are unable to specify which companies you want to price. So if you prefer to pick individual companies to compare, we put together a list of companies who write insurance coverage in your area. Click here for list of insurance companies.
However you get your quotes, be sure to compare identical coverage limits for every quote you compare. If you compare different deductibles you will not be able to make an equal comparison. Quoting even small variations in insurance coverages can mean a large discrepancy in price. And when price shopping your coverage, comparing more company’s prices will increase your chances of finding better pricing.
Car insurance can cost a lot, buy you may qualify for discounts that can drop the cost substantially. Certain discounts will be applied at quote time, but some may not be applied and must be inquired about before you will receive the discount.
It’s important to understand that most discount credits are not given to the entire policy premium. The majority will only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as comp or med pay. So even though they make it sound like you can get free auto insurance, companies wouldn’t make money that way. But all discounts will help reduce the cost of coverage.
Companies that may offer these benefits may include but are not limited to:
It’s a good idea to ask each insurance company what discounts are available to you. Discounts may not be available in your area.
When choosing adequate coverage for your vehicles, there really is no one size fits all plan. Every insured’s situation is different and your policy should reflect that. These are some specific questions might point out if your insurance needs would benefit from professional advice.
If you’re not sure about those questions but one or more may apply to you, you might consider talking to an agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, fill out this quick form or click here for a list of auto insurance companies in your area.
Auto insurance companies such as Geico, State Farm and Progressive continually stream ads on TV and radio. They all seem to make an identical promise that you’ll save big after switching your policy. How does each company make the same claim? It’s all in the numbers.
All companies can use profiling for the type of customer that earns them a profit. For instance, a preferred risk could be over the age of 50, owns a home, and has a short commute. Any new insured who matches those parameters is entitled to the best price and as a result will probably save a lot of money.
Potential customers who fall outside these standards will be quoted a higher premium which leads to business going elsewhere. Company advertisements say “people who switch” not “everyone that quotes” save that much. This is how companies can make the claims of big savings.
This emphasizes why drivers must quote coverage with many companies. It’s impossible to know which insurance companies will fit your personal profile best.
Understanding the coverages of your auto insurance policy helps when choosing which coverages you need and the correct deductibles and limits. The coverage terms in a policy can be ambiguous and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording. Below you’ll find the normal coverages offered by auto insurance companies.
Collision coverage – This coverage covers damage to your Escape Hybrid resulting from a collision with an object or car. You have to pay a deductible then your collision coverage will kick in.
Collision can pay for things like sustaining damage from a pot hole, hitting a mailbox, hitting a parking meter and damaging your car on a curb. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so consider removing coverage from vehicles that are 8 years or older. It’s also possible to raise the deductible to save money on collision insurance.
Coverage for liability – This provides protection from damage or injury you incur to people or other property that is your fault. Coverage consists of three different limits, bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. As an example, you may have liability limits of 100/300/100 which stand for $100,000 in coverage for each person’s injuries, a limit of $300,000 in injury protection per accident, and a total limit of $100,000 for damage to vehicles and property. Some companies may use a combined single limit or CSL that pays claims from the same limit without having the split limit caps.
Liability can pay for claims like medical services, pain and suffering and legal defense fees. How much liability coverage do you need? That is a decision to put some thought into, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase as high a limit as you can afford.
Medical payments coverage and PIP – Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance provide coverage for expenses like hospital visits, EMT expenses and funeral costs. The coverages can be used in conjunction with a health insurance policy or if there is no health insurance coverage. They cover you and your occupants in addition to any family member struck as a pedestrian. PIP is not an option in every state but can be used in place of medical payments coverage
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage – Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage gives you protection from other motorists when they either have no liability insurance or not enough. Covered claims include medical payments for you and your occupants and also any damage incurred to your 2011 Ford Escape Hybrid.
Because many people only purchase the least amount of liability that is required, it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. So UM/UIM coverage is very important. Usually these coverages do not exceed the liability coverage limits.
Comprehensive coverage – Comprehensive insurance covers damage OTHER than collision with another vehicle or object. You need to pay your deductible first and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive insurance covers claims such as theft, hail damage, damage from flooding and vandalism. The maximum amount you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the cash value of the vehicle, so if the vehicle is not worth much consider dropping full coverage.
We’ve covered many tips how you can lower your 2011 Ford Escape Hybrid insurance rates. The key thing to remember is the more rate quotes you have, the better your comparison will be. Consumers could even find that the lowest rates come from an unexpected company. These companies often have lower prices on specific markets as compared to the big name companies such as Allstate and Progressive.
As you go through the steps to switch your coverage, make sure you don’t buy less coverage just to save a little money. In many instances, someone dropped uninsured motorist or liability limits only to regret that a couple dollars of savings turned into a financial nightmare. The ultimate goal is to find the BEST coverage at the best price, not the least amount of coverage.