Budget Concerns: How Much Insurance is Enough?

5 Times You Should Shop For New Auto Insurance

8 January 2016

Dustin Duncan

Auto insurance is one thing that seems to go up every year, even when you do not use it. However, you can work on keeping your auto insurance rates down by shopping for new insurance. An independent insurance agent can help you find affordable car insurance by looking for a new auto insurance policy. Here are five times you should shop for new auto insurance. 

Shop When You Turn Twenty-Five

When you turn twenty-five, you are considered in a lower risk bracket. This means that you insurance rates should drop. This should be a good amount of savings. It is worth doing this on or around your birthday.

Shop When Traffic Violations Drop Off Your Record

Traffic violations cause the amount that you pay for car insurance to go up. However, they do drop off and this gives you a chance to save money on your car insurance since you are  considered less of a risk. You can save money by waiting to shop until the tickets have dropped off of your record.You will need to check with your state to find out when the violations drop off since the length of time it will appear on your record is dependent on the state where you got the violation.

Shop When Adding Someone New to the Policy

When you get married, you will need to combine car insurance policies. It is worth shopping around to see which insurance company can offer you the best rate. You should be sure to use all of the discounts available to you and try to combine policies in order to save money on your overall insurance costs. A good independent insurance agent should be able to help you find all of the discounts available to you. You should also shop around when you add any new driver, like a teen driver to your policy.

Shop Every Two or Three Years

Car insurance companies offer the lowest rates to new customers. After a year, your rate will go up and continue to go up even if you do not use the car insurance. In the case of car insurance, customer loyalty can actually cost you money. If your record is clean, it is worth shopping around to see if you can find a lower rate. If you have points or violations, you may not find any savings, but it does not hurt to shop around to see if you can save any money.

Shop When You Get A Higher Credit Score

According to Bankrate.com, your car insurance rate is affected by your credit score. If you clean up your credit report and bring up your credit score, you may qualify for lower car insurance rates. Once you have brought your credit score up, ask a local car insurance agent (such as one from Woodmansee Insurance Inc) to check to see if you qualify for lower car insurance rates. 

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