Medical Liability Mutual Insurance

The cost of insuring a car has increased by 44% between 1987 and 1994. Premiums in some states have jumped more than 75%. Rates for insurance of these big, fat SUVs - which are dangerous to others and themselves - should rise even higher.

Here are my strategies to contain premium costs ...

* Get a quote a few years. One third of all drivers report that it had at least six years after they came to a new policy. Another 20% said they had never shopped at all.

However, you could save hundreds of dollars per year comparison shopping smart. There may be more than double the price difference for identical coverage from different insurers.

What you pay depends on where you live and the ages and patterns of conduct of you and your family.

This is important - if a particular insurer is interested in insurance for people like you and your family. Even if a company quotes you a rate for astronomical coverage you request, another may want your business and offers a very good deal.

Your State Insurance Department has brochures that list cheap insurance.

* Get quotes from several insurance companies. Does not assume that the biggest company or the best known is an advantageous solution. Some of the lowest rates are offered by lesser-known local and regional insurers.

Example: A company may charge 25% to 30% less than some of the most brand-name companies that operate in the region.

Some insurers are cheaper because they are more effective and have less overhead costs than their counterparts giant. For example, get quotes from some empty (commission) companies such as AMICA Mutual Insurance Company and GEICO. The largest company, State Farm, is another good company to contact.

* If you live in a big city, try to keep your car in a suburb. Insurance premiums in cities can be exorbitant. But you can slash by as much as 50% if you keep your car outside the city limits.

This strategy only works if you use the car occasionally for fun - say the weekend and if you know someone who lives outside the city is ready to leave your car.

Warning: This provision must be legitimate. If you use the car to go to work during the week, or if you use it to drive from door to door of your apartment in your city condo ski every weekend, if you have any problems you were in an accident and the insurance company discovered the type of investment the city garage was not in good faith.

* Identify who in your family where cars drive. Doing so is particularly important if you have a driver in adolescence or someone else in the family that is expensive to insure - perhaps because of some accident.

Some, but not all, insurance companies will allow you to say that a particular driver will not be allowed to drive the most expensive car you own.

Example: By saying that your 16 years will not be allowed to drive the Mercedes family, you could save thousands of dollars per year in premiums. But then you tell the insurance company. If your teen leads the Mercedes and is involved in an accident, you would not be covered.

* Get rid of the coverage but do not skimp on the essentials. Towing and labor coverage is generally not worth it. Nor is medical coverage payment if you have good medical coverage at work.

Your health insurance should cover you and your family.

The partial ownership of your policy should take care of claims that the passengers of your car can be against you. So make sure you have plenty of liability insurance. A policy of $ 1 million umbrella is enough.

Important: It protects you against medical expenses and property.