Between the new car smell, sleek upholstery and paint job, there are many experiences and memories you can expect to make with a new car. That being said, a brand new car does come with responsibilities, just like any other vehicle. When it comes to insurance for your brand new auto, you’ll want the best coverage available.

Shopping Around with Different Companies

As you compare different auto insurance packages and research insurance companies, you’ll see that some agencies are better equipped to insure certain vehicles than others. Just like people have opinions about cars, insurance companies are no different, only their opinions are based on statistical evidence. This includes how often your make and model breaks down, is involved in a traffic collision, or is stolen. Before a company is willing to insure you, they need to be positive that you (and your car) are not a liability risk. Your risk factor will determine the cost of your monthly premiums. Comparing car insurance quotes could help you sort out the bad coverage options from the good.

Taking Your Time

Some people absolutely dread doing anything that deals with numbers and finances. However, it only makes sense that you take your time when evaluating all of your potential risks, options, and costs for a specific quote. In other words, even if it takes you two hours to thoroughly complete your car insurance quoting comparisons, it’s well worth it if it means getting a fair deal. Your time is valuable however, so if you’re looking for a new auto insurance plan, make sure you’re protecting yourself. If you have to, pick up the phone and the old-fashioned way to see what individual insurance companies can offer you. However, it’s recommended you have some quotes to use as bargaining ammo. It could pay major dividends finding out just how bad a particular insurer wants your business.

Comparing New Car Options

Another thing to remember is that new cars also come with insurance options that don’t cover older vehicles. These options include new vehicle replacement should your vehicle be damaged or stolen. It’s one of the top perks of owning a new vehicle and it’s available under different coverage types. Though keep in mind, this option’s availability is dependent upon the specific insurance company you wish to work with. With this option, if you do have the new car replacement option and you get into an accident within the first few months of owning your new car, then your insurance company will buy you a new car to replace the one that was declared totaled by your insurance adjustor. That is a great perk (among many others available) that you can only receive with new cars under certain auto insurance packages.

When you’re shopping for a new car remember that there are more than enough ways to get ahead. Obviously a new vehicle means having to pay more money. However, you can minimize the increases you’re going to pay through continuing to shop around for new car insurance quotes that will both cost less and give you better overall coverage in the process. You have to remember that you don’t have to break the bank in order to drive around a new car. And, as long as you do your planning and quoting before you take that new car for its first spin around the neighborhood, you might even be lucky enough to pay the same amount (or less) than you were before. It’s all about finding the right company to protect you.

Comparing Car Insurance After You’ve Bought a New Car is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

Almost every other piece of personal finance advice I’ve written about I’ve implemented myself: have an emergency fund, set up a college account for my daughter early, buy value stocks, cooking dinner at home and buying a used car with cash, among other things.

Shopping for insurance is one of the easiest things to do, taking minutes online or a five-minute phone call to an insurance agent. Up until about a month ago, the last time I went shopping for insurance was about a dozen years ago when my wife and I bought a house and needed homeowner’s insurance.

Insurers often offer bundled savings, so shopping for insurance for your home is often accompanied by a quote for auto insurance. You can save at least $100 per year by buying multiple policies from the same carrier for your cars and home.

An armored truck started it all

After more than 12 years of not shopping for insurance, what finally got me checking around for prices? Dissatisfaction with our insurance company. It all started when an armored truck made an illegal left turn and hit my wife’s car, totaling her car and soon starting us down the path of shopping for insurance.

I’ll make that story as brief as I can, but the end result was saving $350 on our annual premiums for home and auto insurance. That’s not a ton of money, I realize, but it’s enough of a savings to make the switch worthwhile. And I realize that someday our current insurer may disappoint us, which may again cause us to go shopping for insurance.

It’s now something I realize I should do annually. Loyalty to an insurer, I found out, isn’t a two-way street.

What led to me shopping for insurance

Luckily, nothing major has happened to our home, so the change in homeowner’s insurance wasn’t at the top of my mind when I went shopping for insurance after an unhappy tale from our insurer, Traveler’s. Still, the price from AAA for homeowner’s insurance was about $80 less per year, so the change was worthwhile.

What led to the change from Traveler’s to AAA was the number of times Traveler’s dropped the ball with our auto insurance claim. Here’s a quick recap of the balls they dropped:

• Telling us to go after the other insurer to reimburse us for a rental car. After the accident, our claims rep told us to get a rental car for up to two weeks so my wife could drive to work, and to send her the receipt. We rented a car for nine days. After weeks of back and forth with our insurer’s subrogation department and being told that Traveler’s would go after the other party’s insurer to reimburse us, the Traveler’s rep told us in an email that it was up to use to work with the other insurer to get that money. I called the claims rep and told them this was unacceptable, that Traveler’s should be working on our behalf. She called the subrogation rep, who later sent us a check for the rental car.
• Slow responses. A claims adjustor at Traveler’s told us to sign some papers and FedEx them back quickly so that a check for the totaled car’s value could be sent to us. We did, but Traveler’s response was incredibly slow. Almost two weeks went by before we received a check, a process the rep told us would take a few days. After I asked where the check was a week after sending them the documents they needed, they discovered that it hadn’t been sent yet but would arrive in a few days via FedEx. A week later, the check arrived.
• Inexperience. From the claims rep, to the adjustor, subrogation rep and even the sales rep, I felt like I was dealing with rookies. I often knew more than they did about the process, though I admit they were helpful in a lot of areas I didn’t understand. But all of them dropped the ball at some point, either giving me wrong information, conflicting information or an attitude that they didn’t care if I left for another insurer.

What went right

The good news is that in the end, Traveler’s came through with the rental car reimbursement, a fair payout for the totaled car, and the negligent party paid our deductible. It took awhile, but I ultimately felt that Traveler’s did what an insurer is supposed to do: Make you whole.

When you get in a car accident that’s not your fault, you’re still going to end up in the red financially. There’s no way around it. Auto insurance may give you enough money to buy a car comparable to the one you lost, but good luck finding one.

Easy switch of insurers

Switching insurers was as easy as a few phone calls. I could have compared prices online when shopping for insurance, but I called AAA because I’ve been a member of its auto club for all of my driving life and I’ve had insurance with AAA before.

I also went shopping for insurance the old fashioned way by stopping at my local AAA office and asking to speak to an insurance agent. I gave her our coverage letters from Traveler’s and after about 10 minutes of plugging numbers into her computer, we had a price quote for auto and home that was $350 cheaper for a year.

A few days later we decided to go with AAA and all we had to do was sign a few emailed documents and make some payments and we were set. Traveler’s required us to sign and mail back two forms before canceling our policies.

One Traveler’s saleswoman asked why we were changing our homeowner’s policy, which I told her was because we found a lower price elsewhere.

I later contacted Traveler’s to cancel our auto insurance, but they didn’t ask why. I suspect they already knew from my request a few weeks earlier to investigate why their subrogation department was asking us to go after the other driver’s insurer to get our money.

At the end of the day, I am happy that my wife was not injured, and we made the decision to switch to another company to save money. However, with the help of a car accident lawyer this situation would have run much smoother, without any need for me to have to contact as many people that I did. In addition, if any injuries would have incurred I would have made sure to connect with personal injury lawyers to get her compensated for any pain and suffering she may have experienced.

How I Saved $350 by Finally Shopping for Insurance is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.