Compact Car Insurance

Compact cars get great gas mileage, and they’re certainly easy to maneuver on crowded city roads.

However, you need to have the right insurance coverage for your car. In addition to shopping around for the best rates on insurance, you also need to invest in the right coverage levels to ensure that you’re covered in an accident.

Enter your ZIP code into the FREE comparison tool located at the top of this page to start your search for car insurance!

Collision and Comprehensive Coverage is Vital

Small cars are more likely to sustain damage in an accident. In one accident example, a small car was tested against a mid-size sedan in an accident. While the larger car sustained very little damage, the smaller car spun 450 degrees and wound up with a displaced instrument panel and a steering wheel that moved into the cockpit.

Even if the driver wasn’t injured in this accident, the car still sustained serious damage and may well have been considered a total loss. This means that carrying comprehensive and collision insurance is even more important when you’re dealing with a very small car.

While you may have the greatest faith in your own driving abilities, you still want to know that your car can be fixed if someone else hits it while trying to park, it sustains damage in a storm, or you do make a mistake and cause an accident.

Remember the Underinsured and Uninsured Motorist Protection

Many people driving tiny compact cars are living in or commuting to urban centers. If you’ve chosen the car for its maneuverability and ease of use in heavy traffic, then the chances are good that you’re spending some time in heavy traffic. As you start traveling with higher numbers of drivers, your risk of encountering one without proper coverage increases.

The Wall Street Journal estimates that 14% of people across the nation are driving without insurance, and that puts you at risk if they cause an accident. Even if you have comprehensive and collision insurance, your provider may refuse to pay for the damages if they have another driver who can be held responsible.

If that person doesn’t have the right coverage, then you could be paying for the damages on your own. With this affordable rider, you’ll have the protection you need even when the person at fault was skimping on coverage.

Choose a Safer Car

When you’re shopping for a compact car, choose one that’s safer in order to find lower rates. Compact cars have less mass to protect the occupants, and that can put you at higher risk for injury in case of an accident.

Cars like the Hyundai Elantra, Chevy Spark, Subaru Impreza, Dodge Dart, and Scion tC have the highest IIHS ratings, and that will lead to the more attractive insurance rates for those cars.

If you already own a car that has lower ratings, you don’t have to settle for sky-high insurance rates. Shop around for better premiums by using comparison tools online. Get referrals from friends that also own compact cars to find the company that’s right for your needs.

Ask About Classes

Safe driver classes are designed to help you become a better driver. Insurance companies acknowledge the effectiveness of quality programs, so they may offer discounts once you complete the class.

In New York, a new program for point and insurance reduction provides drivers with a 10 percent discount when they take one of the approved classes. Benefits of a safe driver program include:

• Improved driving knowledge
• Greater awareness of applicable driving laws
• Techniques for better driving

Consider Gap Insurance

If your car will cost more to repair than it’s worth, then the insurance company may give you a check for the value of the car and total it out. This money can be used to pay off the old loan or go buy another car, but what happens when you owe more on the car than the value?

In this case, you could wind up paying the finance company the difference between your remaining balance and the insurance payment.

This is why gap insurance is a smart idea. It’s included on most lease contracts, but it’s also wise to have on a car that you put money down on. All cars start to depreciate the moment you drive them off the lot. The more miles you accumulate in a year, the faster your value will drop.

You can buy this coverage through your dealer when you get the car, and you might also be able to purchase the coverage through your insurance company.

Ask About Other Discounts

There are other ways you may be able to effectively lower your car insurance. Many companies offer discounts for different reasons, and the safe driving class is only the beginning. There are many discounts you may qualify for without doing anything extra.

When looking at quotes, check to see if the company is offering discounts for:

• Insuring more than one car
• Having more than one policy with the same company
• Getting good grades
• Special safety equipment in the car
• Additional security features such as alarms or Lo-Jack
• Working in a certain public service field, such as being a teacher, armed forces member or fire fighter
• Being a low mileage driver
• Having a clean driving record
• Staying with the same company for several years
• Going with paperless billing
• Paying the bill in full at the beginning of the coverage period

There are several steps you can take to find more affordable car insurance. It all starts with taking the time to shop around for better premiums. Rather than trying to call companies individually, you can use a comparison site to receive information from different companies after submitting your information once.

Additionally, you should talk to companies about saving with discounts to see what you qualify for.

It’s vital that you maintain collision and comprehensive coverage on your compact car because your car is simply more likely to sustain damage even in a minor accident.

You should also consider uninsured driver protection to give yourself some additional peace of mind. In addition to finding the right price on coverage, you also want to ensure that you get the right protection levels for your unique needs.

Be sure to compare rates by using our FREE comparison tool located above!