All posts by admin.

Six ways to lower Car Insurance bills

With the economy in crisis, weak job market and ever increasing prices of goods and services, everyone is looking at way of reducing extra expense. Auto insurance is a necessity if you plan to drive and it is an expensive ordeal. However, there are some tips that you can follow to reduce the cost of your insurance.

Compare and shop –
The first place and the most important step you can take to save you from paying too much for insurance is to compare prices and shop around. You can simply use the Internet to shop and compare rates from various companies. Be sure to check the reputation of the company as well as their record on Better Business Bureau to ensure that all is well. You do not want to select a company that offer you discount rates but will not come through when you need to file a claim. Therefore, it is important to deal with reputable companies.

Increase Your Deductible –
The next step after selecting your insurance company is to adjust your deductible. The deductible is the money paid out of pocket before the insurance steps in when filing for a claim. Increasing your deductible will lower your monthly payments. Thus a $500 deductible will carry a lower monthly payment compared with $250 deductible. It is important to repair minor damages yourself, as your premium will increase when you file for insurance claim.

Adjust Your Coverage –
It is best to apply for the coverage you only need. For instance, if you happen to own an older or less expensive car, then you may not need a full coverage on your vehicles. In such a case, it may be more advantageous to apply for liability. The more coverage you have, the more expensive your insurance payments will be.

Park Your Car in a Garage –
Car theft and vandalism is big issue for both the owners as well as the insurance companies. If you park your car in a secure garage, then your insurance company will be willing to lower your monthly premium because they feel that there is less risk of vandalism or theft.

Fix Your Credit Report –
Your credit report plays an important role when you apply for financing and insurance. Insurance companies like to be assured that will receive their payments every month and they prefer to deal with clients they believe are responsible. If you have poor credit, you will be charge a higher premium because the insurance companies view you as high risk. Therefore, you should look over your credit report and report any mistakes and errors to the credit bureaus as soon as possible. Removing errors from your credit report will help to improve your credit score.

Limit Your Mileage –
Drivers that put a lot of mileage on their car will also be charged a higher rate. Thus, it is smart ideas to limit your driving. There are times that it is faster and less expensive to take public transportation as well as carpool with buddies and colleagues to work. Not only will you save on gas, but you will also save on insurance.

Car Insurance Brokers Find You Competitively Priced Auto Insurance

Car insurance is necessary by law in Canada to protect yourself and others while driving. Accidents, damage and theft are a few of the reasons auto insurance is not only the law, but vital to protect you and your loved ones financially. Car insurance brokers can find you the best auto insurance at prices you can afford as well as offer you the highest level of customer service. At Breckles Insurance, our auto insurance brokers are professional, knowledgeable and reliable. A car insurance broker will take into account your budget and needs and works for you to identify all risks related to your car.

No one wants to think they will be involved in a car crash, or have their vehicle stolen or damaged. However, accidents and other incidents like theft and damage are more common today than ever, and you must protect yourself financially as well as give yourself peace of mind with the services of one of Breckles Insurance expert auto insurance brokers. Car insurance brokers can reduce your loss and risk as well as help you through difficult times with dedicated auto insurance broker services to our clients.

At Breckles Insurance, we offer various types of services to you with competitive prices and friendly, reliable service. We have over 30 insurance partner companies to serve you and are confident that one of our many expert auto insurance brokers will be suitable for you. Breckles Insurance will match you with an auto insurance broker that works to meet your needs.

Surprising Statistics on Car Insurance For Teenagers

Have you ever seen a teenager driving their car with one hand on the wheel and the other hand wrapped around their cell phone with their thumb frantically plunking on their keyboard? It happens all the time. Theres no discipline when it comes to teens and everything has to be taken care of right now. It cant wait until you get out of the car. Texting while driving is one of the leading causes of teen car accidents in the United States.

The texting-while-driving epidemic is just the tip of the iceberg. The rest of the statistics on teenagers and accidents are just as staggering. According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, for all people who get in accidents, theres a four to one ratio between teenagers and older drivers respectively. That means people from the age of sixteen to nineteen are four times more likely to be the vehicle operator in a car crash than people who are older than them.

Teenage drivers are more likely to drive erratically, follow too closely, drive too fast, fail to negotiate turns and changing lanes, neglect their mirrors, and fail to recognize hazards in the road. They are more likely to drive late hours into the night when most accidents occur and they are more likely to drink alcohol. Hey, dont get me wrong, you might not be prone to all these pitfalls, but these are the tendencies of teens as a large group. And these numbers show that, as a group, teens show evidence of their lack of control.

Car insurance companies follow the numbers to a tee. They are cared about only one statistic – their profit margin. So when a new teenager driver is looking to get into a new car and need car insurance for it, the car insurance companies automatically place that driver into a high risk category. So getting a new car insured for a teenage driver is more expensive than it is for older drivers with clean records. Car insurance companies wont need to probe any further into who the teenager is, where they drive, what hours of the day they typically drive, how often they use their car.

Although, auto insurance companies might offer some leniency for teens who reside in low risk areas of the country in cities where basically nothing bad happens. But even then, teenage car insurance is higher than it is for older drivers.

Online Car Insurance in Australia Is it a distant dream

Getting Online Car Insurance in Australia is nowhere near what it is in the UK and US markets. Over there you have all the major insurance companies and underwriters allowing online aggregators to act like a broker between them and consumer. But where are the car insurance comparison websites in Australia? Currently they only offer 1 underwriter and that is comparing apples with apples.

Over the last 5 years in Australia, competition through comparison websites has come online for a range of products including travel insurance, health insurance, gas/electricity prices, home loans and credit cards. So why hasnt the car comparison market opened up! The answer is because none of the general insurance heavy weights want to jump on board and support car insurance comparison websites.

All the quotes I have received online from a comparison site show policies from a Budget owned and underwritten policy. You are getting the same policy features and the same underwriter. In fact the only difference in most of the policies is the price and the brand name the consumer sees. The underwriter determines the risk profile of a driver and a retailer takes an arranging fee or commission. So it is important to have several underwriters when comparing. That is the true test of comparison.

Each underwriter has its own formula for pricing a policy and they can vary massively. I got online quote using the same profile and found a company could be $2000 more expensive for a particular individual but be $80 cheaper for another. These swings make it vital for more than 1 underwriter when comparing.

What needs to happen is one of the larger car insurance providers such as Allianz, Suncorp, CGU, Vero, GIO, QBE, AIG need to participate and join Budget offering comparison online. At the moment the big boy companies go through brokers to sell their product and if they went online it could kill the retail broker industry. Budget however, is a South African based company and in comparison is relatively new to the market. Unlike the others, it has used the internet and website owners to get their products to market much like Suncorp, AIG and Allianz use brokers.

Unless one of the big 5 insurance companies want to join Budget and do business with online car insurance aggregators, then it may be a while until the Australian people join the US and UK and see real online competition.

Cheap Car Insurance For Women – How to Get the Best Rates

Statistically, women have fewer accidents than men and therefore have lower insurance rates. Even so, if you’re a woman you still want to get the cheapest insurance you can. Here’s how to do just that.

Compare Rates

Because women’s insurance rates can vary as much as $1,000 between companies for the same type of policy, the first thing you need to do is to find the company with the best rates.

The quickest and easiest way to that is to go to an online insurance comparison website. There you’ll get get quotes from top-ranked companies so you can compare rates. (See link below.)

Maximize Your Discounts

Once you’re on the comparison site you’ll need to fill out an online questionnaire so you can get a quote that fits your needs. As you fill out the questionnaire you’ll be able include discounts for your policy. Here are the ones that will save you the most money:

* Increase you deductible if you can afford to pay it.

* Decline collision and comprehensive coverage if your car is worth less than your premium.

* Decline medical coverage if you already have medical insurance that covers you.

* Decline towing coverage if you have it through AAA or somewhere else.

* If you have two cars, insure them with the same company.

* Decline rental car coverage if you don’t want it.

* Include all the discounts you’re entitled to for security features like anti-theft devices, airbags, anti-lock brakes, and automatic seat belts.

Last, but not least, you’ll want to go to a consumer rating site like Epinions.com to get the inside scoop on the company you choose, to find out how they treat their customers and how quickly they pay their claims.

Visit or click on the following link to get free car insurance quotes from A-rated companies and see how much you can save. You can get more insurance tips by checking out their “Articles” section.

The author, Brian Stevens, is a former insurance agent and financial consultant who has written extensively on how to get cheap car insurance for women.