It goes without saying that insurance companies don’t want their policyholders to compare prices. Consumers who shop for lower prices will probably buy a different policy because there is a significant possibility of finding coverage at a cheaper rate. A study discovered that drivers who made a habit of comparing rate quotes saved $70 a month as compared to drivers who didn’t regularly shop around.
If saving money on Lincoln LS insurance in Cleveland is your ultimate target, then understanding how to find and compare coverages can make shopping around easier.
If saving the most money is your goal, then the best way to find the cheapest price for Lincoln LS insurance is to make a habit of comparing prices annually from insurers who provide car insurance in Cleveland.
Step 1: Get an understanding of how companies price auto insurance and the changes you can make to keep rates low. Many risk factors that cause high rates like multiple speeding tickets and an unacceptable credit score can be controlled by making small lifestyle or driving habit changes. Keep reading for more information to help prevent costly coverage and earn larger discounts.
Step 2: Quote rates from direct carriers, independent agents, and exclusive agents. Direct and exclusive agents can only provide price estimates from one company like GEICO or Allstate, while agents who are independent can quote rates from many different companies. Get quotes now
Step 3: Compare the quotes to your current policy premium to see if a cheaper price is available. If you find a lower rate, make sure there is no coverage gap between policies.
Step 4: Tell your current agent or company of your decision to cancel your current policy and submit a signed application and payment for the new policy. When you receive it, put the proof of insurance paperwork in an easily accessible location.
An important note is that you’ll want to make sure you compare the same liability limits and deductibles on each quote and and to get quotes from as many auto insurance providers as possible. Doing this helps ensure an accurate price comparison and a better comparison of the market.
How to Lower Your Insurance Rates
Lots of factors are taken into consideration when premium rates are determined. Some of the criteria are obvious like a motor vehicle report, but some are not quite as obvious like your continuous coverage or your financial responsibility. Smart consumers have a good feel for the factors that go into determining your auto insurance rates. If you know what impacts premium levels, this enables informed choices that may reward you with lower rates.
High premiums for younger drivers – Drivers with little experience are known to be less responsible with other occupants in the car and because of this, their auto insurance rates are much higher. If you’ve ever had to add a beginning driver to your auto insurance policy can cause a big jump in price. Older, more experienced drivers are proven to be safer behind the wheel, tend to file fewer claims, and receive fewer citations.
Better auto insurance rates on vehicles with better crash test results – Cars with five star safety ratings tend to be cheaper to insure. Safe vehicles help reduce the chance of injuries in an accident and fewer injuries means less money paid by your insurance company which can result in lower premiums.
Auto insurance policy lapses increase rates – Driving without insurance is a big no-no and auto insurance companies will penalize you for letting your insurance coverage expire. Not only will rates go up, not being able to provide proof of insurance might get you a fine, jail time, or a revoked license. You could then be forced to submit proof of financial responsibility or a SR-22 with the Ohio motor vehicle department.
Raise your physical damage deductibles for better costs – Insurance for physical damage to your car, commonly called comprehensive (or other-than-collision) and collision coverage, is used to repair damage to your vehicle. Examples of some claims that would be covered are colliding with a building, hail damage, or theft. The deductibles define the amount you are required to pay if the claim is covered. The higher the amount you’re willing to pay, the bigger discount you will receive.
Your employer can affect premiums – Do you have a high-stress occupation? Occupational choices like military personnel, police officers, and miners are shown to have higher rates than average due to high stress levels and lengthy work days. Conversely, occupations such as professors, engineers and the unemployed have the lowest average rates.
Bad credit will cost you – An insured’s credit score can be a huge factor in determining your rates. Insureds that have high credit ratings tend to be less risk to insure than those with poor credit. Therefore, if your credit history is low, you could save money insuring your Lincoln LS by repairing your credit.
Having a spouse can lower premiums – Having a significant other may cut your premiums on your auto insurance bill. Having a spouse may mean you are more stable financially it has been statistically shown that married drivers tend to file fewer claims.
When price shopping your coverage, making a lot of price comparisons provides better odds of finding a lower rate. Some regional insurers cannot provide online price quotes, so it’s important to also get prices on coverage from those companies, too.
The car insurance companies shown below provide price quotes in Cleveland, OH. If you wish to find the cheapest car insurance in OH, it’s a good idea that you get prices from several of them to get the most affordable price.
Why you need insurance for your LS
Even though Cleveland LS insurance rates can get expensive, paying for insurance serves several important purposes.
- Almost all states have mandatory liability insurance requirements which means the state requires specific limits of liability in order to get the vehicle licensed. In Ohio these limits are 25/50/25 which means you must have $25,000 of bodily injury coverage per person, $50,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and $25,000 of property damage coverage.
- If you took out a loan on your Lincoln LS, almost every bank will have a requirement that you carry insurance to ensure loan repayment if the vehicle is totaled. If you let the policy lapse, the bank may buy a policy for your Lincoln for a lot more money and make you pay for the expensive policy.
- Insurance protects both your assets and your Lincoln. It will also pay for medical expenses for not only you but also any passengers injured in an accident. As part of your policy, liability insurance also covers all legal expenses up to the policy limit if you are sued as the result of your driving. If your car is damaged in a storm or accident, comprehensive and/or collision insurance will pay all costs to repair after the deductible has been paid.
The benefits of having insurance are definitely more than the cost, particularly if you ever have a claim. But the average American driver is wasting up to $855 a year so compare quotes from several companies at least once a year to save money.
Verify you’re receiving every discount
Car insurance is not cheap, but you may be missing some discounts that you may not even be aware of. Some trigger automatically when you get a quote, but a few must be requested specifically prior to getting the savings.
- Renewal Discounts – A few insurance companies give discounts for switching companies early. You could save around 10% when you buy Cleveland car insurance online.
- Multi-policy Discount – If you can combine your auto and homeowners policy with one insurance company you could save over 10 percent off each policy depending on the company.
- ABS Brakes – Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles are safer to drive and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
- Life Insurance Discount – Some companies give a discounted car insurance rate on car insurance if you buy a life insurance policy as well.
- Cleveland Homeowners Discount – Just being a homeowner can earn you a little savings because it means you have a higher level of financial diligence.
- Discounts for Responsible Drivers – Insureds who avoid accidents can save as much as half off their rates as compared to drivers with claims.
- Passive Restraints – Cars that have air bags may qualify for discounts of 20% or more.
While discounts sound great, it’s important to understand that most credits do not apply to the whole policy. Most only apply to the price of certain insurance coverages like liability and collision coverage. Despite the appearance that all the discounts add up to a free policy, you won’t be that lucky. Any qualifying discounts will positively reduce your overall premium however.
A list of car insurance companies and a selection of discounts are:
- State Farm has discounts for Drive Safe & Save, multiple autos, anti-theft, defensive driving training, safe vehicle, driver’s education, and student away at school.
- Liberty Mutual includes discounts for preferred payment discount, newly retired, new move discount, multi-policy, exclusive group savings, teen driver discount, and new graduate.
- American Family offers premium reductions for Steer into Savings, accident-free, multi-vehicle, good driver, and TimeAway discount.
- Progressive offers discounts for homeowner, good student, online signing, multi-vehicle, multi-policy, and continuous coverage.
- Farmers Insurance discounts include switch companies, pay in full, early shopping, multi-car, mature driver, and bundle discounts.
- Auto-Owners Insurance has savings for mature driver, group or association, safe vehicle, multiple vehicles, and student away at school.
- SAFECO may offer discounts for safe driver, anti-theft, drive less, bundle discounts, and homeowner.
When getting a coverage quote, ask all companies you are considering the best way to save money. Discounts might not be available to policyholders in Cleveland. To view providers who offer free Lincoln LS insurance quotes in Cleveland, click here to view.
When to have guidance from an insurance agent
Certain consumers just want to sit down with an agent and that is a personal choice. A nice benefit of price shopping on the web is the fact that you can find cheaper prices and still have an agent to talk to. Buying from and supporting neighborhood insurance agencies is definitely important in Cleveland.
After completing this form (opens in new window), your insurance data is sent to participating agents in Cleveland who will give you bids to get your business. You never need to even leave your home since rate quotes are delivered to the email address you provide. You can most likely find cheaper rates and an insurance agent to talk to. If for some reason you want to get a price quote from a specific insurance company, you would need to visit that company’s website to submit a rate quote request.
The following are Cleveland auto insurance companies that may be willing to give price quote information for Lincoln LS insurance in Cleveland.
Robin Gorman – State Farm Insurance Agent
16812 Chagrin Blvd – Shaker Heights, OH 44120 – (216) 283-0080 – View Map
Allstate Insurance: Michael Wrobel
17016 Lorain Ave – Cleveland, OH 44111 – (216) 812-5413 – View Map
State Farm: Stan Harris
12429 Cedar Road, Suite 26 – Cleveland Heights, OH 44106 – (216) 791-1006 – View Map
Jinisha Patel – State Farm Insurance Agent
4342 Ridge Rd – Brooklyn, OH 44144 – (216) 741-6100 – View Map
Deciding on a company requires more thought than just the bottom line cost. Get answers to these questions too.
- Where are claims handled?
- Are they in the agency full-time?
- Do they have designations such as AIC, CPCU, or CIC?
- What kind of financial rating does the company have?
- Which insurance companies are they affiliated with?
Ohio auto insurance companies ranked
Picking the best insurance provider can be difficult considering how many companies sell coverage in Ohio. The ranking data shown next can help you select which coverage providers you want to consider purchasing a policy from.
Top 10 Cleveland Car Insurance Companies Overall
- USAA
- 21st Century
- GEICO
- Nationwide
- AAA Insurance
- Liberty Mutual
- Safeco Insurance
- State Farm
- Travelers
- American Family
Do I just need basic coverages?
When buying the best auto insurance coverage for your vehicles, there is no best way to insure your cars. Your needs are unique to you.
For example, these questions can aid in determining whether you will benefit from professional help.
- Do I really need UM/UIM coverage?
- Are rental cars covered under my policy?
- Am I covered when pulling a rental trailer?
- Am I covered if I have no license?
- Am I covered if I hit someone who is not insured?
- Is my custom paint covered by insurance?
- Does every company file a SR-22 automatically?
- Does coverage extend to a rental car in a foreign country?
- How does medical payments coverage work?
If it’s difficult to answer those questions but you think they might apply to your situation, then you may want to think about talking to an insurance agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, simply complete this short form.
Find affordable insurance rates by comparing often
When trying to cut insurance costs, it’s very important that you do not buy poor coverage just to save money. In too many instances, drivers have reduced liability coverage limits and discovered at claim time that it was a big error on their part. Your aim should be to purchase plenty of coverage at the best possible price while still protecting your assets.
Cheaper insurance in Cleveland can be purchased online and with local Cleveland insurance agents, and you need to price shop both in order to have the best chance of saving money. Some insurance providers don’t offer price quotes online and usually these smaller companies only sell through local independent agents.
People switch companies for many reasons like being labeled a high risk driver, high prices, denial of a claim or even delays in paying claims. Whatever your reason, choosing a new company is less work than it seems.
To read more, take a look at the resources below:
- Auto Theft Statistics (Insurance Information Institute)
- How Much is Auto Insurance for Good Students in Cleveland? (FAQ)
- How Much is Cleveland Auto Insurance for a Jeep Wrangler? (FAQ)
- Who Has Affordable Cleveland Auto Insurance for Safe Drivers? (FAQ)
- Who Has the Cheapest Auto Insurance Rates After a Speeding Ticket in Cleveland? (FAQ)
- Who Has the Cheapest Auto Insurance Quotes for Unemployed Drivers in Cleveland? (FAQ)
- Choosing a Car for Your Teen (State Farm)
- Should I Buy a New or Used Car? (Allstate)
- Uninsured Motorist Statistics (Insurance Information Institute)
- Collision Insurance Coverage (Nationwide)