2003 Mazda Protege Insurance Cost – 10 Discounts for Best Prices

Finding more affordable car insurance could be a challenge for beginners to online insurance quotes. With so many agents and insurers to choose from, it can be more work than you anticipated to compare rates.

Are you receiving every discount?

Car insurance companies don’t list the complete list of policy discounts very clearly, so below is a list a few of the more common in addition to some of the lesser obvious insurance coverage savings. If you don’t get every credit available, you could be saving more on your insurance coverage.

• Discount for Life Insurance – Insurance companies who offer life insurance give lower prices if you buy a life policy as well.
• Drive Safe and Save – Drivers who don’t get into accidents can save as much as half off their rates on Protege coverage than drivers with accident claims.
• New Vehicle Savings – Adding a new car to your policy may earn a small discount because newer vehicles have to meet stringent safety requirements.
• Federal Government Employee – Being employed by or retired from a federal job can save as much as 8% on Protege coverage with a few insurance coverage companies.
• Multi-car Discount – Buying coverage for primary and secondary vehicles on one policy can reduce rates for all insured vehicles.
• Professional Organizations – Being a member of qualifying clubs or civic groups is a simple method to lower premiums when shopping for insurance coverage.
• Active Service Discounts – Having a family member in the military could be rewarded with lower insurance coverage rates.
• Telematics Data – Insureds that choose to allow driving data collection to monitor driving habits by installing a telematics device such as Snapshot from Progressive or Drivewise from Allstate may get a rate reduction as long as the data is positive.
• Air Bags and Passive Restraints – Cars that have air bags and/or automatic seat belt systems may qualify for discounts of 25 to 30%.
• Safety Course Discount – Completing a course teaching defensive driver skills is a good idea and can lower rates and make you a better driver.

While discounts sound great, it’s important to understand that many deductions do not apply to your bottom line cost. Some only reduce individual premiums such as medical payments or collision. Despite the appearance that you can get free auto insurance, nobody gets a free ride. Any amount of discount will cut the premium cost.

Some of the larger companies that have these benefits possibly include:

• Progressive
• Geico
• State Farm
• Esurance
• The Hartford

When comparing rates, check with all companies you are considering the best way to save money. Some discounts listed above might not apply in every state. If you would like to choose from a list of insurance companies who offer free insurance coverage quotes, click here to view.

How to shop insurance online

To find low cost rates, there are a couple of ways to compare rate quotes from many available insurance companies in your state. The easiest way to compare rates is simply to get online rate quotes. This can be done in just a few minutes using one of these methods.

1. If you are pressed for time, the simplest way to get quotes is to use a rate comparison form click to view form in new window. This easy form eliminates the need for multiple quote forms for every prospective company. In just a few minutes this one form compares rates from multiple companies. This is perfect if you don’t have a lot of time.
2. A harder way to obtain and compare quotes online consists of visiting each individual company website to complete their respective quote request forms. For sake of this example, we’ll assume you want to view quotes from Farmers, State Farm and Allstate. To get each rate you have to spend time on each company’s site and enter your information, and that’s why the first method is more popular.

   For a list of companies in your area, click here.

How you compare quotes is your choice, just ensure you are comparing identical quote information for every quote you compare. If you compare unequal deductibles or liability limits you will not be able to truly determine the lowest rate. Slightly different coverage limits could throw off the whole comparison. Just remember that comparing a large number of companies increases the change that you will find better pricing. Some companies don’t provide quotes online, so you also need to get prices from the smaller companies as well.

When in doubt talk to an agent

When it comes to buying proper insurance coverage, there really is not a one size fits all plan. Each situation is unique.

For instance, these questions may help highlight if your insurance needs will benefit from professional help.

• What should my uninsured motorist coverage limits be in my state?
• Does my medical payments coverage pay my health insurance deductible?
• Which is better, split liability limits or combined limits?
• What is covered by UM/UIM coverage?
• Am I covered when using my vehicle for business?
• How much underlying liability do I need for an umbrella policy?

If you can’t answer these questions but you know they apply to you then you might want to talk to a licensed agent. If you don’t have a local agent, complete this form.

The coverage is in the details

Having a good grasp of your auto insurance policy aids in choosing the best coverages at the best deductibles and correct limits. The coverage terms in a policy can be confusing and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording.

Uninsured or underinsured coverage – This coverage provides protection when the “other guys” either are underinsured or have no liability coverage at all. Covered losses include medical payments for you and your occupants and damage to your Mazda Protege.

Due to the fact that many drivers have only the minimum liability required by law, their limits can quickly be used up. So UM/UIM coverage is important protection for you and your family.

Coverage for liability – Liability coverage can cover damage that occurs to other people or property in an accident. This coverage protects you from claims by other people, and does not provide coverage for your own vehicle damage or injuries.

Liability coverage has three limits: bodily injury for each person, bodily injury for the entire accident, and a limit for property damage. You commonly see policy limits of 50/100/50 that means you have a $50,000 limit per person for injuries, $100,000 for the entire accident, and a total limit of $50,000 for damage to vehicles and property.

Liability insurance covers claims like loss of income, funeral expenses and legal defense fees. How much liability coverage do you need? That is a decision to put some thought into, but consider buying as much as you can afford.

Comprehensive protection – Comprehensive insurance coverage covers damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. You need to pay your deductible first then the remaining damage will be covered by your comprehensive coverage.

Comprehensive coverage protects against things like theft, rock chips in glass, hitting a bird, damage from getting keyed and falling objects. The highest amount you’ll receive from a claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if the vehicle’s value is low consider dropping full coverage.

Medical expense coverage – Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance kick in for expenses like funeral costs, chiropractic care, pain medications and doctor visits. The coverages can be used in conjunction with a health insurance plan or if you lack health insurance entirely. Medical payments and PIP cover not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants and also covers any family member struck as a pedestrian. Personal injury protection coverage is not an option in every state and may carry a deductible

Collision coverages – This pays to fix your vehicle from damage caused by collision with a stationary object or other vehicle. You have to pay a deductible and then insurance will cover the remainder.

Collision coverage protects against things such as sustaining damage from a pot hole, rolling your car and sideswiping another vehicle. Collision is rather expensive coverage, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from vehicles that are 8 years or older. It’s also possible to raise the deductible to bring the cost down.

Don’t be a big spender

Throughout this article, we presented a lot of tips how to shop for 2003 Mazda Protege insurance online. The key concept to understand is the more quotes you get, the better chance you’ll have of finding the cheapest auto insurance. You may even discover the biggest savings come from the least-expected company.

People who switch companies do it for a number of reasons such as delays in responding to claim requests, unfair underwriting practices, delays in paying claims and policy non-renewal. It doesn’t matter what your reason, choosing a new insurance company is less work than it seems.

When getting auto insurance quotes online, it’s very important that you do not reduce needed coverages to save money. In too many instances, someone sacrificed liability limits or collision coverage and discovered at claim time that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. Your strategy should be to purchase plenty of coverage at the best possible price, not the least amount of coverage.

Additional auto insurance information can be read below:

• Can I Drive Legally without Insurance? (Insurance Information Insitute)
• Eight Auto Insurance Myths (Insurance Information Insitute)
• Prom Night Tips for Teen Drivers (State Farm)
• Older Drivers FAQ (iihs.org)
• State Car Insurance Guides (Geico)