Car Insurance Rates Soar Tips to Help Drive Down Your Bill

Never has car insurance costs so much. Why is my car insurance almost the same amount as my car payment? Can someone please explain to me why car insurance is getting ridiculously more expensive? The average full coverage policy will run you more than $2,700 a year, and costs jumped over 30% in just the past two years. Industry experts say it's because cars are more expensive, repair costs are up, and there are more claims overall due to severe weather. Oh, hey, Jackie. My assistant, Jackie Balistrieri, started her policy a year and a half ago. It cost her $6,000 a year. What prompted you to start shopping around for car insurance? It was too much money. I got the email saying your policy is due for renewal, and I saw that and I was like, there is no way I should be paying this much money for car insurance. Jackie looked for an independent insurance agent. They can take your info and shop around for better deals across multiple carriers, and usually there's no added cost. She connected with Stacey Mutafis at Hometown Insurance. Stacey, can you help me lower my car insurance? Let's see what you're paying right now. Jackie was a new driver, which was the reason her insurance was so expensive, but after a year and a half on the road, she now qualified for a lower cost policy, something her insurer didn't mention when offering to renew her policy at the same rate. It was a great idea that you actually thought about that on your own to shop for insurance after a year and a half, because a lot of people will just continue paying their bill. She also recommends taking a defensive driver course. They can save you an average of 10% on your policy. Jackie completed a six-hour online course for 25 bucks. Her effort paid off big. So I was able to get you a better policy for half the price. It's about $3,500 for the year. My gosh, that's truly 50% off. While not everyone will see savings like hers, experts offer these tips. Review your policy and shop around once a year. Bundle your policies, which can save you up to 25%. And consider telematics, programs where insurance companies track your driving through a mobile app, which could save you 15 to 20%. If you're a safe driver, experts say it's worth it, but watch out, you could be dinged for bad driving. What are some of the biggest mistakes people make when they are shopping for car insurance? They don't pay attention to what coverages they're shopping for and they just take the bare minimum. Whether you work with an agent or shop on your own, remember a cheaper policy isn't always better. You went from paying $6,000 a year to now $3,000 a year for your car insurance. What are you gonna do with that extra three grand? Save it. I love to save my money. I'm gonna save it. And it's just a little bit extra that I have as a cushion now. Love that for Jackie. Experts say don't skimp on uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. That actually protects you. If you're hit by a driver who doesn't have enough insurance coverage or no insurance or in the event of a hit and run, get this, a recent report found 15% of drivers on the road today do not have car insurance. Also, you wanna take a look at your liability coverage. A lot of policies start at just $50,000, but if you accidentally hit a pricier vehicle, you will want more coverage. Bumping it up to 100,000 often costs just a few extra dollars a month. And you think about it, cars on the road these days are more expensive. You wanna have enough coverage. You saved Jackie $3,000. Listen, I wish I could take credit for it. She did a good job by hooking up with an insurance agent and just asking questions. You say you don't really check your insurance. You need to do it every six months to save money. Every six months. When the policy renewal comes up, that is a good time to shop around. Wow. It takes some work, but I mean, $3,000 is a lot of money. That's a good example. That was great. Thank you, Vicky. You bet. Mr. Roque, how often are you checking your insurance? With kids on my policy every day.