Anyone knows that auto insurance companies don’t want you comparing rates. People who get comparison quotes at least once a year will probably switch to a new company because there is a good probability of finding more affordable rates. A recent auto insurance study discovered that consumers who regularly compared price quotes saved an average of $3,500 over four years compared to those who never shopped for cheaper rates.
If finding the best price on car insurance in Sacramento is your ultimate target, then understanding how to find companies and compare cheaper coverage can make the process more efficient.
The best way to find affordable Mercury Mountaineer insurance in Sacramento is to start comparing rates regularly from different companies that insure vehicles in California. Price quotes can be compared by completing these steps.
- Step 1: Spend some time learning about how companies set rates and the measures you can control to keep rates in check. Many rating factors that are responsible for high rates such as careless driving and an unfavorable credit rating can be controlled by making minor changes to your lifestyle. Later in this article we will cover tips to get cheaper coverage and find overlooked discounts.
- Step 2: Get rate quotes from exclusive agents, independent agents, and direct providers. Exclusive agents and direct companies can only quote rates from one company like GEICO or Farmers Insurance, while independent agents can quote rates from many different companies. View rates
- Step 3: Compare the new rates to your current policy and determine if there is any savings. If you find a lower rate quote and decide to switch, ensure there is no coverage lapse between policies.
- Step 4: Tell your current company of your intention to cancel your current car insurance policy and submit the signed application along with the required initial payment to your new agent or company. Be sure to place your new certificate of insurance with your registration paperwork.
The most important part of shopping around is that you’ll want to compare the same liability limits and deductibles on every price quote and and to compare every company you can. This provides a fair price comparison and the best price selection.
Getting quotes for affordable auto insurance in Sacramento is not that difficult. Nearly everyone who carries auto insurance stands a good chance to find lower prices. Nevertheless, California vehicle owners can benefit by having an understanding of how companies price online insurance and use this information to your advantage.
Mercury Mountaineer insurance quotes comparison
The majority of larger companies allow consumers to get insurance quotes online. Doing online quotes for Mercury Mountaineer insurance in Sacramento is very simple as all you need to do is type in the coverages you want into the form. When the form is submitted, their system orders reports for credit and driving violations and returns a price based on these and other factors.
This simplifies rate comparisons, and it’s necessary to perform this step if you are searching for cheaper prices.
If you want to compare rates now, consider comparing rates from the companies shown below. If you have your current policy handy, we recommend you complete the form with your coverages as shown on your current policy. This makes sure you’re receiving a rate comparison for similar coverage.
The following companies provide price quotes in California. To get the best cheap car insurance in CA, it’s a good idea that you visit as many as you can in order to get a fair rate comparison.
Do you qualify for discounts on Mercury Mountaineer insurance in Sacramento?
Car insurance companies don’t necessarily list all possible discounts very clearly, so here is a list a few of the more common in addition to some of the lesser obvious car insurance savings.
- Government Employee Discount – Having worked for a branch of the government may qualify for a discount when you quote Sacramento car insurance with certain companies.
- Paperless Signup – Some insurance companies will provide an incentive for buying a policy and signing up on the internet.
- Drivers Education – Have your child take driver’s ed class if it’s offered in school.
- 55 and Retired – Older drivers may receive a discount up to 10%.
- No Accidents – Drivers with accident-free driving histories can earn big discounts compared to bad drivers.
- Defensive Driver Discount – Taking time to complete a defensive driver course could earn you a small percentage discount depending on where you live.
Keep in mind that many deductions do not apply to the whole policy. A few only apply to the price of certain insurance coverages like collision or personal injury protection. So when it seems like it’s possible to get free car insurance, insurance companies wouldn’t stay in business.
The information below compares Mercury Mountaineer car insurance rates with and without some available policy discounts. The prices are based on a female driver, no claims or driving violations, California state minimum liability limits, comprehensive and collision coverage, and $500 deductibles. The first bar for each age group shows premium with no discounts. The second shows the rates with multi-policy, claim-free, multi-car, safe-driver, marriage, and homeowner discounts applied.
Insurance companies that may offer quotes with most of these discounts are:
If you want inexpensive Sacramento car insurance quotes, ask all the companies to give you their best rates. Some credits might not be available to policyholders in your area.
Mercury Mountaineer insurance coverage information
The premium information displayed below highlights a range of insurance premium costs for Mercury Mountaineer models. Understanding more about how premiums are established can benefit drivers when making decisions on the best policy to buy.
| Model | Comp | Collision | Liability | Medical | UM/UIM | Annual Premium | Monthly Premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mountaineer 2WD | $216 | $394 | $424 | $26 | $126 | $1,186 | $99 |
| Mountaineer AWD | $244 | $394 | $424 | $26 | $126 | $1,214 | $101 |
| Mountaineer Premier 2WD | $244 | $464 | $424 | $26 | $126 | $1,284 | $107 |
| Mountaineer Premier AWD | $244 | $464 | $424 | $26 | $126 | $1,284 | $107 |
| Get Your Own Custom Quote Go | |||||||
Table data represents married male driver age 50, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $500 deductibles, and California minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, claim-free, multi-vehicle, multi-policy, and homeowner. Price information does not factor in vehicle garaging location which can affect premiums significantly.
Local neighborhood agents and car insurance
A lot of people just prefer to talk to a local agent and often times that is recommended One of the great benefits of comparing rates online is you may find the best rates and also buy local. Buying from local insurance agents is definitely important in Sacramento.
After completing this quick form, your information is instantly submitted to local insurance agents who will give competitive quotes to get your business. You won’t even need to find an agent because quoted prices will be sent to you directly. You can find the lowest rates and a licensed agent to talk to. If you want to quote rates from a specific car insurance provider, you just need to visit that company’s website and submit a quote form there.
If you would like to find a reliable insurance agent, you should know the types of agencies and how they differ in how they quote coverages. Agents can be categorized as either exclusive or independent.
Independent Agents
Agents that choose to be independent are not locked into one company so they can quote policies with lots of companies and help determine which has the cheapest rates. To transfer your coverage to a different company, your agent can switch companies and you won’t have to switch agencies.
When comparing car insurance rates, you absolutely need to include rate quotes from a few independent agents to have the most options to choose from. Most can insure with small regional insurance companies which can save you money.
Below is a list of independent agents in Sacramento who may provide cheap rate quotes.
- Apna Insurance Agency
3022 Stockton Blvd #5 – Sacramento, CA 95820 – (916) 454-4495 – View Map - Melissa Saites Nelson Insurance Agency, Inc.
4749 J St – Sacramento, CA 95819 – (916) 531-6061 – View Map - Nationwide Insurance: Ham Insurance Agency Inc
2210 Del Paso Rd e – Sacramento, CA 95834 – (916) 419-8228 – View Map
Exclusive Car Insurance Agencies
Exclusive agencies can usually just insure with one company and some examples include State Farm or Allstate. These agents are not able to provide prices from multiple companies so always compare other rates. These agents are highly trained on their products and sales techniques which aids in selling service over price. Consumers often purchase coverage from exclusives partially due to high brand loyalty instead of buying on price only.
The following is a short list of exclusive agents in Sacramento who can help you get comparison quotes.
- Farmers Insurance – Wayne Wong
2015 Q St – Sacramento, CA 95811 – (916) 760-7858 – View Map - Barbara Etrick – State Farm Insurance Agent
6332 Florin Rd – Sacramento, CA 95823 – (916) 822-5110 – View Map - Rich Williams – State Farm Insurance Agent
1001 26th St – Sacramento, CA 95816 – (916) 447-8560 – View Map
Picking the best auto insurance agent needs to be determined by more than just the quoted price. Here are some questions you might want to ask.
- In the event of vehicle damage, can you pick the collision repair facility?
- What are the financial ratings for the companies they represent?
- Do they have a Better Business Bureau rating in Sacramento?
- Does their agency support local causes in Sacramento?
- If you have an accident, will your rates go up?
Upon getting answers to your satisfaction to any questions you may have and an acceptable price quote, you may have found a car insurance agent that can properly service your car insurance policy. Just keep in mind once you purchase a policy you can cancel coverage at any point so never assume you’re contractually obligated to any particular company indefinitely.
Insurance Price Influencing Factors
Lots of factors are part of the equation when you quote your car insurance policy. Some are pretty understandable such as your driving record, although some other factors are more transparent like your vehicle usage or your financial responsibility. Consumers need to have an understanding of a few of the rating criteria that aid in calculating car insurance rates. When you understand what positively or negatively impacts your premiums, this empowers consumers to make smart changes that will entitle you to much lower annual insurance costs.
The list below includes some of the most common factors used by insurance companies to determine rates.
Save by staying claim free – Insurance companies in California generally give most affordable rates to insureds that do not abuse their auto insurance. If you file claims often, you can look forward to higher premiums or even policy non-renewal. Your car insurance is meant to be used in the event of more catastrophic claims.
Know your vehicle’s IIHS safety rating – Vehicles with good safety scores cost less to insure. These vehicles reduce injuries and fewer injuries translates directly to fewer claims and thus lower rates.
Get a ticket, pay higher premiums – Having a clean driving record impacts your car insurance rates tremendously. Even a single citation may cause rates to rise twenty percent or more. Attentive drivers get better prices than bad drivers. People who have careless tickets such as reckless driving or DUI may find they need to file a SR-22 with their state DMV in order to prevent their license from being revoked.
The illustration below demonstrates how traffic citations and at-fault collisions can drive up Mercury Mountaineer auto insurance rates for different age groups. The information is based on a single male driver, comp and collision included, $500 deductibles, and no discounts are factored in.
Big cities have higher prices – Choosing to live in a rural area has definite advantages when buying car insurance. People in densely populated areas tend to have more aggressive driving styles and more time behind the wheel. Fewer drivers translates into fewer accident claims and also fewer theft and vandalism claims.
Men pay higher prices – Statistics show females are less aggressive when driving. The data does not necessarily mean that females are better at driving than males. Women and men tend to get into at-fault accidents at about the same rate, but the males cause more damage and cost insurance companies more money. They also receive more costly citations like reckless driving and DUI.
The illustration below visualizes the comparison of Mercury Mountaineer auto insurance costs for male and female drivers. The prices are based on no violations or claims, comp and collision included, $1,000 deductibles, drivers are single, and no other discounts are factored in.
Low stress job equals lower rates – Jobs such as military generals, air traffic controllers, and dentists generally pay the highest average rates because of high stress levels and lots of time spent at work. Other careers such as actors, students and performers generally pay rates lower than average.
Higher comp and collision deductibles are cheaper – Physical damage insurance, otherwise known as comp (or other than collision) and collision, helps pay for damage to your vehicle. Examples of some claims that would be covered could be collision with another vehicle, flood damage, and damage caused by flying debris. Comp and collision deductibles define the amount you are required to pay if you file a covered claim. The more damage repair cost the insured is willing to pay, the better rate you will receive.
Protect more than your Mercury Mountaineer
Despite the high insurance cost for a Mercury Mountaineer in Sacramento, insuring your vehicle is required by state law in California and it also provides benefits you may not be aware of.
First, just about all states have minimum mandated liability insurance limits which means the state requires specific minimum amounts of liability protection 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.
Second, if you bought your Mountaineer with a loan, more than likely the lender will make it mandatory that you have insurance to ensure the loan is repaid in case of a total loss. If you let the policy lapse, the bank may insure your Mercury at a more expensive rate and force you to reimburse them a much higher amount than you were paying before.
Third, auto insurance protects both your Mercury and your assets. It also can pay for all forms of medical expenses incurred in an accident. Liability coverage also pays expenses related to your legal defense if you are named as a defendant in an auto accident. If your vehicle suffers damage from an accident or hail, your policy will pay to repair the damage minus the deductible amount.
The benefits of buying enough insurance definitely exceed the cost, especially with large liability claims. As of last year, the average driver in California is wasting up to $820 a year so compare rates at every renewal to help ensure money is not being wasted.
Final considerations
Cheaper insurance in Sacramento is definitely available on the web in addition to local insurance agencies, and you should compare price quotes from both to have the best rate selection. Some insurance providers don’t offer internet price quotes and most of the time these smaller providers prefer to sell through local independent agencies.
We just presented some good ideas how you can compare Mercury Mountaineer insurance prices in Sacramento. The most important thing to understand is the more rate quotes you have, the better your chances of lowering your rates. Consumers could even find that the lowest priced insurance comes from a company that doesn’t do a lot of advertising.
Drivers change insurance companies for many reasons like delays in paying claims, unfair underwriting practices, extreme rates for teen drivers or even policy non-renewal. No matter why you want to switch, finding the right insurance provider is not as hard as you think.
Other resources
- Bodily Injury Coverage (Liberty Mutual)
- Who Has Affordable Car Insurance for College Students in Sacramento? (FAQ)
- How Much are Sacramento Auto Insurance Rates for Hybrid Vehicles? (FAQ)
- Who Has Cheap Sacramento Car Insurance Quotes for Low Mileage Drivers? (FAQ)
- Who Has Affordable Car Insurance Rates for a Dodge Journey in Sacramento? (FAQ)
- Who Has Affordable Car Insurance Quotes for a Subaru Outback in Sacramento? (FAQ)
- Choosing an Insurance Company (Insurance Information Institute)
- Honda warning system reduces insurance claims (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)