One of the most exciting things to do when you purchase a car for the 1st time is to look for car insurance. I hope you understood the sarcasm in my previous statement. While it’s not particularly fun every driver should take the time to research and make sure that he or she chooses the best car insurance for them.
There are several types of coverages that you should have with your policy. Some of them such as liability are not optional while collision and rental are. Today, I want to briefly go over five car insurance companies that you should consider.
All State
All State is an insurance company that was founded in 1931. Their slogan is “you’re in good hands”. They offer a premium discount for their drivers. You can save up to 22% for driving 3 years without any accidents or violations. They also offer other discounts such as a multiple policy discount, a passive restraint discount, anti – lock brake discount and an anti-theft device discount.
USAA
The next insurance company on the list is USAA. USAA stands for the United Services Automobile Association. They are a Texas based company that was founded in 1922. Only certain people can qualify for the USAA. One requirement is that you have to be an active, retired or honorably separated officer or enlisted personnel of the US military. Another way you can become a member is if your parents have or had USAA auto or property insurance. They offer several discounts such as a safe driver, defensive driving, and a good student discount.
Liberty Mutual
Liberty Mutual is the third auto insurance company on the list. They were founded in 1912. They offer great benefits such as accident forgiveness, lifetime repair guarantee, 24-hour roadside assistance and a 12-month rate guarantee. The 12-month rate guarantee is interesting to me because a lot of insurance companies have 6-month policies. The rate can change during that time. With the 12-month rate plans at Liberty, that won’t happen.
State Farm
State Farm was founded in 1922. They have several options that you can get quotes for on their website. Like the other insurance companies state farm offers multiple discounts. A couple of the unique discounts that they offer are a drive safe and save program and a vehicle safety discount. When a customer signs up for the drive safe & save program they will initially receive a discount of 5%. Customers are eligible for the discount when they agree to share certain info and have an eligible vehicle. The vehicle safety discount applies to you if your vehicle was made in 1994 or later.
Geico
The final auto insurance company that I will go over today is Geico. Geico was founded in 1936. I can’t lie, I’m a little bias towards them. I’ve been a customer with them for over 8 years. Their rates have been excellent since I signed up with them. I’ve had to use their emergency road service a few times. They have always taken good care of me. They also offer discounts for federal employees, the military and members and employees for over 500 qualifying groups.
Who is your auto insurance provider?
We moved all of our insurance policies to Liberty Mutual last August saving us $500 a year. We’ve had 2 claims this year – a tree came down on our lot causing property damage and I slipped on an icy road and hit an ice bank. It will be interesting to see if they raise our rates next year.
I use NJ Manufactures, which is a really awesome company, but you either have to be a contractor/electrician/blue collar-type worker in NJ or the immediate family member of one.
I worked for Nationwide for a while in college and recommend people actually don’t go with them. Definitely not the best deals in most cases.
I’ve used USAA for years and they are wonderful! Great rates and excellent customer service!
I use Farmers. When getting new insurance, or even when your policy comes up for renewal, one of the best ways you can save money is to shop around. That’s not to say you should always go with the very cheapest insurer…you want to make sure they have a reliable reputation. When my policy came up for renewal, I got quotes from as many companies as I could before settling on the best deal.
USAA has great rates and a top notch customer service. I am so glad I changed because I save 60.00/month.
Check and see if your company will give you discount for having both homeowners and car insurance; also check to see if your state safeguards long-term customers from cancellation and/or rate increases.
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