No one in their right mind is fond of buying insurance coverage, in particular when their premiums are too high.
Having so many choices of insurance companies, it can be hard to find the right insurance coverage provider.
Choosing the best insurance company for you is easy if you know what you’re doing. If you currently have car insurance, you stand a good chance to be able to reduce your rates substantially using this strategy. But consumers do need to understand how insurance companies market insurance on the web because it can help you find the best coverage.
Part of the car insurance buying process is learning a few of the rating criteria that play a part in calculating the rates you pay for car insurance. If you have a feel for what impacts premium levels, this allows you to make good choices that may result in cheaper rates.
The following are most of the major factors used by insurance companies to determine prices.
There are multiple methods you can shop for insurance and some are less time-consuming than others. You can waste a lot of time talking to local insurance agents in your area, or you could use the web to get rate comparisons in just a few minutes.
Many of the larger companies are enrolled in a marketplace that enables customers to send in one quote, and each company can provide price quotes determined by their information. This system prevents you from having to do repetitive form submissions for each company.
To fill out one form to compare multiple rates now click here to open in new window.
The one disadvantage to pricing coverage this way is you can’t choose which companies you want to price. So if you want to select from a list of companies to compare rates, we have a page of insurance companies in your area. View list of insurance companies.
Whichever way you choose to compare rates, be sure you’re using the exact same coverages and limits on every quote. If the quotes have different liability limits it will be impossible to determine the lowest rate for your Audi S8. Just slight variations in coverages can make a big difference in price. It’s important to know that comparing a wide range of rates gives you a better chance of getting the best offered rates. Some insurance companies are not set up to provide quotes online, so you should also compare price quotes from them as well.
Car insurance companies such as State Farm, Allstate and Geico endlessly run ads on television and other media. All the companies make the same claim that drivers will save a bundle if you get a free insurance quote and switch your car insurance policy to them. But how can every company lower your rates? It’s all in the numbers.
All the different companies give the best rates for the type of customer that earns them the highest profit. For instance, a desirable risk could be a mature driver, has had continuous coverage, and drives less than 5,000 miles a year. Any person who matches that profile may get the lowest auto insurance rates and is almost guaranteed to save when they switch companies.
Drivers who do not fit this ideal profile will see higher prices which results in the customer buying from a different company. If you listen closely, the ads state “drivers that switch” but not “all drivers who get quotes” will save that much if they switch. That’s the way insurance companies can make claims like that. Different companies use different criteria so drivers must get as many free insurance quotes as possible. It’s impossible to know the company that will give you lower prices than your current company.
Insurance can cost an arm and a leg, but there may be some discounts that you may not even know about. Some discounts apply automatically when you get a quote, but some need to be specifically requested before you will receive the discount.
Don’t be shocked that most discounts do not apply the the whole policy. The majority will only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as medical payments or collision. Even though the math looks like having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, it just doesn’t work that way. Any qualifying discounts will definitely reduce your policy premiums.
Larger car insurance companies and their possible discounts are shown below.
When quoting, ask every insurance company to apply every possible discount. Savings might not be offered on policies in your state.
When it comes to buying adequate coverage for your vehicles, there is no cookie cutter policy. Each situation is unique so your insurance should reflect that These are some specific questions may help you determine whether you could use an agent’s help.
If you’re not sure about those questions but you know they apply to you, you might consider talking to an agent. If you don’t have a local agent, take a second and complete this form or click here for a list of insurance coverage companies in your area.
Learning about specific coverages of insurance can be of help when determining the right coverages at the best deductibles and correct limits. Insurance terms can be impossible to understand and reading a policy is terribly boring. Shown next are typical coverages found on the average insurance policy.
Comprehensive (Other than Collision)
Comprehensive insurance coverage will pay to fix damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. You need to pay your deductible first then your comprehensive coverage will pay.
Comprehensive coverage protects against things such as a broken windshield, vandalism and a tree branch falling on your vehicle. The most you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the cash value of the vehicle, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.
Liability coverage
Liability coverage provides protection from injuries or damage you cause to people or other property by causing an accident. This insurance protects YOU from claims by other people, and does not provide coverage for damage sustained by your vehicle in an accident.
Coverage consists of three different limits, per person bodily injury, per accident bodily injury, and a property damage limit. You might see values of 25/50/25 that translate to a limit of $25,000 per injured person, a total of $50,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and a limit of $25,000 paid for damaged property.
Liability can pay for things such as bail bonds, emergency aid, loss of income, legal defense fees and structural damage. How much liability should you purchase? That is up to you, but buy as high a limit as you can afford.
Protection from uninsured/underinsured drivers
Your UM/UIM coverage protects you and your vehicle from other drivers when they do not carry enough liability coverage. Covered claims include medical payments for you and your occupants and damage to your Audi S8.
Because many people only carry the minimum required liability limits, it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is a good idea.
Medical expense insurance
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage kick in for immediate expenses for things like surgery, funeral costs and EMT expenses. The coverages can be utilized in addition to your health insurance policy or if you lack health insurance entirely. They cover you and your occupants as well as being hit by a car walking across the street. Personal injury protection coverage is not available in all states and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay
Collision insurance
This coverage pays for damage to your S8 caused by collision with an object or car. You first must pay a deductible and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.
Collision coverage pays for things such as colliding with a tree, rolling your car and scraping a guard rail. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so consider removing coverage from older vehicles. You can also bump up the deductible to save money on collision insurance.
When getting insurance quotes online, it’s not a good idea to buy poor coverage just to save money. In many instances, an insured dropped full coverage only to regret at claim time that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. Your strategy should be to buy enough coverage at the best possible price, but do not sacrifice coverage to save money.
You just learned many ways to save on 2016 Audi S8 insurance. The key concept to understand is the more quotes you get, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. You may even discover the lowest rates come from a smaller regional carrier. Smaller companies may have significantly lower car insurance rates on certain market segments than their larger competitors like State Farm and Allstate.