Friday, March 27, 2009

Auto Insurance -- Spend Less; Get Sufficient Protection

By Chimezirim Odimba

Are you retired? Then you can get a retiree discount with several insurers. The simple logic for this discount is that retirees generally drive less often. A person's total mileage is a strong factor that determines how much you pay in premiums.

Don't forget that you qualify for this discount if you're retired. You can learn more about eligibility requirements from your agent. If for any reason they don't have a discount like this, remember to tell your agent about your change in mileage. This should reflect in lower rates for you.

Take advantage of every opportunity to NOT drive your car as this will reduce your mileage and, by extension, your rate. This certainly makes sense if you live in an urban area where you have access to standard mass transit systems.

You can also reduce your mileage by joining a carpool.

Never leave your car unlocked and running while you dash in to get something. The only easier thing for a thief would be if you handed over your keys as a gift. Car thieves are known to go for easy targets. An unlocked car with the engine running? What could be easier?

Make sure your auto insurance policy is never allowed to lapse for any reason..It will sentence you to expensive rates for a considerable length of time. Don't make room for such a mistake while changing insurers since that's one situation where this happens to a lot of people.

A simple way to ensure you do NOT make this costly mistake is to maintain your old policy until you've confirmed that the new policy is fully in place. Many people are paying higher rates than they should simply because they made this mistake. Therefore, make sure you don't become one of them.

You'll be given more affordable premiums if you pay by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). This authorizes your bank to credit your insurance provider with your premiums automatically until you advise to the contrary. This saves your insurer in many ways including removing the cost of mailing payment notices and the expense of processing checks. Your premium is therefore lowered to reflect the cheaper cost of providing insurance to you.

An good way to ensure you get lower rates is being careful every time you're behind wheels. Please, ensure that you make it a policy not to drive if you so much as sip any alcoholic beverage.

Driving with more than the allowed level of alcohol in your blood stream will make you get exorbitant rates if you're fortunate or be compelled to be without car insurance if you're not so lucky. Even those speeding tickets do add up to make you pay higher rates on the long run. For your safety then and more affordable rates, never go against any traffic law no matter how negligible you think it is.

.Do your best to install theft-deterrent devices in your car. They usually get you an anti-theft discount for the simple reason that they make it less likely that you car will be stolen. Thieves prefer unprotected cars.

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