How to Get the Best Rate
There are several ways to save money on your auto insurance in addition to reducing your deductibles and surveying several insurers to get the best rates:
* Avoid speeding and drive defensively. This may seem obvious, but nothing is surer to increase insurance premiums than a speeding ticket or an at-fault accident.
* Ask about all the company’s discounts. Don’t assume your insurer will volunteer the information on every option. Price breaks vary considerably by company. Most insurers give a break to drivers who have no accidents or tickets on their records for a certain minimum period, usually three years. Anti-theft devices, anti-lock brakes and air bags can reduce your costs as well.
Other discounts range from multi-policy (for insuring more than one car), homeowners (if you obtain coverage for your home through the same company) and even profession (for those, such as scientists or engineers, deemed by the company to be less risky).
* Buy a low-profile car. Sport-utility vehicles and luxury cars are much prized by thieves and therefore much penalized by insurers. Toyota Land Cruisers, for example, are 23 times more likely to be stolen than the average car, and Lexus GS 300s are about 10 times more likely to get swiped, according to the Highway Loss Data Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based research institute funded by auto insurers.
* Buy a safe car. Institute research shows that driver death and injury rates are lowest with large and mid-size station wagons and passenger vans. Death and injury rates are also lower for large sport-utility vehicles and large and mid-size luxury cars, partially offsetting their theft-risk cost. Vehicles with the highest death and injury rates include small and mid-size sports cars, small two- and four-door cars, small pickups and small sport-utility vehicles. To see how your vehicle rates, visit the institute’s Web site at https://www.carsafety.org, or write the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety at 1005 N. Glebe Road, Suite 800, Arlington, VA 22201 and ask for the Highway Loss Data Chart.
