If your goal is the lowest price, then the best way to get discount car insurance rates is to make a habit of comparing prices annually from insurers who sell insurance in Miami.
Step 1: Get a basic knowledge of the coverage provided by your policy and the modifications you can make to lower rates. Many factors that result in higher prices like your driving record and a low credit score can be amended by making minor changes to your lifestyle.
Step 2: Compare rates from direct, independent, and exclusive agents. Exclusive and direct companies can give quotes from a single company like Progressive and State Farm, while independent agents can quote rates for a wide range of companies. Start a quote
Step 3: Compare the quotes to your existing coverage to see if switching to a new carrier will save money. If you find a lower rate quote, ensure there is no coverage lapse between policies.
Step 4: Provide written notification to your current company of your intention to cancel the current policy. Submit a down payment along with a signed application to the new insurer. As soon as you receive it, place your new certificate of insurance in an accessible location in your vehicle.
The key thing to know about shopping around is to compare the same amount of coverage on each quote and and to get rates from as many auto insurance providers as possible. Doing this provides a level playing field and and a good selection of different prices.
It goes without saying that insurance companies want to prevent you from shopping around. People who get comparison quotes once a year will most likely switch auto insurance companies because there is a good chance of finding a lower-priced policy. A recent survey revealed that drivers who faithfully checked for cheaper rates saved about $860 a year compared to other drivers who never shopped around for cheaper prices.
If saving the most money on insurance in Miami is your target objective, then having some insight into the best way to quote and compare auto insurance can help you succeed in finding affordable rates.
Comparing rates for affordable coverage in Miami is easy to do. If you have a current auto insurance policy or just want to reduce your rates, follow these tips to reduce the price you pay without sacrificing coverage. Comparison shoppers only need to know the proper methods to get comparison rates from many different companies online.
The companies shown below offer price comparisons in Florida. If you wish to find the cheapest auto insurance in Florida, we suggest you get rate quotes from several of them to get the best price comparison.
Verify you’re receiving every discount
Insurance is expensive, but there may be some discounts that could drop your premiums quite a bit. Larger premium reductions will be automatically applied at the time you complete a quote, but occasionally some discounts must be inquired about before you will receive the discount. If you do not double check each discount you qualify for, you may be paying too high a price.
- Accident Waiver – This one isn’t a discount, but certain companies may permit one accident before they charge you more for coverage if you are claim-free for a certain period of time.
- Student Driver Training – Require your teen driver to successfully complete driver’s ed class in high school.
- Include Life Insurance and Save – Not all insurance companies offer life insurance, but some may give you a discounted premium rate on car insurance if you buy life insurance.
- Distant Student Discount – College-age children who live away from home at college and do not have a car may be insured at a cheaper rate.
- Pay Upfront and Save – If paying your policy premium upfront as opposed to paying monthly you can avoid the installment charge.
A little disclaimer on discounts, most of the big mark downs will not be given to the entire cost. Some only reduce specific coverage prices like comp or med pay. Just because you may think all the discounts add up to a free policy, that’s just not realistic.
Large insurance companies and a summarized list of policyholder discounts are:
- Esurance offers discounts for anti-lock brakes, emergency road assistance, DriveSense, homeowner, multi-policy, good student, and Switch & Save.
- The Hartford includes discounts for air bag, driver training, bundle, defensive driver, vehicle fuel type, good student, and anti-theft.
- AAA offers premium reductions for AAA membership discount, pay-in-full, multi-policy, anti-theft, education and occupation, and good driver.
- GEICO may have discounts that include driver training, seat belt use, anti-theft, military active duty, emergency military deployment, five-year accident-free, and multi-vehicle.
- State Farm may offer discounts for defensive driving training, multiple autos, Drive Safe & Save, accident-free, passive restraint, and multiple policy.
Before purchasing a policy, check with all companies you are considering which discounts can lower your rates. A few discounts may not apply to policies everywhere.
Three good reasons to insure your Rav4 Hybrid
Despite the fact that auto insurance is not cheap in Miami, maintaining insurance is required by state law in Florida and it also provides benefits you may not be aware of.
- The majority of states have mandatory liability insurance requirements which means you are required to carry a specific minimum amount of liability insurance in order to drive the car. In Florida these limits are 10/20/10 which means you must have $10,000 of bodily injury coverage per person, $20,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and $10,000 of property damage coverage.
- If your Toyota Rav4 Hybrid has a loan, more than likely the lender will force you to have insurance to guarantee their interest in the vehicle. If coverage lapses or is canceled, the bank or lender will purchase a policy for your Toyota at a significantly higher premium and require you to reimburse them much more than you were paying before.
- Insurance safeguards your Toyota Rav4 Hybrid and your assets. It will also cover medical bills for yourself as well as anyone injured by you. Liability coverage will also pay to defend you if someone files suit against you as the result of an accident. If mother nature or an accident damages your car, comprehensive and collision coverage will pay to restore your vehicle to like-new condition.
The benefits of insuring your Rav4 Hybrid are definitely more than the cost, specifically if you ever have a liability claim. In a recent study of 1,000 drivers, the average customer is overpaying more than $825 a year so you should quote rates at every policy renewal to ensure rates are inline.
Neighborhood insurance agents
Many drivers still like to have an agent’s advice and that is recommended in a lot of cases Good agents are very good at helping people manage risk and will help you if you have claims. A nice benefit of getting online price quotes is you can get the lowest rates and still choose a local agent. And providing support for local agencies is definitely important in Miami.
To make it easy to find an agent, after completing this short form, your insurance coverage information is sent to companies in Miami who will return price quotes for your insurance coverage. You won’t even need to do any legwork as quotes are delivered directly to you. If you wish to get a comparison quote from a specific insurance company, you can always navigate to their website and fill out the quote form the provide.
Miami auto insurance agents are either independent or exclusive
If you are wanting to purchase insurance from a local agent, there are a couple of different types of agencies and how they work. Insurance agencies may be either independent or exclusive depending on the company they work for. Either one can sell and service insurance coverage, but it’s good to learn the difference in the companies they write for since it may influence buying decisions.
Independent Agents (or Brokers)
These agents are not required to write business for one company so they can write business through many different insurance companies and find the cheapest insurance rates. To transfer your coverage to a different company, your agent can just switch to a different company and that require little work on your part.
If you are trying to find cheaper rates, you need to contact a few independent agents to get the best comparison. A lot of them also have access to mutual insurance companies which can save you money.
Listed below is a small list of independent insurance agencies in Miami that can possibly get you price quote information.
- Latin American Association-Insurance Agency
2550 NW 72nd Ave #318 – Miami, FL 33122 – (305) 477-1442 – View Map - Assure-Us The Insurance Agency
1880 NE 163rd St – North Miami Beach, FL 33162 – (305) 956-7818 – View Map - Sunshine Insurance Agency Inc
2595 SW 87th Ave – Miami, FL 33165 – (305) 559-7873 – View Map
Exclusive Insurance Agencies
Agents in the exclusive channel can only provide pricing for a single company and examples are State Farm, Allstate, and Farm Bureau. Exclusive agents cannot shop your coverage around so they have no alternatives for high prices. They receive a lot of sales training on what they offer which helps them compete with independent agents. Consumers sometimes choose to use an exclusive agent mainly due to the prominence of the brand and the convenience of having a single billing for all their coverages.
The following is a list of exclusive agencies in Miami that are able to give comparison quotes.
- Rick Burke – State Farm Insurance Agent
2250 S Dixie Hwy Ste. 2 – Miami, FL 33133 – (305) 860-0616 – View Map - Mario Obregon – State Farm Insurance Agent
6701 Sunset Dr #115 – South Miami, FL 33143 – (305) 661-7667 – View Map - State Farm: Carlos Luis
6001 Bird Rd – Miami, FL 33155 – (305) 663-2300 – View Map
Selecting an car insurance agent should include more criteria than just the quoted price. Here are some questions you might want to ask.
- Which family members are covered?
- Can they help ensure a fair claim settlement?
- Does the company use OEM repair parts?
- What are the financial ratings for the companies they represent?
- Will you work with the agent or an assistant?
- Do they have designations such as AIC, CPCU, or CIC?
- By raising physical damage deductibles, how much would you save?