2002 Volvo S40 Insurance Rates

Trying to find lower insurance rates for your Volvo S40? Did you make the mistake of buying an expensive insurance policy? Say no more because there are lots of people in the same boat.

Many insurance companies vie for your hard-earned dollar, and because of this it can be hard to compare insurers and get the definite cheapest price

It’s a good idea to do rate comparisons occasionally because prices trend upward over time. Just because you had the lowest rate for S40 coverage a year ago you may be paying too much now. You can find a lot of misleading information regarding insurance out there, but in a few minutes you can learn some good information on how to find cheap insurance.

If you have car insurance now, you will most likely be able to reduce your rates substantially using this strategy. Buying car insurance is not that difficult. Nevertheless, vehicle owners can benefit from knowing how the larger insurance companies price insurance differently and take advantage of how the system works.

How to buy insurance online

The are a couple different ways of comparing price quotes from many different insurance companies. The fastest way to find competitive Volvo S40 insurance rates is to perform an online rate comparison. This can be done by using one of the methods below.

• The easiest and least time consuming way to get the best comparison quotes would be an industry-wide quote request form like this one (opens in new window). This quick form prevents you from having to do separate quotation requests for every insurance company. One quote request compares rates from all major companies.
• A harder way to get comparison quotes is to manually visit each individual company website to complete a price quote. For sake of this example, we’ll assume you want to see prices from USAA, Safeco and Progressive. To do that, you would have to spend time on each company’s site to enter your coverage information, and that’s why the first method is more popular.

  To view a list of companies in your area, click here.

Whichever way you choose to compare rates, ensure you’re using the exact same coverages for each comparison quote. If your comparisons have differing limits it’s impossible to determine which rate is truly the best. Slightly different insurance coverages or limits can make a big difference in price. And when comparing insurance rates, know that making a lot of price comparisons helps improve the odds of finding a lower rate than you’re paying now. Some regional insurers cannot provide quotes online, so you should also compare rates from the smaller companies as well.

The Volvo S40 insurance premium equation

Lots of things are part of the calculation when premium rates are determined. Most are fairly basic like a motor vehicle report, but other criteria are less apparent like where you live or how financially stable you are.

The following are a few of the “ingredients” used by your company to calculate your prices.

• Are males or females drivers cheaper? – Over the last 30 years, statistics show women tend to be less risk to insure than men. It does not mean females are better drivers. Both sexes are in fender benders at about the same rate, but the males tend to have higher claims. Men also statistically get cited for more serious violations such as reckless driving. Young males are most likely to cause an accident and therefore are the most expensive to insure.
• Credit score impact insurance costs – Credit score will be a significant factor in determining your rates. People with high credit scores tend to be better risks to insure than drivers with worse credit. So if your credit history leaves room for improvement, you could save money insuring your 2002 Volvo S40 by taking the time to improve your credit score.
• Don’t cut corners with liability insurance – Liability coverage will protect you when you are responsible for damages caused by your negligence. It provides legal defense coverage to attempt to prove you were not liable. Liability insurance is pretty cheap compared to physical damage coverage, so drivers should buy more than the minimum limits required by law.
• Prices can be impacted by your occupation – Occupational choices like military personnelpolice officers and dentists generally pay the highest rates because of intense work-related stress and long work days. On the flip side, jobs like actors, historians and homemakers pay the least for S40 coverage.
• Get married and pay less – Having a spouse helps lower the price on your insurance bill. Marriage usually means you are more mature and responsible and statistics show married drivers tend to file fewer claims.
• Do you know your deductibles? – Insurance for physical damage to your car, also called comprehensive and collision insurance, covers your vehicle from damage. Examples of some claims that would be covered would be a broken windshield, damage from fire, or theft. Physical damage deductibles represent how much money you are willing to pay in the event of a claim. The more expense you have to pay, the bigger discount you will receive for S40 coverage.
• Optional features can affect rates – Owning a car with a theft deterrent system can earn a premium discount. Anti-theft devices such as tamper alarm systems, vehicle immobilizer technology and General Motors OnStar all hinder car theft and help bring rates down.
• Lower prices with continuous insurance coverage – Driving any period of time without insurance is against the law and you may have a hard time finding new coverage because you let your coverage lapse. In addition to paying higher rates, being ticketed for driving with no insurance may earn you a license revocation or jail time. You may then have to prove you have insurance by filing a SR-22 with your state motor vehicle department to get your license reinstated.

Save with these money-saving discounts

The price of auto insurance can be rather high, but there are discounts available that many people don’t even know exist. Certain credits will be shown at the time of quoting, but occassionally some discounts must be manually applied in order for you to get them.

• Save over 55 – Drivers over the age of 55 may be able to get a slight reduction on a insurance coverage quote for S40 coverage.
• Theft Deterent – Cars and trucks with anti-theft systems are stolen less frequently and that can save you a little bit as well.
• Drivers Ed for Students – Have your child enroll in driver’s education in high school.
• Seat Belt Discounts – Forcing all vehicle occupants to wear their seat belts can save up to 15% on medical payment and PIP coverage.
• Low Mileage – Keeping the miles down on your Volvo may enable drivers to earn discounted prices on garaged vehicles.
• Defensive Driver Discount – Taking a class that teaches defensive driver techniques could save 5% or more and easily pay for the cost of the class.
• Student in College – College-age children who are attending college and leave their car at home may qualify for this discount.
• Government Employees – Federal government employees can earn a discount up to 10% for S40 coverage with certain companies.

Don’t be surprised that most discount credits are not given to the overall cost of the policy. Some only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as medical payments or collision. So even though they make it sound like you can get free auto insurance, it just doesn’t work that way.

Companies and a summarized list of policyholder discounts are:

• Farmers Insurance may offer discounts for electronic funds transfer, good student, business and professional, youthful driver, teen driver, and homeowner.
• Esurance may include discounts for safety device, Switch & Save, multi-policy, defensive driver, online shopper, paid-in-full, and multi-car.
• State Farm has savings for safe vehicle, Drive Safe & Save, anti-theft, defensive driving training, and Steer Clear safe driver discount.
• Geico may have discounts that include seat belt use, five-year accident-free, emergency military deployment, good student, and anti-theft.
• Allstate policyholders can earn discounts including defensive driver, FullPay discount, new car, anti-lock brakes, teenSMART discount, and EZ pay plan discount.

When getting free insurance coverage quotes, it’s a good idea to every prospective company how many discounts you can get. Some discounts might not be available to policyholders in your state. If you would like to choose from a list of auto insurance companies who offer auto insurance discounts, click this link.

Do I need special coverages?

When it comes to choosing adequate coverage for your personal vehicles, there isn’t really a perfect coverage plan. Everyone’s situation is unique so this has to be addressed. For example, these questions may help you determine if your situation could use an agent’s help.

• Do I need to file an SR-22 for a DUI in my state?
• Am I getting all the discounts available?
• Will I lose any money if I cancel my policy before it expires?
• How high should my medical payments coverage be?
• Is my custom paint covered by insurance?
• How high should my uninsured/underinsured coverage be in my state?
• When can my company non-renew my policy?

If it’s difficult to answer those questions but you think they might apply to your situation, you might consider talking to an agent. To find an agent in your area, take a second and complete this form or click here for a list of car insurance companies in your area.

The coverage is in the details

Learning about specific coverages of insurance can help you determine appropriate coverage for your vehicles. The terms used in a policy can be ambiguous and reading a policy is terribly boring. Below you’ll find the usual coverages found on the average insurance policy.

Coverage for medical payments – Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage pay for immediate expenses for EMT expenses, rehabilitation expenses, nursing services, pain medications and hospital visits. The coverages can be used to fill the gap from your health insurance policy or if there is no health insurance coverage. Medical payments and PIP cover all vehicle occupants in addition to any family member struck as a pedestrian. PIP coverage is not an option in every state and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay

Collision coverage – Collision insurance will pay to fix damage to your S40 from colliding with another car or object. You will need to pay your deductible then your collision coverage will kick in.

Collision insurance covers things like colliding with another moving vehicle, rolling your car and sustaining damage from a pot hole. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from vehicles that are older. Another option is to increase the deductible in order to get cheaper collision rates.

Liability auto insurance – Liability insurance provides protection from damage that occurs to people or other property in an accident. It protects YOU from legal claims by others, and does not provide coverage for damage to your own property or vehicle.

Liability coverage has three limits: per person bodily injury, per accident bodily injury, and a property damage limit. You might see limits of 50/100/50 which stand for a $50,000 limit per person for injuries, a total of $100,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and $50,000 of coverage for damaged propery.

Liability insurance covers things such as bail bonds, medical services and loss of income. The amount of liability coverage you purchase is up to you, but buy higher limits if possible.

Comprehensive coverages – Comprehensive insurance 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 insurance covers things like damage from flooding, vandalism, hail damage, falling objects and fire damage. The maximum amount you can receive from a comprehensive claim is the cash value of the vehicle, so if your deductible is as high as the vehicle’s value it’s not worth carrying full coverage.

Uninsured and underinsured coverage – Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage protects you and your vehicle’s occupants from other motorists when they either have no liability insurance or not enough. This coverage pays for hospital bills for your injuries as well as damage to your Volvo S40.

Since many drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits, it only takes a small accident to exceed their coverage. So UM/UIM coverage should not be overlooked.

One last thing

When searching for low cost insurance coverage quotes, it’s very important that you do not reduce needed coverages to save money. In too many instances, an accident victim reduced liability limits or collision coverage only to discover later that they should have had better coverage. The ultimate goal is to buy a smart amount of coverage at the best cost, but don’t skip important coverages to save money.

Cheap 2002 Volvo S40 insurance can be sourced online and also from your neighborhood agents, and you need to price shop both in order to have the best price selection to choose from. A few companies do not provide the ability to get quotes online and many times these regional insurance providers work with local independent agents.

Throughout this article, we presented some good ideas how to get a better price on 2002 Volvo S40 insurance. The most important thing to understand is the more companies you get rates for, the better chance you’ll have of finding cheaper insurance coverage. You may even discover the biggest savings come from the smaller companies. These smaller insurers may often insure only within specific states and give getter rates compared to the large companies like State Farm or Progressive.

For more information, link through to these articles:

• Cellphones, Texting and Driving (iihs.org)
• Information for Teen Drivers (Geico)
• Side Impact Crash Tests (iihs.org)
• Vehicle Size and Weight FAQ (iihs.org)
• Neck Injury FAQ (iihs.org)