As I repeat very often, you really can save $100s by shopping your auto insurance, home insurance, & life insurance. In order to get the most savings, you want to make sure you get every discount for which you qualify. Insurance companies & agents want to get you the best price they can offer, so you will buy their insurance, but it is not unusual for them to miss a discount when quoting you. With auto insurance, you want to make sure the car insurance company quoting you knows all your occupations, affiliations, and organizations where you are member, to make sure you don’t miss a discount. For example, Geico has about 275 organizations, which may qualify you for a Group Affiliation Discount up to 8%.
My blog post today will give you a few shopping tips, so you know where to find and how to get group auto insurance discounts. Don’t pay more than you have to because your insurance company forgot to ask you about this discount.
Here are my tips:
Check with your workplace to see if group auto & home insurance is available to you
Like group health insurance, some employers offer their employees group auto & home insurance. Unlike group health insurance, you will need to qualify for group auto or home insurance, so if you have a DUI or lots of claims, you may not qualify for the group auto or home insurance.
In fact, buying group auto & home insurance is like buying regular auto & home insurance, but you qualify for what may be a much lower group rate. Metlife is a major insurance company offering group auto & home insurance.
Ask your employer or human resources department to see if group auto & home insurance is available to you, and how you can get a price quote. If your employer does not offer group auto & home insurance, talk to your fellow employees, and encourage your employer to look into it. There should be no cost to your employer to offer it.
If you get a group auto or home insurance quote, don’t assume it is the lowest price you can get because it has a group discount. A large discount on an over-priced auto insurance policy may still be more expensive than another car insurance company’s policy. Also, you want to check and make sure the insurance company provides an acceptable level of service.
When getting auto insurance price quotes, ask about occupational or affiliation discounts
You can still get a group discount on your auto insurance, even if you don’t have group auto or home insurance available through your work.
Many insurance companies offer a discount for various occupations, or groups & organizations of which you are a member. These include professional organizations, alumni organizations, national fraternities, and just about any group you can imagine. If you are a Costco member, you may qualify for a discount with Ameriprise insurance. I called Esurance once & they gave me an auto insurance quote with a discount for having a Paypal account! You can get auto insurance discounts for being a member of a certain bank or credit union.
So, do this:
If the agent or insurance company quoting you does not ask you about your occupation or membership in organizations, ask if the insurance company offers an occupational or group affiliation discount. If they ask you or offer the discount:
1. Tell them every job you do. You may be a student or a cashier at a supermarket, not qualifying for an occupational discount, but if you do web design on the side (or maybe blogging?)it may qualify you for an occupational discount.
2. Tell them your membership in all organizations. As I wrote above, Geico has over 275 affiliate organizations, and the person quoting you is not going to know all of them off the top of their head, so have them check their database.
3. Insurance companies & agents ask quite a few questions to quote your insurance accurately, so they sometimes skip reviewing some things for the sake of time. You can make sure you get all the discounts for which you are eligible by asking the agent or insurance company to explain all the discounts they offer.
You may want to skip asking about all the discounts if the price quote is expensive. If an insurance company quotes you $1,000 every 6 months, and another insurance company quoted you $500, no occupational or group discount will get the price under $500. (But you do want to have the insurance company double check the quote to make sure the $1,000 quote is correct, and there is no discount missed which can substantially lower the price).
However, before you buy insurance, ask the company to tell you all the discounts they offer for that type of insurance, and why or why not you don’t qualify for each discount.
If you find an agent or insurance company unwilling to spend the time to do this with you, you may want to think twice about having them for your agent or insurance company. If they won’t spend a little time with you to answer your questions when you are buying insurance, how uncooperative will they be when you contact them to ask other questions, or need help with a claim?
Be on the look out for special auto & home insurance deals
I know many people hate junk mail, but it can sometimes save you money.
I once received a special offer from an independent insurance agency owned by a credit card company where I had a credit card. I contacted the agency for an auto insurance quote, and they had a great price for me. from a small insurance company I have never heard of before.
Now, I worked in auto insurance, so its hard for me to find an unfamiliar insurance company. I shop my insurance every year, so I knew I was already paying a low rate. But this insurance company saved me about another $100 a year. I checked to make sure the insurance company was reputable, and switched my insurance. When I received the policy, there were minor features which made the coverage better than my previous insurance company.
I was with them for several years. I had a claim and I was happy with how it was handled. The insurance company eventually stopped offering auto insurance in my state, but I was happy to be a customer for the time I insured with them. And I never would have found them if I didn’t respond to the mailer I received.
Do you belong to the NRA? How about AARP? Maybe AAA? These organizations all endorse or have discounted insurance programs.
I can’t promise you the same results I had, but plenty of insurance companies, like Nationwide insurance, work through other businesses to offer discounted auto & home insurance. Isn’t it worth 15 minutes of your time to see if you can save money?
Insurance companies continually refine the way they market & discount insurance. iMingle, which is still a fairly new auto insurance product, offered by Unitrin insurance, markets through social media & the Internet, and offers a sizable group discount to anyone signing up for their insurance with a friend also signing up. So, be sure to check out some of your junk mail & spam before you throw it out or delete it.
Don’t buy insurance because of a discount
The purpose of discounts, for the customer, is to get the lowest price.
Don’t get fooled by an insurance company offering lots of discounts, but still has a higher price. Shop with ALL the leading insurance companies each year, make sure they quote you all the discounts you deserve. Choose the insurance company with the best combination of price, coverage, and service for you. You don’t get anything from having a group or occupational discount and paying a higher price.
This buy line viagra cute-n-tiny.com is something we see or hear every day, whether we are browsing the internet or watching TV at home. Out of all the pills the one which provides safe resolution without the fear of online cialis purchase public speaking… than the best? Elaine Love has 30 years as an award winning entrepreneur. Sildenafil Jelly Rapidly Works to Induce Better tadalafil 50mg Erection The advance formula used in this semi liquid version is known as tadalafil the world over. They provide great offers and discounts suited for men who cute-n-tiny.com levitra sale suffer from persistent erectile dysfunction, can be helped.