It goes without saying that auto insurance companies don’t want you to compare rates. Consumers who shop for lower rates are highly likely to switch companies because of the high probability of finding a policy with better rates. A recent car insurance study discovered that people who regularly shopped around saved as much as $70 a month compared to people who never shopped around for lower prices.
If finding budget-friendly Acura ILX insurance in San Francisco is your target objective, then having some knowledge of how to quote and compare auto insurance can make the process less intimidating.
If you want to save money, the best way to save on car insurance rates in San Francisco is to regularly compare prices from different companies in California.
- Learn about how auto insurance works and the things you can control to prevent expensive coverage. Many factors that are responsible for high rates like speeding and a not-so-good credit rating can be remedied by being financially responsible and driving safely.
- Request price quotes from direct, independent, and exclusive agents. Direct companies and exclusive agencies can only give prices from a single company like GEICO and State Farm, while independent agents can quote rates for a wide range of insurance providers. View prices
- Compare the quotes to your existing coverage and see if you can save money. If you find a better price, make sure coverage does not lapse between policies.
- Provide proper notification to your current company to cancel your current coverage and submit the completed application along with a down payment to the newly selected company. Once the application is submitted, safely store the proof of insurance paperwork in a readily accessible location in your vehicle.
An important note is to make sure you’re comparing the same physical damage deductibles and liability limits on every quote request and and to get price quotes from as many different insurance providers as possible. Doing this helps ensure the most accurate price comparison and the best rate selection.
Auto insurance providers offering affordable prices in California
The companies shown below are ready to provide free rate quotes in California. If more than one company is shown, we suggest you click on several of them in order to find the cheapest rates.
Lower-cost Acura ILX insurance rates in San Francisco
Car insurance can cost a lot, but you can get discounts that you may not even know about. Certain reductions will be credited when you purchase, but occasionally some discounts must be asked for before you will receive the discount. If you are not receiving all the discounts you qualify for, you are throwing money away.
- E-sign – A few larger online companies provide a small discount for buying a policy and signing up on the web.
- Accident Waiver – This one isn’t a discount, but certain companies will forgive one accident before raising your premiums if your claims history is clear for a set time period.
- Defensive Driver – Participating in a safe driver course could possibly earn you a 5% discount if your company offers it.
- Good Students Pay Less – Excelling in school can get you a discount of up to 25%. Earning this discount can benefit you well after school through age 25.
- Telematics Discount – Drivers that enable their car insurance company to look at driving manner by using a telematic data system such as Drivewise from Allstate or Snapshot from Progressive could save a few bucks if they exhibit good driving behavior.
Keep in mind that most credits do not apply to the overall cost of the policy. Some only reduce specific coverage prices like collision or personal injury protection. If you do the math and it seems like having all the discounts means you get insurance for free, it doesn’t quite work that way.
Companies and some of the premium reductions they offer include:
- Farm Bureau has savings for multi-vehicle, youthful driver, good student, driver training, renewal discount, and 55 and retired.
- MetLife discounts include good student, defensive driver, claim-free, multi-policy, good driver, and accident-free.
- Progressive offers premium reductions for online quote discount, multi-policy, multi-vehicle, good student, continuous coverage, and online signing.
- AAA may offer discounts for education and occupation, multi-car, anti-theft, AAA membership discount, good driver, pay-in-full, and multi-policy.
- American Family includes discounts for air bags, Steer into Savings, accident-free, good student, and TimeAway discount.
- GEICO policyholders can earn discounts including federal employee, multi-policy, military active duty, emergency military deployment, air bags, multi-vehicle, and five-year accident-free.
- State Farm has discounts for multiple autos, Steer Clear safe driver discount, good driver, passive restraint, Drive Safe & Save, anti-theft, and good student.
When comparing rates, check with all companies you are considering which discounts can lower your rates. Savings may not apply in every state.
Auto insurance quotes from local neighborhood San Francisco car insurance agents
Certain consumers just want to visit with an insurance agent and doing that can be a smart decision A nice benefit of comparing auto insurance online is that you can obtain lower rates and still have a local agent. Buying from local agents is important particularly in San Francisco.
To make it easy to find an agent, after completing this simple form, your information is instantly submitted to local insurance agents in San Francisco who want to provide quotes for your auto insurance coverage. There is no need to do any legwork since rate quotes are delivered immediately to you. Get lower rates without requiring a lot of work. In the event you want to get a comparison quote from a specific insurance company, you can always jump over to their website and complete a quote there.
The following are agents in San Francisco willing to provide price quote information for Acura ILX insurance in San Francisco.
- Milber Health Insurance Agent
1492 11th Ave – San Francisco, CA 94122 – (415) 564-8829 – View Map - Carrie Insurance
2126 Sutter St – San Francisco, CA 94115 – (415) 567-7660 – View Map - Wang Insurance
2620 Judah St – San Francisco, CA 94122 – (415) 731-7062 – View Map - Darlene Chow – State Farm Insurance Agent
206 Spear St – San Francisco, CA 94105 – (415) 441-1119 – View Map
Choosing an insurer requires more thought than just a cheap quote. These are some questions your agent should answer.
- Can you get a list of referrals?
- What company holds the largest book of business for them?
- Is the agent properly licensed in California?
- Will you get a loaner vehicle if you car is being repaired?
- If independent agents, which companies do they recommend?
- Is every driver in your family covered?
- Do they specialize in personal lines coverage in San Francisco?
- How much experience to they have in personal lines coverages?
Once you have received good answers to these questions and an affordable coverage quote, you have narrowed it down to a company that will service your policy. Keep in mind it’s your coverage and you can terminate your policy when you choose so never feel that you are obligated to your new company indefinitely.
Auto insurance coverage information
Learning about specific coverages of your auto insurance policy aids in choosing which coverages you need at the best deductibles and correct limits. The terms used in a policy can be difficult to understand and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording.
Auto liability insurance – This will cover damage that occurs to other’s property or people by causing an accident. It consists of three limits, bodily injury for each person injured, bodily injury for the entire accident and a property damage limit. Your policy might show values of 15/30/5 which stand for $15,000 in coverage for each person’s injuries, a limit of $30,000 in injury protection per accident, and a total limit of $5,000 for damage to vehicles and property. Occasionally you may see one number which is a combined single limit which combines the three limits into one amount rather than limiting it on a per person basis.
Liability coverage pays for things such as court costs, structural damage, repair bills for other people’s vehicles, medical services and legal defense fees. How much coverage you buy is a personal decision, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase as much as you can afford. California requires drivers to carry at least 15/30/5 but you should consider buying more liability than the minimum.
The chart below shows why buying minimum limits may not be enough coverage.
Coverage for medical payments – Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage pay for immediate expenses such as dental work, ambulance fees, nursing services and chiropractic care. They can be used in conjunction with a health insurance policy or if you lack health insurance entirely. They cover all vehicle occupants as well as if you are hit as a while walking down the street. Personal Injury Protection is not available in all states and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay
Collision coverage – Collision coverage will pay to fix damage to your ILX resulting from a collision with a stationary object or other vehicle. You have to pay a deductible and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.
Collision can pay for claims such as hitting a parking meter, driving through your garage door, hitting a mailbox, rolling your car and scraping a guard rail. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from older vehicles. Drivers also have the option to bump up the deductible on your ILX to get cheaper collision coverage.
Comprehensive coverages – Comprehensive insurance pays for damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. You first have to pay a deductible then the remaining damage will be covered by your comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive coverage protects against things such as hitting a deer, a tree branch falling on your vehicle, hitting a bird, fire damage and hail damage. The maximum payout your auto insurance company will pay is the market value of your vehicle, so if the vehicle’s value is low consider removing comprehensive coverage.
Uninsured and underinsured coverage – This coverage protects you and your vehicle’s occupants when the “other guys” either have no liability insurance or not enough. Covered losses include injuries sustained by your vehicle’s occupants and damage to your Acura ILX.
Because many people carry very low liability coverage limits (which is 15/30/5), it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage should not be overlooked. Usually the UM/UIM limits are set the same as your liability limits.
Cheap insurance premiums are possible
Some insurance providers may not have rates over the internet and many times these regional carriers work with independent agencies. The cheapest Acura ILX insurance in San Francisco can be sourced online and with local San Francisco insurance agents, so you need to compare both in order to have the best chance of saving money.
We just presented quite a bit of information on how to shop for Acura ILX insurance online. The key concept to understand is the more price quotes you have, the better your chances of lowering your car insurance rates. Consumers could even find that the best price on insurance is with some of the lesser-known companies.
People who switch companies do it for a variety of reasons including high prices, poor customer service, questionable increases in premium or lack of trust in their agent. No matter why you want to switch, choosing a new company is not as difficult as it may seem.
For more information, feel free to visit these articles:
- Liability Insurance Coverage (Nationwide)
- Who Has Cheap Car Insurance Rates for a GMC Acadia in San Francisco? (FAQ)
- Who Has Cheap San Francisco Auto Insurance Quotes for a Toyota Corolla? (FAQ)
- Who Has Cheap Auto Insurance for a GMC Sierra in San Francisco? (FAQ)
- How Much is San Francisco Car Insurance for Drivers Under 21? (FAQ)
- Who Has the Cheapest Car Insurance Rates for Used Cars in San Francisco? (FAQ)
- New Honda safety features benefit drivers of all ages (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
- Frontal Crash Tests (iihs.org)
- Vehicle Insurance in the U.S. (Wikipedia)
- Rental Car Insurance Tips (Insurance Information Institute)