Six Ways to Save on Car Insurance

Here's a piece from USA Today that lists six ways to save on car insurance. Their suggestions:

• Raise your deductible.
• Take advantage of discounts.
• Consult your insurance agent before you buy a car or truck.
• If you're considering switching insurers, start looking for a new policy well before your current policy comes up for renewal.
• Don't even think about driving without insurance.
• Shop around.

This is basically a good list in my opinion, but I'd list them a bit differently in order of importance. Here's my take on each of their suggestions based on my own personal experience:

1. We have our deductible as high as it can go since we only plan on claiming significant expenses on our insurance. As a result, we've upped our emergency fund to cover the higher deductible so there should be no problem if you do need to come up with it. This is a HUGE money saver. Don't believe me? Ask your agent to quote you insurance rates at various deductible levels.

2. Of course. We get safety, low mileage (on my wife's car), and multiple-policy discounts. And I regularly ask if there are any new ones that we qualify for.

3. I'm "ok" with this suggestion, but I don't love it. Up to a certain point, you can get guidance on which cars are more expensive to insure, but I don't want to be stuck with a vehicle I hate for 10 years just so I can save a bit on my car insurance.

4. Goes without saying. NEVER cancel a current policy until a replacement policy is already in place.

5. Again, goes without saying.

6. This is the best tip of all -- why did they hide it at the bottom? We regularly quote out our insurance to a few different agencies when our policies come up for review. It's a good way of seeing the going market rates as well as keeping our current insurer honest.

How about you? What car insurance saving tips do you have?