It goes without saying that insurance companies want to keep your business as long as possible. Consumers who compare price quotes will presumably buy a different policy because they have a good chance of finding a cheaper policy. Remarkably, a study showed that consumers who regularly compared price quotes saved approximately $865 a year as compared to drivers who never compared other company’s rates.
If finding the best price on car insurance in San Francisco is your intention, then having some knowledge of how to compare cheaper coverage can help you be more efficient.
The easiest way to get more affordable auto insurance rates in San Francisco is to compare prices once a year from insurers that sell auto insurance in California.
Step 1: Gain an understanding of auto insurance and the changes you can make to prevent expensive coverage. Many things that increase rates like speeding and a substandard credit history can be improved by making lifestyle changes or driving safer.
Step 2: Get rate quotes from direct carriers, independent agents, and exclusive agents. Exclusive and direct companies can only quote rates from a single company like GEICO and Allstate, while agents who are independent can provide price quotes from many different companies.
Step 3: Compare the new quotes to the premium of your current policy and determine if cheaper S90 coverage is available in San Francisco. If you find a lower rate and buy the policy, verify that coverage does not lapse between policies.
The critical component of shopping around is to compare the same amount of coverage on every price quote and and to get rates from every insurance company. This enables the most accurate price comparison and a better comparison of the market.
When comparison shopping, comparing more prices will enable you to find lower pricing. Some insurance companies are not set up to provide online price quotes, so it’s recommended that you also compare price quotes from them, too.
The companies shown below offer quotes in California. If several companies are displayed, we suggest you click on several of them to find the most competitive auto insurance rates.
Why you need to buy insurance
Despite the high insurance cost for a Volvo S90 in San Francisco, maintaining insurance may be mandatory for several reasons.
- The majority of states have minimum liability requirements which means state laws require a specific level of liability protection if you don’t want to risk a ticket. In California these limits are 15/30/5 which means you must have $15,000 of bodily injury coverage per person, $30,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and $5,000 of property damage coverage.
- If your vehicle has a lienholder, it’s guaranteed your bank will require that you buy full coverage to protect their interest in the vehicle. If the policy lapses, the lender may have to buy a policy to insure your Volvo at an extremely high rate and force you to reimburse them for it.
- Insurance protects not only your vehicle but also your financial assets. Insurance will also pay for medical transport and hospital expenses for yourself as well as anyone injured by you. One policy coverage, liability insurance, also covers all legal expenses up to the policy limit if you are named as a defendant in an auto accident. If your car is damaged in a storm or accident, collision and comprehensive (also known as other-than-collision) coverage will pay to repair the damage.
The benefits of carrying enough insurance greatly outweigh the cost, particularly when you have a large claim. Unknowingly, the average driver overpays as much as $865 each year so it’s very important to do a rate comparison at least once a year to ensure rates are inline.
Get affordable rates with these nine discounts
Some insurance providers do not list all discounts very well, so we took the time to find some of the best known and also the more inconspicuous credits available to bring down your rates. If you don’t get every credit available, you are not getting the best rate possible.
- Telematics Devices – Drivers who elect to allow their insurance company to study driving manner by installing a telematics device like In-Drive from State Farm and Progressive’s Snapshot might get better premium rates if they show good driving skills.
- Anti-theft Discount – Anti-theft and alarm system equipped vehicles can help prevent theft and qualify for as much as a 10% discount.
- Sign Online – Certain companies will provide an incentive get San Francisco car insurance digitally online.
- San Francisco Homeowners Discount – Owning a home in San Francisco can get you a discount due to the fact that maintaining a home requires personal responsibility.
- Discounts for Seat Belt Usage – Buckling up and requiring all passengers to buckle their seat belts can save 10% or more off PIP or medical payments premium.
- ABS and Traction Control Discounts – Vehicles that have anti-lock braking systems are much safer to drive and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
- Discount for Life Insurance – Larger companies have lower rates if you buy a life insurance policy as well.
- Club Memberships – Joining qualifying clubs or civic groups could trigger savings when getting a San Francisco car insurance quote.
- New Car Discount – Buying a new car model can save up to 30% compared to insuring an older model.
You can save money using discounts, but most discount credits are not given to the entire policy premium. Most only apply to individual premiums such as liability and collision coverage. Just because it seems like it’s possible to get free car insurance, you won’t be that lucky.
To see a list of insurance companies that offer multiple discounts in San Francisco, click here to view.
Insurance agents are professional risk managers
Some consumers still like to go talk to an agent and that is a personal choice. A good thing about comparing rate quotes online is you can get cheap car insurance rates and still buy from a local agent. Putting coverage with local insurance agencies is still important in San Francisco.
After completing this simple form, your coverage information is immediately sent to local insurance agents in San Francisco who will give competitive quotes to get your business. There is no need to contact any agents since rate quotes are delivered directly to your email. Get lower rates and a licensed agent to work with. If you need to get a rate quote from a specific company, don’t hesitate to jump over to their website and fill out their quote form.
If you want to use local San Francisco agents, it can be helpful to understand the types of insurance agents that you can select. Car insurance policy providers can be described as either independent or exclusive depending on the company they work for.
Independent Car Insurance Agents
Agents of this type do not have single company limitations so as a result can place your coverage through many companies and find you the best rates. If they quote lower rates, the agent simply finds a different carrier and you won’t have to switch agencies. When comparison shopping, you definitely need to check rates from at a minimum one independent agency for maximum quote selection.
Shown below is a list of independent agents in San Francisco that may be able to give comparison quotes.
Jessica Liu Insurance Services
3428 Balboa St – San Francisco, CA 94121 – (415) 386-2283 – View Map
United General Insurance Agency
3150 California St Ste 4A – San Francisco, CA 94115 – (415) 922-7283 – View Map
Steven Cresci Insurance Agency
544 Golden Gate Ave – San Francisco, CA 94102 – (415) 212-8190 – View Map
View more San Francisco agents
Exclusive Insurance Agents
Agents that elect to be exclusive can only provide one company’s prices such as State Farm or Allstate. They generally cannot provide prices from multiple companies so if the price isn’t competitive there isn’t much they can do. They receive extensive training on sales techniques which helps overcome the inability to quote other rates.
Shown below is a short list of exclusive insurance agencies in San Francisco that are able to give price quotes.
Yan Lukito – State Farm Insurance Agent
5214 Diamond Heights Blvd i – San Francisco, CA 94131 – (415) 282-5558 – View Map
Lynn Petrie Lange – State Farm Insurance Agent
3717 Buchanan St #100 – San Francisco, CA 94123 – (415) 923-0192 – View Map
Jerry Verdi – State Farm Insurance Agent
408 Columbus Ave #2 – San Francisco, CA 94133 – (415) 788-7881 – View Map
View more San Francisco agents
Deciding on an auto insurance agent requires more thought than just the price. You should also get answers to these questions.
- Does the company have a local claim office in San Francisco?
- Are they in the agency full-time?
- Is assistance available after office hours?
- Are all drivers listed on the coverage quote?
- Do they reduce claim amounts on high mileage vehicles?
- Is there any savings for paying the full premium?
- Will the agent or a CSR service your policy?
Auto insurance policy coverages for a Volvo S90
Knowing the specifics of a auto insurance policy aids in choosing the right coverages and proper limits and deductibles. The terms used in a policy can be confusing and coverage can change by endorsement. Shown next are the normal coverages available from auto insurance companies.
Insurance for medical payments – Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage pay for immediate expenses such as hospital visits, ambulance fees, EMT expenses and surgery. They are used to fill the gap from your health insurance program or if there is no health insurance coverage. They cover you and your occupants in addition to any family member struck as a pedestrian. PIP is not available in all states and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay
Collision coverage – This coverage will pay to fix damage to your S90 from colliding with another car or object. You first must pay a deductible and then insurance will cover the remainder.
Collision coverage pays for claims like damaging your car on a curb, colliding with another moving vehicle, sustaining damage from a pot hole, colliding with a tree and scraping a guard rail. This coverage can be expensive, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from older vehicles. It’s also possible to bump up the deductible on your S90 to get cheaper collision coverage.
Comprehensive coverage (or Other than Collision) – This coverage pays for damage from a wide range of events other than collision. You need to pay your deductible first and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive coverage protects against things such as a broken windshield, fire damage, theft, a tree branch falling on your vehicle and hail damage. The maximum amount you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the cash value of the vehicle, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible it’s not worth carrying full coverage.
Liability auto insurance – This coverage provides protection from damage that occurs to other’s property or people. Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: per person bodily injury, per accident bodily injury, and a property damage limit. Your policy might show values of 15/30/5 that translate to $15,000 in coverage for each person’s injuries, a per accident bodily injury limit of $30,000, and $5,000 of coverage for damaged property. Alternatively, you may have one limit called combined single limit (CSL) that pays claims from the same limit without having the split limit caps.
Liability coverage protects against claims like repair costs for stationary objects, court costs, loss of income and repair bills for other people’s vehicles. How much liability should you purchase? That is your choice, but buy as large an amount as possible. California state law requires minimum liability limits of 15/30/5 but it’s recommended drivers buy better liability coverage.
The chart below demonstrates why buying minimum limits may not be adequate coverage.
Uninsured Motorist or Underinsured Motorist insurance – Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage protects you and your vehicle’s occupants from other motorists when they are uninsured or don’t have enough coverage. Covered claims include medical payments for you and your occupants as well as your vehicle’s damage.
Due to the fact that many California drivers carry very low liability coverage limits (15/30/5 in California), their liability coverage can quickly be exhausted. That’s why carrying high Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage is a good idea. Frequently these coverages do not exceed the liability coverage limits.
Cheap rates are available
While you’re price shopping online, do not buy less coverage just to save a little money. Too many times, consumers will sacrifice physical damage coverage and discovered at claim time that it was a big mistake. The proper strategy is to get the best coverage possible at the best possible price, but do not skimp to save money.
Budget-friendly car insurance in San Francisco can be sourced from both online companies as well as from independent agents in San Francisco, and you need to price shop both in order to have the best chance of saving money. There are still a few companies who do not provide online price quotes and most of the time these smaller companies only sell coverage through independent agencies.
We just covered a lot of tips how to reduce Volvo S90 insurance auto insurance rates online in San Francisco. It’s most important to understand that the more quotes you get, the better your comparison will be. Consumers may even find the lowest priced car insurance comes from a small local company. Smaller companies often have lower premium rates on specific markets as compared to the big name companies such as Allstate or State Farm.
To learn more, feel free to browse the following helpful articles:
- Where can I buy Insurance? (Insurance Information Institute)
- Who Has Cheap Car Insurance Rates for Ride Shares in San Francisco? (FAQ)
- What Insurance is Cheapest for Young Drivers in San Francisco? (FAQ)
- How Much are Car Insurance Quotes for Seniors in San Francisco? (FAQ)
- Shopping for a Safe Car (Insurance Information Institute)
- Self-driving cars won’t replace humans (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
- Property Damage Coverage (Liberty Mutual)
- Tools for Teen Driving Safety (State Farm)