View 2001 Volvo S40 Insurance Cost

Shopping for the cheapest insurance coverage is rather challenging for vehicle owners who are new to comparing and buying insurance coverage over the internet. With so many agents and insurance companies available, how can vehicle owners possibly compare each option to find the lowest price?

How your S40 insurance premiums are determined

Lots of factors are taken into consideration when you get your auto insurance bill. Most are fairly basic like an MVR report, but other criteria are more transparent like your continuous coverage or how financially stable you are.

Listed below are a few of the “ingredients” used by insurance companies to determine rates.

• Getting married can lower premiums – Having a significant other may save some money on your insurance bill. Having a spouse is viewed as being more stable financially and it’s statistically proven that married drivers tend to file fewer claims.
• Insurance rates and your vocation – Did you know your insurance rates can be affected by your occupation? Jobs like lawyers, executives and medical professionals are shown to have higher premium rates due to high stress levels and extremely grueling work hours. Other jobs such as professors, historians and homemakers have the lowest average rates for S40 coverage.
• Companies want multiple policies – Lots of insurance companies apply discounts to buyers that buy multiple policies in the form of a multi-policy discount. This can amount to 10 percent or more. Even if you already get this discount, you may still want to comparison shop to help ensure you have the lowest rates.
• Lower rates come with age – Older drivers are shown to be more cautious, statistically cause fewer accidents and get fewer tickets.Drivers with little experience are statistically shown to be more careless with other occupants in the car therefore insurance rates are much higher.
• Extra coverages can add up – Insurance companies have many additional coverages that may not really be needed if you aren’t careful. Coverages for rental car reimbursement, high-cost glass coverage, and membership fees are some examples. These may sound like a good investment when talking to your agent, but if they’re wasting money consider taking them off your policy.
• How credit history affects insurance premiums – A driver’s credit score can be an important factor in determining your rates. Insureds with good credit tend to be better risks to insure than drivers who have lower credit ratings. Therefore, if your credit history can be improved, you could save money insuring your 2001 Volvo S40 if you clean up your credit.
• An active policy claims history can cost you more – If you file a lot of claims you should expect either higher rates or even cancellation. Auto insurance companies give the best rates to insureds who are claim-free. Your insurance policy is intended for claims that you cannot pay yourself.
• Safer vehicles lower prices – Vehicles with good safety scores get lower rates. Safe vehicles result in less severe injuries and fewer serious injuries means less claims paid passed on to you as lower rates.

Earn discounts to get lower-cost car insurance quotes

Insuring your vehicles can cost a lot, but you might find some hidden discounts that could drop your premiums quite a bit. Some trigger automatically at quote time, but less common discounts must be manually applied in order for you to get them.

• Payment Discounts – By paying your policy upfront instead of making monthly payments you may reduce your total bill.
• Accident Forgiveness – but a handful of insurance companies may permit one accident without the usual rate increase so long as you haven’t had any claims for a certain period of time.
• Seat Belts Save – Drivers who require all vehicle occupants to use a seat belt could cut 10% or more on medical payment and PIP coverage.
• Claim-Free Discount – Drivers who don’t have accidents pay much less as compared to bad drivers.
• Discount for Life Insurance – Some insurance carriers give a discounted car insurance rate on car insurance if you buy a life insurance policy as well.
• Defensive Driving Course – Passing a defensive driving class could possibly earn you a 5% discount depending on where you live.
• Passenger Safety Discount – Options like air bags and/or automatic seat belt systems can receive discounts of 20 to 30 percent.
• Professional Memberships – Participating in qualifying employment or professional organizations could qualify you for a break on car insurance.

Consumers should know that most discounts do not apply to the entire policy premium. Some only apply to individual premiums such as liability and collision coverage. So even though it sounds like you can get free auto insurance, companies don’t profit that way.

A list of car insurance companies and the discounts they provide include:

• State Farm may have discounts that include safe vehicle, student away at school, anti-theft, Steer Clear safe driver discount, and Drive Safe & Save.
• Farmers Insurance may include discounts for distant student, homeowner, pay in full, good student, and teen driver.
• Geico offers discounts including multi-vehicle, emergency military deployment, anti-lock brakes, air bags, multi-policy, and seat belt use.
• American Family policyholders can earn discounts including Steer into Savings, early bird, good student, multi-vehicle, and bundled insurance.
• Nationwide discounts include defensive driving, easy pay, family plan, accident-free, multi-policy, Farm Bureau membership, and good student.
• Progressive may offer discounts for good student, multi-policy, online quote discount, homeowner, multi-vehicle, and continuous coverage.

Before you buy a policy, ask every prospective company to apply every possible discount. Discounts may not apply to policies in your state. To see a list of insurance companies that offer the discounts shown above, click here to view.

Tailor your auto insurance coverage to you

When it comes to choosing proper insurance coverage, there really is not a perfect coverage plan. Everyone’s needs are different.

Here are some questions about coverages that can help discover whether your personal situation could use an agent’s help.

• Should I drop comprehensive coverage on older vehicles?
• Will my rates increase for filing one claim?
• Does my personal policy cover me when driving out-of-state?
• When does my teenage driver need to be added to my policy?
• Will filing a claim cost me more?
• Why is insurance for a teen driver so high?
• What are the financial responsibility laws in my state?

If you’re not sure about those questions but a few of them apply, you might consider talking to an agent. If you want to speak to an agent in your area, take a second and complete this form.

Car insurance policy coverages for a 2001 Volvo S40

Understanding the coverages of car insurance can help you determine the best coverages for your vehicles. The terms used in a policy can be confusing and reading a policy is terribly boring.

Auto liability insurance – This will cover damage that occurs to a person or their property that is your fault. This coverage protects you from claims by other people. It does not cover your own vehicle damage or injuries.

Coverage consists of three different limits, bodily injury for each person injured, bodily injury for the entire accident and a property damage limit. As an example, you may have policy limits of 50/100/50 which means a limit of $50,000 per injured person, a per accident bodily injury limit of $100,000, and a limit of $50,000 paid for damaged property. Another option is a combined limit which provides one coverage limit and claims can be made without the split limit restrictions.

Liability can pay for things such as court costs, repair bills for other people’s vehicles, emergency aid and medical expenses. How much liability coverage do you need? That is your choice, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase higher limits if possible.

Comprehensive insurance – This coverage covers damage OTHER than collision with another vehicle or object. You need to pay your deductible first and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.

Comprehensive insurance covers things like falling objects, vandalism, hitting a bird, rock chips in glass and a broken windshield. The maximum payout a car insurance company will pay at claim time is the market value of your vehicle, so if the vehicle is not worth much it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) – This protects you and your vehicle when the “other guys” either have no liability insurance or not enough. Covered claims include medical payments for you and your occupants and also any damage incurred to your Volvo S40.

Due to the fact that many drivers only purchase the least amount of liability that is required, it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. So UM/UIM coverage is important protection for you and your family. Frequently these coverages do not exceed the liability coverage limits.

Collision coverages – This coverage will pay to fix damage to your S40 caused by collision with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. You first must pay a deductible then your collision coverage will kick in.

Collision can pay for claims such as driving through your garage door, sideswiping another vehicle, backing into a parked car and crashing into a building. This coverage can be expensive, so you might think about dropping it from vehicles that are 8 years or older. You can also bump up the deductible to get cheaper collision coverage.

Med pay and Personal Injury Protection (PIP) – Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance kick in for immediate expenses like prosthetic devices, chiropractic care and hospital visits. They are used in conjunction with a health insurance policy or if you are not covered by health insurance. Medical payments and PIP cover you and your occupants as well as any family member struck as a pedestrian. Personal Injury Protection is not available in all states but can be used in place of medical payments coverage

Shop smart and save

Cheaper 2001 Volvo S40 insurance can be purchased both online and from local agencies, so you should compare both in order to have the best chance of saving money. There are still a few companies who may not have rate quotes online and many times these regional carriers work with independent insurance agents.

When getting car insurance quotes online, never buy lower coverage limits just to save a few bucks. In many cases, someone sacrificed comprehensive coverage or liability limits only to find out that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. The goal is to buy a smart amount of coverage at the best cost, not the least amount of coverage.

We just presented a lot of information how to compare 2001 Volvo S40 insurance rates online. The key thing to remember is the more price quotes you have, the higher the chance of saving money. You may even discover the lowest rates are with some of the smallest insurance companies.

Additional car insurance information is available on the following sites:

• Should I Buy a New or Used Car? (Allstate)
• Rental Reimbursement Coverage (Allstate)
• Choosing a Car for Your Teen (State Farm)
• Child Safety Seats (Insurance Information Insitute)
• When is the Right Time to Switch Car Insurance Companies? (Allstate)