At some point you’re going to be in the market for your next car, be it used or new. If you’ve narrowed your search down to the type of vehicle you’d like to own, you should check insurance rates before you buy.

Often, we get calls from people who bought a new vehicle and gave no thought to the insurance rates. They were shocked to learn that, in some cases, their monthly premiums were more than their monthly car payments. That shock could have been avoided if they had checked first.

The main factors that influence your insurance rates are:

Your driving record
Your insurance claims history
Your credit history (in some states)
Your zip code
The cost of repairs to your car
The cost of injuries to people injured in that car

The last two items are affected by the type of car you choose. A more expensive car will typically cost more to repair, hence the higher premiums. Cars with poor safety ratings will also cost more to insure.

One of your first stops when researching a new car should be to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety for a review of your vehicle. If your car has poor ratings in any category, realize that there is potential for this to negatively impact your insurance rate. Their website is: www.iihs.org

After that, call us and we’ll be glad to obtain some quotes for your new purchase so you won’t be surprised by insurance sticker shock.

Keeping your premium in check

Once you do have your car, there are a number of steps you can take to ensure that your premium doesn’t escalate substantially later. These include:

Being smart about filing insurance claims. Do you have some minor damage to your car? Consider paying for the cost of the repair before you file an insurance claim if the cost of the repair is close to or just slightly higher than your deductible.
If you have been involved in an accident and there are injuries, file a claim without hesitation. This is a scenario where you should involve your insurance carrier immediately to help protect yourself, particularly if you believe the other driver was at fault.
Have you been pulled over and ticketed for speeding? You can often avoid having it show up on your record if you pay the fine and take a special safe-driving course offered through providers that contract with your state Department of Motor Vehicles. The cost of the defensive-driving class is far less than the increased cost to your insurance rate.
Maintain your credit/insurance score by heeding the following tips. You can also find many more online at various resources (these will also help you qualify for lower interest rates on your car loan):

– Pay your bills on time

– Avoid excessive inquiries into your credit reports

– Limit the number of credit accounts you have

– Review your credit report annually

– Limit the amount of new debt you take on

– Work with creditors to resolve outstanding balances before they are turned over to collection agencies