Thursday, March 03, 2011

Is Cheap Car Insurance Any Good?

Everybody needs to save a buck these days. But it is very important to be wary of sacrificing qualify in your quest to stick to a tight budget.

You may be able to find very cheap vehicle policies so you can save a lot of money, but you may be cutting out some handy policy features. That, my friend, can cost you a lot of money in the end.

The best car insurance will not strain your budget every month when you make payments. But if you do have a wreck, it will provide enough coverage so you don't go broke trying to fix or replace your wheels.

Some common ways to lower your bill:

  • Consider raising your claim deductible. This can save you a lot of money every month. Understand that it will also cost you more money when you need to repair you car. The deductible is the amount you have to pay for covered services before you insurance company starts paying. The premium difference between a $250 deductible and a $1,000 deductible can be hundreds of dollars a year, and it can add up to be more than the difference of deductibles. If you are going to save that money or use it to pay off credit cards, it can work out well. If you are going to need to spend all of your savings, it may be a very bad idea!
  • Some new online car insurance quote systems allow you to set a price by picking and choosing your coverage. Of course, your price cannot be $0. There will be state reguations forcing you to have minimum required insurance. Your lender, if you have one, will probably also require certain coverage.
  • Shop Around! It is pretty easy to compare insurance quotes with online quote systems. They are very simple to use, and they will allow you to get prices for a handful of different companies. This way you can be sure you are not paying too much.

We all want to save money. But we want to be sure that we can save money now without going broke if we need to make a claim!