It takes a little time, but the best way to find affordable quotes for Jeep Cherokee insurance in Durham is to make a habit of regularly comparing prices from companies who provide auto insurance in North Carolina.
Step 1: Read about what coverages are included in your policy and the modifications you can make to drop your rates. Many factors that result in higher rates such as multiple speeding tickets and poor credit can be eliminated by making minor changes in your lifestyle.
Step 2: Compare price quotes from direct carriers, independent agents, and exclusive agents. Exclusive agents and direct companies can only quote rates from a single company like Progressive and State Farm, while agents who are independent can quote prices for a wide range of insurance providers. Compare rates
Step 3: Compare the new rate quotes to your existing coverage and determine if there is any savings. If you find a lower rate, make sure there is no lapse between the expiration of your current policy and the new one.
Step 4: Provide adequate notice to your current company to cancel your existing policy. Submit the required down payment along with the signed application to your new insurance company. As soon as you receive it, place your new certificate of insurance in an accessible location in your vehicle.
An important bit of advice to remember is to make sure you’re comparing similar limits and deductibles on every price quote and and to look at as many companies as you can. Doing this enables an accurate price comparison and and a good selection of different prices.
It’s an obvious conclusion that insurance companies don’t want their policyholders to compare prices. People who do rate comparisons will most likely buy a different policy because of the good chance of finding a more affordable policy premium. A recent auto insurance study revealed that drivers who routinely shopped for cheaper coverage saved about $72 a month compared to drivers who never compared prices.
If saving money on car insurance in Durham is your objective, then having some knowledge of how to get free comparison quotes and analyze car insurance can help you be more efficient.
We hope to help you learn how auto insurance companies operate and some tips to save money. If you are already insured, you should be able to get lower rates using the concepts you’re about to learn. Shoppers just need to use the proper methods to get comparison quotes from multiple carriers.
Smart Buyers Can Reduce Their Insurance Prices
Multiple criteria are part of the calculation when you get a price on insurance. Some factors are common sense like an MVR report, but other criteria are not quite as obvious such as your marital status or your vehicle rating.
The following are some of the items utilized by car insurance companies to help set your prices.
- Raise coverage deductibles and save – Coverage for physical damage, commonly called comprehensive (or other-than-collision) and collision coverage, is used to repair damage to your vehicle. Examples of some claims that would be covered would be collision with another vehicle, hail damage, or theft. Comp and collision deductibles represent how much money you are required to spend if you file a covered claim. The more of the claim the insured is willing to pay, the less your company will charge you for insurance.
- Being married can save on insurance – Having a spouse may cut your premiums when buying insurance. Having a spouse translates into being more responsible it has been statistically shown that married drivers get in fewer accidents.
- Avoid unnecessary extra coverages – There are many extra bells and whistles that you can buy when buying insurance. Insurance for replacement cost coverage, high-cost glass coverage, and term life insurance may not be needed and are just wasting money. They may seem good when deciding what coverages you need, but if you’ve never needed them in the past get rid of them and save.
- File insurance claims and pay more – If you file claims often, you shouldn’t be surprised to get increased rates or even have your policy non-renewed. Companies in North Carolina give lower rates to insureds that do not abuse their auto insurance. Your car insurance is intended for larger claims.
- How old are your drivers? – Older drivers tend to be more responsible, tend to cause fewer accidents, and are generally more financially stable. Beginning drivers are statistically shown to be less responsible when behind the wheel and because of this, their insurance rates are much higher.
- Pay more for higher performance vehicles – The performance level of the car you are trying to find cheaper insurance for makes a big difference in your car insurance bill. The best insurance prices are for economy passenger cars, but other factors influence the final cost greatly.
- Your location is a factor – Having an address in a small town may provide you with better prices when buying insurance. Drivers who live in large cities have to deal with more aggressive driving styles and a longer drive to work. Less people living in that area means a lower chance of having an accident and also fewer theft and vandalism claims.
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Insurance loss probability for a Jeep Cherokee – Companies use past insurance losses as a way to help calculate a profitable premium rate. Vehicles that statistically have higher claim amounts or frequency will cost more for specific coverages.
The table shown below demonstrates the insurance loss data used by companies for Jeep Cherokee vehicles. For each insurance policy coverage type, the statistical loss for all vehicles averaged together is a value of 100. Values below 100 mean the vehicle has better than average losses, while values that are 100 or greater point to more claims or a tendency for claims to be larger.
Car Insurance Loss Data for Jeep Cherokee Models Make and Model Collision Property Damage Comp Personal Injury Medical Payment Bodily Injury Jeep Cherokee 4dr 2WD 76 105 77 87 90 109 Jeep Cherokee 4dr 4WD 78 115 82 75 79 103 BETTERAVERAGEWORSEData Source: iihs.org (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) for 2013-2015 Model Years
Most major insurance companies such as Allstate and Progressive allow you to get coverage price quotes directly from their websites. Getting Jeep Cherokee insurance prices online is pretty easy because it’s just a matter of typing in the amount of coverage you want as requested by the quote form. When complete, their rating system gets reports for credit and driving violations and returns a price based on these and other factors. This helps simplify price comparisons, and it’s necessary to do this if you want to get a better rate.
To find out how much you’re overpaying now, compare rates now from the companies shown below. If you have a policy now, it’s recommended you complete the form with your coverages identical to your current policy. This makes sure you will receive comparison quotes based on identical coverages.
The companies shown below can provide quotes in Durham, NC. To buy cheap car insurance in NC, it’s highly recommended you compare several of them to get a more complete price comparison.
Auto insurance is an important decision
Even though it can be expensive, insurance is mandatory in North Carolina but it also protects more than you think.
First, most states have minimum mandated liability insurance limits which means you are required to buy specific limits of liability insurance in order to get the vehicle licensed. 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.
Second, if you have a loan on your Jeep Cherokee, almost all lenders will make it a condition of the loan that you have full coverage to guarantee loan repayment. If you cancel or allow the policy to lapse, the bank will be required to insure your Jeep for a much higher rate and force you to reimburse them for the expensive policy.
Third, insurance protects not only your vehicle but also your assets. It will also pay for hospital and medical expenses for you, your passengers, and anyone else injured in an accident. Liability coverage also covers all legal expenses up to the policy limit if you cause an accident and are sued. If you have damage to your Jeep as the result of the weather or an accident, collision and comprehensive (also known as other-than-collision) coverage will pay all costs to repair after the deductible has been paid.
The benefits of insuring your car definitely exceed the price paid, especially with large liability claims. According to a recent study, the average American driver overpays more than $869 every year so compare rates at least once a year to make sure the price is not too high.
Auto insurance discounts help lower rates for Jeep Cherokee insurance in Durham
Some insurers don’t always advertise every available discount very clearly, so the list below contains a few of the more well known and the more hidden ways to save on auto insurance. If you do not check that you are getting every discount possible, you could be getting lower rates.
- ABS Brakes – Cars with ABS and/or traction control have fewer accidents so you can save 10 percent or more.
- Telematics Data – Drivers that enable their company to monitor where and when they drive through the use of a telematics system such as Drivewise from Allstate or Snapshot from Progressive might get better premium rates if their driving habits are good.
- Discounts for Safe Drivers – Insureds without accidents can save up to 40% or more on their Durham auto insurance quote than drivers with accidents.
- Professional Memberships – Being a member of a civic or occupational organization in Durham is a simple method to lower premiums when getting a Durham auto insurance quote.
- Driver Safety – Taking a class that teaches defensive driver techniques could save 5% or more depending on where you live.
- Low Mileage Discounts – Driving fewer miles could earn substantially lower rates.
One thing to note about discounts is that most discount credits are not given to the overall cost of the policy. Most only apply to the price of certain insurance coverages like collision or personal injury protection. Just because you may think you would end up receiving a 100% discount, that’s just not realistic.
A few popular companies and some of the discounts are detailed below.
- Farmers Insurance policyholders can earn discounts including youthful driver, homeowner, distant student, early shopping, bundle discounts, and multi-car.
- Esurance may offer discounts for good driver, Pac-12 alumni, defensive driver, renters, emergency road assistance, online quote, and safety device.
- State Farm offers discounts for Drive Safe & Save, accident-free, multiple autos, Steer Clear safe driver discount, defensive driving training, driver’s education, and anti-theft.
- GEICO has savings for five-year accident-free, anti-lock brakes, membership and employees, anti-theft, emergency military deployment, and air bags.
- Allstate may include discounts for EZ pay plan discount, economy car, anti-theft, safe driver, eSmart discount, and 55 and retired.
When getting free Durham auto insurance quotes, it’s a good idea to each insurance company to give you their best rates. Discounts may not apply to policies in every state.
Buying car insurance from Durham auto insurance agents
A small number of people would rather get professional advice from a licensed agent and that is just fine! Good insurance agents will help you protect your assets and help in the event of a claim. A good thing about comparing insurance prices online is the fact that drivers can get lower premium rates and also buy local. Buying from and supporting local insurance agencies is important especially in Durham.
Once you complete this simple form, your insurance data gets sent to local insurance agents who will give you bids to get your business. It’s much easier because you don’t need to visit any agencies since price quotes are sent straight to your inbox. If you have a need to get a comparison quote from a specific company, you can always search and find their rate quote page and complete a quote there.
If you would like to find an insurance agent, there are two different agency structures that differ in how they can insure your vehicles. Insurance agencies in Durham are classified as either independent agents or exclusive agents depending on their employer. Both types of agents can provide car insurance policies, but it’s a good idea to understand the difference between them since it can impact the selection process.
Independent Car Insurance Agents (or Brokers)
Agents that choose to be independent do not write with just one company and that enables them to quote your coverage with lots of companies and help determine which has the cheapest rates. If you want to switch companies, your policy is moved internally and you can keep the same agent. When shopping rates, you need to compare prices from at least one independent agent to have the best price comparison.
The following are Durham independent agencies that can give you free price quotes.
Insurance People-N Carolina
1920 Front St # 750 – Durham, NC 27705 – (919) 383-0442 – View Map
Marsh Dawson Insurance Agency
5410 – Durham, NC 27713 – (919) 484-8400 – View Map
Bull City Insurance
121 Sherron Rd #302 – Durham, NC 27703 – (919) 596-0671 – View Map
Exclusive Car Insurance Agencies
These type of agents can only provide pricing for a single company such as Farmers Insurance, American Family, State Farm and Allstate. They usually cannot compare rates from other companies so always compare other rates. Exclusive agents are usually quite knowledgeable on what they offer which helps them compete with independent agents.
The following are Durham exclusive agencies who can help you get price quote information.
Allstate Insurance Agent: Michelle Riley
6015 Fayetteville Rd Ste 115 – Durham, NC 27713 – (919) 544-2155 – View Map
Allstate Insurance Agent: Michael D. Maffeo
2705 N Duke St Ste 203 – Durham, NC 27704 – (919) 479-5085 – View Map
Allstate Insurance Agent: Cody Holliday
4324 S Alston Ave – Durham, NC 27713 – (919) 249-7291 – View Map
Finding the right insurance agent should include more criteria than just a cheap quote. Before buying a policy in Durham, get answers to these questions.
- Will vehicle repairs be made with aftermarket parts or OEM replacement parts?
- Do they reduce claim amounts on high mileage vehicles?
- Is there any savings for paying the full premium?
- Does the agency have a current Errors and Omissions policy?
- Can you contact them at any time?
- Are they involved in claim handling?
- Are they actively involved in the community?
A conclusion for your auto insurance search
When buying insurance coverage, you should never reduce coverage to reduce premium. In many cases, drivers have reduced liability coverage limits only to discover later they didn’t have enough coverage. The proper strategy is to buy the best coverage you can find at the best cost, not the least amount of coverage.
You just learned many tips how you can find cheap Jeep Cherokee insurance in Durham. The key thing to remember is the more rate comparisons you have, the better chance you’ll have of finding inexpensive Durham auto insurance quotes. Consumers could even find that the lowest prices are with some of the lesser-known companies. Some small companies often have lower rates on specific markets as compared to the big name companies such as Allstate or State Farm.
Additional information
- Insurance losses by make and model (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
- Who Has Affordable Durham Auto Insurance Rates for Electric Cars? (FAQ)
- How Much is Durham Car Insurance for Young Drivers? (FAQ)
- Who Has Affordable Durham Car Insurance Rates for a Ford F-150? (FAQ)
- Who Has Affordable Auto Insurance Rates for a Hyundai Santa Fe in Durham? (FAQ)
- Older Drivers FAQ (iihs.org)
- If I File a Claim will My Insurance Go Up? (Insurance Information Institute)
- Auto Insurance Basics (Insurance Information Institute)
- Child Safety Seats (Insurance Information Institute)