Insurance Blog

In this tight economy, chances are you’re watching every dollar like most other Americans.  If that’s the case, you’re probably looking at every possible way you can save money.  One often-overlooked way to save is by lowering your automobile insurance bill.  You may not know that there are several simple, effective ways to trim your insurance policy down to just the coverage you need — and, in the process, trim your monthly car insurance bills down as well!

The first thing you should do is evaluate the insurance you currently have.  What exactly are you paying for now?  Then, look at the ways you can cut out excess insurance you may not need.  Liability auto insurance is one type of insurance you’ll definitely want to keep, especially since in many states it’s required by law.  What you can do, however, is adjust your policy limits until your monthly bill comes down to something you can afford.  Say you’re paying for a policy that pays up to $2 million per accident.  Ask yourself whether you really need that much coverage.  Cutting down your limit to $1 million, for example, will save you money when it comes time to pay your bill every month.

If you drive an older car, you may not need to continue paying for collision auto insurance.  Collision insurance covers damage to your car in the event of a collision with another car or an inanimate object, such as a telephone pole.  But if the value of your car is not very high, over time you could end up paying more in insurance bills than the actual value of your car!  Luckily, this can be avoided by choosing not to carry collision insurance.  The downside of this choice, though, is that your car won’t be covered if you drive into something.  If you choose to remove collision insurance form your policy, take care and stay alert!

Comprehensive insurance covers non-collision damage to your car, such as vandalism, fire, theft (or attempted theft), natural disasters and “Acts of God.”  If you live in a safe neighborhood in a city with mild weather, do you really need this kind of insurance?  Perhaps not.  Sure, there’s a risk that you could lose your car in a tornado someday.  But how large is that risk, and is insurance for something so unlikely something worth paying for?

There are a few other insurances that you can consider removing from your policy.  Rental car coverage is becoming obsolete nowadays, as most major credit cards offer collision insurance to cars rented with their cards.  Similarly, Loss of Use coverage pays for your rental car expenses if your car has to go in for repairs, but these days there are so many low-cost rental car deals online that this kind of insurance is probably not something that needs to be reflected in your insurance fees every month.