How to find cheap auto rates by using the discounts available to you.

How to find cheap auto rates by using the discounts available to you.

Everyone is going online these days to look for the best automobile quotations they can find. It is no secret that the Internet has made the Auto Insurance Industry very competitive. The online agents and brokers have to be on top of their game to compete with all other brokers on line.   Each have access to the majority of the Insurance Companies, who are offering the best coverage for the least amount of money.

The best way to lower your auto insurance rates are to take advantage of all the discounts the Company is offering. It is very surprising the number of people who don’t realize they are missing out on hundreds of dollars in savings. We are offering you various types of deals, discounts, and the secrets you may not know about. We have the experience that  will save you money on your automobile insurance.

Here are a few of the Auto Discounts that will help you find a great rate on your policy.

Multi Vehicle Discounts

This is the one of the more popular discounts. If you and your wife both have vehicles, the combination of both vehicles on the same policy will give you 10% -20% off each vehicle. There is another multi vehicle discount that many people are not aware of that can be used by all. If your kids live at home and have their own vehicles, insured with the same Company, they would be eligible for this multi vehicle discount on their policies. Some Insurance Companies will also include the discounts on any recreational vehicles you own.

Multi-Line Discounts

If you have your homeowners insurance with your auto insurance, you will also get a discount on the home policy as well. The kids would also be eligible for it. 

Age Discounts

One advantage of getting older is the discount they give you as you age. Most start around the age of 45-50yrs, 50-55yrs, 55yrs, and up. Once you retire, you can get even cheaper insurance as they add another age retiree discount for you.  

Automobile Alarm Systems

If you have an factory installed alarm system in your vehicle, a discount will already have been calculated into the vehicle premium. If you put in your own alarm system after you buy your vehicle, you will then be eligible for that alarm discount.  

Use of Vehicle Discounts

Each vehicle is rated according to the use of the vehicle. The lowest rate is the when the vehicle is used for pleasure only and has very low mileage per year. The rates increase for a short commute or long commute. Check your automobile mileage, guessing could cost you big difference in premium.  

Young Driver Insurance Rates

Young drivers have the most expensive rates across the country. The reason is the driving infractions and accidents. When a young male or female become 16 years of age, they are allow to get a temporary license for a year. This is to get the experience they need before they are allowed to drive on their own. It is imperative that they use a licensed driving school. There are hundreds of driving schools around, but they need  ones that offer 25 hours of classroom education and 10 hours of road experience.There are many out there so check with your local DMV for licensed approved schools.  While the driver training is important for their safety, there is a huge discount to start off which really pays for the course itself.  They also provide good student discounts with proof from your school.

Good driving discounts

If you have a superb driving history with no accident or driving infractions, you will qualify for the best rates with any insurance company. When quoting a premium for yourself, be sure to enter the correct and identical information to get the correct premiums.

Seven Good Reasons to Have Your Car Serviced Regularly

By Nicola Carroll

 

However, these drivers are only delaying the inevitable as a car or van will eventually need attention from a professional garage, often at greater cost than routine servicing. Here are ten good reasons why no-one should overlook regular professional maintenance of their vehicle.

1. Lack of routine servicing can lead to more expensive problems later - Servicing includes an oil and oil filter change. This is generally recommended between 10-12, 000 miles or every 12 months, whichever is sooner. Used engine oil has metal particles which can cause increased wear and tear on engine parts which may in turn increase the likelihood of expensive engine repairs.


2. Maintaining the vehicles value - a regularly serviced vehicle will maximise its future resale value. A full or very good part service history demonstrates to potential buyers that the car has been well looked after and is less likely to incur expensive repair bills to them after purchase.


3. Get more miles for your £££'s - Clogged fuel and air filters can reduce the fuel efficiency of your vehicle and increase your fuel costs. There are many other ways to improve your fuel efficiency such as ensuring your tyres are at the correct pressure and reducing your speed.


4. Avoid unnecessary penalty points - regular servicing will help to make sure that your vehicle stays legal and roadworthy. A tyre with a tread depth of under 1.6mm can not only attract 3 penalty points but also a £2, 500 fine for each tyre. A faulty brake light can also attract 3 penalty points and a £60 fine. These faults will also see your vehicle fail it's MOT.


5. Reduce repair bills - While some routine servicing will amount to only the changing of your oil and filters, at some service intervals you will need to replace parts that are subject to wear and tear, such as brake pads. Whilst this will lead to a more expensive service, replacing these parts before they completely wear out will save you money by avoiding later, more expensive repair bills. For example, allowing your brake pads to wear out completely will destroy your brake discs and may also compromise the brake caliper.


6. Safety - Routine servicing by a professional, skilled mechanic can make sure that your vehicle remains safe. Your service includes a visual inspection of many of the parts of your vehicle's suspension and braking systems which should pick up tell-tale signs of wear and tear before they compromise the safety of your vehicle. Worn brakes or suspension components can significantly reduce your braking distance, whilst a fractured road spring can go unnoticed to the driver but could and can displace from its seat which could cause collapse of the suspension and possibly tear the tyre open.


7. Prevent avoidable (expensive) problems - Routine servicing includes a coolant (antifreeze) check and top up. Lack of antifreeze in the coolant system in freezing conditions can cause rapid and catastrophic damage to the engine, cooling and heating components. It is just as vital to ensure your antifreeze levels are sufficient in the summer months. Lack of antifreeze in warm conditions can lead to slow corrosion within the engine, cooling and heating systems causing premature failure of the water pump, radiator, heater matrix and head gasket. All of which can mount up to pricey repairs or worse! For vehicles with a cam belt it is vital that they are changed at the recommended intervals. Failure to adhere to these intervals can and almost will incur £100's worth of damage to the valve train and associated parts. Speak to your mechanic who will be able to advise you on the cam belt interval for your vehicle.


8. Road handling and performance - Keeping your tyres in tip-top condition is a crucial aspect of your vehicles handling and performance. However, the shock absorbers also play a significant role in this area. A worn shock absorber can dramatically increase braking distance, cause premature tyre wear and cause a rattly, sloppy ride. Regular servicing will include an inspection of your shock absorbers and your mechanic can advise you on the recommended intervals for replacing them.

Whilst many drivers balk at the prospect of a spending their hard-earned cash on routine maintenance of their vehicles, failure to observe even the most basic of servicing can lead to increased repair bills, poor fuel economy and compromised safety. Finding a good local, independent garage will inevitably save you money as opposed to using a main dealer (despite their many 'fixed price' claims). A good reputable garage will be able to give you an accurate service quote and will keep you informed of any additional items they would recommend when they inspect the vehicle.

This article has been written by Nicola Carroll, a garage owner with an interest in the motor vehicle industry. For quality car servicing, repairs and MOT in Redditch visit

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nicola_Carroll

How to drive down your motoring costs

Here's how to drive down your motoring costs and find cheaper diesel and petrol prices.

Why is buying a car such a tremendous hassle?! Just click this link and find out more. http://tiny.cc/i42kx

The price of both diesel and unleaded petrol are now at record highs.

This means fuel taxes bring in record sums to HM Treasury. This is largely because taxes account for the majority of fuel prices.

Indeed, I recently calculated that, for a litre of petrol costing 135p, fuel duty and Value Added Tax (VAT) account for 81p. In other words, three-fifths (60%) of pump prices are gobbled up by taxes. This explains why unleaded petrol costs just 62p a litre in the low-tax USA.

What can you do?

For the sake of argument, let's say that you drive 10,000 miles a year in a car that does 10 miles to the litre (or 45.5 miles to the gallon). This means buying 1,000 litres of fuel per year, which cost £1,350 (assuming 135p/L for unleaded petrol).

In effect, this means that you're paying £810 a year in fuel taxes alone!

However, there are ways to pay less for your diesel and petrol.

Compare pump prices

Why waste fuel driving around to find the cheapest prices, when the PetrolPrices website does the legwork for you? This brilliant, free site will find the cheapest forecourts in your area for petrol, diesel and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). All it needs to get cracking is your postcode and how far you're willing to cruise for cheaper fuel.

Fill up when you see a cheaper petrol station

If you happen to be passing a petrol station that's cheaper than the ones in your area and you need some fuel, why not take advantage?

Grab supermarket coupons

The Big Four supermarkets - ASDA, Morrison, Sainsbury's and Tesco - occasionally provide money-off coupons to redeem at their own forecourts. Usually, these promotional vouchers give you 5p or 10p off a litre of fuel, as a reward for spending, say, £50 in-store.

For instance, a 5p/litre discount would save you £2.50 when filling up a 50-litre tank. This is a saving well worth having, but only if this exceeds any additional shopping and driving costs.

Use loyalty cards

Most petrol retailers (and supermarkets) have some kind of loyalty programme designed to encourage you to spend more and keep coming back.

You can find out more about these in The best petrol loyalty cards.

While these freebies are worth having, it's obviously not worth driving halfway across your county purely to grab reward points.

Avoid getting caught short on the motorway

Pump prices at motorway service stations are notoriously expensive so make sure you have enough fuel before setting off.

Fed up of your car costing a fortune? Why not give these tips a try and save some serious cash?

Why is buying a car such a tremendous hassle?! Just click this link and find out more. http://tiny.cc/i42kx

Cars aren’t cheap to run, and if you live in a two-car household you’re doubling those expenses. Ouch. Fortunately there are some simple things we can all do to save ourselves hundreds of pounds every year.

Fuel

If, like me, you’re shocked at the cost of fuel, make an effort to pay as little as you can for it.

By choosing where to fill up carefully you can save a few quid each time, which all adds up over a year. Sign up to sites such as Petrolprices.com – it will email you each week with the lowest priced petrol and diesel in your area.

Don’t forget to take into account the areas you pass through on your commute to work – but don’t drive miles out of your way for cheaper fuel as you may use more than you will save.

Supermarkets

And don’t forget the supermarket offers – Sainsbury’s recently issued vouchers giving a 10p/litre discount if you spent £60 or more in-store, which must be used within two weeks.

Tesco is currently offering 5p/litre discounted fuel coupons with the purchase of certain items in-store - useful if you’d buy the products concerned anyway.

And if you always pay for your fuel with a cashback credit card, you could make a little back, too.

Reduce usage

How many trips do you make each week in an empty car?

By arranging to travel with three other colleagues who live relatively close (sometimes called a car-pool) you could drive just one out of every four days, significantly reducing the wear and tear on your car, as well as fuel and parking costs. Plus it would help reduce the number of cars on the road, and pollution levels, too.

Ask around at work to see if any local colleagues would be keen to car-pool - or register with websites such as Liftshare (although obviously use your common sense and exercise caution if arranging to travel with people you don’t know).

And car-pooling is not limited to commuters – if you regularly meet up with local friends in the evening, why not take it in turns to drive?

Stay-at-home-mums who meet up each week could pick each other up. Parents could offer to collect and drop-off their kids’ friends who attend the same ballet/football/rugby session.

And why not offer a lift to someone travelling in the same direction as you at the weekend and split expenses?

Frugal driving

If you can avoid leaving home during the rush hour you can greatly reduce your journey time, saving fuel (as you won’t be queuing in stationary traffic) as well as reducing stress levels!

Smooth and gradual acceleration, driving in the correct gear, slowing down early and regularly servicing your car can all save on its wear and tear and improve your fuel economy (you could even try hypermiling).

Tyres that aren’t properly inflated can wear down unevenly, cause you to use more fuel and may even be dangerous, so check them regularly.

And emptying out any unnecessary clutter and removing the roof rack/tow bar when not required will make the vehicle lighter, and improve fuel efficiency.

Maintenance and Insurance

Garages vary widely in labour charges, especially if you maintain your car at a main dealership.

Ask for recommendations from local friends and compare labour costs to your current garage. You may be amazed at how much you can save.

And as always, shop around for car insurance quotes – insurers love to tempt us in with low prices, only to increase them dramatically the next year in the hope we’ll just accept it.

Alternative transport

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A few years ago my husband took my car for its annual MOT and was amazed to see it had barely driven 800 miles in the year. Being used only to drive to and from the railway station meant it was clocking up pitifully few miles each week, as we used my husband’s car for most journeys. Not great for the car, or our finances!

So, we worked out that I could walk to an alternative railway station if I simply left a bit earlier and made the decision to sell my car. Not only did I get a bit more exercise, we saved a fair amount of cash by not having a second car to run and insure, too.

If you have a car that is barely used, could you manage without it? Could you walk, cycle or use public transport instead? Could your partner drop you off on the way into work? Or could you arrange to use your partner’s car when he/she works from home? Could you lift-share with a fellow commuter/shopper? Does your office provide a shuttle bus?

Create a spreadsheet listing all of the costs involved in owning your car (insurance, MOT, fuel, running costs) and compare this to alternative modes of transport. Is the saving worth the inconvenience? What could you do with that cash?

Car Clubs

If you only really need a car a few times a year, hiring one when required could be a far cheaper alternative.

But if you need to make a couple of trips in a car each week, could a Car Club be the solution?

Car Clubs offer the opportunity to rent a car for as long as you need it – even on an hourly basis. Depending on how often you need a car this could save you a considerable amount of cash as compared to owning a car.

So there you have it, a number of tips to help you reduce your car costs. Take some time, put in a little effort and you could save yourself some serious cash.

Happy motoring!

The Office of Fair Trading has announced it’s looking into why car insurance premiums go up and up each year. But you don’t have to wait for its report to find out the reasons – we can tell you why right now.

Why is buying a car such a tremendous hassle?! Just click this link and find out more. http://tiny.cc/i42kx

Last week the Office of Fair Trading announced plans to look into the reasons why car insurance premiums are on the up.

The cost of comprehensive policy rose by as much as 40% in the year ending 31 March 2011 and the consumer watchdog says it wants to “establish the full facts, the reasons behind any increase, and whether there are any consumer or competition issues that need to be addressed to improve the functioning of the market.”

And so it should. This is because despite what insurers tell us about the increased cost of claims, the truth is not as straightforward and it doesn’t make insurers look good.

Personal injury claims

Shockingly, the number of bodily injury claims received by insurers rose by 72% between 2002 and 2010 – yet the number of road accidents actually fell.

This is mainly because of a scam cooked up by insurers and no-win-no-fee lawyers. Basically if you have a minor accident and report it to your insurers it will more than likely flog your details to an ambulance-chaser. For this it receives what’s known as a “referral fee”.

The next thing you know a “claims management company” will inundate you with texts and calls trying to convince you that if you’ve had an accident that’s not you fault and been injured you’ll be entitled to compensation.

They’ll often advise you to make a claim for whiplash which is notoriously difficult to prove. If you decide to go ahead the claims management company will hire a solicitor to do the legal work involved with making a claim against the other driver’s insurer. If you win the case the insurance company will have to pay up, paying you compensation and covering both sets of legal fees.

So how does the insurer recoup its losses? By increasing premiums for all its customers, of course.

Industry experts say legal fees add about £4.1billion to insurance costs – or £121 per policy.

Fortunately this month also saw justice secretary Ken Clarke announce a ban on referral fees, something ministers had previously resisted demands for.

Crashing for cash

Another reason why car insurance premiums keep going up is the increase in “crashing for cash”. This normally takes the form of a staged accident whereby two vehicles deliberately knock into each other, or a deliberate action by a motorist to force an innocent driver to crash into them, such as braking suddenly so they are hit from behind.

The cars’ passengers – and there are often several – then claim for injuries they don’t have, especially whiplash. According to the Association of British Insurers, in 2009 over 2,000 dishonest insurance claims worth more than £16million were detected every week.

And shocking statistics from Moneysupermarket back in July show that 1.3million motorists would consider staging a crash or already have done so.

But getting found out can have dire consequences. Once you’ve been convicted of insurance fraud you’ll find it nigh-impossible to get cover in the future and if prosecuted the worst case scenario could see you end up in prison.

Uninsured driving

Honest drivers who fork out for car insurance are also subsidising those who don’t bother buying cover even though a minimum of third party cover is a legal requirement in the UK.

Official figures show the cost of compensating the victims of accidents involving uninsured drivers is £500 million a year, paid for by honest motorists through their insurance premiums.

New Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) rules mean all car owners need to have insurance whether they’re driving their car or not. It is now an offence to keep a vehicle without insurance unless you have notified the DVLA that your vehicle is being kept off the road and have a valid Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN).

Sneaky fees

As well as bumping up premiums to line their own pockets, insurance companies have other ways of costing you money. For example, many insurers are also guilty of hitting drivers with sneaky fees to cover administrative tasks which in reality bear no resemblance to the actual cost incurred.

Take Admiral for instance. Its car insurance business boosted profits by 28% in the first half of 2011. But the insurer charges a raft of sneaky fees including a £17 fee for sending out new documents, £47.50 for cancelling a policy mid-term, £22.50 for cancelling in the 14-day cooling off period and £5.95 for paying by credit card.

Why is buying a car such a tremendous hassle?! Just click this link and find out more. http://tiny.cc/i42kx

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