Being forced to pay for overpriced car insurance premiums can dry up your savings and force you to tighten up your finances. Multiple insurance companies compete for your business, so it can be very hard to choose a provider to get the best rates possible.
It’s a good habit to compare prices at least once a year since prices are constantly changing. Even if you think you had the best deal for Sonata coverage six months ago you can probably find a better rate quote now. Block out anything you think you know about car insurance because you’re about to find out the only way to lower your rates without sacrificing coverage.
The best way to compare insurance rates in your area utilizes the fact most larger insurance companies will pay a fee to provide you with free rate quotes. To begin a comparison, all you need to do is take a few minutes to give details including your credit rating estimate, how many miles driven, your education level, and types of safety features. Those rating factors is instantly provided to multiple car insurance providers and you get price estimates within a short period of time.
If you would like to start a quote now, click here and complete the form.
Affordable Texas car insurance quotes with discounts
Insuring your fleet can be pricey, but discounts can save money and there are some available that you may not even be aware of. Some trigger automatically at the time of quoting, but some must be specifically requested in order for you to get them.
- College Student Discount – Older children who are enrolled in higher education away from home without a vehicle on campus may qualify for this discount.
- Low Miles Discount – Fewer annual miles on your Hyundai could earn cheaper car insurancerates.
- Multi-policy Discount – If you insure your home and vehicles with one company you may earn up to 20% off your total premium.
- Federal Employees – Simply working for the federal government could cut as much as 10% off for Sonata coverage depending on your company.
- Seat Belts Save more than Lives – Drivers who require all occupants to fasten their seat belts can save a little on the premium charged for medical payments and/or PIP.
- Safety Course Discount – Taking time to complete a class that teaches safe driver techniques could save 5% or more and easily pay for the cost of the class.
As a sidenote, most credits do not apply to all coverage premiums. Most only cut the price of certain insurance coverages like medical payments or collision. Even though it appears having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, nobody gets a free ride. But all discounts will lower the cost of coverage.
Companies and a selection of discounts can be read below.
- GEICO discounts include daytime running lights, driver training, five-year accident-free, multi-vehicle, emergency military deployment, good student, and air bags.
- Auto-Owners Insurance has discounts for company car, paid in full, multi-policy, anti-theft, mature driver, and student away at school.
- American Family may include discounts for mySafetyValet, Steer into Savings, air bags, defensive driver, multi-vehicle, bundled insurance, and good driver.
- Esurance offers premium reductions for online shopper, multi-car, anti-theft, homeowner, safety device, online quote, and anti-lock brakes.
- Progressive offers discounts for online signing, online quote discount, good student, multi-vehicle, continuous coverage, homeowner, and multi-policy.
- State Farm offers discounts including defensive driving training, Drive Safe & Save, multiple autos, multiple policy, passive restraint, and driver’s education.
- AAA policyholders can earn discounts including anti-theft, education and occupation, good driver, multi-policy, pay-in-full, and multi-car.
Before you buy a policy, ask each insurance company which discounts can lower your rates. Some discounts listed above may not be available in Fort Worth. To see a list of insurance companies that offer many of these discounts in Texas, click this link.
Car insurance coverages 101
Having a good grasp of your car insurance policy can be of help when determining appropriate coverage for your vehicles. The terms used in a policy can be difficult to understand and nobody wants to actually read their policy. These are typical coverages available from car insurance companies.
Medical expense insurance – Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance kick in for expenses such as ambulance fees, EMT expenses and dental work. They are often used in conjunction with a health insurance plan or if you lack health insurance entirely. Coverage applies to not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants and will also cover if you are hit as a while walking down the street. PIP coverage is not universally available and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay
Comprehensive (Other than Collision) – Comprehensive insurance will pay to fix damage OTHER than collision with another vehicle or object. You need to pay your deductible first and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive coverage pays for things like hail damage, damage from flooding, hitting a deer and fire damage. The most a car insurance company will pay at claim time is the ACV or actual cash value, so if the vehicle’s value is low it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.
Protection from uninsured/underinsured drivers – This gives you protection from other motorists when they either are underinsured or have no liability coverage at all. This coverage pays for injuries to you and your family and also any damage incurred to your Hyundai Sonata.
Because many people only purchase the least amount of liability that is required (which is 30/60/25), their liability coverage can quickly be exhausted. For this reason, having high UM/UIM coverages should not be overlooked. Normally the UM/UIM limits are set the same as your liablity limits.
Liability coverages – Liability coverage can cover damages or injuries you inflict on people or other property. It protects you from legal claims by others. It does not cover damage sustained by your vehicle in an accident.
Coverage consists of three different limits, bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. As an example, you may have policy limits of 50/100/50 that means you have a $50,000 limit per person for injuries, $100,000 for the entire accident, and $50,000 of coverage for damaged propery. Alternatively, you may have a combined limit which limits claims to one amount without having the split limit caps.
Liability insurance covers claims such as attorney fees, pain and suffering, repair costs for stationary objects and court costs. How much liability should you purchase? That is a personal decision, but consider buying higher limits if possible. Texas requires drivers to carry at least 30,000/60,000/25,000 but drivers should carry higher limits.
Collision coverage – Collision coverage pays for damage to your Sonata resulting from a collision with a stationary object or other vehicle. A deductible applies and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.
Collision coverage pays for claims such as colliding with a tree, rolling your car, backing into a parked car, crashing into a building and hitting a mailbox. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so you might think about dropping it from lower value vehicles. It’s also possible to increase the deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.
More effort can pay off
As you go through the steps to switch your coverage, do not buy poor coverage just to save money. There are too many instances where drivers have reduced physical damage coverage and learned later that the small savings ended up costing them much more. Your strategy should be to buy the best coverage you can find at the lowest possible cost, but do not sacrifice coverage to save money.
Some insurance providers do not offer online rate quotes smaller providers provide coverage only through independent agencies. Lower-priced car insurance is available from both online companies and from local agencies, so you should be comparing quotes from both so you have a total pricing picture.
We just showed you many tips how you can get a better price on Hyundai Sonata insurance. The most important thing to understand is the more you , the better your chances of lowering your prices. You may be surprised to find that the lowest priced car insurance comes from an unexpected company. Some small companies often have lower prices on specific markets than the large multi-state companies such as Progressive and GEICO.
Additional car insurance information is located on the website for the Texas Department of Insurance through this link. Texas drivers can find out industry alerts, file complaints about a company, report car insurance fraud, and download brochures.
The articles below may also help you learn more about car insurance in Fort Worth