San Antonio consumers have a choice when looking for the best price on Ford Focus insurance. You can either waste hours calling around trying to get quotes or use the internet to compare rates.
There is a better way to find auto insurance online so you’re going to learn the proper way to price shop coverage on a Ford and find the cheapest rates from San Antonio insurance agents and online providers.
The purpose of this post is to help educate you on how to effectively get price quotes and some tricks to saving. If you currently have a car insurance policy, you will be able to reduce your rates substantially using this strategy. Texas vehicle owners just need to understand the most efficient way to get comparison quotes on the web.
Auto insurance discounts are available to cut your rates
Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, but you may qualify for discounts that many consumers don’t even know exist. Larger premium reductions will be automatically applied at the time of quoting, but less common discounts must be inquired about prior to getting the savings.
- Military Rewards – Being deployed in the military could trigger a small discount.
- Clubs and Organizations – Being a member of a qualifying organization may earn a discount on your bill.
- College Student – Children who live away from home to go to college and do not have a car may be able to be covered for less.
- Discount for Life Insurance – Select auto insurance companies reward you with a small discount if you purchase life insurance.
- Theft Deterent System – Cars and trucks equipped with tracking devices and advanced anti-theft systems have a lower chance of being stolen and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
- Claim Free – Insureds who avoid accidents and claims get the best auto insurance rates when compared to insureds who have frequent claims or accidents.
- Accident Waiver – Not really a discount, but some companies like Allstate and GEICO will turn a blind eye to one accident without raising rates if your claims history is clear for a particular time prior to the accident.
- Good Student Discount – A discount for being a good student can earn a discount of 20% or more. The good student discount can last up until you turn 25.
A little disclaimer on discounts, some of the credits will not apply to all coverage premiums. Some only apply to the price of certain insurance coverages like liability and collision coverage. So even though you would think it’s possible to get free car insurance, it doesn’t quite work that way.
Large auto insurance companies and some of the premium reductions they offer are:
- State Farm has discounts for Steer Clear safe driver discount, anti-theft, multiple autos, student away at school, accident-free, defensive driving training, and passive restraint.
- GEICO includes discounts for emergency military deployment, driver training, defensive driver, federal employee, and anti-lock brakes.
- SAFECO discounts include teen safe driver, safe driver, anti-lock brakes, drive less, accident prevention training, and multi-car.
- Farmers Insurance may include discounts for electronic funds transfer, good student, pay in full, bundle discounts, alternative fuel, and mature driver.
- AAA may have discounts that include anti-theft, multi-policy, good driver, multi-car, pay-in-full, and good student.
- USAA has savings for multi-policy, vehicle storage, new vehicle, multi-vehicle, and defensive driver.
Before purchasing a policy, check with each company how you can save money. Depending on the company, some discounts might not be available to policyholders in every state.
Finding low cost Ford Focus auto insurance rates is actually easier than you may think. All that’s required is to take time getting comparison quotes from some recommended companies. This can easily be done by following the guidelines below.
The first (and easiest) way to get the best comparison quotes is an all-inclusive rate comparison click to view form in new window. This method keeps you from doing separate forms for every auto insurance company. One simple form gets rate comparisons from several companies. This is perfect if you don’t have a lot of time.
Another way to find more affordable insurance is spending the time to visit the website for every company you want to comare and go through the quote process again. For examples sake, we’ll assume you want to compare prices for Progressive, Liberty Mutual and GMAC. To get each rate you have to visit each site and punch in your information repeatedly, which explains why we recommend starting with the first method. For a list of companies in San Antonio, click here.
Whichever way you choose to compare rates, make absolute certain that you use apples-to-apples coverage limits on every quote. If you enter differing limits it will be next to impossible to make an equal comparison in San Antonio.
Everyone needs different auto insurance coverages
When choosing adequate coverage for your vehicles, there isn’t really a perfect coverage plan. Every situation is different.
These are some specific questions can aid in determining whether or not you may require specific advice.
- Are rental cars covered under my policy?
- Does my insurance cover damage caused when ticketed for reckless driving?
- Do I need added coverage for expensive stereo equipment?
- Do I need medical payments coverage since I have good health insurance?
- Can I still get insurance after a DUI?
- Do I really need UM/UIM coverage?
- Should I buy additional glass protection?
- Do no-fault laws apply in Texas?
- Is borrowed equipment or tools covered if stolen or damaged?
If you don’t know the answers to these questions but you know they apply to you, you might consider talking to a licensed insurance agent. If you want to speak to an agent in your area, simply complete this short form. It is quick, free and can help protect your family.
Save $421 a year. For real?
Consumers get pounded daily by advertisements that claim the best premium rates from the likes of Progressive, GEICO, Allstate and State Farm. They all try to convey promises that drivers can save some big amount just by moving to their company.
Is it even possible that every company can make almost identical claims? Here is the trick they use.
All the different companies are able to cherry pick for the type of driver that will add to their bottom line. A good example of a driver they prefer may be a female over age 40, has never had a claim, and has a high credit rating. Any driver who fits that profile will get low premium rates and will most likely save if they switch.
Insureds who don’t meet these criteria will probably be forced to pay a higher premium which leads to the driver buying from a lower-cost company. The ad wording is “customers who switch” not “everyone that quotes” save that much when switching. That’s the way insurance companies can confidently make those claims.
This really drives home the point why drivers must do a quote comparison often. Because you cannot predict with any certainty which company will be your best fit.
Information about specific coverages
Learning about specific coverages of a auto insurance policy can be of help when determining which coverages you need for your vehicles. The terms used in a policy can be confusing and nobody wants to actually read their policy.
Medical costs insurance – Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage pay for expenses such as nursing services, funeral costs, rehabilitation expenses, surgery and dental work. They are often used to cover expenses not covered by your health insurance policy or if there is no health insurance coverage. It covers both the driver and occupants as well as being hit by a car walking across the street. Personal Injury Protection is not an option in every state but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage
UM/UIM Coverage – Your UM/UIM coverage provides protection when other motorists do not carry enough liability coverage. It can pay for injuries sustained by your vehicle’s occupants as well as your vehicle’s damage.
Since many Texas drivers have only the minimum liability required by law (which is 30/60/25), their limits can quickly be used up. So UM/UIM coverage is important protection for you and your family. Normally the UM/UIM limits do not exceed the liability coverage limits.
Collision coverage – This coverage will pay to fix damage to your Focus caused by collision with a stationary object or other vehicle. You will need to pay your deductible and then insurance will cover the remainder.
Collision can pay for things such as driving through your garage door, sustaining damage from a pot hole, sideswiping another vehicle, rolling your car and hitting a parking meter. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so you might think about dropping it from lower value vehicles. You can also raise the deductible to bring the cost down.
Liability auto insurance – Liability coverage provides protection from damages or injuries you inflict on a person or their property by causing an accident. This coverage protects you from claims by other people. It does not cover damage to your own property or vehicle.
Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: bodily injury for each person injured, bodily injury for the entire accident and a property damage limit. Your policy might show values of 100/300/100 that translate to $100,000 bodily injury coverage, a per accident bodily injury limit of $300,000, and a total limit of $100,000 for damage to vehicles and property. Another option is a combined single limit or CSL which combines the three limits into one amount with no separate limits for injury or property damage.
Liability coverage pays for claims such as bail bonds, court costs and repair costs for stationary objects. How much liability should you purchase? That is a decision to put some thought into, but you should buy as much as you can afford. Texas requires minimum liability limits of 30,000/60,000/25,000 but you should consider buying more coverage.
Comprehensive or Other Than Collision – Comprehensive insurance will pay to fix damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. You need to pay your deductible first and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive coverage protects against claims like hitting a bird, falling objects, a tree branch falling on your vehicle and a broken windshield. The most you’ll receive from a claim is the ACV or actual cash value, so if the vehicle is not worth much it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.
Lower rates by being persistent
When getting , you should never buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. There have been many situations where drivers have reduced liability limits or collision coverage to discover at claim time that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. Your strategy should be to find the BEST coverage at the best price, but do not sacrifice coverage to save money.
In this article, we presented some good ideas how you can get a better price on Ford Focus insurance. The most important thing to understand is the more rate comparisons you have, the better likelihood of getting . You may even discover the best premium rates are with a small local company.
Some auto insurance companies do not provide the ability to get quotes online and many times these regional carriers only sell coverage through independent agents. The cheapest Ford Focus insurance can be purchased on the web as well as from insurance agents, and you should be comparing both in order to have the best chance of saving money.
To learn even more about auto insurance
Much more information about auto insurance in Texas is located on the website for the Texas Department of Insurance. Click here for link. Texas consumers can find out which companies have the most complaints, file complaints about a company, learn about specific coverages, and view agent and company licensing information.
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