2003 BMW 3 Series Car Insurance Quotes

Searching for cheaper car insurance rates for your BMW 3 Series? No one in their right mind likes paying for car insurance, particularly when their premiums are through the roof.

With so many insurance providers from which to choose, it is hard for the average consumer to choose the right company.

It’s a great practice to compare prices occasionally since insurance rates trend upward over time. If you had the lowest price for 3 Series coverage last year there is a good chance you can find better rates now. Forget anything you know (or think you know) about car insurance because you’re about to learn the proper way to find better coverage at a better price.

Finding affordable coverage is quite easy. Just about everyone who buys car insurance should be able to reduce their rates. Although car owners need to have an understanding of the way companies price insurance differently and use this information to your advantage.

Car Insurance Comparisons

Effectively comparing car insurance prices can take hours if you don’t know the fastest way to get free quotes. You can waste a lot of time driving to insurance agencies in your area, or you can stay home and use the internet to get rates in a matter of minutes.

Most of the best insurance companies belong to a marketplace where insurance shoppers submit one quote, and every company then gives them pricing determined by their information. This prevents consumers from doing form submissions for each company.

To find out how much you can save on car insurance click here to start a free quote.

One minor caviat to getting quotes like this is that you can’t choose the companies to get pricing from. If you prefer to choose specific insurance companies to receive pricing from, we have a listing of the cheapest car insurance companies in your area. Click here for list of insurance companies.

It’s your choice how you get your quotes, but double check that you are using apples-to-apples coverage information for each comparison quote. If you compare differing limits you will not be able to decipher which rate is best. Having just a slight variation in coverage limits could mean much higher rates. And when quoting car insurance, remember that obtaining a wide range of quotes helps you find the best offered rates.

Save on 2003 BMW 3 Series insurance

Companies that sell car insurance do not list every available discount in a way that’s easy to find, so the following is a list of some of the more common and the harder-to-find ways to save on car insurance.

  • Life Insurance – Select insurance companies reward you with lower rates if you buy auto and life insurance together.
  • Senior Discount – If you qualify as a senior citizen, you may receive reduced rates for 3 Series coverage.
  • Defensive Driver – Completing a driver safety course could cut 5% off your bill if you qualify.
  • One Accident Forgiven – Some insurance companies will allow you to have one accident without raising rates if your claims history is clear for a particular time prior to the accident.
  • Theft Prevention Discount – Anti-theft and alarm systems help deter theft and earn discounts up to 10%.
  • Anti-lock Brake System – Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles prevent accidents and will save you 10% or more.

A little note about advertised discounts, most of the big mark downs will not be given the the whole policy. Most only cut the price of certain insurance coverages like physical damage coverage or medical payments. Just because you may think adding up those discounts means a free policy, you won’t be that lucky.

For a list of insurers offering car insurance discounts, click here to view.

Tailor your coverage to you

When choosing coverage, there really is not a perfect coverage plan. Each situation is unique so your insurance needs to address that. For instance, these questions might help in determining if you might need an agent’s assistance.

  • Can I rate high risk drivers on liability-only vehicles?
  • What are the financial responsibility laws in my state?
  • Do I need more liability coverage?
  • Is my teen driver covered when they drive my company car?
  • Do I need medical payments coverage since I have good health insurance?
  • Should I waive the damage coverage when renting a car?
  • Is business equipment covered while in my vehicle?
  • Can I still get insurance after a DUI?
  • I have good health insurance, so how much medical payments coverage do I need?
  • Does my insurance cover damage caused when ticketed for reckless driving?

If you’re not sure about those questions but you think they might apply to your situation, you might consider talking to an agent. To find an agent in your area, take a second and complete this form or click here for a list of auto insurance companies in your area.

Why you might be paying too much to insure your BMW 3 Series

An important part of buying insurance is that you know the rating factors that go into determining the rates you pay for auto insurance. When you know what positively or negatively determines base rates enables informed choices that may reward you with big savings.

  • One company can mean more discounts – Some insurers give discounts to people who buy several policies from them in the form of a multi-policy discount. Even though this discount sounds good, you may still want to compare rates to ensure the best deal.
  • Males pay more for insurance – Statistics show that women are safer drivers than men. That doesn’t necessarily mean that men are WORSE drivers than women. They both cause accidents in similar percentages, but the male of the species cause more damage. Men also tend to have more aggressive citations like DUI and reckless driving. Male drivers age 16 to 19 are several times more likely to be in an accident and thus pay the highest rates.
  • Safer occupants lowers premiums – Cars with high safety ratings are cheaper to insure. These vehicles protect occupants better and lower injury rates means less money paid by your insurance company passed on to you as lower rates. If your BMW 3 Series is rated at least four stars on Safercar.gov or an “acceptable” rating on iihs.org you are probably receiving a discount.
  • Don’t let your coverage lapse – Driving without insurance is against the law and as a result your rates will increase for letting your coverage have a gap. And not only will your rates increase, failure to provide proof of insurance might get you a hefty fine and possibly a revoked license.Then you may be required to prove you have insurance by filing a SR-22 with your state motor vehicle department to get your license reinstated.

Learn about insurance coverages for a 2003 BMW 3 Series

Knowing the specifics of insurance aids in choosing the best coverages for your vehicles. The terms used in a policy can be impossible to understand and nobody wants to actually read their policy. These are typical coverages offered by insurance companies.

Liability coverage

This protects you from injuries or damage you cause to other’s property or people in an accident. It protects you from claims by other people. It does not cover damage sustained by your vehicle in an accident.

It consists of three limits, per person bodily injury, per accident bodily injury, and a property damage limit. As an example, you may have liability limits of 25/50/25 that means you have $25,000 bodily injury coverage, $50,000 for the entire accident, and a total limit of $25,000 for damage to vehicles and property.

Liability can pay for claims such as medical expenses, legal defense fees, attorney fees, funeral expenses and bail bonds. The amount of liability coverage you purchase is up to you, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase as much as you can afford.

Comprehensive (Other than Collision)

Comprehensive insurance coverage covers damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. A deductible will apply and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.

Comprehensive insurance covers claims like hitting a deer, hitting a bird and falling objects. 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 consider dropping full coverage.

Collision coverage protection

This coverage will pay to fix damage to your 3 Series resulting from colliding with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. You first must pay a deductible and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.

Collision coverage protects against things like backing into a parked car, hitting a mailbox, sustaining damage from a pot hole and sideswiping another vehicle. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from lower value vehicles. Drivers also have the option to choose a higher deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.

Medical expense insurance

Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage kick in for expenses like rehabilitation expenses, ambulance fees, chiropractic care and surgery. They are used to fill the gap from your health insurance plan or if you do not have health coverage. They cover both the driver and occupants as well as being hit by a car walking across the street. PIP coverage is not an option in every state but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage

Protection from uninsured/underinsured drivers

Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage protects you and your vehicle from other motorists when they are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. Covered claims include hospital bills for your injuries and damage to your BMW 3 Series.

Since many drivers have only the minimum liability required by law, it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is a good idea.

In conclusion

Throughout this article, we presented a lot of techniques to reduce 2003 BMW 3 Series insurance prices online. The key concept to understand is the more providers you compare, the better chance you’ll have of finding lower rates. Consumers could even find that the best price on insurance is with an unexpected company. Regional companies may have significantly lower rates on certain market segments than their larger competitors like State Farm, Geico and Nationwide.

Cheap insurance can be bought both online and also from your neighborhood agents, so compare prices from both to have the best chance of lowering rates. Some companies may not provide online quoting and most of the time these small, regional companies sell through independent agents.

As you prepare to switch companies, it’s not a good idea to buy less coverage just to save a little money. There are too many instances where an accident victim reduced full coverage and found out when filing a claim they didn’t have enough coverage. The proper strategy is to buy the best coverage you can find at an affordable rate while not skimping on critical coverages.

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