If you are a car owner, you need insurance. It’s not only legally required, it’s also the only smart way to protect your vehicle – as well as guard yourself from having to pay a massive out-of-pocket expense in the event of an accident.

Thankfully, shopping for car insurance has become much easier, faster and more convenient than the old days of insuring our vehicles. You may be old enough to remember the time when we would need to sit down with a local insurance agent and sluggishly go over a number of limited policy choices in person. These days, with the click of a button, we can – with little effort – find a cheap car insurance policy on the internet.

However, searching for a car insurance provider might be easy, but actually signing up for a policy is still quite a hassle. There are tons of confusing add-ons and policy options that we aren’t sure we need, and we never know if the plan we choose has all the bells and whistles we’ll end up using. Insurance jargon can throw anyone for a loop, and all the varying options out there make it hard to compare policies – let alone find cheap car insurance plans from reliable insurance providers.

Fear not – we are here to help. We’ve compiled a quick guide that will help you make the smartest choices when building your own cheap car insurance plan, all while making sure you get the right amount of coverage.

Getting Cheap Car Insurance, the Smart Way

The good news is that you don’t have to skimp on coverage to get a fair price. By choosing the right insurance provider, customizing how much coverage you get, taking advantage of the right discounts, and building your policy efficiently, you can walk away with both a low rate and high-quality coverage.

Step 1: Finding Cheap Car Insurance Companies

You see, most Americans are actually paying much more than they need to be just to insure their vehicles. Why? It’s all because so many of us don’t take the time to consider different options.

In fact, Americans overspend by about $21 billion per year – and most insurance buyers could save about $356 per year if they simply shopped around and compared plans.

All it takes is some clicking around online, and you can find cheap car insurance quotes that are much cheaper than what you would pay if you went with a big-name insurance provider.

Thankfully, we’ve done some of the work for you, and have a few dependable, cheap car insurance companies that can provide you with fast quotes online.

In fact, you can get instant cheap car insurance quotes from these providers online:

• Liberty Mutual offers competitive rates on dependable auto insurance policies, and helps you add on a number of discounts that lower your price even more – combined with top-quality standard benefits. Drivers who switched to Liberty Mutual saved an average of $509.
• For those who don’t drive much, Metromile offers reliable cheap car insurance that combines a low base rate with pay-per-mile rates from there (only available in 8 states). It’s a great option for anyone overpaying when they’re not putting many miles on their vehicle. Metromile users save an average of $611 annually!

Lower prices are out there – all you need to do is find them. Switching to a more affordable car insurance plan can save you hundreds, even thousands, of dollars per year.

The trick to saving is choosing the right company, then choosing the right amount of coverage for yourself.

Step 2: Decide How Much Coverage You Will Need

Buying cheap car insurance is simple in that you are really only picking from a short list of different types of coverage. The difficult part is choosing the right combination that can give you proper coverage while also saving you money.

Let’s go over the different types of coverage that can be part of your insurance policy:

• Collision insurance: This covers damage to your car in the event of an accident.
• Liability coverage: If bodily injuries or vehicular damage happen to another motorist, you will be covered.
• Personal injury protection: Covers medical bills for both yourself and your passengers. Remember that health insurance typically doesn’t cover you if you are in a car accident – your auto insurance will deal with that.
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist protection: If you get into an accident with another motorist who is either underinsured or completely uninsured, then this will cover damages that were caused by them (so you won’t be liable).
• Comprehensive Coverage: This type of coverage is sort of an umbrella that covers any sort of damage or losses caused by something other than another car. Weather events, falling branches, theft, and pretty much anything that would require you to submit a claim falls under this category.

While getting top-to-bottom coverage and selecting as many of these options as possible will give you the most protection, there are certainly situations where some drivers might not need one or more types of coverage.

If you have a very old vehicle, for instance, you might want to skip out on collision insurance. The monthly payments might not be worth it if, should something happen to the car, you would just buy yourself a new vehicle anyway.

Don’t drive very much? For those who don’t have a long daily commute, or simply only use their cars occasionally, you may consider excluding a piece of coverage.

Picking and choosing how much coverage you want is all about evaluating how much risk you take on as a driver, and getting an appropriate amount of auto insurance to address that risk.

Step 3: Find Out the Minimum Coverage Your State Requires

Each state in the US has minimum requirements for how much coverage drivers must hold, including your state. While shopping for a cheap life insurance policy, make sure to verify how much your state requires you to get. If you’re driving around underinsured, that carries a lot of risks – so make sure you are following the law.

Meeting these requirements is usually easy, since minimum coverage standards are often less than what a driver would buy for themselves anyway. Getting the bare minimum just to satisfy your state’s legal requirements may not be the best idea. The most important consideration is making sure that you have enough coverage, not just hitting the lower threshold of what’s legally necessary.

Step 4: Take Advantage of Bundling and Discounts

When trying to get the lowest possible rate for a car insurance policy, one of the biggest factors is the number of discounts you can take advantage of. All cheap car insurance companies offer multiple types of discounts, with different discounts for different circumstances.

Car insurance prices come down to personalization: you can lower your rate by making sure that you get the discounts that apply to you.

There are various types of discounts, and they are divided into three categories:

• driver discounts
• policy discounts
• vehicle discounts

Driver Discounts

• Affiliations: Your association with certain groups, including employers, can get you a lower premium, like:
  • Active duty military personnel
  • Federal employees
  • Fraternity/Sorority Affiliations
  • Club Membership
  • Other specific occupations, like educators
• Student Discounts
  • Good Student Discount (maintaining grades above a certain threshold)
  • College Alumni Discount
• Driving Behavior
  • Low-mileage discounts
  • Good driver discounts: based on number of claims filed, traffic violations, etc.
• Training
  • Discount for taking a driving course, like a defensive driver course

Additionally, there are discounts for homeowners, senior citizens, and low-income drivers.

Policy Discounts

• Bundling
  • Family Bundle
  • Multi-Policy Discount
    • Get more than one type of insurance (life, homeowner’s, etc.) with one insurance provider and save
  • Multi-Car Discount
    • Multiple vehicles on the same policy
• How You Pay Your Policy
  • Paperless billing discount
  • Discount for switching from a competing insurance provider
  • Discount for paying a full year’s premium payments at once
  • Early renewal discount
  • Autopay discount

Vehicle Discounts

• Green/Hybrid vehicle discount
• Anti-theft equipment discount
• Anti-lock brake discount
• New car discount

Not all insurance companies will offer every single one of these discounts, but make sure to check and see if any discount that fits your profile is offered by your chosen insurance company.

Step 5: Get Cheap Car Insurance Quotes Online

To find a cheap car insurance plan, look no further than the companies below that so many Americans already rely on to protect their vehicles at an affordable rate:

Liberty Mutual

You certainly recognize this insurance provider’s name – it’s a household brand that so many US drivers depend on for auto insurance (along with life, home, boat, pet insurance, etc.). Liberty Mutual car insurance quotes can be generated in seconds, and their website guides you through the process of finding the best cheap car insurance plan for your individual needs.

Upfront, Liberty Mutual provides well-rounded standard coverage, including bodily injury liability, property damage protection, a 12-month rate guarantee, a lifetime repair guarantee 24/7 customer support, and medical payments. On top of that, drivers can add extra protection and coverage, and even earn benefits like accident forgiveness.

Drivers who switched to Liberty Mutual saved an average of $509. Liberty Mutual customers get rewarded for driving well (up to 30% in savings), and you even save money when you buy online.

Get a quick quote from Liberty Mutual now.

Metromile

Another solid option for an online-based cheap car insurance quote is Metromile, which serves drivers in 8 states: California, New Jersey, Arizona, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Washington and Virginia. Metromile is geared toward city dwellers, and offers an affordable base rate (starting at just $29) with a pay-per-mile rate that accumulates depending on how far you drive.

At just pennies per mile driven, this is cheap car insurance done right. If you barely take your car on the road, only commute around your local area, or simply use your vehicles on the weekends, Metromile can cut your car insurance bill in half. Metromile users save an average of $611 annually!

Worried about what happens if you suddenly want to drive long distance? Don’t fret! All miles past 250 per day are free (150 in New Jersey). You’ll actually save if you’re going on a long trip.

Find out how cheap your insurance could be with Metromile.

Cheap Car Insurance Doesn’t Need to be Complicated

In only minutes, your annual car insurance costs can be slashed by hundreds – even thousands – of dollars. Many drivers have no idea how much they can be saving by simply doing a little online comparison shopping, and there’s no harm in getting a quick quote from cheap car insurance companies online to see how much you can save for yourself.

With discounted plans that reward good driving behavior and pay-per-mile policies that make urban life more affordable, there is no shortage of options when it comes to cheap car insurance plans. Don’t waste any more time overpaying for your auto insurance and find a cheaper rate today!