Searching for the cheapest car insurance rates for your Kia Optima? Sick and tired of trying to scrape together enough money each month for car insurance? Your situation is no different than millions of other consumers. Insurance companies such as Geico and Progressive increase brand awareness with TV and radio ads and consumers find it hard to avoid their marketing magic and find the best price available.
If you have insurance now or need new coverage, you can use these tips to get lower rates and still get good coverage. Finding the best rates is not that difficult. Consumers just need to understand the proper way to shop for auto insurance online.
Cutting your insurance coverage rates is not a difficult process. You just have to take a few minutes getting comparison quotes provided by online insurance companies. This can be done in just a few minutes using one of these methods.
For a handy list of car insurance company links in your area, click here.
Whichever way you use, make absolute certain that you use apples-to-apples quote information with every price quote. If you compare mixed coverages it will be next to impossible to determine which rate is truly the best.
Car insurance companies don’t list all available discounts in an easy-to-find place, so we break down both the well known and the more hidden ways to save on auto insurance. If they aren’t giving you every credit possible, you’re paying more than you need to.
A little note about advertised discounts, most of the big mark downs will not be given to your bottom line cost. The majority will only reduce individual premiums such as comprehensive or collision. So even though they make it sound like all the discounts add up to a free policy, companies don’t profit that way.
To see a list of insurers offering auto insurance discounts, click this link.
When buying proper insurance coverage for your vehicles, there isn’t really a one size fits all plan. Everyone’s situation is a little different so this has to be addressed. These are some specific questions might point out whether or not you may require specific advice.
If it’s difficult to answer those questions but one or more may apply to you, you may need to chat with an agent. If you don’t have a local agent, take a second and complete this form or click here for a list of car insurance companies in your area. It’s fast, doesn’t cost anything and can help protect your family.
Knowing the specifics of your insurance policy can be of help when determining which coverages you need and proper limits and deductibles. The coverage terms in a policy can be impossible to understand and nobody wants to actually read their policy. Shown next are typical coverages found on most insurance policies.
Liability coverage
This will cover damages or injuries you inflict on other people or property. This coverage protects you against claims from other people. It does not cover your injuries or vehicle damage.
Liability coverage has three limits: bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. As an example, you may have liability limits of 100/300/100 that means you have $100,000 bodily injury coverage, a total of $300,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and a total limit of $100,000 for damage to vehicles and property.
Liability can pay for things such as emergency aid, medical services and legal defense fees. How much liability should you purchase? That is your choice, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase as much as you can afford.
Comprehensive (Other than Collision)
This pays to fix your vehicle from damage from a wide range of events other than collision. A deductible will apply then your comprehensive coverage will pay.
Comprehensive coverage pays for claims such as a broken windshield, damage from flooding, hail damage and rock chips in glass. The maximum payout your insurance company will pay is the cash value of the vehicle, so if the vehicle is not worth much consider removing comprehensive coverage.
Protection from uninsured/underinsured drivers
This coverage protects you and your vehicle’s occupants from other drivers when they either are underinsured or have no liability coverage at all. Covered claims include injuries to you and your family as well as your vehicle’s damage.
Since a lot of drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits, their liability coverage can quickly be exhausted. That’s why carrying high Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage is very important.
Medical expense insurance
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage provide coverage for short-term medical expenses such as surgery, prosthetic devices, dental work and EMT expenses. They are used to cover expenses not covered by your health insurance policy or if you lack health insurance entirely. It covers you and your occupants as well as being hit by a car walking across the street. PIP is not available in all states but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage
Collision protection
This will pay to fix damage to your Optima caused by collision with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. You have to pay a deductible and then insurance will cover the remainder.
Collision coverage pays for things like colliding with a tree, driving through your garage door and crashing into a ditch. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so you might think about dropping it from older vehicles. Another option is to raise the deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.