There’s a lot of hassle surrounding money saving in the recent couple of years. Sure, the recession got everyone thinking about their wallets and you can now see money saving tips on virtually any kind f activity. Starting with grocery shopping to buying pills online, millions of Americans are very cost-conscious these days and are always looking for a way to optimize their budgets effectively. It’s evident that such a domain like car insurance has also become the object of numerous how-to’s, tips and savings strategies. There are many drivers out there who feel like their insurance is just too costly so there’s no surprise about the popularity of all these tips. But if you don’t want to spend time browsing through tons of such articles and guides, here’s a short and comprehensive overview of the most effective money saving strategies you can employ for reducing your car insurance costs.

1. Analyze your coverage

Quite often drivers buy the first policy they come across and don’t bother looking what’s actually covered. Either because they don’t have the time or simply don’t understand different coverage types, still the result is pretty much the same – people overpay for things they don’t actually need. If you feel you’re in a similar situation the first thing you should do is review your policy and analyze your coverage needs. For example, if your car is quite old you don’t need collision and comprehensive coverage since it won’t pay much money after an accident. You may also exclude rental car insurance if driving a car isn’t so crucial for your everyday activities. Also try modifying the deductibles in order to lower the premiums. The higher you set it the lower are the premiums, however make sure to keep things within the limits you can afford. Otherwise you may end up with a deductible you won’t be able to meet in order to get covered.

2. Shop around

Shopping around is a must when looking for a new policy. Every insurance company has its own method of calculating rates, which results in a fluctuation between rates offered by different companies. Use this fluctuation to own advantage by comparing auto insurance quotes from different providers. These days it’s even easier to do since there are so many quote comparison sites you can compare auto insurance quotes within minutes. Just make sure you’re comparing identical policies and read through the details in every policy that looks interesting. The devil is often in the details and you don’t want to pay for it later, right?

3. Get all the discounts you can

Discounts are offered by nearly all insurance companies, even if you don’t suspect them in doing it. They simply don’t advertise them much. Discounts are used to encourage low risk drivers and you might be just one of them. There are many different discounts and every company has its set of discounts as well as the amount each discount offers. Just make sure to ask your insurance company representative about all the discounts they have and see if you can apply for any of them.