How many times have you thought about lowering your car insurance costs, but were not sure where to start? Auto insurance makes up a big chunk of the cost to own and operate a car, and it is worth the time investment to shop around and find the lowest insurance rates possible. The good news is that finding cheaper car insurance is as simple as requesting quotes from multiple companies. The following information can answer some common questions regarding car insurance, and help you get started on your way to obtaining auto insurance quotes that will lower your rates.

Are Car Insurance Quotes Free?
Yes! Car insurance quotes are offered for free by a long list of quality auto insurance companies. You can obtain quotes by calling around, or search online for the websites of insurance companies that you want to purchase from. Car insurance quotes over the phone are handled by insurance agents, who typically ask you a series of questions and feed all your information into an automated quoting software system. Insurance quotes depend upon a long list of variables, and every insurance company uses its own internally-developed algorithms to assign different weights to various factors. For example, one car insurance quote for a smoker could be higher because the company assigns more risk to smokers, while
an auto insurance quote from another company will not penalize you at all for being a smoker. This is why it is so important to get multiple quotes when trying to lower your insurance costs.

Getting Multiple Quotes at Once
The downside of getting multiple quotes is the amount of time it takes to do so. Even one phone call with one agent can take 15 to 30 minutes, and you could easily burn up a whole day on the phone getting quotes. Fortunately, the Internet has made car insurance quotes super easy, and many sites allow you to enter your information and request quotes from several insurance companies all at once. Try a few of these types of sites, because each one has its own relationships with a set group of insurers, and your auto insurance quotes come from the companies with whom they have relationships. All you need to do is type your information into the online form, submit it and wait about 10 minutes for the companies to reply with automated quotes.

What Affects My Quotes?
Car insurance quotes consider a variety of different types of information about you, your car, your lifestyle and your driving history. Insurers want to know your age, the amount of miles you drive, whether your car is garaged, your previous driving history in terms of tickets or accidents, your gender and many other details. Recently, auto insurers have started also considering peoples’ credit as part of their assessment, because statistics have shown that people with lower credit ratings tend to have worse driving habits and more tickets and accidents.

Lower Your Car Insurance Quotes
Believe it or not, there are some things you can do to improve your odds of getting lower car insurance quotes. Start by finding a job close to your home to reduce mileage, and garage your car. Check out the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s annual top safety pick cars, because these vehicles come with all the latest safety innovations. They have done very well in crash tests, and insurers see them as a much lower risk, which can reward you with substantially lower car insurance rates. Try to keep your credit score high, and make sure you go to traffic school to avoid traffic ticket points whenever possible. If you need homeowner’s or renter’s insurance, find insurance companies that offer both types of insurance (many do) and get an auto insurance quote as part of a bundled policy that includes the other insurance, for a substantial rate discount. When requesting your auto insurance quotes, make sure to provide any information that can get you discounts, such as good school grades or a professional designation such as a Certified Public Accountant or a teacher. Be aggressive and try to get every possible discount you can qualify for on your insurance policy.

As you can probably see, getting multiple auto insurance quotes is an easy way to get the kind of coverage you want and need, while finding an insurance company that will give it to you at the price you want. Getting quotes every time your policy comes up for renewal helps keep your rates down as well, because insurers do not reward customers for loyalty — they save the lowest rates for new policies, so they can continue to attract new customers. So turn on your computer, set aside a few minutes, and request some free auto insurance quotes today to see how much you can save.