Every now and then do you think to yourself, “why do i pay this much for automobile coverage” well, if you have you are not without help. In the U.S. We are required to have automobile insurance, it is the law and no one really wants to go to jail or be sued becuase they don’t have auto insurance!

So, we have to have it but why do we have to shell out so much and what factors cause us to pay extra then our fellow citizens? Well there are 100s of factors that might potentially cause you to pay more then your neighbors but the ones beneath tend to cause the greatest increases. So if doable steer clear of the problems below… No pun intended.

1 – Try to uphold a clean record when it comes to traffic citations. If you have a lead foot well you need to stop! A speeding citation will really hurt your wallet/purse. A single speeding ticket can cost you a lot in fines but boy are you going to pay a heck of a lot more on your car insurance policy. How about a 100-300 percent in premium payments?

2 – Do you have a young new driver? If so you are going to pay greatly when they get to driving age. Young adults are a gigantic liability for auto insurance providers. They drive too fast, they do not pay attentions, and they are easily distracted. They are pretty much a wreck waiting to happen ( from the insurance companies’ point of view ). Most folks get into at least a small crash by the time they are 21 and this why their premium payments are much greater.

There really isn’t a way of dropping payments when it comes to brand new drivers, you just have to shop around from one company to another and hope you discover a good quality deal.

3 — If you have been in a few minor wrecks or a major incident then you may be paying more then others. In reality you probably are. The one way to fix this is to go to a fresh auto insurance provider, one that offers accident forgiveness programs.

4 – So you have a high performance car? Good for you but you are paying a lot for car insurance. If you want cheaper insurance you need to get rid of the flashy car, sorry!

As I said there are a lot of factors that cause car insurance payments to change, they go up, they go down. The only way to really make sure you have a fair plan is to look around. Get a few online quotes and see what you can uncover. Good luck.

Finding cheap auto insurance can help you save hundreds of dollars each year. Many individuals tend to stay with the auto insurance company that they already use but it is possible to find better rates. There are four steps you can take to get cheap auto insurance and they include shopping around, checking for discounts, reducing coverage on older vehicles and selecting a higher insurance deductible.

To compare which auto insurance is the least expensive you will need to shop around and compare different companies. Purchasing inexpensive auto insurance does not mean you should be getting bad insurance or auto insurance that is similar to having no insurance at all.

It is good to know how long it takes for a claim to be processed and when you can expect to receive payment. You want to choose cheap auto insurance but you still want to have a good insurance policy. You should not get a cheap insurance policy if it is bad insurance no matter how inexpensive the cost.

If you don’t want to change auto insurers then you can look for discounts. Many auto insurance companies will offer discounts for low mileage drivers or cars that have extra anti-theft protection and safety features. You may be able to decrease your insurance by installing an alarm. Good drivers will also automatically get lower insurance because they have a good driving history. If you do have some strike against your driving record you can decrease them by taking a defensive driving course.

If you have never had any car accidents or tickets then you may want to increase your deductible. The only time you pay a deductible is when an accident occurs. A higher deductible will dramatically decrease your insurance premium each year and the money you save can be quite substantial.

Older cars may not need to have complete coverage, as the cost of the coverage may actually be more then the value of the car. You will need to compare how much you are spending on auto insurance to the market value of the car. It your insurance is more then the value of the car you should look to eliminating your collision or comprehensive coverage. You can even get rid of both.

The amount of insurance you will need will always be determined to late, once you have an accident. To try to understand how to protect yourself, you first need to know what your liability insurance will cover. It is always broken up in two parts bodily injury and property damage liability.

Bodily injury liability covers just that, injuries that are caused do to an auto accident:

1. Emergency aid at the scene

2. Doctor bills due to the accident

3. Restitution for lost salary

4. Final expenses

5. Legal counsel costs

Property damage liability makes the damage that is cause due to an automobile accident.

1. Property damage to houses as other buildings

2. Repair or replacement costs for other stationary objects

3. Vehicle repair or replacement costs

So, what coverage limit are right for you? Every state compiles there minimum guidelines individually. 15,000/30,000/15,000 is the minimal norm but that may vary from state to state so check your state guidelines. You might have noticed that there are three coverage figures and not two. This is because bodily injury liability usually comes in a split limit unless you request a single limit of coverage.

Split Limit coverage: Limits are split into two for bodily injury coverage and then there is a separate coverage for property damage. If you take the example from above $15,000/$30,000 coverage, the $15,000 represents the total amount of bodily injury coverage that will be paid out to any one person during an accident. The $30,000 represents the total amount of bodily injury coverage that will be paid out for the entire accident. If you had a single limit of coverage it would include a maximum to be paid out but no individual maximum and it could be divided however needed.

Property Damage coverage is always the last number which is represented by $15,000 in the example above.

You have probably realized the disadvantage of carrying stat minimum limits 15,000/30,000/15,000. With the price of cars rising and the already high costs of property around the country it makes sense to have more than the 15,000 for property damage. With medical expenses at there highest ever it only makes sense to raise your bodily injury limits as well.

The most common amount of coverage around the country is split limit of 100,000/300,000/50,000 but you might want to consider even higher limits. The cost to raise liability from 15,000/30,000/15,000 to 100,000/300,000/100,000 or even higher shouldn’t cost more than a couple of hundreds of dollars per year. I’ll personally spend a little more now to save thousands later just in case I was sued for expenses costing more than my coverage limits.