Lowering your auto insurance costs

Sure, it pays to shop around for the best deal, but there are other ways to save money on premiums

Car insurance companies spend big money each year to convince motorists to compare their auto insurance rates. And while it does in fact pay to shop among carriers to get the best deals, whether you’re switching companies or are staying with the one you’ve got, it pays to be mindful of other ways you can cut your costs.

Unfortunately, car insurance is largely based on personal factors that are largely intractable, like one’s age, gender, address, marital status and driving record.

But even at that, a driver living deep within a big city can reduce his or her rates by moving out to the suburbs, where both crime and insurance rates tend to be lower, or at the least by keeping a car garaged, rather than parking it on the street.

Also, it may pay off to trade in one’s current ride for a model that’s inherently cheaper to insure, based on its claims history. Expensive-to-fix luxury cars and aggressively driven sports cars are among the most expensive vehicles to insure, while passively driven family-minded minivans, crossovers/ SUVs and sedans tend to be the cheapest. Check with your agent ahead of time when shopping for a new vehicle.

You usually can save some money by keeping liability coverage for bodily injury and property damage to the minimum as required by state law. However, if you own an expensive house and/or have a great deal of assets to protect you may want to carry additional liability coverage.

Another way to shave premiums is to raise your out-of-pocket deductibles for collision and comprehensive coverage (this applies to physical damage and theft), upping it from, say, $500 to $1,000 per claim or more. In fact, you may want to drop the collision and comprehensive altogether if you’re driving an older model that might cost more to repair than it would to replace.

Consider canceling some provisions that may be redundant with coverage you have elsewhere. For example, if you and your family already are covered by health insurance, you can cancel the medical payments section that covers injuries to the driver and passengers. Likewise, waive the towing coverage if your car is covered by the manufacturer’s roadside assistance plan or if you belong to an auto club. You might want to taking a pass on rental reimbursement coverage if you take public transportation to work.

Make sure you get every one of an auto insurer’s discounts for which you qualify, which vary from carrier to carrier, and often from state to state. These include:

• Insuring more than one vehicle on the same policy, and/or bundling car and home insurance with the same carrier.

• Having safety features like airbags, antilock brakes and other safety features, as well as anti-theft devices like alarms, ignition kill-switches and GPS vehicle recovery systems.

• Driving fewer miles than a given insurance company’s threshold, which can be anywhere from 7,500-15,000 miles per year.

• Having teen drivers (and sometimes older motorists) take an approved defensive driver training course.

• Paying annual premiums all at once, instead of stretching them out on a quarterly or monthly basis, and paying your bill online and/or setting up automatic payments.

Finally, some insurers will grant their customers additional rate deductions for having a device installed on their vehicles that monitors their driving habits (it plugs into the “OBD II” diagnostic interface included in all cars since 1996). But it can be a gamble, not to mention a bit intrusive. Taking it easy on the accelerator and brakes and driving a minimal number of miles will save some money, though aggressive driving and racking up the miles excessively will raise one’s rates.