Driving less these days? You may want to explore potential ways to save a few bucks on your monthly auto insurance costs.
Many car insurance companies have already issued credits or reduced rates off insurance premiums during the COVID-19 “stay home” mandate. With the number of travelers on the road significantly reduced, the decrease in traffic resulted in fewer accidents that insurers needed to cover—and many companies elected to share this savings with their customers.
If you are continuing to work remotely and anticipate ongoing reductions in your daily travel, it may be worth asking your car insurance company if you qualify for a reduced premium. Some insurance companies offer special telecommuter rates for those who work from home. The best way to find out is to pick up the phone and call your car insurance carrier to discuss whether they offer low-mileage discounts.
In addition to low-mileage discounts, here are a few other common money-saving opportunities that may be worth asking about:
- An increase to your deductible to lower premiums.
- Multi-car discount for more than one car insured in your household through the same company.
- Multi-policy discount if you have car insurance plus another type of policy from the same company—such as renters, homeowners, or life insurance.
- Car safety discount if your car is equipped with the latest safety features, such as airbags, etc.
- Anti-theft discount for cars equipped with alarms and self-locking doors.
- New car discount, typically for cars less than three years old.
- Good driver discount for those who have not had car accidents or moving violations.
- Accident prevention course completion discount for those who take a safe driving course. These classes are available online, typically for a modest fee. Visit https://dmv.ny.gov/pirp/online for approved courses in New York State.
We hope this information is helpful. Drive safely!