How To Get the Most Car Insurance Coverage While Lowering Your Premiums

In most states, it is illegal to drive without car insurance. Auto insurance is one of the necessary evils of our day, as is most insurance unfortunately. What this article will focus on is how to help you get the best coverage at the very best price possible. You can legitimately really shave your automobile insurance. Getting cheap auto insurance is possible if you go about it right -- and you can do so without losing a lot of coverage.

First off, you need to understand the minimum requirements for auto insurance for your state. You need to know what your state's minimum covers and whether it's in your best interest to stick with this minimum. You might want to go for coverage that is little more extensive and therefore more expensive.

Most state auto insurance minimum requirements are that each driver must carry liability insurance that covers only bodily injury but property damage as well. These liability insurance coverages must cover total bodily injury coverage per person and anywhere from $20k to $40k total for bodily injury coverage per accident. It must also total usually a minimum of $10,000 total for property damage.

How much you select depends on how much you are willing to potentially bear in the event of an accident. The general principle I wish to convey is protect yourself enough in light of your current driving habits. If you drive aggressively, plan ahead. If you don't and if you can afford a larger deductible, go that route. It's really about risk and the amount of risk you incur daily with your driving habits.

But if you just want to lower your auto insurance, if you want the cheapest auto insurance possible, then, I'll show you how you can get a more extensive auto insurance coverage for less with these common sense tips.

*Keep a good driving record. This is fundamental. Do your best to avoid those tickets. Be aware of the speed traps where you drive. A clean driving record tells car insurance providers that you're a low risk auto insurance candidate. With insurance companies, it's all about the amount of risk they're taking on. The lower the risk in insuring you, the lower your auto insurance rate will inevitably be.

Drive more defensively. This is hard, especially for those like me who have to commute to work for impatience is always a hazard for those who drive a lot. Still, you can be a little less aggressive if you think about it. Plus, you will save wear and tear on your car and incur less use of gas.

*Invest in antitheft-deterrence measures. Thieves are like wild lions when hunting -- they want to work fast and attack easy targets. If breaking into your car is going to take longer than planned for, the thieves will move on to a more easy target

*Buy a car that is older. Also, buy a car that is not an expensive sports car. Sports cars are usually...did I say "usually"? I meant to say "are always" more expensive than less speedy cars. Also, avoid the color red. I know it sounds odd but a car insurance authority told me insurers will actually sometimes take color into account. I am not sure if he was having a laugh at my expense but a red sports car is going to require more automobile insurance.

*Car pool if possible. Take public transportation if you can.

*Shop around. Compare. Go online and check with different insurance providers. You can do this quickly and get a number of quotes. Also, here's a tip you might not have even remotely considered: check out the direct mail or junk mail letters you get from insurance companies. Often, they spend quite a bit of money and time preparing those campaigns and thus offer good discounts to those who buy through them. Remember, they're trying to spike sales and discounts is a tried and true method of doing that. I lowered my car insurance in half by looking at a junk mailer that I normally would toss away.

There you have it. Common sense to provide the maximum coverage possible with simultaneously spending less for your car insurance needs.

Thane Rutledge is the webmaster of Free Online Instant Credit Report, How To Get Cheap Auto Insurance, and Online Education Guide and Review.