Best Ways to Spend Less When Shopping For Honda Pilot Insurance
Expensive auto insurance can empty your checking account and force you to make sacrifices. Comparison shopping is a great way to make sure you’re not throwing money away.
Numerous auto insurance companies battle for your hard-earned dollar, so it’s not easy to compare every company and get the best coverage at the lowest rate possible.
It’s important to compare prices occasionally since insurance rates tend to go up over time. Just because you found the best rates on Pilot coverage two years ago there is a good chance you can find better rates now. Forget anything you know (or think you know) about auto insurance because I’m going to let you in on the secrets to the easiest way to properly buy coverages while reducing your premium.
Auto Insurance Comparisons
To find the best auto insurance prices, there are several ways to compare rate quotes from different insurance companies. One of the best ways to find competitive Honda Pilot insurance rates is to get quotes online. This is very easy and can be done in a couple of different ways.
- The best way to get quotes is a comparison rater form (click to open form in new window). This easy form keeps you from doing a different quote for each company you want a rate for. Filling out one form gets you price quotes from auto insurance companies with the best prices.
- A less efficient way to find lower rates is spending the time to visit each company’s website to complete a price quote. For sake of this example, let’s say you want to compare Nationwide, Allstate and Liberty Mutual. To get rate quotes you would need to take the time to go to each site and enter your information, and that’s why the first method is more popular. For a list of links to insurance companies in your area, click here.
It doesn’t matter which method you choose, just ensure you are comparing the exact same coverages and limits on every quote. If each company quotes unequal deductibles or liability limits it will be very difficult to determine the lowest rate for your Honda Pilot. Quoting even small variations in limits can result in a big premium difference. And when price shopping your coverage, obtaining a wide range of quotes will improve the odds of getting better pricing.
Lower rates by qualifying for discounts
Properly insuring your vehicles can get expensive, but there are discounts available to cut the cost considerably. Some trigger automatically at the time of quoting, but lesser-known reductions have to be specially asked for before you get the savings.
- Distant Student – Youth drivers who are attending college without a vehicle on campus can be insured at a reduced rate.
- One Accident Forgiven – Some insurance companies permit an accident before hitting you with a surcharge if your claims history is clear for a certain period of time.
- Low Mileage Discounts – Low mileage vehicles could qualify for a substantially lower rate.
- No Claims – Claim-free drivers can save substantially compared to drivers who are more careless.
- Pay Now and Pay Less – If you pay your entire premium ahead of time instead of making monthly payments you may reduce your total bill.
As a disclaimer on discounts, many deductions do not apply to all coverage premiums. Some only apply to the price of certain insurance coverages like liability, collision or medical payments. So when it seems like you could get a free auto insurance policy, you’re out of luck. Any qualifying discounts will help reduce the cost of coverage.
For a list of companies offering auto insurance discounts, follow this link.
Honda Pilot insurance rates have many determining factors
Consumers need to have an understanding of the different types of things that come into play when calculating the price you pay for auto insurance. Understanding what influences your rates allows you to make educated decisions that can help you get lower auto insurance prices.
The list below includes a partial list of the pieces companies use to determine your rates.
- Performance influences rates – The performance level of the vehicle you drive makes a significant difference in how high your rates are. The cheapest insurance rates are for low performance passenger vehicles, but the cost you end up paying is determined by many additional factors. Due to the fact that the Honda Pilot is a standard SUV, insuring your vehicle will cost slighty more when compared to the average rates.
- Traffic citations inflate rates – A bad driving record has a huge affect on how much you pay. Good drivers receive lower rates compared to drivers with tickets. Even one moving violation can increase rates forty percent or more. If you have flagrant violations like DWI, reckless driving or hit and run convictions may find they need to file a SR-22 to the state department of motor vehicles in order to keep their license.
- Marriage pays dividends – Being married can get you a discount on auto insurance. Having a spouse usually means you are more mature than a single person and it’s proven that married drivers get in fewer accidents.
- Big city or small town – Being located in a rural area is a positive aspect when it comes to auto insurance. Fewer drivers means reduced accidents. Drivers who live in large cities have to deal with more traffic problems and longer commutes to work. More time on the road means more change of being in an accident.
The auto insurance bait and switch
Auto insurance providers like GEICO, State Farm and Progressive continually stream ads on TV and radio. They all make the same claim that you’ll save big after switching your coverage to them. How can each company make almost identical claims? It’s all in the numbers.
Insurance companies have a preferred profile for the type of driver that makes them money. For instance, a desirable insured could be between the ages of 30 and 50, owns a home, and has great credit. A driver that hits that “sweet spot” is entitled to the best price and most likely will pay quite a bit less when switching companies.
Consumers who do not match the “perfect” profile will be charged higher prices and ends up with the driver buying from a lower-cost company. The ad wording is “drivers who switch” not “everybody who quotes” save money. That is how insurance companies can claim big savings.
That is why it is so important to quote coverage with many companies. It is impossible to predict which company will provide you with the cheapest rates.
What is YOUR best insurance company?
We just presented many ideas to compare Honda Pilot insurance prices online. The key concept to understand is the more providers you compare, the better likelihood of reducing your rate. You may even discover the lowest rates come from some of the lesser-known companies. Smaller companies may only write in your state and offer lower rates than the large multi-state companies such as GEICO and State Farm.
As you shop your coverage around, don’t be tempted to buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. There are many occasions where an insured cut collision coverage and discovered at claim time that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. The aim is to buy enough coverage at an affordable rate while not skimping on critical coverages.