Save Money on Insurance
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Vnysia Most of us have insurance of one sort or another. But if you're like me, the prospect of a trip to the insurance agent's office isn't something that keeps you awake with excitement the night before.
No, most of us try to get it done as quickly and painlessly as possible, bracing ourselves with suspicion against being over-sold, cross-sold, or otherwise taken for more money than we intended to spend.
Where Does All My Money Go has a great tip for saving money on insurance - be it auto, home, life, motorcycle, or health insurance.
The article points to a service called Kanetix. Just enter in a few details about your needs, and you'll instantly get a comparison of the top quotes. You'll find out pretty quickly if you are paying too much for the insurance you have (make sure you're comparing apples to apples though; best to have the policy page in front of you), and you will also get some good information on the insurance companies themselves.
With regards to auto insurance, Grad Money Matters praises the benefits of shopping around for the best policy. Included in the article is a comprehensive list and description of some discounts we might qualify for but that the salesperson might or might not have mentioned:
- Multi Vehicle discount
- Multi Policy discount
- Home Owner discount
- Garaged Car discount
- Defensive Driving Class discount
- Good Student discount
- Safe Car discount
- Safe Driver discount
- Loyal Customer discount
- Low Mileage Driver discount
- Green Car discount
- Military discount
- Online discount
And last but not least, (pant, breath)
- Pay Ahead discount
We spend so much time shopping around for our vehicles, houses, and what we fill our houses with. Let's also not forget the relationship we foster with our own bodies, which allow us to function and buy the houses, cars, and stuff as long as we are alive and well.
So I think it's a good idea to spend a little time learning about how best to insure too. I've always been a believer in insurance - but it's also possible to have too much or the wrong kind entirely. Hopefully with enough knowledge in hand we can properly insure ourselves and save a few bucks in the process.
Any tips on shopping for insurance are welcome! Let us know if you have any tricks of your own.
Tagged: Personal Finance, auto insurance, insurance comparison, insurance quotes, shopping for insurance
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There are a few new discount ideas I didn't know about listed here. Specifically the garaged car, green car and online ones. Thanks. I believe in insurance too, but it's such a balance between getting enough and being insurance poor, as they say. I love any tips I can find on that.
The most important rule for insurance that I had to learn was to insure the risks that I couldn't afford to take, and then to bear the others myself.
The way medical insurance is done in the US is a good (bad) example. It's a wretched combination of real insurance against catastrophic medical bills, combined with a sort of weird program of pre-paid medical care. The former is something I really need. The second just makes medical care more expensive. (I really don't need insurance to cover the $80 office visit. I do need insurance against the risk of $500,000 in costs if I have a bad accident.)
For car insurance, figure out the biggest deductible you can safely afford and go with that. Otherwise you're insuring a risk that you can afford to bear on your own--which means the profit goes to the insurance company. Similarly for homeowners insurance, make sure the policy covers the full replacement value of the house, but then go with the biggest deductible you safely can.
Figuring out the cheapest way to buy insurance really comes second to figuring out the right amount of insurance to buy. Too much insurance and you're wasting money; too little insurance and you're putting your whole financial future at risk. The rule of thumb is: bear the risks you can afford and insure the rest.
@ medical insurance... I have a catastrophic coverage plan with Blue Cross ($300/mo for myself & 2 kids) plus an HSA account. I recommend this setup to anyone who is basically healthy. We get the Blue Cross negotiated prices for our regular checkups, lab work, etc, which we pay for completely out of our HSA account... usually just a few hundred a year. The only year something really happened & my 12 year old had a burst appendix complete with 4-day hospital stay, we were responsible for the first $5400 in bills (for the whole year, including regular visits & such) & then Blue Cross paid everything beyond that. But I negotiated the hospital down $1200, so we really only paid $4200 for the year. Other people I have talked to had to pay a full 20% of hospital costs. With this plan, it was completely covered once we hit our deductible. BTW, my husband's employer covers him free & offers a group plan for employees' families... their rates can't touch what I found on my own.
The needs for insurance for seniors are unique and sometimes difficult to find. Many websites provide helpful information (i.e. seniorresource.com, seniornet.com). However as our population ages more atention and government help needs to be focused on this area.
Thanks, Philip.
We definitely go as high as we can on vehicle and home owner deductibles. I know one thing my insurance agent out in Arizona did for us was have a revew twice a year to assess needs. Sometimes we needed more coverage in a certain area. Sometimes we needed less. She was very honest about the whole thing and always had our best interests at heart. I realize not everybody has that with their insurance agent, though.
wow.
i can't believe you are recommending that kanetix site.
they don't offer quotes. they offer SPAM.
you've led me into a world of junk mail...
disappointed, nora...
Having an insurance is your protection against uncertainties that may come along. It is such an investment that provides wide range of opportunities to take care of your properties. It must be your priority that the insurance you chose will provide you with the best benefits that are guaranteed to satisfy the needed assurance of your property. Having a great quality must not be sacrificed with an affordable price.
@ Myscha "There are a few new discount ideas I didn't know about listed here. Specifically the garaged car, green car and online ones." I didn't know about those either, really great tips!
Thanks for posting this!