Motorists strive to arrange the best car insurance coverage for their circumstances and preferences, which can be significantly different from one to the other. However, various surveys and studies shed light on people’s inclinations while they are choosing a policy. This may help in determining what is important and if you should consider adding such options to your policy too.
It is worth mentioning here that everyone is individual and places a different level of importance on each coverage option or arrangement. In other words, a perfect policy for one driver can be below par or too much for another. This point has been the subject of an online auto insurance survey carried out by comScore.com. It reveals that these are the important features vehicle owners are looking for when they are shopping for a new insurance policy.
Safe Driver Discounts
54% of the participants are looking for good safe driver discounts. Some companies can offer as much as 50% savings when you have no claims or traffic tickets for five years while others may be offering only 10%. It is not easy to stay trouble free on the roads for five years in a row. This proves without a doubt that you are a safe driver and you should not be paying the same as any other driver who has a lot to prove yet.
Settling for ten percent savings would be letting yourself down. People have to remember one very important fact. They do not have to find unknown companies so that they can get inexpensive car insurance rates. Between two highly established and well-known auto insurers the premiums quoted can be substantially different. Would it really make that much of a difference if you were to be covered by the fifth largest auto insurer in the United States of America rather than the second?
The number of policyholders who care about discounts offered to good drivers would have been much higher. However, many people do not have a clean driving history and therefore these discounts would be meaningless for them.
Deductibles Amounts
47% prefer lower deductibles. This is a quite surprising outcome considering that lower deductibles usually come at a premium expense. Deductible is the amount policyholders have to pay out of the pocket for each and every claim and the rest is paid by the carrier. Each company has different ideas about them as well. Some companies keep them high but premiums low. It is great to reduce this amount.
However, if you have had no accidents for a while would you care to have a low deductible or low premium? For a driver who expects to have several accidents in the next few years it makes sense to keep the deductible low. Otherwise, drivers who are unlikely to suffer an insured loss may as well keep their money in their pocket. The savings they receive over the years would be much more than the extra deductible payment they may have to pay once in a while.
Roadside Assistance Provision
41% of people like to have roadside assistance included in their policy. Why not if it is offered free? However, there are not many things in life free and therefore, you should consider the advantages and disadvantages of having this policy separately from a real roadside assistance provider.
The first point is that a company like AAA is a proper roadside assistance service provider. They will be much of a help if you were to break down on the side of a road. Most car insurers can only provide limited service. In such cases, you want a highly trained mechanic with a van full of equipment to come and rescue you.
The second and most important issue is that they are considered service and recorded as such. However, roadside assistance you received from your insurer would be considered a claim on this policy addition and go on CLUE (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) report. This report would be recorded in the central database used by insurers when they are considering a risk.
Under normal circumstances this may not be an issue. Once in a blue moon calling for roadside assistance would not be a problem and may be expected. However, calling them a few times a year would raise a red flag. And if you have one or two accidents to go with it you may be in for a serious rate increase.
This goes to show you that you do not have to follow the common perceptions all the time when you are buying a policy. Another survey suggests that more than 50% of policyholders are not sure if they bought the right policy.
Going for the Brand Recognition
40% of motorists surveyed confirmed that they go for the brands they know. This is not surprising as they have about 70% of the market covered. Also, people see their advertisements every day on the telly. Once they see their name somehow, they may have a sense of security.
Nonetheless, people should remember that there are thousands of great companies they have never heard of. Especially if you want to bring the cost of auto insurance down you should be willing to consider several quotes from various types of companies. If one of the top insurers provides one of the lowest quotes it makes your life easier to pick them.
Furthermore, many people go for a small, local company for many reasons. They may have a special dislike for large conglomerates for political reasons. Or they may like to support a local company which means local jobs and help for the local economy.
Rental Car Coverage
38% of motorists like to see this coverage in their policy. Most automobile insurance policies extend to cars you rent as well. Generally buying insurance for the rental vehicles from the hire company can be very expensive. Having this coverage included in your policy would be great flexibility. You should check if this extension is provided within your policy as well.
You should remember that you need to have the coverage on your policy before it can be extended to rental vehicles. If you do not have collision and comprehensive coverage in your private auto insurance this cannot be extended to rentals. Also, you may still need to buy additional coverage from the rental company for loss of use if it is not included in your policy. Should you crash a rental car you will need to pay for repairs as well as the loss of revenue suffered by the company since they did not have the vehicle in their inventory to rent out.
These are some of the points motorists can use when they are considering buying a policy. Sometimes it may be hard to determine where you would start evaluating the policies on offer.