Is There an Easy Way to Find the Best Insurance Premium

Insurance payments can eat up a lot of the average person’s monthly budget. There’s insurance for home, your car, your health, your life, just to name a few, so it’s no wonder why many of us feel that finding the best insurance premium is a top priority. It’s about price, and fortunately, in the age of the Internet, things have gotten a lot easier in hunting for the best premiums.

How Insurance Companies Price Premiums

The biggest challenge in finding the best premiums is understanding how insurance companies calculate their prices. It seems like all insurance companies are different, making the task of getting the lowest price a real effort. There’s no set cost for an insurance premium, but for you, that’s the opportunity to get multiple quotes so you can be sure you’re getting the best deal.

For example, in health care coverage, your insurance premiums will cost more if you’re a tobacco user. You’re subject to increased risk, and therefore the cost is increased. Similarly, drivers with a poor driving record (accidents, violations or DUIs) will pay more for their auto insurance.

You’ll also pay more for better coverage. A health insurance policy that has a $1,000 deductible will have more expensive premiums than a policy that has a $5,000 deductible. Just like a car insurance policy with a $0 deductible is more costly than a policy that has a $500 one, with all other factors remaining the same.

Overall, insurance companies look at several elements to determine the premium’s pricing:

Age: for the vast majority of insurance, age is a pivotal factor in calculating your premium. In health insurance, your age translates to your overall health, as the younger you are, the less of a risk you’re to insure. The same goes with life insurance and even car insurance

Type of coverage: for insurance, it’s not a one-size-fits-all. There can be multiple different types of options for coverage to choose from. For you, the more expensive the policy is, the more compressive your coverage becomes. This is why it’s not always the best option to get the cheapest insurance because you might require more coverage for your needs. Always assess what you actually need before jumping on a low-cost policy

Personal factors: things like your claim history, your gender, marital status, lifestyle, medical history, smoking status, profession and driving record are all working components in determining your potential premium. Essentially, it’s anything that contributes to your overall risk factor is considered by your insurance provider in evaluating your cost

Turn to the Net

So, is there an easy way to find the best insurance premiums? These days, the answer is “yes.”  The Internet makes the job all too easy to get multiple quotes from different insurance companies for whatever type of insurance you’re looking for. You can find quotes within minutes for health insurance, life insurance, car insurance, and home insurance.

There are websites equipped with tools that allow you to compare multiple insurance companies at once. It’s the easiest method in finding the best insurance premium based on all of your factors because you can acquire numerous quotes within seconds at the click of a button. These online comparison tools ask for your zip code, age, your current insurer, and other pertinent factors, using this information to stack up quotes from multiple agencies.

That being said, you don’t want to overlook the local insurance companies that may be too small to offer within-minutes online quotes. Sometimes, smaller insurance companies could have better prices, but it could take a phone call and a little more of your time to find out.

Bundling When You Can

In some cases, it pays to be a returning, loyal customer. For insurance, the better discounts often directly follow the equation of how many of your needs are brought to your insurance company, adding up to a potentially worthy discount. It’s called bundling, and almost all insurance companies encourage this. For example, you’ll get a discount if you have your auto, home and life insurance with one insurance company instead of spread out across several.

Instead of lowering the amount of coverage you have, which isn’t always the smartest idea because it could put you in a hairy situation if a time comes when you need more coverage, bundling is a great way to find the best insurance premium without sacrificing the amount your policies are actually covering.

It Doesn’t Hurt to Ask

Although the Internet has become an excellent tool in lining up what’s available out there as far as insurance premiums go, there’s something about searching the old-fashioned way that never fails. If you’ve been with your current provider for a long time and feel like you’re paying too much, while wondering if you could be getting a better premium, then use your relationship with your agent to your advantage.

Your insurance agent has a purpose, and you have a relationship with them for a reason. It’s always a good idea to ask them if there’s a better deal available for you because after all, that’s their job. In the same vein, ask around. Ask your family members and friends who they use for insurance and if they’re happy with their providers. It’s an easy way to search for good premiums while relying on your close friends and family’s trusted opinions.

Keep in mind, though, that your friends have different variables that play into their overall costs, but what always remains the same is the level of customer service and satisfaction they’re receiving from their insurer. If what they’re paying in premiums is worth the cost and the sense of stability that derives from a long-term relationship with their carrier.

You might also discover that there are things you could be doing that could lower your insurance premiums. This could include an effort to bundle multiple services to nab a better-discounted rate, taking care of a few open traffic tickets that are keeping your rates higher than usual, or working to increase your credit score that could lower your overall insurance costs. The easiest way to find out is to ask.

Easy as 1, 2, 3

Insurance companies don’t keep their premiums a secret by any means. In the end, they want your business, and they’re after a long, thriving relationship with a loyal customer. That’s why it’s not difficult to search for the best premiums available to you, whether you choose to do it online, which arguably might be the fastest method.

By far, the easiest, fastest, and simplest way to check for the best insurance premium is to use online resources. There are websites dedicated to comparing insurance company premiums, making the task a shorthanded chore on the consumer’s part. A lot goes into determining an insurance premium, but it’s not as difficult as you might think to find the best one. Sometimes, being a loyal customer pays off, other times, it’s about asking for discounts and bundling, but mostly, it’s about due diligence in research. When in doubt, turn to the web.