Does one insurance company have better benefits than another? If you listen to car insurance commercials, it’s easy to believe they do. The reality, however, is that many of the most commonly advertised insurance features are available from multiple companies – not just one. In this post, we’ll talk about several well-known insurance benefits and whether they could be right for you.
Name Your Price Tool
At first glance, it may seem like a good idea, but using this tool could end up costing you much more than you save. That is because Progressive’s Name Your Price Tool allows you to find a price you like by drastically reducing or even eliminating certain types of coverage on your policy. Instead of prioritizing your coverage needs and minimizing your risks, this tool highlights the cost of coverage as the main concern.
Here at Smart Move Insurance, we put our customers first. That means looking out for your best interests and avoiding scenarios that could leave you under-insured. Don’t take your coverage into your own hands. Instead, always work with an independent agent to find competitive rates without sacrificing the quality of your coverage.
Accident Forgiveness
Forgiveness is a good thing – especially when it comes to car accidents. Allstate’s Accident Forgiveness program promises that your rates will not go up the first time you cause an accident. So what’s the catch? This benefit is only available if you enroll in Accident Forgiveness, which comes at an additional cost. Fortunately, Allstate is not the only insurance company offering this type of protection. Acuity, Nationwide, Liberty Mutual, Progressive, Travelers, and The Hartford are just a few examples of insurers that offer some type of accident forgiveness.
Here at Smart Move Insurance, we shop and compare rates from multiple insurers – including those that are willing to eliminate penalties and surcharges for first-time accidents. Some insurers, such as Integrity Insurance, even offer this additional coverage at no-cost for certain customers.
Bundle and Save
Buying in bulk can save a bundle; at least that’s what the Progressive commercials say. Bundle-and-save discounts are frequently advertised in an attempt to garner more business from existing insurance customers. Although Progressive publicizes their bundling discounts perhaps more than anyone else, the truth is nearly any carrier will offer you a discount if you let them insure both your home and vehicle. Most insurance companies offer discounts for home and auto or renters and auto, and some may even throw in extra discounts if you have an RV, motorcycle, or boat to insure. To find out which company can offer you the most beneficial bundling discounts, contact an independent agent at Smart Move Insurance today.
New Car Replacement
If you buy a new car, the last thing on your mind is having to replace it right away. However, accidents do happen, and sometimes cars are totaled in the first year of ownership. Since vehicles quickly depreciate once driven off the lot, a standard insurance policy may only reimburse drivers for the actual cash value, which is usually a fraction of the car’s original cost.
Liberty Mutual advertises to new car owners with its New Car Replacement program, which promises to replace your totaled vehicle with a brand new one when it is less than a year old and has fewer than 15,000 miles. The company also offers a Better Car Replacement program, which guarantees a car that is a model year newer and has 15,000 fewer miles on it than your old one.
Drivers interested in new car replacement or better car replacement have many options when it comes to insurers. Besides Liberty Mutual, several other insurance companies feature similar and perhaps better protection. Travelers Insurance, for example, goes beyond the first year of ownership to provide new car replacement protection for a full five years.
Roadside Assistance
If you’ve ever had a flat tire in the middle of the night or run out of fuel on the highway, you know how dangerous vehicle emergencies can be. Whether you commute long distances or have other drivers on your policies you want to protect, Roadside Assistance can get you rolling again, 24-hours a day. Liberty Mutual has been advertising this feature frequently as of late, but the truth is nearly all insurance companies offer some type of roadside assistance coverage.
Discount Double-Check
When you purchase an insurance policy, you can only hope you are getting all the discounts you qualify for. State Farm’s Discount Double-Check ads are designed to make you question whether you are really getting the low rates you deserve. They promise to double-check for any discounts that may have otherwise been overlooked.
While any agent can double-check for discounts, State Farm agents are limited to double-checking for discounts from State Farm only, severely limiting your options. Here at Smart Move Insurance, we hunt for discounts from multiple insurers – not just one.
Safe Driving Bonus Check
When you hear someone talk about a Safe Driver Bonus Check, you can probably hear the famous Allstate commercial voice echoing the phrase inside your head. Everyone likes to be recognized for their efforts – especially when the recognition comes with a monetary reward. With the Safe Driver Bonus Check, drivers receive a check every six months that they remain accident-free so long as they are enrolled in the Your Choice Auto Program. This program generally requires good credit and a clean driving record. It also comes at an additional cost.
Drivers who manage to get the check are really just receiving a reimbursement of up to 5 percent of premiums paid during the policy period. While it can be nice to get a check in the mail, other insurers offer upfront premium discounts for safe drivers – all at no additional cost.
GAP Protection
We’ll finish our post with a lesser advertised feature that is well-known among drivers. If you buy a new car and finance part or all of your purchase, you can expect to hear a pitch for GAP insurance. Dealers and lenders often sell GAP insurance to help ensure the balance of your vehicle loan is paid in full if you total your car in an accident. Most new vehicles depreciate quickly after purchase, and insurance companies only cover cars for their actual cash value. If you total your car within the first few years of ownership, GAP protection could save you thousands of dollars.
However, car insurance companies also sell GAP protection, and in many cases, it is the better choice. It’s not that dealer and lender-offered GAP insurance is bad; but rather that it typically requires upfront payment of premiums for the life of the loan – including the latter years when you may no longer need the coverage. When you purchase GAP coverage from your insurer instead, you can save money by dropping the coverage as soon as your loan balance catches up to your car’s valuation.
It’s easy to see how confusing car insurance advertising can be. Here at Smart Move Insurance, our job is to sort through all the noise and point you in the right direction. Call us for help understanding the various types of advertised insurance features and what they really mean for you.
