How many times have you told yourself to find more competitive Ford C-Max Energi insurance in Durham? Tired of scraping nickels together to pay your auto insurance bill each month? You are no different than many other drivers in North Carolina.
It’s an obvious assumption that insurance companies don’t want their customers to go rate shopping. Drivers who shop around for the cheapest rate will, in all likelihood, switch to a new company because they have a good chance of finding lower rate quotes. A study showed that drivers who regularly shopped around saved $3,500 over four years as compared to drivers who didn’t regularly shop around.
If finding budget-friendly rates on Ford C-Max Energi insurance is the reason you’re here, then having some knowledge of how to get rate quotes and compare insurance can help simplify the process.
How to find better rates for Ford C-Max Energi insurance in Durham
If saving the most money is your goal, then the best way to get the cheapest Ford C-Max Energi insurance is to compare quotes annually from different companies in Durham.
- Take a few minutes and learn about what coverages are included in your policy and the measures you can control to prevent expensive coverage. Many risk factors that increase rates such as accidents, traffic violations, and poor credit history can be controlled by improving your driving habits or financial responsibility. This article provides more details to help prevent costly coverage and get bigger discounts that may have been overlooked.
- Compare prices from exclusive agents, independent agents, and direct providers. Exclusive and direct companies can give quotes from a single company like Progressive or Allstate, while independent agents can quote prices for a wide range of insurance providers.
- Compare the new rate quotes to your current policy to see if cheaper C-Max Energi coverage is available. If you can save some money and make a switch, make sure the effective date of the new policy is the same as the expiration date of the old one.
- Provide written notification to your current company to cancel the current policy and submit a down payment along with a completed application to your new company or agent. When you receive it, safely store the certificate of insurance with your registration paperwork.
The key thing to remember is to make sure you enter the same deductibles and limits on every price quote and and to analyze as many auto insurance providers as possible. This helps ensure a fair rate comparison and a complete rate analysis.
You have so many auto insurance companies to pick from, and although it’s nice to be able to choose, so many choices can make it hard to find the lowest rates for Ford C-Max Energi insurance in Durham.
Choosing the most cost-effective insurance policy in Durham is actually not that difficult if you follow our advice. Practically every vehicle owner who requires lower cost insurance most likely will find a lower price. But North Carolina consumers must know how the larger insurance companies calculate their prices and apply this information to your search.
Just remember that comparing a wide range of rates provides better odds of finding more affordable insurance.
The companies shown below have been selected to offer price quotes in North Carolina. If your goal is to find the cheapest auto insurance in Durham, it’s highly recommended you visit as many as you can in order to find the most competitive rates.
These discounts can lower Ford C-Max Energi insurance rates
Not many people think insurance is cheap, but there’s a good chance there are discounts to reduce the price significantly. Some discounts will apply when you quote, but lesser-known reductions have to be specially asked for before being credited. If you don’t get every credit you qualify for, you’re just leaving money on the table.
- Discounts for Government Workers – Being employed by or retired from a federal job could qualify for a slight premium decrease depending on your company.
- Theft Deterrent – Vehicles that have factory alarm systems and tracking devices can help prevent theft and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
- Auto/Life Discount – If the company offers life insurance, you could get a lower auto insurance rate if you buy some life insurance in addition to your auto policy.
- Pay Now and Pay Less – If you can afford to pay the entire bill rather than paying monthly you can avoid the installment charge.
- Telematics Discount – People who choose to allow their auto insurance company to analyze where and when they drive by using a telematics device in their vehicle like Drivewise from Allstate or In-Drive from State Farm might get better premium rates if they exhibit good driving behavior.
- Student Discount for Driver Training – Require your teen driver to enroll and complete driver’s education in school.
- Professional Organizations – Affiliation with qualifying employment or professional organizations could earn you a nice discount when shopping for auto insurance.
It’s important to understand that most of the big mark downs will not be given to your bottom line cost. Some only reduce individual premiums such as medical payments or collision. So even though it sounds like all the discounts add up to a free policy, you’re out of luck. But any discount will reduce your overall premium however.
Large auto insurance companies and some of their more popular discounts are shown below.
- The Hartford includes discounts for anti-theft, vehicle fuel type, air bag, good student, bundle, and defensive driver.
- American Family offers discounts for good student, accident-free, Steer into Savings, TimeAway discount, early bird, and good driver.
- Progressive may have discounts that include multi-policy, continuous coverage, online signing, homeowner, and multi-vehicle.
- Travelers policyholders can earn discounts including multi-policy, early quote, IntelliDrive, save driver, and good student.
- Farmers Insurance may include discounts for multi-car, switch companies, youthful driver, electronic funds transfer, early shopping, and teen driver.
- USAA has savings for loyalty savings, multi-vehicle, family discount, new vehicle, multi-policy, driver training, and annual mileage.
- Liberty Mutual discounts include multi-policy, preferred payment discount, new graduate, safety features, and new move discount.
When quoting, ask all the companies which discounts they offer. Depending on the company, some discounts may not apply to policies in Durham. To choose companies offering auto insurance discounts in Durham, click here to view.
Insuring your Ford C-Max Energi just makes sense
Despite the fact that auto insurance is not cheap in Durham, maintaining insurance serves a purpose in several ways.
- Most states have minimum mandated liability insurance limits which means it is punishable by state law to not carry a specific minimum amount of liability protection if you don’t want to risk a ticket. In North Carolina these limits are 30/60/25 which means you must have $30,000 of bodily injury coverage per person, $60,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and $25,000 of property damage coverage.
- If your vehicle has a loan, it’s most likely the lender will force you to buy insurance to ensure loan repayment if the vehicle is totaled. If you default on your policy, the lender may have to buy a policy to insure your Ford for a much higher rate and require you to reimburse them for the expensive policy.
- Insurance safeguards not only your car but also your financial assets. Insurance will pay for medical expenses incurred in an accident. Liability coverage, the one required by state law, also pays expenses related to your legal defense if you cause an accident and are sued. If damage is caused by hail or an accident, collision and comprehensive (also known as other-than-collision) coverage will pay to have it repaired.
The benefits of carrying enough insurance greatly outweigh the cost, especially with large liability claims. But the average American driver is overpaying more than $750 every year so compare quotes from several companies each time the policy renews to ensure rates are competitive.
Ratings for North Carolina car insurance companies
Finding a highly-rated company is difficult considering how many different insurance companies sell coverage in Durham. The information in the lists below can help you choose which providers you want to consider comparing rates from.
Top 10 Durham Car Insurance Companies Ranked by Claims Service
- Travelers
- Nationwide
- Allstate
- State Farm
- Liberty Mutual
- GEICO
- American Family
- Esurance
- Titan Insurance
- AAA Insurance
Top 10 Durham Car Insurance Companies by A.M. Best Rank
- Travelers – A++
- USAA – A++
- GEICO – A++
- State Farm – A++
- Titan Insurance – A+
- Esurance – A+
- Progressive – A+
- Nationwide – A+
- The Hartford – A+
- Allstate – A+
Local neighborhood agents and insurance
Many drivers would rather have an agent’s advice and often times that is recommended One of the great benefits of comparing rate quotes online is that drivers can save money and get cheap insurance quotes and still have a local agent.
After filling out this simple form, your insurance data is instantly submitted to insurance agents in Durham that can provide free Durham car insurance quotes for your insurance coverage. It simplifies rate comparisons since you won’t have to find an agent since price quotes are sent directly to your email. You’ll get the best rates and an insurance agent to talk to. In the event you want to compare prices from a specific insurance provider, you can always find their quoting web page to submit a rate quote request.
Picking a provider should include more criteria than just a cheap price quote. Before buying a policy in Durham, get answers to these questions.
- Do they get extra compensation for selling add-on coverages?
- Will the company cover a rental car if your car is getting fixed?
- Is the agency active in community causes in Durham?
- Are all drivers listed on the coverage quote?
- Which companies can they place coverage with?
- Are they involved in claim handling?
- Does the company have a local claim office in Durham?
When finding a reliable insurance agent, you should know the different types of agents and how they work. Insurance agencies in Durham may be either independent (non-exclusive) or exclusive.
Exclusive Agents
Agents that choose to be exclusive can usually just insure with one company like Farmers Insurance, State Farm, Allstate, and AAA. Exclusive agents cannot place coverage with different providers so if the price isn’t competitive there isn’t much they can do. Exclusive agents are trained well on the products they sell which helps them compete with independent agents.
Listed below is a list of exclusive agencies in Durham that are able to give price quotes.
Allstate Insurance Agent: Cody Holliday
4324 S Alston Ave – Durham, NC 27713 – (919) 249-7291 – View Map
Allstate Insurance Agent: Reginald Wright
2310 S Miami Blvd Ste 131 – Durham, NC 27703 – (919) 484-2493 – View Map
Nationwide Insurance: Sizsiz L Wong
105 W North Carolina 54 Ste 279 – Durham, NC 27713 – (919) 544-7000 – View Map
Independent Agents
Agents of this type are not employed by any specific company so they can write business with many different companies and find you the best rates. If prices rise, the agent simply finds a different carrier and you can keep the same agent.
When searching for an agent, we highly recommend that you include price quotes from at a minimum one independent agency to get the most accurate price comparison.
Below are independent insurance agencies in Durham willing to provide price quotes.
Mike Embree Insurance Agency
3813 University Dr – Durham, NC 27707 – (919) 489-7336 – View Map
Around The Corner Insurance Agency, Inc.
1431 Broad St – Durham, NC 27705 – (919) 286-9500 – View Map
Protective Agency
4215 University Dr #1 – Durham, NC 27707 – (919) 416-4900 – View Map
Once you have answers to your satisfaction to any questions you have and a low price estimate, you may have just found an auto insurance agent that is reputable and can properly insure your vehicles. It’s important to know that you are able to terminate your policy any time you want so don’t think that you’re stuck with any specific agency with no way out.