Best Car Insurance Rates in California?
Okay, California has some pretty high rates of theft among cars, so if you want to get the best car insurance policy, you need to be careful with your vehicle. One, because if you aren’t, then you are at much higher risk for having to make a comprehensive car insurance claim, and two, because if you aren’t then you will probably have to pay more on your best car insurance coverage premium. Some people think that these measures only need to be taken when you have comprehensive coverage, but this is a situation that you want to avoid all around. Here is some advice.
- But my car is already protected!
A lot of people buy a new vehicle, which comes installed with some kind of anti theft device, and they think they are good to go from there. However, these manufacturer installed devices are the most common, and thus the car thieves who have some experience know them like the backs of their hands. If you want to get lower prices on your best car insurance premium, then you need to think further than the club (also easily overcome) and perhaps get some aftermarket parts.
- Nobody would want to steal my car.
Yeah, that’s what you think. One point is that often, car thieves are not after the car itself, but they want to sell it for parts. And your car doesn’t have to be nice and new and pretty to get parts of it stolen. Air bags are stolen at a rate of seventy thousand a year, and my ex boyfriend’s ugly, junky stereo was stolen out of his fifteen year old car, and the window broken. Car thieves are out to get more than just the obvious expensive cars.
If you want a rule to go by, then older cars are pretty much of equal likelihood to be stolen, because their parts often aren’t made anymore. As for new cars, normally the ones that hit the top of popularity lists are stolen. If you want some hard numbers, check out the website of the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
Combine Home and Car Insurance Policies to Get a Lower Rate
When I lived in California for about half a year, one thing that I realized when searching for a good car insurance company was that many of the companies there weren’t dedicated to car insurance alone, but also offered things such as renter’s insurance, homeowner’s insurance, and life insurance. At the time I already had a life insurance policy back home, but since I intended on getting car insurance there and also was renting a short term lease apartment, I decided to get renter’s insurance as well.
When I combined these two policies, I received a ten percent savings on both of them, discount that I would not have received if I had gotten my car insurance from one company and my renter’s insurance from another. This is called the combined insurance discount, and it’s why it’s a good reason to get all of your insurance policies with one company. Not only is it cheaper, but it makes everything simpler as well. If you need to file a claim for your insurance as well as your homeowner’s insurance, you only have to go to one company. And you can pay all of your bills together.
In a similar vein, you can get cheaper insurance rates, although not outright discounts, when you have more than one person or vehicle on your policy. This is why most married couples see their rates go down after the wedding day, or at least it is part of the reason. If you add other members of your household to your policy, it dilutes the risk and you will see your car insurance rates drop. I found this out when I got on a policy with my roommate, but it is true for everyone.
As a final note, one thing that many people do not know about is that a lot of companies who deal in insurance offer renewal discounts. This is not necessarily a discount only for renewing your policy with them, but is usually something that you get after you have been with the same company for several years. If you find a good company that will consistently offer you the best car insurance rates, then stay with them and ask about the renewal discount. However, don’t stay with a company just for this discount when you can get better rates elsewhere.
Cheap Student California Car Insurance Rates
Reader question:
I’m a student at UCLA. How do I get the best California car insurance rate?
Gabriela
That is a great question, Gabriela.
Students like us are broke, busy, and braindead from studying half the time, so it certainly helps to know what we can do to lift some of the burden of heavy California car insurance rates. Your California car insurance rate doesn’t have to be high, though. All the same, people take it for a given that just because they are under the age of twenty five, they should resign themselves to paying $200 monthly premiums. Not so. I cut my rates by more than fifty percent in the last year alone, and I’m nowhere near my twenty five year mark. First, I suggest that you skim through some of the other posts on this site and look at the ways to save. Then, I want to introduce you to some other ways for the study burned student to save money on their California car insurance rate.
There are three main ways that you can save money on your California car insurance rate while you’re a student, and one is by sticking to your study plan, another is by sticking with your ‘rents, and the third is by sticking to your bus ticket. None of them sounds particularly fun, but none of it hurts as much as a high California car insurance rate quote, either, so if I were you I would thank my lucky stars that I got a chance to save so much on my California car insurance rate.
Now I’m going to break it down. You may not be able to do all of the suggested things, depending on what part of California car insurance rate is coming from, but you can pick and choose. First:
- Sticking to your study plan.
You shouldn’t need more encouragement to do this, but if you’re in the mood to let your studies slide and just slip through the UCLA books with a C average, think again if you want to save money on your California car insurance rate. That’s right, being a good student can get you as much as a fifteen percent discount from many California car insurance companies.
The requirement tends to be that you have either a B average or a 3.5 grade point average, and you can prove it. If you don’t have this great California car insurance rate discount, ask your insurance company ASAP.
- Sticking with your ‘rents.
Personally, I am not on my parents car insurance policy. The difference, though, between me and a lot of college students is that I’m married. If you’re an unmarried college student, you can save money on your California car insurance rate by staying on your parents policy. Your parents, probably, have better driving history and lower risk for you, so being on the same policy with them will still be costly, but will make you less risky.
You can even get on a car insurance policy with your roomate for a smaller discount. So long as you don’t go it alone.
- Sticking with your bus ticket.
Most people don’t want to ride the bus if they can avoid it, but for some it’s a great way that they can save money on their California car insurance rate. If you go to UCLA, then you should be able to take advantage of the bus system. If you combine this with the last suggestion, you can get a lower California car insurance rate by leaving your car at home with your parents, staying on their policy, and being covered whenever you come home on weekends and vacation. Most car insurance companies offer a lower California car insurance rate to your parents if you leave your car at home and go to school over a hundred miles away.
Another thing, if you have your own policy and have a car, is that you can get the low mileage discount by using the bus whenever you can and thus cutting your mileage. Other car insurance companies give discounts to people who use the bus.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
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