Unimaginable but true, the vast majority of consumers kept buying from the same company for over three years, and just under half have never shopped around. With the average premium in California being $1,400, drivers could save roughly 35% a year just by comparing rates, but they just don’t understand how easy it is to compare rate quotes online.
The preferred way to get cheaper Toyota Echo insurance in Irvine is to compare prices once a year from different companies that sell auto insurance in California. You can shop around by completing these steps.
- Step 1: Read and learn about how companies price auto insurance and the factors you can control to prevent expensive coverage. Many rating factors that are responsible for high rates like at-fault accidents, careless driving, and a not-so-good credit rating can be controlled by making minor changes to your lifestyle. Keep reading for ideas to help keep rates affordable and find discounts that you may qualify for.
- Step 2: Get rate quotes from independent agents, exclusive agents, and direct companies. Direct and exclusive agents can provide rates from a single company like Progressive and State Farm, while agents who are independent can quote rates from multiple companies. View insurance agents
- Step 3: Compare the new rate quotes to the price on your current policy and determine if cheaper Echo coverage is available in Irvine. If you find better rates and decide to switch, make sure there is no lapse between the expiration of your current policy and the new one.
The critical component of shopping around is to make sure you enter the same level of coverage on every price quote and and to compare every company you can. This provides the most accurate price comparison and maximum price selection.
How to get free Toyota Echo insurance quotes online
To find cheaper rates, there are a couple of ways to obtain and compare prices from many different California insurance companies. The best method to lower the rate you pay for Toyota Echo insurance involves getting comparison quotes online.
When price shopping your coverage, comparing a large number of companies increases your odds of finding more affordable rates. Some insurance companies are not set up to provide online Irvine Echo insurance quotes, so it’s important to also get rates from them, too.
The following companies provide price quotes in California. In order to find cheap auto insurance in California, we suggest you click on several of them to find the most affordable car insurance rates.
Three reasons to insure your Toyota vehicle
Even though Irvine Echo insurance rates can get expensive, car insurance is most likely required but also gives you several important benefits.
- Most states have mandatory insurance requirements which means you are required to buy specific minimum amounts of liability insurance if you want to drive legally. In California these limits are 15/30/5 which means you must have $15,000 of bodily injury coverage per person, $30,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and $5,000 of property damage coverage.
- If you bought your vehicle with a loan, more than likely the lender will have a requirement that you have full coverage to guarantee payment of the loan. If you default on your policy, the lender may have to buy a policy to insure your Toyota at a more expensive rate and require you to fork over the higher premium.
- Insurance safeguards both your Toyota and your personal assets. Insurance will pay for medical transport and hospital expenses for not only you but also any passengers injured in an accident. As part of your policy, liability insurance will also pay attorney fees if you are sued as the result of your driving. If damage is caused by hail or an accident, comprehensive and/or collision insurance will pay to restore your vehicle to like-new condition.
The benefits of insuring your car definitely exceed the price paid, particularly for liability claims. As of last year, the average driver in California is overpaying more than $869 every year so shop around at least once a year to ensure rates are inline.
Informed Consumers Can Reduce Their Insurance Costs
Lots of factors are considered when you get a price on insurance. Most are fairly basic such as your driving history, but other factors are less obvious such as your credit history or your commute time. One of the most helpful ways to save on auto insurance is to to have a grasp of some of the elements that help determine your premiums. If you have some idea of what determines base rates, this empowers consumers to make smart changes that may result in big savings.
Shown below are a few of the things utilized by car insurance companies to help set your prices.
- Safeguard your assets with liability – Your auto insurance policy’s liability coverage will afford coverage if ever a jury decides you are liable for physical damage or personal injury to other. Liability insurance provides for a legal defense to attempt to prove you were not liable. Liability insurance is quite affordable as compared to coverage for physical damage, so buy as much as you can afford.
- Obey driving laws and save – Your driving citation history has a lot to do with how much you pay for insurance. Even a single speeding ticket can bump up the cost forty percent or more. Good drivers have lower premiums compared to bad drivers. Drivers with multiple citations like hit and run, DWI or reckless driving convictions may find that they have to to submit a SR-22 or proof of financial responsibility with their state in order to legally drive a vehicle.
- Do you save by driving less? – The higher the miles on your Toyota in a year the more you’ll pay to insure your vehicle. A lot of insurance companies rate vehicles based upon how the vehicle is primarily used. Autos that do not get driven very much can be on a lower rate level than vehicles that are driven to work every day. Improper usage on your Echo can result in significantly higher rates. It’s a good idea to make sure your auto insurance declarations sheet reflects annual mileage.
- If you don’t need it don’t buy it – There are quite a few optional add-on coverages that you can buy but may not be useful. Insurance for personal injury protection, towing coverage, and extra equipment coverage are examples of these. The coverages may be enticing initially, but if you’ve never needed them in the past think about removing them and cutting costs.
- Don’t let your auto insurance policy lapse – Having a gap between insurance policy dates is a guaranteed way to pay more for auto insurance. Not only will rates go up, not being able to provide proof of insurance may result in a hefty fine and possibly a revoked license.
- Does your vocation raise your prices? – Jobs such as real estate brokers, architects, and accountants are shown to have the highest rates attributed to intense work situations and lots of time spent away from family. Conversely, careers such as farmers, engineers and homemakers pay lower than average rates.
- Low credit rating equals high rates – Having a good credit score will be a significant factor in your rate calculation. Therefore, if your credit rating leaves room for improvement, you could potentially save money when insuring your Toyota Echo by improving your rating. Drivers who have excellent credit scores tend to be more responsible and file fewer claims than drivers who have poor credit scores.
- Men are more aggressive – Statistics have proven that men are more aggressive behind the wheel. It does not mean women are BETTER drivers than men. Women and men are in fender benders at about the same rate, but the men cause more damage. Not only are claims higher, but men receive more costly citations such as DWI and reckless driving.
Discounts for lower-cost insurance rates
Car insurance companies don’t necessarily list the complete list of policy discounts very clearly, so the list below gives a summary of both the well known in addition to some of the lesser obvious ways to save on insurance. If you’re not getting every credit you qualify for, you may be paying too high a price.
- Good Grades Discount – Excelling in school can be rewarded with saving of up to 25%. The discount lasts up to age 25.
- Discount for Passive Restraints – Factory air bags or motorized seat belts may earn rate discounts of 20 to 30 percent.
- Discounts for Multiple Vehicles – Drivers who insure multiple cars or trucks on the same insurance policy qualifies for this discount.
- Professional Memberships – Being a member of specific professional or occupational memberships or organizations could trigger savings on your policy.
- Military Discounts – Being on active deployment in the military may lower your rates slightly.
- Full Payment Discount – If you pay your entire premium ahead of time instead of monthly or quarterly installments you can actually save on your bill.
- Drive Less and Save – Low mileage vehicles may allow you to get discounted insurance rates on garaged vehicles.
- Safe Driver Discounts – Accident-free drivers may receive a discount up to 45% as compared to drivers with claims.
As is typical with insurance, most of the big mark downs will not be given to the whole policy. A few only apply to specific coverage prices like comprehensive or collision. Despite the fact that it seems like you would end up receiving a 100% discount, it just doesn’t work that way. Any amount of discount will reduce the cost of your policy.
The best insurance companies and some of their more popular discounts include:
- State Farm may offer discounts for Steer Clear safe driver discount, Drive Safe & Save, accident-free, good driver, and anti-theft.
- Progressive policyholders can earn discounts including continuous coverage, homeowner, multi-vehicle, good student, multi-policy, and online signing.
- Progressive discounts include good student, online signing, multi-vehicle, multi-policy, and homeowner.
- MetLife may include discounts for good student, accident-free, defensive driver, good driver, and multi-policy.
- Farm Bureau has savings for 55 and retired, driver training, good student, safe driver, and multi-policy.
- GEICO includes discounts for five-year accident-free, multi-policy, military active duty, defensive driver, air bags, and emergency military deployment.
- SAFECO offers discounts for drive less, anti-lock brakes, teen safe driver, anti-theft, accident prevention training, and bundle discounts.
When comparing rates, check with all companies you are considering how many discounts you can get. Depending on the company, some discounts may not be available in every state. If you would like to choose from a list of providers with significant discounts in California, click this link.
When to get professional advice
Keep in mind that when it comes to choosing coverage online or from an agent, there really isn’t a one-size-fits-all type of policy. Coverage needs to be tailored to your specific needs and a cookie cutter policy won’t apply.
Here are some questions about coverages that may help you determine whether your personal situation could use an agent’s help.
- How many claims can I have before being canceled?
- Am I covered if I hit my neighbor’s mailbox?
- Is upholstery damage covered by car insurance?
- Will filing a claim cost me more?
- Can I rate high risk drivers on liability-only vehicles?
- Where can I get insurance after a DUI in California?
- Is my son or daughter covered when driving my car?
- Can I pay claims out-of-pocket if I buy high deductibles?
- What policy terms are available?
- How much will a speeding ticket raise my rates?
If you can’t answer these questions but you know they apply to you, you may need to chat with a licensed agent. If you don’t have a local agent, simply complete this short form or you can also visit this page to select a carrier
Auto insurance agents near you
Many drivers still like to get advice from a local agent and that can be a great decision One of the benefits of comparing insurance prices online is you may find cheaper auto insurance rates but still work with a licensed agent.
To find an agent, once you fill out this form (opens in new window), your insurance coverage information gets sent to participating agents in Irvine that can give you free Irvine car insurance quotes for your coverage. You won’t even need to find an agent because prices are sent instantly to you. You can find the lowest rates without requiring a lot of work. In the event you want to get a rate quote from a specific car insurance provider, you just need to find their quoting web page and submit a quote form there.
Deciding on a insurance company is decision based upon more than just the quoted price. These are valid questions to ask:
- What company do they have the most business with?
- How would your car be valued if totaled?
- Does their agency support local causes in Irvine?
- Do they have adequate Errors and Omissions coverage? This protects you if they make a mistake.
- Is the quote a firm price?
- If your car is in the repair shop, do you have coverage for a rental car?
- Is vehicle damage repaired with OEM or aftermarket parts?
If you would like to find a good insurance agency, you must know there are a couple different types of agents and how they work. Insurance agencies in Irvine are either exclusive agents or independent agents.
Exclusive Agents
Agents of this type can only quote rates from one company and examples are Allstate, State Farm and Farm Bureau. They usually cannot provide rate quotes from other companies so they really need to provide good service. These agents are highly trained on what they offer which helps them sell on service rather than price. A lot of people use the same exclusive agent mainly due to the brand legacy instead of buying on price only.
The following are Irvine exclusive agencies that can give you price quote information.
- Ken LaTourette – State Farm Insurance Agent
1032 Irvine Blvd – Tustin, CA 92780 – (714) 544-3779 – View Map - Chris Barr – State Farm Insurance Agent
17802 Irvine Blvd a121 – Tustin, CA 92780 – (714) 544-2558 – View Map - Rich Stevens – State Farm Insurance Agent
4482 Barranca Pkwy #224 – Irvine, CA 92604 – (949) 552-6601 – View Map
Independent Car Insurance Agencies
Independent agents are not employed by one company and that gives them the ability to insure amongst many companies and help determine which has the cheapest rates. If you want to switch companies, they simply switch companies in-house which is easy for the insured.
When searching for an agent, we highly recommend that you include at a minimum one independent agency to get the best comparison. Many can place coverage with companies you’ve never heard of that may have much lower rates than larger companies.
The following are independent insurance agencies in Irvine that can give you comparison quotes.
- Morning Star Agency Insurance Services Incorporated
1340 Reynolds Ave #103 – Irvine, CA 92614 – (949) 833-2030 – View Map - Church and Casualty Insurance
3440 Irvine Ave # 150 – Newport Beach, CA 92660 – (949) 852-8558 – View Map - KCAL Insurance Agency (Irvine)
14795 Jeffrey Rd – Irvine, CA 92618 – (949) 786-6888 – View Map
Find cheaper auto insurance prices by comparing often
While you’re price shopping online, make sure you don’t reduce coverage to reduce premium. There have been many situations where someone dropped collision coverage and learned later they didn’t have enough coverage. Your strategy should be to get the best coverage possible at an affordable rate while not skimping on critical coverages.
Cheaper auto insurance in Irvine can be bought from both online companies and from local insurance agents, so you should compare both in order to have the best price selection to choose from. Some insurance companies do not offer the ability to get quotes online and most of the time these small, regional companies provide coverage only through local independent agencies.
More resources
- Insuring a Leased Car (Insurance Information Institute)
- Who Has the Cheapest Car Insurance for a GMC Sierra in Irvine? (FAQ)
- How Much are Auto Insurance Rates for a Hyundai Elantra in Irvine? (FAQ)
- Who Has Cheap Auto Insurance Rates for a Dodge Grand Caravan in Irvine? (FAQ)
- Comprehensive Coverage (Liberty Mutual)
- Understanding Rental Car Insurance (Insurance Information Institute)