What you pay for your auto insurance will depend on many factors. Some of them include age, marital status, what kind of car you drive, your driving record and the city you live in. You obviously cannot do anything about your age and you most likely won’t move to a different city just to have lower car insurance but you can decide what to drive. Here are some tips on buying car insurance.
Coverage Types
- Collision: This covers damage to your automobile up to its book value. You have a deductible, which is the amount of money you pay before the insurance takes over. The higher your deductible, the lower your car insurance and with a lower deductible your insurance premiums will be higher. If you get a loan to buy your car your bank usually requires collision coverage to insurance their collateral.
- Bodily Injury: This covers injury and death claims against you. It will also cover all or part of your legal costs if you injure or kill someone.
- Property Damage: If your car causes damage to property in an accident this insurance will cover you.
- Comprehensive: This insurance covers damage to your vehicle from vandalism, fire, theft, wind, flood and other non accident related causes.
- Medical Payments: This insurance will cover medical payments for you the occupants in your car. Since Florida is a no fault state. That means the insurance company covering your car will make payments for your bodily injury claims regardless of who was responsible for the accident. However, the insurance of the party at fault should cover the damage done to your automobile.
- Uninsured/under insured motorist protection: The covers injuries caused to you or the passengers in your car by uninsured, under insured or hit and run drivers.
Your Vehicle
The type of care you drive will affect your insurance. You may want to drive a fast sports car or tricked out SUV but your insurance company will charge you more for it.
Insurance premiums are based on the price of the car you drive, how often that type of car is stolen or in an accident, the replacement cost of your car as well as how expensive it is to fix your car.
Insurance companies use Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Highway Loss Data Institute to provide them with vital information on vehicles such as collision repair costs, theft rates, injury claims and other useful statistics to help them determine risk.
For example, the lowest injury claims are from larger cars, trucks and SUV’s. Naturally, smaller cars have the highest injury claims.
If you are thinking about an SUV you might end up paying more for your insurance because they have higher theft rates. Cadillac’s Escalade is one of the most stolen cars in the United States.
If you want to buy a sports car you may end paying through the nose. Insuring a high performance car might be two or three times the amount of the average vehicle.
Who Are You?
Your age, driving record and gender also determines your insurance premiums.
Single males under 25 pay the highest rates. Data shoes that they are involved in the most accidents so insurance companies charge them the most. Married men pay less than single men.
You insurance premiums will be higher if you are convicted of moving traffic violations or of causing a car accident. People with great driving records pay the lowest rates.
The area you live in also affects your premiums. Urban areas with lots of cars and traffic are higher than rural towns. For example, Tampa car insurance is probably going to cost more than Ruskin car insurance.
States such as Florida, Massachusetts and New York have higher auto insurance rates primarily because of fraud and theft.
Most insurance companies use zip codes to determine rates. For example, you will probably pay more if you live in downtown Tampa than if you lived in a nearby suburb.
How Much Insurance Coverage Do You Need?
This is a balancing act. You don’t want to be under insured but at the same time having a lot of insurance will be costly. Without insurance, your property is put at risk in an accident that is your fault. Florida’s minimum insurance requirements might not be enough.
The more assets you have the more insurance you need. Most insurers recommend liability coverage of $100,000 per person, $300,000 per accident and $50,000 property damage if you have an assets to protect. Your insurer might also recommend a $1 million personal liability umbrella policy issued in conjunction with your homeowners insurance. This umbrella policy could protect you from financial ruin if you are sued.
Insurance rates can vary widely. Surveys suggest that you could pay $500 to $2,000 annually for the same coverage from different insurance carriers. Show for your Tampa car insurance by consulting several companies. You can contact large companies such as State Far or Allstate as well as independent agents who can quote premiums from several insurance carriers.
Reducing Your Insurance Premiums
One of the best ways to have a low insurance premium is to buy a car that qualifies for a discount or one that does not have a surcharge. Before you buy a car give your insurance carrier a list of vehicles that interest you. They can tell you if there is a discount or surcharge for each car. Here are some other ways that you can save money on your Tampa auto insurance:
- Ask for discounts. You might qualify if your car has an alarm, airbags or other features. Also, if you insure your home and vehicle with the same company then you might get a discount. People who don’t smoke or drink often get a break. Have you passed a defensive driving course? That may help you as well.
- Do you drive less than 7,500 miles a year? Chances are that your insurance will be less. That makes sense. If you are on the road less chances are lower that you will be in an accident.
- Increase your deductible for comprehensive and collision coverage. Raising your deductible from $100 to $1,000 can reduce your premiums dramatically.
- Think twice about filing a small claim. They can raise your rates that exceed the cost of just fixing the problem our of your own pocket.
- Shop around. Sometimes your status has changed that could affect rates. For example, if you got married, older or bought a home your insurance rates might go down. It is pretty easy to check around on the internet.
- If you have an older car you may consider dropping collision coverage. Claims are limited to value so you are not likely to get much if your car is old. A rule of thumb many people use is to drop collision when the annual premium reaches 10 percent of your vehicle’s value.
- Be good. Drivers who do not get in accidents and avoid traffic violations have lower insurance rates. The safer you are the less you have to pay. You play you pay.
- Think about dropping extras such as towing or rental car coverage if your car is in the shop.
- Do you have a teenager in the house? Think about letting them share your car instead of having their own. Teenagers who make the honor roll or who go off to college might qualify for a discount.
- Improving your credit score might lower your insurance premiums. More and more auto insurance companies are giving discounts if you have good credit.
Follow these tips and you can save money on your Tampa car insurance.
