6 Excellent Ways to Lower Auto Insurance Cost in Minneapolis

Having to pay for overpriced auto insurance can drain your personal savings, especially in this economy. Doing a price comparison is a great way to cut your insurance bill. Big companies like State Farm, Allstate, GEICO and Progressive constantly blast consumers with advertising and consumers find it hard to avoid their marketing magic and take the time to shop coverage around.

If you have a policy now or need new coverage, you can learn to shop for the lowest rates and possibly find even better coverage. Choosing the best insurance company for you in Minneapolis is not rocket science. Minnesota drivers just need to know the proper way to get comparison rates online.

Fast and Easy Minneapolis Auto Insurance Quotes

Most major insurance companies quote coverage price quotes directly from their websites. Obtaining pricing is quite easy as you just type in the amount of coverage you want into the quote form. When the form is submitted, their system sends out for reports for credit and driving violations and returns a price. Being able to quote online streamlines rate comparisons, but having to visit a lot of sites and fill out multiple forms is not the best way to spend an afternoon. But it’s absolutely necessary to get many rate quotes if you want to find a better rate.

The better way to compare rates

The easiest way to compare rates uses one simple form that obtains quotes from multiple companies. It saves time, eliminates form submissions, and makes online shopping much more enjoyable. Once the form is submitted, it is rated and you can select your choice of the resulting price quotes. If one or more price quotes are lower than your current rates, you can simply submit the application and buy the new coverage. The whole process can be completed in less than 10 minutes and you will know how your current rates stack up.

In order to use this form to compare rates, click here to open in a new tab and enter your information. If you have your current policy handy, we recommend that you enter deductibles and limits identical to your current policy. This helps ensure you will receive a fair comparison for similar coverage.

Be sure to get all your discounts

Auto insurance companies do not list all their discounts very clearly, so here is a list some of the best known and the harder-to-find savings tricks you should be using. If you’re not getting every credit you deserve, you’re just leaving money on the table. Auto insurance in Minneapolis

Payment Discounts – If paying your policy premium upfront rather than paying monthly you could save 5% or more.
Student in College – Children who attend school more than 100 miles from home and don’t have a car may qualify for this discount.
Sign Online – A handful of insurance companies give back up to $50 simply for signing on their website.
Student Driver Training – Cut your cost by having your teen driver enroll in driver’s education in school.
Senior Discount – If you qualify as a senior citizen, you may be able to get better auto insurance rates.
Safe Driver Discount – Insureds without accidents can get discounts for up to 45% lower rates than less cautious drivers.
Defensive Driver – Successfully completing a course teaching defensive driving skills could save 5% or more depending on where you live.

As a disclaimer on discounts, some of the credits will not apply to all coverage premiums. Most only cut the cost of specific coverages such as physical damage coverage or medical payments. Just because it seems like all the discounts add up to a free policy, it just doesn’t work that way.

For a list of insurance companies with the cheapest Minneapolis auto insurance, follow this link.

What about my local Minneapolis agents?

Certain consumers prefer to talk to a local agent. Licensed agents are trained to spot inefficiencies and help you file claims. The best thing about getting online price quotes is that you can obtain better rates but still work with a licensed agent.

To make it easy to find an agent, after completing this short form, the quote information is submitted to insurance agents in Minneapolis who will compete to get your business. There is no reason to even leave your home due to the fact that quote results will go immediately to your email address. How’s that for easy!

Picking an provider should depend on more than just a cheap price. Any agent should be forthright in answering these questions:

Is vehicle mileage a factor when determining depreciation for repairs?
Can glass repairs be made at your home?
If they are an independent agency, which companies do they recommend?
Does the agent have professional designations like CIC, CPCU or AIC?
Are claims handled at the agent’s location?
Does the agency have a good rating with the Better Business Bureau?
Did they already check your driving record and credit reports?

Shown below is a short list of insurers in Minneapolis that can give you price quote information.

Farm Bureau Insurance – 7984 University Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN 55432 – (763) 784-4443
Oakwood Insurance Inc – , Minneapolis, MN 55418 – (612) 788-8438
Liberty Mutual Insurance – 701 Xenia Ave S # 400, Minneapolis, MN 55416 – (763) 546-7550
Dornack Agency – 2626 E 82nd St # 235, Minneapolis, MN 55425 – (952) 854-5820
Farmers Insurance Group – 4025 W Broadway Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55422 – (763) 533-6637
State Farm Insurance – 222 S 9th St # 285, Minneapolis, MN 55402 – (612) 338-6400
Allstate Insurance – 6625 Lyndale Ave S # 410, Minneapolis, MN 55423 – (612) 869-3100
Prudential Insurance Co – 13001 Bass Lake Rd, Minneapolis, MN 55442 – (763) 553-6000

Once you have received satisfactory answers for all questions you ask and locked in a price quote, most likely you have located an insurer that can provide auto insurance coverage.

Why your price might be higher

It’s important that you understand some of the elements that help determine the rates you pay for auto insurance. Having a good understanding of what influences your rates enables informed choices that could result in much lower annual insurance costs.

Optional equipment can affect rates – Choosing a vehicle with a theft deterrent system can help bring down rates. Theft prevention features like GM’s OnStar, tamper alarm systems and vehicle immobilizers can thwart your car from being stolen.
Protect your assets with liability insurance – Liability coverage provides coverage if ever a jury decides you are liable for causing damage or personal injury in an accident. It will provide you with a defense in court starting from day one. This coverage is very inexpensive when compared with rates for comp and collision, so do not cut corners here.
Increase deductibles and save – Physical damage coverage, commonly called comprehensive (or other-than-collision) and collision coverage, is used to repair damage to your car. A few examples of covered claims are collision with another vehicle, damage from fire, and windstorm damage. The deductibles are how much you are willing to pay in the event of a claim. The more you have to pay, the bigger discount you will receive.
The more you drive the more you pay – The more you drive in a year’s time the higher your rate. Almost all companies charge to insure your cars determined by how the vehicle is used. Cars and trucks used primarily for pleasure use receive lower rates than those used for commuting. Double check that your auto insurance policy properly reflects the correct driver usage, because improper ratings can cost you money.
Where you live – Residing in small towns and rural areas has it’s advantages when talking about auto insurance. Less people living in that area means fewer accidents. City drivers have congested traffic and longer commutes to work. More time commuting means more change of being in an accident.
How’s your driving record? – Just one moving violation can boost insurance rates forty percent or more. Careful drivers receive lower rates than people who have multiple driving citations. Drivers who have severe citations like reckless driving, hit and run or driving under the influence may need to file a SR-22 with the DMV in their state in order to drive a vehicle legally.
Safer cars are cheaper to insure – Vehicles with good safety scores tend to have better insurance rates. Safer cars reduce injuries and any reduction in injury severity translates into savings for insurance companies and thus lower rates.
Do you need those extra coverages? – There are a lot of add-on coverages that you can buy when buying auto insurance. Insurance for personal injury protection, towing coverage and membership fees may be wasting your money. These coverages may sound good when talking to your agent, but your needs may have changed so eliminate the coverages to reduce your premium.

In Summary

While you’re price shopping online, make sure you don’t reduce coverage to reduce premium. In many instances, someone sacrificed liability limits or collision coverage and discovered at claim time that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. The ultimate goal is to purchase a proper amount of coverage at the best price while not skimping on critical coverages.

Lower-priced auto insurance is possible on the web and with local Minneapolis insurance agents, and you should be comparing both in order to have the best chance of saving money. Some companies do not offer online price quotes and many times these smaller companies only sell through independent insurance agents.

For more Minnesota auto insurance information

More tips and info about auto insurance is located at the Minnesota Department of Commerce website. Visitors are able to find disaster information, read state legal mandates and laws, read consumer alerts, and view agent and company licensing information.