Are you at wits end from being strong-armed to make your insurance payment? Your situation is no different than most other people in Ohio.
It’s safe to conclude that auto insurance companies don’t want customers comparing rates. Consumers who get comparison quotes at least once a year will presumably move their business because of the good chance of finding a cheaper policy. A recent insurance study revealed that people who compared rates regularly saved over $3,500 over four years compared to policyholders who didn’t regularly shop around.
If finding the cheapest rates on Buick Verano insurance in Columbus is your target objective, knowing how to shop for insurance rates can save time, money, and frustration.
How to find cheaper quotes for Buick Verano insurance in Columbus
The best way we recommend to find affordable quotes for Buick Verano insurance is to make a habit of regularly comparing prices from different companies who provide auto insurance in Columbus. You can shop around by following these steps.
- First, gain an understanding of how insurance works and the things you can control to prevent high rates. Many risk factors that cause rate increases like accidents, traffic tickets, and a bad credit score can be rectified by making small lifestyle or driving habit changes. Continue reading for ideas to help keep rates affordable and find additional discounts you may qualify for.
- Second, obtain price quotes from direct carriers, independent agents, and exclusive agents. Exclusive agents and direct companies can give quotes from a single company like Progressive and State Farm, while independent agencies can provide prices for a wide range of companies.
- Third, compare the quotes to your existing coverage to determine if switching companies saves money. If you find better rates and make a switch, make sure coverage does not lapse between policies.
- Fourth, give notification to your agent or company to cancel your current auto insurance policy and submit a completed policy application and payment to your new company or agent. As soon as you have the new policy, keep the new proof of insurance certificate with your vehicle’s registration.
An important part of this process is to compare the same deductibles and limits on every price quote and and to get price quotes from as many companies as you can. Doing this helps ensure an accurate price comparison and the best price quote selection.
Due to the abundance of choices for buying affordable insurance for a Buick Verano in Columbus, it is hard for the average consumer to locate the lowest price insurer.
The majority of larger companies such as State Farm and Allstate give insurance quotes on the web. Obtaining pricing for Buick Verano insurance in Columbus is possible for anyone as you just enter the coverage amounts you desire as detailed in the form. When the form is submitted, the company’s rating system gets information on your driving record and credit history and returns a price quote. This makes it a lot easier to compare rates and it’s absolutely necessary to have as many quotes as possible in order to get a lower rate.
In order to compare rates using this form now, check out the car insurance providers below. If you have your current policy handy, we recommend you copy the coverages identical to your current policy. This makes sure you’re receiving a rate comparison based on the exact same insurance coverage.
The auto insurance companies shown below provide free rate quotes in Columbus, OH. If the list has multiple companies, it’s a good idea that you click on several of them to get a more complete price comparison.
Earn discounts on Columbus auto insurance
Not too many consumers would say auto insurance is affordable, but you may qualify for discounts that you may not know about. Some of these discounts will be visible at quote time, but once in a while a discount must be asked for before you will receive the discount.
- Driver Training Discounts – Taking a course in driver safety could save 5% or more and easily recoup the cost of the course.
- Federal Employees – Simply working for the federal government can earn a discount up to 10% depending on your company.
- Columbus Homeowners Pay Less – Owning your own home or condo may earn you a small savings because it is proof that your finances are in order.
- Driver’s Ed – Require your teen driver to successfully take a driver’s education course in high school.
- Anti-lock Brake Discount – Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles have fewer accidents and earn discounts up to 10%.
Drivers should understand that some of the credits will not apply to the entire cost. Most only reduce specific coverage prices like comprehensive or collision. So even though they make it sound like all those discounts means the company will pay you, companies don’t profit that way.
A few popular companies and some of the discounts include:
- Progressive has savings for good student, multi-vehicle, multi-policy, online quote discount, continuous coverage, and homeowner.
- Farmers Insurance may include discounts for good student, pay in full, homeowner, distant student, and business and professional.
- Farm Bureau may have discounts that include safe driver, multi-vehicle, renewal discount, multi-policy, youthful driver, driver training, and good student.
- State Farm policyholders can earn discounts including Drive Safe & Save, safe vehicle, multiple policy, Steer Clear safe driver discount, and good student.
- GEICO discounts include air bags, multi-vehicle, membership and employees, five-year accident-free, good student, anti-theft, and anti-lock brakes.
- SAFECO offers premium reductions for teen safe driver, safe driver, multi-car, anti-lock brakes, anti-theft, and accident prevention training.
- Liberty Mutual has discounts for teen driver discount, hybrid vehicle, newly married, good student, and preferred payment discount.
If you are trying to find affordable Columbus auto insurance quotes, ask all the companies what discounts are available to you. Some of the earlier mentioned discounts may not be available in every state. To view auto insurance companies that have a full spectrum of discounts in Columbus, click here to view.
Three good reasons to insure your Buick vehicle
Despite the high insurance cost for a Buick Verano in Columbus, buying insurance serves an important purpose.
- The majority of states have minimum liability requirements which means you are required to buy a minimum amount of liability coverage if you don’t want to risk a ticket. In Ohio these limits are 25/50/25 which means you must have $25,000 of bodily injury coverage per person, $50,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and $25,000 of property damage coverage.
- If you have a loan on your Buick Verano, most lenders will require that you have insurance to guarantee loan repayment. If you do not keep the policy in force, the bank will be required to insure your Buick at a much higher premium rate and make you pay for the expensive policy.
- Insurance preserves both your vehicle and your assets. It also can pay for medical transport and hospital expenses for both you and anyone you injure as the result of an accident. One of the most valuable coverages, liability insurance, also covers all legal expenses up to the policy limit if you are sued as the result of an accident. If your car is damaged in a storm or accident, comprehensive and collision coverage will pay to repair the damage.
The benefits of insuring your car definitely exceed the price paid, particularly when you have a large claim. Today the average American driver is overpaying more than $855 a year so smart consumers compare quotes at every policy renewal to ensure rates are competitive.
You may need help from an agent
Some consumers prefer to talk to an insurance agent and often times that is recommended Most agents can help you build your policy and give you someone to call. A good thing about comparing insurance prices online is that you can find cheap auto insurance quotes and also buy local. And buying from local agents is still important in Columbus.
Upon completion of this short form, your insurance data is emailed to local insurance agents who will return price quotes to get your business. It’s much easier because you don’t need to find an agent on your own since rate quotes are delivered to you instantly. If you have a need to compare rates for a specific company, feel free to visit that company’s website and complete a quote there.
Car insurance agents in Columbus come in two varieties
If you want to buy auto insurance from a good insurance agency, it helps to know the two types of agencies that you can choose from. Columbus agents can be categorized as either independent (non-exclusive) or exclusive. Either can write policy coverage, but it’s worth mentioning the difference in how they write coverage because it can impact which type of agent you select.
Independent Agencies or Brokers
Agents that choose to be independent often have many company appointments so they can write business with a variety of different insurance companies and get you the best rates possible. If they quote lower rates, an independent agent can move your coverage and the insured can keep the same agent.
When searching for an agent, you will definitely want to include rate quotes from independent agents to have the best price comparison.
The following is a small list of independent insurance agents in Columbus that may be able to provide comparison quotes.
Franchise Insurance Agency, Inc.
4930 Reed Rd Suite 100 – Columbus, OH 43220 – (614) 451-2232 – View Map
Pfeifer-Ornstein Insurance Agency
3291 E Main St – Columbus, OH 43213 – (614) 235-7050 – View Map
Wolfe Insurance Group
630 E Broad St – Columbus, OH 43215 – (614) 418-5710 – View Map
Exclusive Insurance Agents
Agents that elect to be exclusive work for only one company and some examples include State Farm, Allstate, and Farm Bureau. These agents are unable to give you multiple price quotes so keep that in mind. Exclusive agents are highly trained on what they offer which helps offset the inability to provide other markets.
Listed below are exclusive insurance agents in Columbus that can give you rate quotes.
American Family Insurance – Yelena Uchiteleva Agency LLC
233 S Hamilton Rd – Columbus, OH 43213 – (614) 235-1702 – View Map
David Grant – State Farm Insurance Agent
4612 N High St – Columbus, OH 43214 – (614) 262-1055 – View Map
Gary Bepler – State Farm Insurance Agent
3246 Noe Bixby Rd – Columbus, OH 43232 – (614) 837-4379 – View Map
Finding the right insurance agent should depend on more than just a cheap quote. The questions below may impact your decision as well.
- Do they have advanced training designations such as CPCU, AAI, AIC, or CIC?
- If your car is in the repair shop, do you have coverage for a rental car?
- What will you get paid if your car is a total loss? How is that amount determined?
- What insurance companies do they recommend if they are an independent agent?
- How much training do they have in personal risk management?
Insurance coverages and their meanings
Learning about specific coverages of insurance helps when choosing the best coverages for your vehicles. The coverage terms in a policy can be difficult to understand and nobody wants to actually read their policy. Listed below are the normal coverages offered by insurance companies.
Medical expense coverage – Coverage for medical payments and/or PIP pay for immediate expenses for things like EMT expenses, X-ray expenses, funeral costs, prosthetic devices and hospital visits. They are often used to cover expenses not covered by your health insurance policy or if you lack health insurance entirely. It covers both the driver and occupants in addition to getting struck while a pedestrian. Personal injury protection coverage is only offered in select states but it provides additional coverages not offered by medical payments coverage
Comprehensive protection – This pays for damage from a wide range of events other than collision. A deductible will apply and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive can pay for claims such as hitting a deer, vandalism and theft. The most you’ll receive from a claim is the actual cash value, so if the vehicle’s value is low it’s not worth carrying full coverage.
Uninsured or underinsured coverage – Your UM/UIM coverage gives you protection from other motorists when they do not carry enough liability coverage. This coverage pays for injuries to you and your family and also any damage incurred to your Buick Verano.
Since many Ohio drivers only purchase the least amount of liability that is required (which is 25/50/25), it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. For this reason, having high UM/UIM coverages is a good idea. Most of the time these coverages are set the same as your liability limits.
Collision coverage – Collision coverage covers damage to your Verano resulting from a collision with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. You first must pay a deductible and then insurance will cover the remainder.
Collision insurance covers things such as damaging your car on a curb, colliding with a tree and hitting a mailbox. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so consider dropping it from vehicles that are 8 years or older. It’s also possible to increase the deductible on your Verano to save money on collision insurance.
Coverage for liability – This can cover damages or injuries you inflict on a person or their property that is your fault. Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. You commonly see limits of 25/50/25 which stand for $25,000 bodily injury coverage, a total of $50,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and a limit of $25,000 paid for damaged property. Occasionally you may see one number which is a combined single limit which provides one coverage limit and claims can be made without the split limit restrictions.
Liability coverage pays for claims like repair costs for stationary objects, court costs and pain and suffering. How much liability should you purchase? That is a decision to put some thought into, but you should buy as high a limit as you can afford. Ohio requires drivers to carry at least 25/50/25 but you should think about purchasing more liability than the minimum.
The illustration below demonstrates why buying low liability limits may not be adequate.