Four Ways You May Not Know to Get Cheaper Car Insurance

Times are tight and budgets are tighter. Who isn’t looking for any way possible to squeeze a little more mileage out of their hard-earned money? Here are four tips to help you get the cheapest auto insurance possible.

1. Clean up your credit. You should do this anyway, because it will save you money on interest rates. But what you might not realize is that lots of businesses, including car insurance providers, are checking your credit and using it to assess you. The insurance industry lives and dies by statistics and data tells them that a lousy credit score directly correlates to your likelihood of filing a claim on your car insurance policy. Triple A credit equals cheap card insurance quotes. Sub-prime credit equals big fat premiums. Check your credit including your FICO score at least once a year and take proactive steps to clean up any discrepancies.

2. Don’t let anybody who isn’t on your policy drive your car. Sounds like a no-brainer, but lending your car to a buddy can end up costing you big time. If your pal is in an accident, not only will you have to cough up the deductible (or choke it out of said friend), you could face a premium hike. Even though you won’t be held liable for damages if your friend took the car without your knowledge, you’ll have to prove that. And if the medical expenses and property damages are greater than the limits on your policy, you could be sued for the difference by the injured party. If you want to be a good guy, it would be cheaper to just lend your friend cab fare.

3. See if you can stack your coverage. Some states allow it, others don’t. Stacked coverage will cost you a little bit more but by stacking your uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, you may be entitled to collect more than once on the same policy or across two policies. Check with a knowledgeable agent to learn more about this cost-saving option.

4. Drive less. You may be able to get cheap auto insurance (well, cheaper, anyway) if you don’t rack up a lot of miles every year. Car pool, walk, ride a bike or use public transportation for your daily commute and you may qualify for low-mileage discounts.