As you might have noticed, NY Car Insurance premiums have risen at a good pace over the past several years. The rising rates have been mostly due to the continued increase in the rate and severity of accidents along with rising claim amounts. Unfortunately, even for those not getting into accidents and putting in claims, these increased insurance company costs are being shared by everyone.
All the more reason to take a look at your current auto policy premium and determine whether you should get some NY car insurance quotes for comparison. With that in mind, you want to make sure you receive all discounts you are eligible for. Below are the top 5 discounts for NY car insurance policies.
1) Multiple Policy Discount: Also known as the “Bundle Discount” when bundling car and home policies is usually quite generous, anywhere between 10% and 25% depending on the insurance company. The average discount among all insurers is 17%.
2) Multiple Vehicle Discount: Depending upon the insurer, a multi-car discount typically reduces your auto insurance premium by anywhere between 10% and 25%. Liability coverages such as bodily injury liability, supplementary uninsured/underinsured motorist protection, property damage and personal injury protection will need to be identical for each vehicle but you can choose to carry different or no coverage on each car for comprehensive, collision, glass, roadside assistance, and rental car reimbursement coverage.
3) Defensive Driving Discount: In New York, the defensive driving course reduces auto insurance premiums by a mandatory 10% that lasts for three years. You can take the course every three years to keep your discount continuously secured. The 10% reduction is applied to your liability and collision coverages.
4) Good Student Discount: Adding a young driver to your car insurance policy can be quite expensive and many insurers offer a generous “good student” discount to help offset the additional premium shock by up to 25%. Most NY insurance companies require a grade of B or GPA of 3.0 or higher to get the discount and both high schoolers and college students under age 25 are eligible.
5) Paid in Full/Paperless Discount: If you’re willing to pay your premium in-full and elect to go paperless with your auto policy, it can add up to a nice combination savings opportunity. Paid in Full discounts typically range between 6% and 14% while going paperless can add an additional reduction of between 3% and 6%. The paperless option simply means you’ll receive your policy documents and billing statements by email.
It’s important to say here that while discounts are important and should be taken advantage of; you really need to pay attention to the bottom line when comparing NY car insurance quotes. For instance, if insurance company ABC has better discounts but a high base premium rate, you could end up paying a higher overall premium than company XYZ that has lesser discounts but low base premium rates.
If you have any questions regarding available discounts, please contact us, we’re always glad to help. The NY Insurance Hub serves Albany, Schenectady, Troy, Latham, Cohoes, Watervliet, Clifton Park, Saratoga Springs, surrounding Capital Region areas and all of New York State from NYC to Buffalo.