How To Get Car Insurance in 5 Steps (2023) - MarketWatch

PIP is also required in Kentucky, Maryland and Texas unless drivers reject the coverage in writing. Otherwise, PIP is optional in Washington, D.C., and the following states:

PIP is not available in any other states.

Medical Payments Coverage (MedPay)

Medical payments coverage handles medical bills for you and your passengers if you're injured in an accident. It doesn't matter if you're at fault for the accident or not.

MedPay is required in Maine and New Hampshire but is optional in nearly all other states where it's available. Pennsylvania requires MedPay if you don't have PIP.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage (UM/UIM)

Uninsured motorist coverage and underinsured motorist coverage protect you and your car if someone hits you and doesn't have insurance or enough insurance. In some states, it's required and automatically included for each vehicle on your policy. In other states, it's considered additional coverage.

How Much Coverage Do You Need?

How much car insurance coverage you need depends on a number of things, including:

1. The kind of car you drive: If it's a brand-new car or you paid a lot for it, make sure you have enough coverage to repair or even replace it. If your car is leased or financed, your finance company will likely require a minimum amount of comprehensive and collision insurance to protect the asset it still owns.
2. Where you live: The minimum amount of car insurance you have to purchase depends on the state you live in. Most states require at least liability insurance, but some require you to carry more. And if you live in a more populated urban area, you may want to increase your limits on some coverages.
3. Your financial situation: While you have the option of only buying the minimum amount of coverage required in your state, unless you have hundreds of thousands of dollars saved up, you may want to consider full-coverage car insurance. These policies generally include comprehensive, collision and liability coverage.

#3 Shop for Car Insurance

With most car insurance carriers now offering online quoting options, it's easy to shop for car insurance. You can also reach out to an insurance agent or a broker who offers policies from several companies.

Once you've compiled all of the information providers will need to know, you should collect car insurance quotes from three or more companies to compare prices and coverage. Doing these comparisons can help you get the best price for the coverage you need.

Source: Automoblog

#4 Compare Quotes From Providers

When shopping for anything, it's important to compare like to like. The same can be said about comparing auto insurance quotes. You can't compare a full-coverage policy from one carrier to a minimum-coverage policy from another because while the prices will be different, so will the amounts and types of insurance you get.

When you're shopping for auto insurance, check the following factors to make sure they're the same for each policy you're comparing:

• Coverages: Do you have the same coverages and policy limits selected?
• Deductibles: Have you selected the same deductible amounts?
• Discounts: Have you included all relevant information to ensure you're getting every discount available to you? Discounts vary from carrier to carrier. So as you're comparing, keep an eye on which discounts each insurer is offering you.

The Average Cost of Car Insurance

The national average rates for car insurance are $1,730 for full coverage and $635 for minimum coverage annually. These averages are for a married 35-year-old with good credit and a clean driving record. As you compare the rates you're being offered, it might help to consider how they stack up against national averages.

Car Insurance Discounts

Auto insurance companies offer discounts to differentiate themselves from competitors and offer lower rates to customers. When you're shopping for car insurance, there are a few common types of discounts to be aware of, namely driver discounts, policy discounts and vehicle discounts.

Driver discounts are based on you, meaning your driving history and profile as well as any relevant affiliations you might have. Examples of these are:

Policy discounts are determined by the types of policies you have and how you choose to manage them. These include:

• Multi-policy or multi-vehicle discount
• Auto-pay discount
• Paperless billing discount
• Pay-in-full discount

Vehicle discounts are based on the type of vehicle you drive and any safety features you have installed. Some examples are:

• Anti-theft-device discount
• Safety features discount
• New vehicle discount

Provide all of your information as accurately as possible to make sure you receive as many discounts as you can.

#5 Purchase Your New Policy

Now that you've shopped around, selected your coverages, compared rates and secured all of the discounts you qualify for, all that remains is to buy your car insurance policy.

When you purchase your policy, you'll be asked to select an effective date for it. This is the date the policy becomes active and begins protecting you. The best option is to have your new policy's effective date overlap with your current policy so you don't have a lapse in coverage. If you have a lapse, it will likely lead to higher rates.

Once your new policy is active, cancel your old one. Many companies offer automatic renewal when your policy term ends, so don't assume your old auto insurance coverage will end on its own after six or 12 months.