If you want to save the most money, the best way to get more affordable Cadillac XLR insurance is to start doing an annual price comparison from different companies that sell auto insurance in Irvine.
- Read and learn about how insurance companies determine prices and the things you can change to keep rates low. Many policy risk factors that are responsible for high rates like tickets, at-fault accidents, and a poor credit score can be remedied by making minor driving habit or lifestyle changes. This article provides additional ideas to get better rates and find additional discounts you may qualify for.
- Request price quotes from independent agents, exclusive agents, and direct companies. Direct and exclusive agents can provide rates from a single company like GEICO and State Farm, while independent agents can provide price quotes from multiple sources.
- Compare the new rate quotes to the premium of your current policy to see if a cheaper price is available. If you can save money and buy the policy, make sure there is no lapse between the expiration of your current policy and the new one.
One key aspect of rate comparisons is to try to compare similar limits and deductibles on each quote and and to get price quotes from every company you can. Doing this helps ensure the most accurate price comparison and a thorough price selection.
Regrettably, a large majority of consumers have bought insurance from the same company for at least four years, and about 40% of consumers have never compared rate quotes at all. Consumers in Irvine can save roughly 35% each year, but they feel it’s too difficult to do a rate comparison.
Informed Consumers Know How to Find Car Insurance More Affordably
Many factors are taken into consideration when pricing auto insurance. Most are fairly basic like an MVR report, although some other factors are less apparent such as your marital status or your vehicle rating. The best way to find cheaper car insurance is to take a look at the different types of things that play a part in calculating your car insurance rates. If you know what determines premiums, this enables you to make decisions that will entitle you to lower premium levels.
- Don’t buy incidental coverages that may not be needed – Insurance companies have many additional coverages that can add up when buying car insurance. Coverage for things like vanishing deductibles, better glass coverage, and additional equipment coverage are probably not needed. These may sound like a good investment when buying your policy, but now you might not need them so eliminate them to save money.
- Liability protection is peace of mind – Liability coverage will protect you when a jury decides you are liable for causing damage or personal injury in an accident. Your liability coverage provides legal defense coverage up to the limits shown on your policy. Liability is cheap compared to physical damage coverage, so do not skimp.
- Too many claims will drive rates up – If you are the type of insured that files lots of claims you can look forward to either policy cancellation or increased premiums. Auto insurance companies in California provide lower rates to policyholders that do not abuse their auto insurance. Your insurance policy is intended to be relied upon for the large, substantial claims.
- Save money by having high credit – Having a bad credit rating is likely to be a major factor in your rate calculation. People that have excellent credit tend to be better risks to insure than those with poor credit scores. Therefore, if your credit history could use some work, you could be paying less to insure your Cadillac XLR by repairing your credit.
- Your address can influence price – Residing in small towns and rural areas has definite advantages if you are looking for the lowest rates. Less people translates into fewer accident claims in addition to fewer liability claims. City drivers have more traffic problems and higher rates of accident claims. Higher commute times can result in more accidents.
- Can a thief steal your car? – Owning a car with a theft deterrent system can save you some money. Systems that thwart thieves like OnStar, LoJack tracking, and tamper alarms all help stop auto theft.
- Cheaper rates by bundling – Lots of insurance companies will award better rates to people who consolidate policies with them such as combining an auto and homeowners policy. Even with this discount, it’s still a good idea to comparison shop to confirm you are receiving the best rates possible.There is a chance you can save money by buying from different companies
- Lower stress equals lower prices – Careers such as judges, architects, and dentists generally pay higher average rates due to high stress levels and lots of time spent away from family. Conversely, jobs like scientists, engineers and homemakers receive lower rates.
When comparison shopping, obtaining a wide range of quotes increases the chance that you will find more affordable insurance.
The companies shown below provide free quotes in California. If multiple companies are listed, we suggest you get prices from several of them to get a more complete price comparison.
Three reasons to not skimp on insurance
Despite the high insurance cost for a Cadillac XLR in Irvine, insurance is most likely required but also gives you several important benefits.
- The majority of states have minimum mandated liability insurance limits which means you are required to carry specific limits of liability insurance in order to license the vehicle. In California these limits are 15/30/5 which means you must have $15,000 of bodily injury coverage per person, $30,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and $5,000 of property damage coverage.
- If your vehicle has a loan, almost every bank will require that you have comprehensive coverage to guarantee their interest in the vehicle. If coverage lapses or is canceled, the lender may insure your Cadillac at a much higher premium rate and require you to reimburse them for the much more expensive policy.
- Insurance protects both your car and your assets. It will also pay for many types of medical costs for you, any passengers, and anyone injured in an accident. Liability insurance, one of your policy coverages, also pays expenses related to your legal defense if you are named as a defendant in an auto accident. If your Cadillac gets damaged, collision and comprehensive coverages will cover the damage repairs after a deductible is paid.
The benefits of having insurance are without a doubt worth the cost, especially with large liability claims. According to a survey of 1,000 drivers, the average driver is wasting up to $855 a year so it’s recommended you shop around once a year at a minimum to make sure the price is not too high.
Discounts mean cheaper rates for Cadillac XLR insurance in Irvine
Insurance is easily one of your largest bills, but discounts can save money and there are some available that can drop the cost substantially. Certain reductions will be credited at the time of purchase, but occasionally some discounts must be asked for before you get the savings.
- Anti-theft Discount – Cars with anti-theft systems are less likely to be stolen and will qualify for a discount on a Irvine car insurance quote.
- Government Employees – Active or retired federal employment could provide a small rate reduction with some insurance companies.
- Braking Control Discount – Cars and trucks that have anti-lock braking systems are safer to drive and the ABS can save up to 10%.
- No Accidents – Insureds with no claims or accidents get the best insurance rates in comparison to bad drivers.
- Drivers Education – Have your child enroll in driver’s education as it can save substantially.
- Telematics Data Discounts – Insureds who allow driving data submission to monitor their driving habits by using a telematics device such as Progressive’s Snapshot could save a few bucks if they are good drivers.
- New Vehicle Savings – Putting coverage on a new XLR can save up to 30% compared to insuring an older model.
- Discount for Life Insurance – Some companies give a discount if you purchase a life policy as well.
- Discounts for Cautious Drivers – Accident-free drivers can save up to 40% or more on their Irvine car insurance quote than less cautious drivers.
- Paper-free Discount – Certain insurance companies give back up to $50 shop Irvine car insurance on the internet.
A quick disclaimer, some credits don’t apply to your bottom line cost. A few only apply to the cost of specific coverages such as liability, collision or medical payments. So even though they make it sound like all those discounts means the company will pay you, companies wouldn’t make money that way.
Larger insurance companies and a partial list of their discounts are shown below.
- Farmers Insurance has discounts for early shopping, distant student, good student, electronic funds transfer, and mature driver.
- State Farm may have discounts that include good driver, Drive Safe & Save, accident-free, Steer Clear safe driver discount, passive restraint, and student away at school.
- Liberty Mutual may include discounts for teen driver discount, newly married, new move discount, good student, exclusive group savings, multi-car, and new graduate.
- MetLife has savings for claim-free, good driver, defensive driver, accident-free, good student, and multi-policy.
- Progressive policyholders can earn discounts including continuous coverage, multi-vehicle, homeowner, online quote discount, multi-policy, online signing, and good student.
If you need lower rates, check with each insurance company to give you their best rates. A few discounts might not be available to policyholders in every state. To locate insurance companies with significant discounts in California, click here to view.
Compare rates but still have a local Irvine insurance agency
A small number of people would rather buy from a licensed agent and doing so can bring peace of mind A good thing about comparing insurance online is that you can obtain the lowest rates and still buy from a local agent. Putting coverage with local insurance agents is important particularly in Irvine.
Upon completion of this quick form, your coverage information is emailed to agents in your area that provide free Irvine car insurance quotes to get your business. There is no reason to drive around since price quotes are sent directly to you. You can find lower rates and work with a local agent. If you want to quote rates from a specific insurance company, just find their quoting web page and give them your coverage information.
Different types of Irvine car insurance agents
If you want to use a reliable agent, you must know there are a couple types of insurance agents and how they can write your policy. Agents in Irvine can be categorized as either independent or exclusive depending on the company they work for.
Independent Insurance Agents
These type of agents are appointed with more than one company and that allows them to write policies with a variety of different insurance companies depending on which coverage is best. If they find a lower price, your policy is moved internally and the insured can keep the same agent.
If you are trying to find cheaper rates, you will definitely want to include rate quotes from several independent agencies so that you can do a thorough price comparison. Most independent agents also contract with lesser-known insurance companies that may have much lower rates than larger companies.
Shown below is a partial list of independent insurance agents in Irvine that can give you free insurance quotes.
- Tustin Insurance Agency
17621 Irvine Blvd #112 – Tustin, CA 92780 – (714) 838-1704 – View Map - Roger Stone Insurance Agency
5015 Birch St – Newport Beach, CA 92660 – (949) 757-0270 – View Map - Church and Casualty Insurance
3440 Irvine Ave # 150 – Newport Beach, CA 92660 – (949) 852-8558 – View Map
Exclusive Agents
Agents that elect to be exclusive generally can only insure with one company and examples are Farmers Insurance, Allstate, or State Farm. Exclusive agents cannot compare rates from other companies so keep that in mind. Exclusive agencies are usually well trained on their products and sales techniques which helps overcome the inability to quote other rates. Drivers often use the same exclusive agent partially due to the brand rather than low price.
Below are exclusive insurance agents in Irvine willing to provide price quotes.
- State Farm Insurance Agent: Kevin Chhiv
2101 Business Center Dr Suite 110 – Irvine, CA 92612 – (949) 202-0338 – View Map - Sharon Leung – State Farm Insurance Agent
18004 Sky Park Cir #250 – Irvine, CA 92614 – (949) 252-0900 – View Map - Farmers Insurance – Charmaine Lim
20 Pacifica #1450 – Irvine, CA 92618 – (949) 387-9999 – View Map
Finding the right auto insurance agent needs to be determined by more than just a cheap price quote. Some important questions to ask are:
- Which company do they place the most coverage with?
- Is there any savings for paying the full premium?
- Are they paid to recommend certain coverages?
- Are they involved in claim handling?
- Do they have a Better Business Bureau rating in Irvine?
- Are all drivers listed on the coverage quote?
- Does the agent recommend any additional coverage?
- How long have they worked with personal auto insurance coverage?
Auto insurance company ratings
Insuring your vehicle with the top insurance provider is difficult considering how many choices you have in Irvine. The company rank data in the next section could help you select which coverage providers to look at when looking for cheaper rates.
Top 10 Irvine Car Insurance Companies Ranked by Customer Service
- AAA of Southern California
- GEICO
- State Farm
- The Hartford
- Mercury Insurance
- The General
- Progressive
- Allstate
- AAA Insurance
- American Family
Top 10 Irvine Car Insurance Companies Ranked by Customer Satisfaction
- Titan Insurance – 95%
- USAA – 94%
- AAA of Southern California – 92%
- AAA Insurance – 91%
- Nationwide – 90%
- State Farm – 90%
- The Hartford – 89%
- GEICO – 89%
- The General – 88%
- 21st Century – 88%
Cover all your bases
There are still a few companies who may not offer rates over the internet and many times these smaller providers prefer to sell through independent agents. More affordable insurance in Irvine is definitely available both online and also from your neighborhood Irvine agents, and you need to price shop both in order to have the best price selection to choose from.
As you shop your coverage around, you should never buy poor coverage just to save money. In many instances, someone sacrificed full coverage only to regret at claim time that the small savings ended up costing them much more. Your strategy should be to find the BEST coverage at the lowest possible cost, but do not skimp to save money.
People switch companies for many reasons like an unsatisfactory settlement offer, delays in paying claims, policy non-renewal or policy cancellation. Regardless of your reason, finding a new insurance company is less work than it seems.
For more information, take a look at these articles:
- Smart Auto Insurance Tips (Insurance Information Institute)
- Who Has Affordable Irvine Auto Insurance for a Kia Forte? (FAQ)
- How Much is Auto Insurance for High Risk Drivers in Irvine? (FAQ)
- Who Has Cheap Car Insurance Quotes for Drivers with Bad Credit in Irvine? (FAQ)
- Who Has the Cheapest Irvine Car Insurance Quotes for a Nissan Altima? (FAQ)
- What Insurance is Cheapest for High Mileage Drivers in Irvine? (FAQ)
- Who Has Affordable Car Insurance for Retired Military in Irvine? (FAQ)
- Young Drivers: The High Risk Years Video (iihs.org)
- Side Impact Crash Tests (iihs.org)