Save on 1997 Toyota RAV4 Insurance Rates

No car owner likes buying insurance coverage, especially when they are aware that it costs too dang much.

Many auto insurance companies compete to insure your vehicles, so it’s not easy to compare every insurer and uncover the absolute lowest rate

If you currently have a car insurance policy, you should be able to save some money using this information. Finding the best rates is easy if you know what you’re doing. But consumers should learn how insurance companies market on the web because it can help you find the best coverage.

Informed consumers save every year

Many factors are used when quoting car insurance. Some are obvious such as traffic violations, but some are more transparent like where you live or how financially stable you are.

The following are most of the major factors utilized by car insurance companies to help set your rate level.

• Maintain auto insurance coverage – Not maintaining insurance is a big no-no and any future policy may cost more because you let your insurance lapse. Not only will you pay higher rates, being ticketed for driving with no insurance could result in a hefty fine and possibly a revoked license.
• Lower auto insurance rates with alarm systems – Buying a car with a theft deterrent system can help lower your premiums. Theft prevention devices such as OnStar, LoJack tracking, and tamper alarms all hinder car theft and help bring rates down.
• More traffic means higher claims – Residing in small towns and rural areas is a good thing when talking about auto insurance. Less people living in that area means fewer accidents in addition to lower liability claims Urban drivers have to deal with more traffic problems and a longer drive to work. Higher commute times means higher likelihood of an accident.
• Liability protection is critical – Your auto insurance policy’s liability coverage provides coverage if ever a court rules you are at fault for causing damage or personal injury in an accident. It provides for a legal defense up to the limits shown on your policy. Carrying liability coverage is mandatory and cheap as compared to coverage for physical damage, so drivers should buy more than the minimum limits required by law.
• High comp and collision deductibles save money – The deductibles you choose tell how much you are willing to pay before a claim is paid by your company. Coverage for physical damage, also called comprehensive and collision insurance, protects your car from damage. Examples of covered claims are collision with another vehicle, animal collisions, and having a roll-over accident. The higher the amount you have to pay, the better rate you will receive for RAV4 coverage.
• Males tend to take more risk – Over the last 30 years, statistics show that women are safer drivers than men. That doesn’t necessarily mean that men are worse drivers. Women and men are responsible for fender benders at a similar rate, but guys get into accidents with more damage. Not only that, but men also get higher numbers of serious violations like driving under the influence (DUI). Young males are most likely to cause an accident and thus pay the highest rates.

How to get car insurance quotes

Many insurance companies provide price estimates directly from their websites. Getting quotes is easy for anyone as you just enter your coverage information into the quote form. After you complete the form, the system orders credit information and your driving record and returns a price based on many factors. Being able to quote online streamlines rate comparisons, but the work required to visit a lot of sites and fill out multiple forms can be a bit repetitive. But it’s absolutely necessary to perform this step if you want to find the lowest possible prices on car insurance.

The easiest way to lower your car insurance bill uses just one form that gets price quotes from more than one company. This type of form saves time, reduces the work, and makes online shopping much more enjoyable. Once the form is submitted, your coverage is rated and you are able to buy your choice of the resulting price quotes. If you find a better price you simply finish the application and purchase the new policy. The entire process only takes a few minutes and can result in significant savings.

In order to find out if lower rates are available, simply click here to open in new window and begin entering your coverage information. If you have a policy now, it’s recommended you copy the insurance coverages as shown on your current policy. This ensures you will get a fair comparison based on the exact same insurance coverage.

Discounts for cheap insurance coverage rates

Companies offering auto insurance don’t list every discount they offer in an easy-to-find place, so below is a list a few of the more well known in addition to some of the lesser obvious ways to save on insurance coverage.

• Buy New and Save – Buying a new car instead of a used car can save up to 30% compared to insuring an older model.
• Multiple Policy Discount – When you combine your homeowners and auto insurance with the same insurance company you will save up to 20% and get you cheap car insurance.
• Driving Data Discount – Drivers that enable data collection to track driving manner through the use of a telematics system such as State Farm’s In-Drive might get better premium rates as long as the data is positive.
• Multi-car Discount – Insuring multiple cars or trucks on one policy can get a discount on all vehicles.
• Pay Early and Save – If paying your policy premium upfront rather than spreading payments over time you can actually save on your bill.
• Drive Safe and Save – Accident-free drivers can save up to 40% or more on their car insurance quote for RAV4 coverage than their less cautious counterparts.
• Sign Online – A few insurance coverage companies provide a small discount for completing your application on their website.
• Lower Rates for Military – Being deployed with a military unit could mean lower prices.
• College Student – Older children who live away from home to go to college and do not have access to a covered vehicle can be insured at a reduced rate.

As is typical with insurance, most discounts do not apply to all coverage premiums. Most only apply to the cost of specific coverages such as medical payments or collision. So when it seems like all the discounts add up to a free policy, it’s just not the way it works.

A few of the larger companies and a partial list of their discounts are included below.

• Geico policyholders can earn discounts including daytime running lights, military active duty, driver training, seat belt use, emergency military deployment, and anti-lock brakes.
• USAA offers premium reductions for loyalty savings, military installation, family discount, new vehicle, and vehicle storage.
• Progressive discounts include multi-policy, multi-vehicle, homeowner, good student, online quote discount, and continuous coverage.
• American Family may include discounts for accident-free, Steer into Savings, air bags, good student, multi-vehicle, and defensive driver.
• Esurance may have discounts that include safety device, online shopper, Pac-12 alumni, anti-lock brakes, paid-in-full, and Switch & Save.
• Farmers Insurance includes discounts for distant student, multi-car, homeowner, mature driver, and good student.
• State Farm has discounts for student away at school, Steer Clear safe driver discount, passive restraint, safe vehicle, good student, Drive Safe & Save, and multiple policy.

If you need low cost car insurance quotes, ask all companies you are considering how many discounts you can get. Some of the earlier mentioned discounts may not apply in every state. To choose insurance coverage companies with significant discounts, follow this link.

You may need specialized car insurance coverage

When it comes to choosing the right insurance coverage, there isn’t really a “best” method to buy coverage. Your needs are not the same as everyone else’s so your insurance needs to address that. Here are some questions about coverages that could help you determine if your insurance needs would benefit from an agent’s advice.

• What is covered by UM/UIM coverage?
• Is my cargo covered for damage or theft?
• Why am I required to buy high-risk coverage?
• Can I afford to pay high deductible claims out of pocket?
• Can I rate high risk drivers on liability-only vehicles?
• Are my friends covered when driving my car?
• Am I covered when using my vehicle for business?

If you don’t know the answers to these questions but a few of them apply, then you may want to think about talking to an insurance agent. If you don’t have a local agent, simply complete this short form or go to this page to view a list of companies.

Insurance coverage considerations

Understanding the coverages of a insurance policy aids in choosing the right coverages for your vehicles. Policy terminology can be ambiguous and coverage can change by endorsement. Shown next are typical coverage types offered by insurance companies.

Auto liability insurance

Liability coverage protects you from injuries or damage you cause to other’s property or people that is your fault. It protects YOU against other people’s claims. It does not cover your own vehicle damage or injuries.

Liability coverage has three limits: per person bodily injury, per accident bodily injury, and a property damage limit. Your policy might show limits of 100/300/100 which stand for $100,000 bodily injury coverage, a limit of $300,000 in injury protection per accident, and a total limit of $100,000 for damage to vehicles and property.

Liability coverage protects against things such as repair costs for stationary objects, court costs and repair bills for other people’s vehicles. How much liability coverage do you need? That is your choice, but you should buy as high a limit as you can afford.

UM/UIM Coverage

Your UM/UIM coverage gives you protection when other motorists either are underinsured or have no liability coverage at all. Covered losses include hospital bills for your injuries and also any damage incurred to your Toyota RAV4.

Because many people have only the minimum liability required by law, it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. So UM/UIM coverage should not be overlooked.

Medical costs insurance

Med pay and PIP coverage kick in for short-term medical expenses for nursing services, dental work, hospital visits, chiropractic care and funeral costs. They can be utilized in addition to your health insurance policy or if there is no health insurance coverage. Medical payments and PIP cover you and your occupants and also covers if you are hit as a while walking down the street. Personal injury protection coverage is not universally available but can be used in place of medical payments coverage

Collision coverage

This pays for damage to your RAV4 caused by collision with another car or object. You will need to pay your deductible and then insurance will cover the remainder.

Collision can pay for things like damaging your car on a curb, backing into a parked car, colliding with another moving vehicle and sideswiping another vehicle. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so you might think about dropping it from vehicles that are older. Another option is to increase the deductible to bring the cost down.

Comprehensive or Other Than Collision

This coverage pays to fix your vehicle from damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. You first have to pay a deductible and then insurance will cover the rest of the damage.

Comprehensive coverage protects against things like hitting a deer, a tree branch falling on your vehicle, hitting a bird and hail damage. The highest amount a insurance company will pay at claim time is the actual cash value, so if the vehicle’s value is low consider removing comprehensive coverage.

Have money to burn

Some auto insurance companies do not provide the ability to get a quote online and these smaller companies only sell coverage through independent agents. Budget-conscious 1997 Toyota RAV4 insurance can be found from both online companies in addition to local insurance agencies, so you need to compare both to have the best selection.

We covered many tips how you can shop for 1997 Toyota RAV4 insurance online. The key concept to understand is the more quotes you get, the better your comparison will be. Drivers may discover the lowest rates come from a small mutual company. These companies may only write in your state and offer lower car insurance rates compared to the large companies like Allstate, Geico and Progressive.

Additional learning opportunities

• Teen Driving Statistics (iihs.org)
• Who Has Affordable Phoenix Car Insurance Rates for a Toyota RAV4? (QuotePhoenix.com)
• What is Full Coverage? (Allstate)
• Frontal Crash Tests (iihs.org)
• Booster Seat Ratings (iihs.org)
• Vehicle Insurance in the U.S. (Wikipedia)
• Five Mistakes to Avoid (Insurance Information Insitute)