Feel like you have an overpriced insurance policy? Don’t feel bad because many Indianapolis drivers feel the same as you.
It’s a known fact that car insurance companies don’t want their policyholders to compare prices. Consumers who shop for lower rates are likely to switch insurance companies because the odds are good of finding good coverage at a lower price. A recent survey revealed that drivers who routinely compared quotes saved as much as $860 a year compared to those who never compared prices.
If finding the lowest price for car insurance is your ultimate goal, then having a good understanding the best way to compare coverage rates can help make the process easier and more efficient.
How to find affordable Ford Freestar insurance in Indianapolis
The most effective way to find low-cost prices for car insurance rates in Indianapolis is to compare prices regularly from providers who provide auto insurance in Indiana. Price quotes can be compared by following these steps.
First, get an understanding of car insurance and the steps you can take to keep rates in check. Many factors that cause rate increases like traffic tickets, fender benders, and a lousy credit rating can be remedied by making small lifestyle or driving habit changes.
Second, obtain price quotes from direct, independent, and exclusive agents. Direct and exclusive agents can provide rates from a single company like GEICO or Farmers Insurance, while independent agents can provide rate quotes for a wide range of insurance providers. Compare rates
Third, compare the new rate quotes to your existing rates and see if there is a cheaper rate in Indianapolis. If you find a better price and switch companies, ensure coverage does not lapse between policies.
Fourth, tell your current company of your intention to cancel your current coverage. Submit the signed application along with the required initial payment to your new insurance company. As soon as you have the new policy, safely store the certificate of insurance along with your vehicle registration.
A key point to remember is to compare identical coverages on each quote request and and to get price quotes from as many auto insurance providers as possible. Doing this helps ensure a fair rate comparison and and a good selection of different prices.
Multiple car insurance companies compete to insure your vehicles, so it’s not easy to compare every company to discover the definitive best price available on Ford Freestar insurance in Indianapolis.
It’s smart to get comparison quotes before your next renewal because rates are usually higher with each renewal. Just because you had the lowest premium rates on Ford Freestar insurance in Indianapolis a few years ago you can probably find a better price now. Block out anything you think you know about insurance because I’m going to let you in on the secrets to one of the easiest ways to find great coverage at a great price.
If you’re already insured, you will definitely be able to shop for the lowest rates using the tips covered below. Locating the best insurance company for you in Indianapolis can be much easier if you know how to start. But Indiana consumers must know the way insurance companies calculate your insurance rates and use it to find better rates.
Insurance discounts help lower rates for Ford Freestar insurance in Indianapolis
Some providers don’t always publicize all available discounts very well, so we took the time to find a few of the more well known and also the lesser-known insurance savings.
- Life Insurance – Insurance carriers who offer life insurance give a small discount if you purchase a life policy as well.
- Multiple Vehicles – Buying coverage for all your vehicles on the same insurance policy may reduce the rate for each vehicle.
- College Student – Children who are enrolled in higher education away from home and don’t have a car may qualify for this discount.
- Defensive Driver Discount – Taking time to complete a driver safety class may get you a small discount if you qualify.
- Passenger Safety Discount – Factory air bags can qualify for discounts of more than 20%.
- Discounts for Safe Drivers – Accident-free drivers can pay as much as 50% less than drivers with accidents.
As is typical with insurance, some of the credits will not apply to your bottom line cost. Most only apply to individual premiums such as collision or personal injury protection. So despite the fact that it appears all the discounts add up to a free policy, company stockholders wouldn’t be very happy.
A list of insurance companies and their offered discounts are shown below.
- GEICO offers premium reductions for anti-lock brakes, federal employee, defensive driver, five-year accident-free, and military active duty.
- Mercury Insurance discounts include age of vehicle, location of vehicle, good student, ease of repair, anti-theft, and type of vehicle.
- Farmers Insurance offers discounts for mature driver, homeowner, alternative fuel, teen driver, bundle discounts, good student, and youthful driver.
- Auto-Owners Insurance may have discounts that include student away at school, paperless, good student, company car, anti-theft, safe driver, and group or association.
- Liberty Mutual may offer discounts for preferred payment discount, exclusive group savings, multi-policy, new vehicle discount, teen driver discount, and hybrid vehicle.
- SAFECO offers discounts including anti-theft, multi-car, drive less, anti-lock brakes, and teen safety rewards.
- Progressive has discounts for online quote discount, online signing, multi-vehicle, homeowner, continuous coverage, multi-policy, and good student.
- USAA policyholders can earn discounts including multi-vehicle, defensive driver, driver training, multi-policy, safe driver, and military installation.
Check with every prospective company to apply every possible discount. Some discounts listed above may not apply to policies in your area. If you would like to view insurance companies that provide some of the discounts listed above in Indiana, click this link.
When comparison shopping, quoting more will enable you to find more affordable rates.
The providers in the list below offer free quotes in Indiana. If multiple providers are shown, we recommend you visit two to three different companies to get the best price comparison.
When should I discuss my situation with an agent?
When selecting adequate coverage for your personal vehicles, there really is no one-size-fits-all type of policy. Your needs are not the same as everyone else’s so your insurance needs to address that.
Here are some questions about coverages that can aid in determining whether or not you may require specific advice.
- Does rental coverage apply when I am renting a car?
- Should I buy more coverage than the required Indiana minimum liability coverage?
- Do I need replacement cost coverage?
- Am I covered when renting a car or should I buy coverage from the car rental agency?
- Does insurance cover damages from a DUI accident?
- Are there any extra discounts I can get?
If it’s difficult to answer those questions but one or more may apply to you then you might want to talk to a licensed insurance agent. If you don’t have a local agent, fill out this quick form or you can go here for a list of companies in your area.
Can’t I compare rate quotes from local Indianapolis insurance agents?
Many people just want to talk to a local agent and that is OK! One of the benefits of price shopping on the web is you may find cheap auto insurance quotes but also keep your business local.
To help locate an agent, after submitting this simple form, the coverage information is instantly submitted to companies in Indianapolis who will give you bids for your coverage. It’s much easier because you don’t need to search for an agent since rate quotes are delivered straight to your inbox. You can find better rates AND an agent nearby. If you need to compare rates for a specific company, you can always find their quoting web page and give them your coverage information.
Finding the right insurance company requires you to look at more than just the price. Some important questions to ask are:
- Can they provide you with a list of referrals?
- Will you be dealing directly with the agent or with a Custom Service Representative (CSR)?
- What is their Better Business Bureau rating?
- What kind of financial rating does the company have?
- Is vehicle damage repaired with OEM or aftermarket parts?
- Do they have adequate Errors and Omissions coverage? This protects you if they make a mistake.
- How much training do they have in personal risk management?
- Is working in the agency their full-time job?
Two different types of auto insurance agents
When searching for a reliable insurance agency, it can be helpful to understand the types of agencies that you can choose from. Auto insurance agencies are considered either exclusive or independent.
Exclusive Insurance Agents
Exclusive agencies normally can only provide a single company’s rates and examples are Allstate, AAA, Farmers Insurance, and State Farm. They are unable to provide other company’s prices so keep that in mind. Exclusive agencies are usually quite knowledgeable on what they offer and that can be a competitive advantage.
The following is a short list of exclusive insurance agents in Indianapolis willing to provide price quote information.
Allstate Insurance: Donald Oldham
303 N Alabama St #360 – Indianapolis, IN 46204 – (317) 687-0777 – View Map
Haleh Krauter – State Farm Insurance Agent
11204 Fall Creek Rd – Indianapolis, IN 46256 – (317) 849-9996 – View Map
Jim Grounds – State Farm Insurance Agent
4745 Statesmen Dr d – Indianapolis, IN 46250 – (317) 842-6807 – View Map
Independent Auto Insurance Agencies
These agents do not have single company limitations so as a result can place your coverage with any number of different companies and find the cheapest auto insurance rates. If premiums increase, they can switch companies in-house and you can keep the same agent.
When comparing rate quotes, you will want to check rates from independent agents to get the most accurate price comparison.
Listed below are Indianapolis independent agents that are able to give price quote information.
Shepherd Insurance and Financial Services
111 Congressional Blvd Suite 100 – Carmel, IN 46032 – (317) 846-5554 – View Map
A. I. King Insurance Agency, Inc.
8604 Allisonville Rd #210 – Indianapolis, IN 46250 – (317) 841-6004 – View Map
Burns Insurance Agency – Commercial, Personal and Transportation Insurance Specialists
1433 N Meridian St – Indianapolis, IN 46202 – (317) 377-1100 – View Map
The coverage is in the details
Understanding the coverages of auto insurance can help you determine the best coverages and the correct deductibles and limits. The terms used in a policy can be ambiguous and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording. Shown next are typical coverage types found on the average auto insurance policy.
Comprehensive coverage – Comprehensive insurance coverage pays for damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. You first have to pay a deductible and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.
Comprehensive can pay for claims like a broken windshield, theft and hitting a bird. The most you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the cash value of the vehicle, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible it’s not worth carrying full coverage.
Medical payments coverage and PIP – Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance provide coverage for expenses for things like doctor visits, funeral costs, hospital visits and X-ray expenses. They are utilized in addition to your health insurance program or if there is no health insurance coverage. It covers both the driver and occupants as well as any family member struck as a pedestrian. PIP is only offered in select states but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage – Your UM/UIM coverage gives you protection from other drivers when they are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. Covered claims include hospital bills for your injuries as well as your vehicle’s damage.
Since a lot of drivers only purchase the least amount of liability that is required (25/50/10), their liability coverage can quickly be exhausted. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage is important protection for you and your family.
Collision – Collision coverage pays for damage to your Freestar resulting from colliding with another car or object. You first must pay a deductible and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.
Collision can pay for claims such as damaging your car on a curb, sideswiping another vehicle, driving through your garage door and sustaining damage from a pot hole. Paying for collision coverage can be pricey, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from older vehicles. You can also bump up the deductible on your Freestar to bring the cost down.
Liability coverages – This coverage can cover damages or injuries you inflict on other people or property in an accident. Coverage consists of three different limits, per person bodily injury, per accident bodily injury, and a property damage limit. You might see values of 25/50/10 that translate to $25,000 bodily injury coverage, a per accident bodily injury limit of $50,000, and a total limit of $10,000 for damage to vehicles and property.
Liability insurance covers things such as repair bills for other people’s vehicles, medical services, structural damage and emergency aid. How much liability should you purchase? That is up to you, but buy as large an amount as possible. Indiana requires minimum liability limits of 25/50/10 but drivers should carry higher limits.
The chart below demonstrates why buying minimum limits may not be high enough to adequately cover claims.
Car insurance savings summarized
Lower-priced car insurance in Indianapolis can be sourced both online in addition to many Indianapolis insurance agents, and you need to comparison shop both so you have a total pricing picture. Some companies may not provide online rate quotes and many times these smaller companies only sell through independent insurance agencies.
When buying insurance coverage, never buy less coverage just to save a little money. There are too many instances where an insured cut liability limits or collision coverage only to discover later that saving that couple of dollars actually costed them tens of thousands. Your strategy should be to purchase plenty of coverage at a price you can afford, but do not skimp to save money.
In this article, we presented quite a bit of information on how to reduce Ford Freestar insurance auto insurance rates online in Indianapolis. It’s most important to understand that the more rate quotes you have, the better your chances of lowering your premium rates. You may even find the most savings is with a small local company. They can often insure niche markets at a lower cost compared to the large companies like GEICO and State Farm.
How to save on Ford Freestar insurance in Indianapolis
The best way to get cheaper car insurance rates in Indianapolis is to make a habit of comparing prices annually from companies that insure vehicles in Indiana.
- Get an understanding of how companies set rates and the measures you can control to prevent rate increases. Many risk factors that result in higher rates like your driving record and an imperfect credit rating can be controlled by making small lifestyle or driving habit changes.
- Obtain price quotes from direct carriers, independent agents, and exclusive agents. Direct companies and exclusive agencies can only quote rates from a single company like Progressive or Allstate, while independent agencies can provide prices from many different companies.
- Compare the new quotes to your current policy to see if a cheaper rate is available. If you find a lower rate, make sure coverage is continuous and does not lapse.
- Provide adequate notice to your current company of your intent to cancel your current coverage. Submit a down payment and signed policy application to the new insurer. Once the paperwork is finalized, put the new certificate of insurance somewhere easily accessible.
The key thing to remember is that you’ll want to make sure you compare similar limits and deductibles on every price quote and and to get price estimates from all possible companies. This guarantees an apples-to-apples comparison and the best price quote selection.
Additional car insurance information can be found below:
- Tools for Teen Driving Safety (State Farm)
- Who Has the Cheapest Car Insurance Rates for Felons in Indianapolis? (FAQ)
- Who Has the Cheapest Auto Insurance for a Toyota 4Runner in Indianapolis? (FAQ)
- How Much are Indianapolis Auto Insurance Quotes for a Ford Explorer? (FAQ)
- What is Gap Insurance? (Insurance Information Institute)
- Auto Insurance for Teen Drivers (Insurance Information Institute)