There are a number of different things you can do to obtain discount auto insurance. Most of the discounts can be combined to maximize your discount such as a good driver, multicar and multi-lines discount combined on a single auto policy. Below are the top 10 discounts you can obtain and why.
1. Buy other policies with the carrier
The more various policies that you have with a single insurance company will assist you in obtaining a discount off your premium. If you have a home owner’s policy along with an auto insurance policy, your premiums for both will typically be about 10-20% lower than the standard rate.
2. Profession Discount
This is an auto insurance discount offered to various professional groups such as engineers, scientists, teachers, or doctors to name a few.
3. Good Driver Discount
This varies by state, but inside California if you have been licensed for the previous 3 years and have not had more than one violation point during that time and were not in an at-fault accident that resulted in death, total loss, or damages exceeding $500, then a Good Driver Discount tends to be at least 20% below what the insurance company would typically charge for the same coverage.
4. Renewal Discount
The longer you have been with an insurance company, the more profitable you are to them. As a result, they want to keep you as a policy holder by offering a renewal discount which is usually up to 1% to 10%. This discount begins after 3-5 years and gets larger the longer you are with them.
5. Student Discount
The student discount is a discount that usually applies to persons under the age of 25 who are a full time student, unmarried, and meet the grade requirement set forth by the insurance company. Usually the grade requirement is a B average.
6. Multi-Vehicle discount
Having more vehicles than you have drivers will assist in obtaining a lower rate. When you exceed a single vehicle with a single operator, the rates will be discounted because the amount of use that each vehicle will experience tends to decrease and the risk exposure will also drop.
7. Persistency Discount
This is a small discount offered for people who have had consistent insurance without a lapse in coverage.
8. Theft Recovery or Deterrent System
This is a discount off of your comprehensive coverage for having an alarm or theft recovery system. This is one that you would be smart to consider because the cost of the alarm or recovery system may not be worth the potential savings. From my experience the savings for this is minimal and it is worth it to ask about the savings before you add one if you don’t have an alarm.
9. Mileage Rating
If you drive less than 12,000 miles per year your premiums will typically decrease. The only issue with the discount is that if you do drive more than the miles reported, you may run into issues if you file a claim. You may need to report your current mileage at the time of the policy change and then report your current mileage at each renewal in order to obtain the discount since mileage above the reported amount will typically lead to a slight increase in premium.
10. Passive Restraints or Airbag Discounts
Buying a vehicle with various airbag or restraint systems usually gets a discount since the level of safety within the vehicle increases and the potential exposure to loss decreases.
source: http://www.autoinsurancetips.com/
