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How To Change Auto Insurance Companies |
The first step to changing car insurance companies:
You want accurate auto insurance quotes. The first thing you must do is pull all your records from the past five years. These records include things such as claims, accidents, tickets, driving courses taken, etc. The reason I say 5 years is because while some companies go back only 3 years, other preferred carriers look back as far as 5 years. You want a complete and accurate comparison. You’ll also want to determine how far you drive to work and how many miles you drive each year. If you’re insuring more than yourself you’ll also need records for the others who will be insured on your new auto policy including license numbers, date of birth of each driver, and all vehicle VIN numbers.
Reviewing coverage before changing my auto insurance company:
If you’re happy with the amount of coverage you currently have, begin comparing the same amount of coverage with other companies. You can do this by reviewing your current insurance declarations page. This page within your current policy will tell you how much coverage you have, drivers insured, vehicles insured and your current liability limits as well as some additional details such as your effective and expiration date, company information and excluded drivers. If you have collision or comprehensive coverage your auto deductibles should also be shown on this declarations page of your auto policy.
Making sure you get all the insurance discounts available:
Discover any discounts you may be able to take advantage of. For example if you have your homeowner’s policy with another insurance company, see what rates you can get by combining both your homeowners coverage with your auto insurance carrier. Most carriers now give discounts for having more than one car on the policy also. If you have a student driver see what steps you can take to reduce rates through the good student discount and any other programs offered to young drivers that may result in a reduced insurance premium.
Change Auto Insurance Companies Before Policy Expiration
Make sure to shop before your current auto policy expiration date. I’d recommend shopping at least a couple weeks before your policy expires. When you buy insurance ahead of time you’ll find there may be more discounts to take advantage of. The price of a product goes down when the demand is low. The demand for insurance is high when you shop on your expiration date. The demand is low when you shop a month in advance. Insurance companies call this the future effective discount; for example when you buy your insurance on the 15th to go into effect on the 30th. You’ll also want to be sure your current carrier cancels the policy on the date your new policy goes into effect. Avoiding lapse is very important when your goal is to achieve the lowest auto insurance rates today and in the future.
Cover Yourself In Case Of Company Mistakes
Take notes of conversations you have with the insurance companies. Make sure the date you want your currently policy to expire is made clear both in your notes as well as with the representative you speak with. You can also fax a notice to cancel or non-renew your policy on the appropriate date. Most companies you get a new policy with will do this task for you but don’t assume they will, make sure this is done so your replaced policy does not renew. Using the fax is great for this. Faxing creates a paper record of your request. Also make sure your new policy is set to go effective on the date your current policy cancels. Same thing as before, make sure to take notes and get some type of paper confirmation of your future effective policy. Lapses are recorded and rated accordingly. With a recent lapse on your record you’ll find your rates will increase due to not having continuous coverage.
Consider our resource for your comparison shopping needs. We offer an effective way to get low cost auto insurance through both online and local auto insurance quote comparisons. Request a quote from a local independent agent or simply review comparison quotes online with only having to fill out you infomation once. With this option quotes are instantly provided to the shopper.
Resource: https://low-insurance.org/top/how-to-change-auto-insurance-companies/
Learn more about how to get cheap car insurance rates.