A recent car insurance study revealed that most consumers renewed their policy with the same company for at least the last four years, and almost half have never compared car insurance rates at all. Most drivers in California can save hundreds of dollars each year just by getting comparison quotes, but they just don’t understand how easy it is to compare rate quotes online.
Really, the only way to get more affordable auto insurance rates in Irvine is to regularly compare quotes from insurers that insure vehicles in California. Rate comparisons can be done by completing these steps.
- Gain an understanding of auto insurance and the measures you can control to lower rates. Many policy risk factors that result in higher rates such as traffic citations, accidents, and an unacceptable credit score can be controlled by making small lifestyle or driving habit changes.
- Compare price quotes from direct carriers, independent agents, and exclusive agents. Exclusive and direct companies can only give rate quotes from a single company like GEICO or Farmers Insurance, while agents who are independent can quote rates for a wide range of insurance providers. View a list of agents
- Compare the new rates to your current policy premium to see if a cheaper rate is available. If you can save money and switch companies, ensure coverage does not lapse between policies.
- Notify your company or agent of your intention to cancel your current auto insurance policy and submit a down payment along with a signed application to your new carrier. Once the application is submitted, keep your new certificate verifying coverage with the vehicle registration.
One key aspect when comparing rates is to compare similar deductibles and liability limits on every quote and and to analyze every insurance company. This helps ensure an apples-to-apples comparison and a complete selection of prices.
If you’re already insured, you stand a good chance to be able to find better prices using these techniques. Quoting and comparing the best-priced policy in Irvine is not as confusing as people think. Nevertheless, California drivers can benefit by having an understanding of how companies market on the web because it varies considerably.
How Car Insurance Companies Determine Kia Niro Insurance Costs
One of the most helpful ways to save on insurance is to to have a grasp of the different types of things that aid in calculating your policy premiums. When you understand what impacts premium levels, this enables you to make decisions that may result in lower premium levels. Many things are taken into consideration when quoting car insurance. Some are pretty understandable like your driving record, but other factors are not quite as obvious like your continuous coverage or how financially stable you are.
Gender as a rate factor – Over the last 50 years, statistics have shown females are less aggressive when driving. However, don’t assume that females are better at driving than males. Both sexes get in at-fault accidents in similar percentages, but the male of the species have costlier accidents. Men also get ticketed for serious violations like DUI and reckless driving.
Your credit rating is important – Credit rating can be an important factor in determining premium rates. People with very good credit scores tend to be less risk to insure than those with lower credit ratings. So if your credit history could use some work, you could pay less to insure your Kia Niro by taking the time to improve your credit score.
Performance impacts insurance rates – The type of vehicle you are insuring makes a big difference in your premium level. The cheapest insurance rates will normally be found when insuring lower cost passenger cars, but that’s not the only thing that factors into the final price.
Multi-policy discounts can save money – Most larger insurance companies afford discounts to clients that buy multiple policies. It’s known as a multi-policy discount. Discounts can add up to anywhere from five to ten percent in most cases. Even though this discount sounds good, you still need to check prices from other companies to ensure the best deal.
Insurance companies don’t like frequent policy claims – Companies in California generally give better rates to insureds who file claims infrequently. If you frequently file small claims, you can definitely plan on higher premiums or even policy non-renewal. Auto insurance is intended for the bigger claims that can’t be paid out-of-pocket.
Do you qualify for discounts?
Companies don’t always advertise all available discounts in a way that’s easy to find, so the next list breaks down both the well known and also the lesser-known discounts that you can inquire about if you buy Irvine auto insurance online. If they aren’t giving you every credit you deserve, you could be saving more on your auto insurance.
- Multi-Vehicle Discounts – Buying a policy with primary and secondary vehicles on the same auto insurance policy could earn a price break for each car.
- College Student – Kids who attend college more than 100 miles from Irvine and do not have access to a covered vehicle could get you a discount.
- Good Driver Discounts – Insureds without accidents may save up to 50% more than drivers with accident claims.
- Pay Upfront and Save – If you pay your entire premium ahead of time rather than spreading payments over time you could save up to 5%.
- Early Switch Discount – Some larger companies provide a discount for switching policies before your current expiration date. This can save 10% or more.
- Government Employees – Active or former government employment can save as much as 8% with some auto insurance companies.
- Multiple Policy Discount – If you have multiple policies with the same company you will save as much as 10 to 15 percent.
- Theft Deterrent – Cars equipped with tracking devices and advanced anti-theft systems prevent vehicle theft so companies will give you a small discount.
- Claim-Free Discount – Claim-free drivers have much lower rates in comparison to drivers with a long claim history.
- Discount for Life Insurance – If the company offers life insurance, you could get a break if you buy a life policy as well.
Just know that most credits do not apply to the whole policy. Most only cut individual premiums such as physical damage coverage or medical payments. If you do the math and it seems like adding up those discounts means a free policy, it just doesn’t work that way.
Companies and some of the discounts can be read below.
- The Hartford may offer discounts for vehicle fuel type, air bag, bundle, driver training, defensive driver, and good student.
- American Family includes discounts for early bird, good student, TimeAway discount, accident-free, and mySafetyValet.
- Progressive offers discounts including good student, multi-vehicle, online quote discount, online signing, and multi-policy.
- Travelers offers discounts for continuous insurance, hybrid/electric vehicle, new car, home ownership, good student, and multi-car.
- Farmers Insurance policyholders can earn discounts including early shopping, business and professional, bundle discounts, multi-car, and pay in full.
- USAA offers premium reductions for loyalty savings, vehicle storage, multi-policy, new vehicle, military installation, and family discount.
- Liberty Mutual has discounts for new vehicle discount, new move discount, exclusive group savings, new graduate, multi-policy, multi-car, and hybrid vehicle.
When comparing rates, check with each insurance company which discounts you qualify for. Some credits might not be offered in your state. If you would like to choose from a list of insurance companies with the best Kia Niro insurance discounts in Irvine, click here.
Best car insurance company in Irvine
Ending up with a highly-rated company can be challenging considering how many companies there are to choose from in Irvine. The rank data in the lists below may help you analyze which providers to look at when comparing rate quotes.
Top 10 Irvine Car Insurance Companies Overall
- USAA
- American Family
- AAA of Southern California
- State Farm
- The Hartford
- AAA Insurance
- GEICO
- The General
- Titan Insurance
- Progressive
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
One last note
In this article, we covered quite a bit of information on how to shop for Kia Niro insurance online. It’s most important to understand that the more quotes you get, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. You may even be surprised to find that the best price on car insurance is with a small mutual company.
When searching for affordable Irvine auto insurance quotes, do not buy less coverage just to save a little money. In too many instances, someone dropped liability limits or collision coverage and learned later that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. The ultimate goal is to get the best coverage possible at an affordable rate, not the least amount of coverage.
Insureds who switch companies do it for a number of reasons such as questionable increases in premium, not issuing a premium refund, an unsatisfactory settlement offer and high rates after DUI convictions. Regardless of your reason for switching companies, finding the right car insurance provider can be easy and end up saving you some money.
Even more information can be read in the articles below:
- Tread Depth and Tire Safety (State Farm)
- What Car Insurance is Cheapest for College Graduates in Irvine? (FAQ)
- Who Has Affordable Irvine Auto Insurance Quotes for Drivers Over Age 70? (FAQ)
- Understanding Your Insurance Deductible (Insurance Information Institute)
- Event Data Recorders FAQ (iihs.org)