October 29, 2011

How To Lower The Cost Of A High Car Insurance Deductible

Car insurance is something that all American drivers need, but no one likes to pay for. Car insurance will go unused for months or even years, and all the while a driver will be paying a monthly premium. If an accident does occur, a policyholder will then be responsible for paying the cost of their insurance deductible before their provider will offer any form of monetary assistance. Many drivers are now seeing their deductibles creep ever higher, and wonder what they can do to help lower their costs but still retains the basic coverage that they need. While a car insurance deductible is not as flexible as say, a car insurance premium, there are ways to help lower it. A driver needs to find out why their deductible is high. Typically, a deductible will be in the range of $500 to $1,000 - a high deductible can be anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000 or more.

In some cases, drivers choose to increase their deductible in order to lower their monthly premium, but in others, and insurance company will decide that a higher deductible is warranted. This may be because of the age of the driver, the age of the car, and may have to do with factors such as where the car is parked and how it is driven. Some of these factors can be altered in order to limit a deductible's cost.

When it comes to the age of a driver, nothing but time will help to lower a deductible, but almost all other factors are variable. If it is the age or reliability of a client's car that is causing a high deductible cost, a new car can be purchased or the current car repaired. In some cases, where the car is being parked may have an impact on the cost of the deductible - a car parked on the street will have a higher deductible than one parked in a secured garage, since the chances of something like vandalism or theft occurring will be much greater if it is left out in the open. A driver can also help lower their own deductible by improving their driving habits. In many cases, multiple tickets and traffic violations drive up the cost of a deductible, as do the number of accidents over time. By demonstrating a willingness to drive safely, not break the law and limit the number of collisions that a vehicle is involved in, a client can see their deductible drop.

A car insurance deductible is not always easy to lower, but a number of factors relating to the car, driver, and driving pattern can be altered to lower a deductible's cost.