Ah, New Year’s. A time of new beginnings. New chances. And a whole new opportunity to commit to turning your life around! This New Year, resolve to save money on your car insurance.
Statistics show that when you start talking about the Top Ten of New Year’s resolutions, saving money on car insurance is nowhere to be found! People resolve to spend more time with family and friends (instead of spending half their life at work), make time to exercise, lose weight, quit smoking, stop stressing, quit drinking, get out of debt (you’ll note that cutting up their credit cards usually isn’t in there!), learn something new and help others out. What they don’t do is resolve to save money on their insurance, and it’s the easiest resolution they could ever make!
The first step you need to take to save money on your insurance is to fix the way you drive. If you’re a speed demon on the roads, have the unfortunate tendency to ram into rear bumpers during rush hour or are overly fond of knocking back a few and then hitting the highways, you’re already in a bad spot to get a good deal on your car insurance. Clean up your driving habits like you were back in driver’s ed and your behemoth of an instructor was going to fail you for going five over the speed limit! Five years of that and you’ll knock 20% or more off your premiums without having to lift a finger.
In the spirit of improving your driving habits, when was the last time you took a driver’s improvement course? They offer these simple classes in just about every county, and it’s a great way to add positive points onto your driver’s license without breaking the bank building up your car’s security system (which we’ll talk about in a minute). Just volunteer, spend a day with a group of adults who are more than willing to poke fun at the ridiculous movies you have to watch and hit the highway as the new, improved and more responsible you!
Speaking of security systems, did you know car alarms, GPS tracking devices and fuel switches could do wonders to help you save on car insurance? It costs a lot more to replace a car after it’s been ripped off than it does to repair a dinged and damaged bumper, which means anything you can do to make it less appealing to the criminal element is a good thing. Tell your agent your car is safer than Ft. Knox, and you’ll watch the numbers spiraling down in front of your eyes.
How’s your credit? It’s a crying shame that we’re judged by a three digit number that doesn’t do anything to reflect the circumstances of our lives, but there you have it. If your credit isn’t up to par you’re going to be struggling to convince your agent you’re a responsible citizen. If you can become a model driver right across the board you’ll be able to shave 20% or more off your car insurance rates without having to think twice.
If you can’t, you’re going to spend the rest of your life paying too much for your insurance. It’s entirely up to you.
Source by Michael F. McDonough