It’s safe to assume that auto insurance companies don’t want policyholders to compare prices from other companies. Insureds who get price comparisons are very likely to buy a new policy because they stand a good chance of finding coverage at a more affordable price. Surprisingly, a recent survey revealed that drivers who regularly compared price quotes saved about $850 each year as compared to drivers who never shopped around for lower prices.
If finding the cheapest rates on car insurance is your ultimate objective, then having a grasp of the best ways to find and compare insurance premiums can make the process less intimidating.
If saving money is your primary concern, then the best way to get the cheapest auto insurance rates is to start doing an annual price comparison from insurers that insure vehicles in Tampa. You can shop around by completing these steps.
- First, read about auto insurance and the factors you can control to keep rates down. Many rating factors that result in higher rates like at-fault accidents, speeding tickets, and a not-so-good credit history can be controlled by making minor changes to your lifestyle.
- Second, get rate quotes from direct, independent, and exclusive agents. Direct and exclusive agents can only quote rates from a single company like Progressive or Allstate, while agents who are independent can quote prices from many different companies.
- Third, compare the new rates to the price on your current policy to see if a cheaper price is available in Tampa. If you find a better price and switch companies, make sure the effective date of the new policy is the same as the expiration date of the old one.
A good piece of advice is to compare the same level of coverage on each quote and and to get quotes from as many auto insurance providers as possible. Doing this enables a level playing field and the best price selection.
Buying affordable insurance in Tampa is not rocket science. If you currently have insurance, you will be able to reduce the price you pay using these techniques. But Florida vehicle owners do need to know how insurance companies set your policy premium because rates fluctuate considerably.
Auto insurance providers offering low-cost price quotes in Florida
The following companies can provide price quotes in Tampa, FL. If multiple companies are listed, it’s a good idea that you compare several of them to get the most affordable price.
How Your TLX Insurance Costs are Determined
Smart consumers have a good feel for the rating factors that come into play when calculating the rates you pay for car insurance. If you have a feel for what influences your rates, this helps enable you to make changes that could result in lower rates.
The items below are a partial list of the pieces companies use to determine your prices.
- Being married reduces risk – Your spouse can get you a discount on your car insurance bill. Having a significant other is viewed as being more mature and statistics show married couples file fewer claims.
- Women pay lower prices – Over the last 30 years, statistics show that females take fewer risks when driving. The data does not necessarily mean that men are WORSE drivers than women. Both genders are in fender benders in similar percentages, but men have costlier accidents. Men also statistically have more aggressive citations like DUI and reckless driving.
- Rates increase with driving citations – Your driving record impacts premiums far more than you think. Only having one driving citation may increase your cost to the point where it’s not affordable. Good drivers pay less for auto insurance compared to drivers with tickets. Drivers unfortunate enough to have license-revoking citations such as DWI, reckless driving or hit and run convictions may face state-mandated requirements to file a proof of financial responsibility form (SR-22) with their state’s department of motor vehicles in order to prevent their license from being revoked.
- Safer cars means lower prices – Safer cars tend to be cheaper to insure. Vehicles built for safety reduce injuries and fewer injuries means your insurance company pays less and cheaper rates on your policy.
- Deter car thieves – Choosing a vehicle that has an advanced theft prevention system can get you a discount on your car insurance. Theft prevention features such as OnStar, LoJack tracking, and tamper alarms can thwart your car from being stolen.
- Prices and job – Do you work in a high-stress field? Careers like real estate brokers, airline pilots, and dentists usually pay higher rates than average because of intense work-related stress and lots of time spent away from family. Other careers like scientists, athletes and retirees have lower than average premiums.
- Age of drivers – Teen drivers in Florida are statistically shown to be easily distracted when at the wheel of a vehicle so car insurance rates are higher. Older insureds are viewed as being more responsible, are lower risk to insure, and receive fewer citations.
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Acura TLX insurance loss data – Insurance companies analyze the history of losses when they calculate premium costs for each model. Vehicles that statistically have higher number or severity of losses will cost more for specific coverages.
The next table illustrates the insurance loss data for Acura TLX vehicles. For each policy coverage, the statistical loss for all vehicles averaged together is equal to 100. Values that are 100 or less suggest losses that are better than average, while values that are above 100 indicate more frequent losses or tendency to have higher losses.
Acura TLX Insurance Claim Statistics Vehicle Model Collision Property Damage Comp Personal Injury Medical Payment Bodily Injury Acura TLX 4dr 2WD 90 75 97 93 74 77 Acura TLX 4dr 4WD 120 75 BETTERAVERAGEWORSEEmpty fields indicate not enough data collected
Statistics Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety for 2013-2015 Model Years
Cut your auto insurance rates with discounts
Car insurance can cost a lot, but you might be missing out on some discounts to cut the cost considerably. A few discounts will be applied when you complete an application, but occasionally some discounts must be asked for in order for you to get them. If you don’t get every credit possible, you’re just leaving money on the table.
- Discounts for Government Workers – Having worked for a branch of the government may reduce rates when you quote Tampa auto insurance with a few auto insurance companies.
- Discount for Multiple Policies – When you have multiple policies with the same insurance company they may give you a discount of up to 20% and get you inexpensive Acura TLX insurance in Tampa.
- Passive Restraints – Options like air bags can get savings of 25 to 30%.
- Pay Upfront and Save – By making one initial payment instead of monthly or quarterly installments you can actually save on your bill.
- ABS and Traction Control Discounts – Cars, trucks, and SUVs that have steering control and anti-lock brakes can reduce accidents so companies give up to a 10% discount.
- Waiver for an Accident – This one isn’t a discount, but some insurance companies will allow you to have one accident before raising your premiums so long as you haven’t had any claims prior to being involved in the accident.
- Telematics Devices – People who choose to allow data collection to spy on driving manner by installing a telematics device such as State Farm’s In-Drive could see a rate decrease if they are good drivers.
- Drive Safe and Save – Safe drivers may receive a discount up to 45% as compared to drivers with claims.
- Multi-car Discount – Drivers who insure all your vehicles with one company can reduce rates for all insured vehicles.
- Paper-free Discount – Certain larger companies may give you up to $50 for buying a policy and signing up on the web.
Keep in mind that most discounts do not apply to all coverage premiums. A few only apply to individual premiums such as collision or personal injury protection. Even though the math looks like it’s possible to get free car insurance, you won’t be that lucky.
A few of the larger companies and some of the discounts can be found below.
- The Hartford may offer discounts for anti-theft, defensive driver, good student, vehicle fuel type, driver training, bundle, and air bag.
- American Family policyholders can earn discounts including air bags, defensive driver, good driver, Steer into Savings, and accident-free.
- Progressive offers discounts including online quote discount, multi-policy, online signing, good student, continuous coverage, and multi-vehicle.
- Travelers offers discounts for payment discounts, multi-policy, home ownership, driver training, and multi-car.
- Farmers Insurance has discounts for electronic funds transfer, youthful driver, homeowner, distant student, switch companies, good student, and early shopping.
- USAA offers premium reductions for annual mileage, good student, safe driver, multi-policy, military installation, and loyalty savings.
- Liberty Mutual discounts include teen driver discount, newly married, new move discount, good student, exclusive group savings, and multi-car.
If you need lower rates, check with all the companies to apply every possible discount. Some credits may not apply to policyholders in Tampa.
Local Tampa auto insurance agents and car insurance
Some people would prefer to go talk to an agent and there is nothing wrong with that. The best thing about comparing car insurance online is you can get cheap car insurance rates and still have an agent to talk to.
After completing this simple form, your coverage information is submitted to insurance agents in Tampa who will give you bids for your coverage. You won’t need to do any legwork since rate quotes are delivered directly to your email. You can most likely find cheaper rates without a big time investment. If you want to get a price quote from a specific company, you just need to find their quoting web page and submit a quote form there.
Finding the right company requires more thought than just a low price. Agents should be asked these questions:
- Will the quote change when the policy is issued?
- Do they make recommendations based only on price?
- Does the agency provide any after hours assistance?
- Is the agent properly licensed in Florida?
- Can they provide you with a list of referrals?
- Do they see any coverage gaps in your plan?
If you are searching for a good Tampa insurance agent, you need to know there are two types of insurance agents and how they function. Car insurance policy providers can be described as either exclusive or independent agents depending on their company appointments.
Exclusive Agents
Agents that choose to be exclusive are contracted to one company and examples are Allstate and State Farm. Exclusive agencies are unable to provide prices from multiple companies so you need to shop around if the rates are high. These agents are trained well on their products and sales techniques which helps them compete with independent agents.
Below are exclusive insurance agents in Tampa that are able to give comparison quotes.
Allstate Insurance: Dave Sangar
208 E Bearss Ave – Tampa, FL 33613 – (813) 877-5506 – View Map
Shirin Khorsandian – State Farm Insurance Agent
2734 E Fowler Ave, Ste A – Tampa, FL 33612 – (813) 971-6060 – View Map
Patricia Potts – State Farm Insurance Agent
4644 W Gandy Blvd #5 – Tampa, FL 33611 – (813) 286-3077 – View Map
Independent Car Insurance Agents
Agents of this type are normally appointed by many insurers and that allows them to write policies with multiple insurance companies and possibly get better coverage at lower prices. If your agent finds better pricing, they simply switch companies in-house and you don’t have to find a new agent. When comparing car insurance prices, it’s a good idea to get rate quotes from several independent agencies so that you have a good selection of quotes to compare.
Below are Tampa independent insurance agents who can help you get comparison quotes.
Mesa Insurance Agent
Tampa, FL 33603 – Tampa, FL 33603 – (813) 442-4179 – View Map
GreatFlorida Insurance – Mike Polivchak
3928 W Hillsborough Ave – Tampa, FL 33614 – (813) 870-2334 – View Map
Most Insurance Agency
3410 Henderson Blvd – Tampa, FL 33609 – (813) 347-5555 – View Map
Once you have reasonable responses to these questions and a good coverage price, you may have just found an insurance agent that meets the criteria to service your policy.
Best auto insurance in Tampa
Finding a good quality company can be rather challenging considering how many companies sell insurance in Tampa. The ranking data in the next section may help you choose which car insurance providers to look at when comparing rates.
Top 10 Tampa Car Insurance Companies Overall
- Travelers
- USAA
- Mercury Insurance
- AAA Insurance
- Nationwide
- Allstate
- State Farm
- The Hartford
- Safeco Insurance
- Progressive
Top 10 Tampa Car Insurance Companies Ranked by Customer Service
- USAA
- Travelers
- Mercury Insurance
- AAA Insurance
- Nationwide
- Safeco Insurance
- Progressive
- State Farm
- The Hartford
- The General
In Summary
When buying insurance coverage, make sure you don’t buy poor coverage just to save money. There have been many cases where someone sacrificed uninsured motorist or liability limits to discover at claim time they didn’t purchase enough coverage. Your objective should be to purchase plenty of coverage for the lowest cost while still protecting your assets.
We covered many tips how you can lower your Acura TLX insurance car insurance rates in Tampa. It’s most important to understand that the more providers you compare, the better likelihood of getting cheaper Tampa auto insurance quotes. You may even discover the best car insurance rates are with an unexpected company. They may only write in your state and offer lower premium rates than their larger competitors like Allstate, GEICO and Progressive.
More affordable insurance in Tampa is definitely available both online and from local insurance agents, and you should compare rates from both in order to have the best price selection to choose from. A few companies don’t offer price quotes online and many times these regional carriers only sell through independent agencies.
More tips and info about insurance can be found in the articles below:
- Electronic Stability Control FAQ (iihs.org)
- Who Has Affordable Tampa Auto Insurance Quotes for Government Employees? (FAQ)
- How Much is Car Insurance for Postal Workers in Tampa? (FAQ)
- What Car Insurance is Cheapest for a Ford Explorer in Tampa? (FAQ)
- Who Has Cheap Auto Insurance Rates for Hybrid Vehicles in Tampa? (FAQ)
- What Auto Insurance is Cheapest for Uber Drivers in Tampa? (FAQ)
- Who Has the Cheapest Auto Insurance Quotes for Immigrants in Tampa? (FAQ)
- Who Has Cheap Tampa Car Insurance Quotes for a Hyundai Elantra? (FAQ)
- Who Has Cheap Tampa Car Insurance for Welfare Recipients? (FAQ)
- How Much is Auto Insurance for a Subaru Outback in Tampa? (FAQ)
- What are my Rights when Filing a Claim? (Insurance Information Institute)
- Understanding Rental Car Insurance (Insurance Information Institute)