Auto Insurance Quotes for a Volkswagen Passat in Sacramento

If your goal is the lowest price, then the best way to get more affordable car insurance rates is to compare prices at least once a year from insurers who sell insurance in Sacramento.

• Step 1: Get an understanding of how companies set rates and the changes you can make to keep rates down. Many factors that cause rate increases such as traffic violations and a low credit rating can be amended by making minor changes to your lifestyle.
• Step 2: Quote rates from direct, independent, and exclusive agents. Direct and exclusive agents can provide rates from a single company like GEICO or State Farm, while independent agents can quote rates for many different companies.
• Step 3: Compare the new rate quotes to your existing rates and determine if cheaper Passat coverage is available in Sacramento. If you can save some money and buy the policy, make sure coverage does not lapse between policies.

The key aspect of shopping around is to use identical coverage information on each price quote and and to get rate quotes from every company you can. This enables an apples-to-apples comparison and the best price quote selection.

Shockingly, the vast majority of insurance customers have been with the same company for well over three years, and just short of a majority have never compared rates with other companies. Consumers in California could save approximately $470 every year just by comparing rates, but they think it’s difficult to save money by comparing rate quotes.

Statistics and details

The coverage information displayed below covers detailed analysis of prices for Volkswagen Passat models. Being able to understand how auto insurance premiums are established can assist in making decisions on which insurance to purchase.

Premium data assumes single male driver age 40, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $1000 deductibles, and California minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include multi-vehicle, claim-free, multi-policy, homeowner, and safe-driver. Premium costs do not factor in specific garaging location which can raise or lower coverage prices significantly.

Higher deductibles lower rates

One common question asked by Sacramento drivers is how high should the deductibles for physical damage be. The premium rates below show the difference in cost when you select higher and lower deductibles. The first pricing table uses a $100 physical damage coverage deductible and the second pricing table uses a $1,000 deductible.

Data based on married male driver age 30, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, and California minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, multi-policy, homeowner, claim-free, and multi-vehicle. Price information does not factor in the specific area where the vehicle is garaged which can modify premiums substantially.

Based on this data, using a $100 deductible would cost the average driver about $50 more each month or $600 every year than choosing the higher $1,000 deductible. Due to the fact that you would have to pay $900 more to file a claim with a $1,000 deductible as compared to a $100 deductible, if you have at least 18 months between claims, you would save more money by going with a higher deductible.

The chart below shows how different deductible levels and can change Volkswagen Passat insurance prices for each age group. The premium estimates are based on a married male driver, comp and collision included, and no discounts are taken into consideration.

Liability only or full coverage

The chart below visualizes the comparison of Volkswagen Passat premium costs with liability coverage only compared to full coverage. The data assumes a clean driving record, no claims, $500 deductibles, drivers are single, and no policy discounts are applied.

When to drop full coverage

There is no set guideline of when to drop comp and collision coverage, but there is a broad guideline. If the annual cost of your full coverage insurance is 10% or more of replacement cost minus your deductible, then it could be time to drop full coverage.

For example, let’s assume your Volkswagen Passat replacement value is $3,000 and you have $1,000 policy deductibles. If your vehicle is totaled in an accident, the most you would receive is $2,000 after you pay the deductible. If you are currently paying more than $200 a year for full coverage, then you might consider buying liability only.

There are some circumstances where dropping physical damage coverage is not in your best interest. If you still owe a portion of the original loan, you have to keep full coverage as part of the loan conditions. Also, if your emergency fund is not enough to purchase a different vehicle in case of an accident, you should not consider dropping full coverage.

Learn about insurance coverages for a Volkswagen Passat

Knowing the specifics of a insurance policy helps when choosing which coverages you need at the best deductibles and correct limits. Insurance terms can be impossible to understand and reading a policy is terribly boring.

Medical expense coverage – Med pay and PIP coverage provide coverage for immediate expenses such as prosthetic devices, EMT expenses, nursing services, dental work and chiropractic care. They are used in conjunction with a health insurance program or if you lack health insurance entirely. They cover not only the driver but also the vehicle occupants in addition to being hit by a car walking across the street. PIP coverage is only offered in select states and may carry a deductible

Collision coverage – Collision insurance pays to fix your vehicle from damage resulting from a collision with another car or object. You will need to pay your deductible and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.

Collision insurance covers claims like backing into a parked car, damaging your car on a curb, colliding with a tree, rolling your car and crashing into a building. This coverage can be expensive, so consider dropping it from vehicles that are older. It’s also possible to bump up the deductible on your Passat to get cheaper collision coverage.

Uninsured or underinsured coverage – Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage protects you and your vehicle’s occupants when other motorists do not carry enough liability coverage. It can pay for injuries sustained by your vehicle’s occupants as well as your vehicle’s damage.

Since a lot of drivers carry very low liability coverage limits (California limits are 15/30/5), their liability coverage can quickly be exhausted. That’s why carrying high Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage is very important.

Liability insurance – This provides protection from damages or injuries you inflict on a person or their property by causing an accident. This coverage protects you from claims by other people. Liability doesn’t cover damage to your own property or vehicle.

It consists of three limits, bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. You commonly see policy limits of 15/30/5 which means $15,000 bodily injury coverage, a total of $30,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and a limit of $5,000 paid for damaged property.

Liability coverage protects against things such as medical services, structural damage, funeral expenses and medical expenses. How much coverage you buy is your choice, but consider buying as high a limit as you can afford. California requires minimum liability limits of 15/30/5 but you should think about purchasing higher limits.

The illustration below shows why minimum state limits may not be enough coverage.

Comprehensive protection – Comprehensive insurance coverage pays to fix your vehicle from damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. You first have to pay a deductible and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.

Comprehensive coverage protects against things such as fire damage, hail damage, damage from getting keyed and a tree branch falling on your vehicle. The most your insurance company will pay is the ACV or actual cash value, so if the vehicle’s value is low it’s probably time to drop comprehensive insurance.

Cheaper insurance is a realistic goal

Consumers leave their current company for any number of reasons including being labeled a high risk driver, delays in responding to claim requests, lack of trust in their agent and even not issuing a premium refund. Regardless of your reason for switching companies, finding a new company can be pretty painless.

In this article, we presented a lot of tips how to lower your Volkswagen Passat insurance car insurance rates in Sacramento. The key concept to understand is the more you quote Sacramento auto insurance, the higher your chance of finding low cost Sacramento auto insurance quotes. Consumers could even find that the best price on insurance is with a small local company.

Some insurance providers do not provide online price quotes and usually these smaller providers sell through independent agents. Lower-priced insurance in Sacramento is available from both online companies and with local Sacramento insurance agents, so you should be comparing quotes from both to have the best selection.

Additional insurance information is located at the links below

• Vehicle Insurance (Wikipedia)
• What Auto Insurance is Cheapest for Drivers with a Bad Driving Record in Sacramento? (FAQ)
• State Car Insurance Guides (GEICO)
• Insurance losses by make and model (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
• How to Avoid Common Accidents (State Farm)
• Higher speed limits cause more fatalities (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)