Affordable Insurance for a Buick Lucerne in Columbus

The preferred way to save on Buick Lucerne insurance is to compare prices at least once a year from different companies in Columbus. Price quotes can be compared by following these steps.

• Step 1: Spend some time learning about the different coverages in a policy and the modifications you can make to drop your rates. Many rating factors that are responsible for high rates like traffic violations, accidents, and an imperfect credit score can be rectified by paying attention to minor details.
• Step 2: Obtain price quotes from independent agents, exclusive agents, and direct companies. Exclusive agents and direct companies can only provide price estimates from one company like Progressive and State Farm, while agents who are independent can quote rates from multiple insurance companies.
• Step 3: Compare the quotes to your existing coverage to see if a cheaper price is available in Columbus. If you find better rates, make sure coverage is continuous and does not lapse.
• Step 4: Notify your agent or company of your intention to cancel the current policy and submit a down payment and signed policy application to the new company. As soon as coverage is bound, place the new certificate verifying coverage along with the vehicle’s registration papers.

One important bit of advice is to use the same liability limits and deductibles on each quote request and and to get price quotes from all possible companies. Doing this guarantees the most accurate price comparison and the best rate selection.

A recent insurance study revealed that most insurance buyers have been with the same company for at least four years, and nearly half have never quoted rates to find lower-cost coverage. Consumers in Ohio could save as much as $700 every year just by shopping around, but they think it’s difficult to go online and compare rates.

If you are already insured or want to find a cheaper company, use these tips to reduce the price you pay and possibly find even better coverage. Buying the cheapest car insurance in Columbus is easy if you know what you’re doing. Smart shoppers only need an understanding of the best way to compare rate quotes instantly.

The car insurance companies shown below can provide price quotes in Columbus, OH. If several companies are displayed, we recommend you get price quotes from several of them to find the most competitive car insurance rates.

Rate information and statistics

The price information displayed next highlights a range of insurance policy prices for Buick Lucerne models. Learning as much as possible about how insurance prices are calculated is important to be able to make decisions when choosing a new policy provider.

Prices based on single male driver age 50, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $250 deductibles, and Ohio minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include multi-policy, claim-free, homeowner, safe-driver, and multi-vehicle. Estimates do not factor in your specific Columbus location which can affect auto insurance rates significantly.

Three reasons to insure your Buick Lucerne

Despite the high cost, insuring your vehicle serves an important purpose.

• Almost all states have mandatory liability insurance requirements which means you are required to carry specific minimum amounts of liability coverage in order to license the vehicle. In Ohio these limits are 25/50/25 which means you must have $25,000 of bodily injury coverage per person, $50,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and $25,000 of property damage coverage.
• If you bought your Buick Lucerne with a loan, more than likely the lender will have a requirement that you have full coverage to ensure they get paid if you total the vehicle. If the policy lapses, the lender may have to buy a policy to insure your Buick at an extremely high rate and force you to reimburse them for the expensive policy.
• Auto insurance protects both your assets and your vehicle. Insurance will also pay for most medical and hospital costs incurred in an accident. One of the most valuable coverages, liability insurance, will also pay for a defense attorney if you cause an accident and are sued. If damage is caused by hail or an accident, comprehensive (other-than-collision) and collision coverage will pay to repair the damage.

The benefits of carrying adequate insurance definitely exceed the price paid, specifically if you ever have a liability claim. But the average American driver overpays as much as $850 per year so you should quote rates once a year at a minimum to ensure rates are inline.

Discounts mean cheaper rates for Buick Lucerne insurance in Columbus

Some insurers do not list every discount in an easy-to-find place, so the below list has a few of the more common as well as the least known discounts that you may qualify for.

• Telematics Devices – Drivers that enable their insurance company to track driving manner by installing a telematics device such as In-Drive from State Farm or Allstate’s Drivewise system might get better premium rates if their driving habits are good.
• Air Bags and Passive Restraints – Factory air bags or motorized seat belts can qualify for discounts of 25 to 30%.
• Early Signing – Select insurance companies give a discount for switching to them prior to your current Lucerne insurance policy expiration. The savings is around 10%.
• Drivers Education – Make teen driver coverage more affordable by requiring them to successfully complete driver’s ed class if offered at their school.
• College Student – Older children who are enrolled in higher education away from home and leave their car at home may qualify for this discount.
• No Accidents – Columbus drivers who stay claim-free get the best auto insurance rates as opposed to frequent claim filers.

Keep in mind that some of the credits will not apply to all coverage premiums. Some only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like collision or personal injury protection. Even though the math looks like you would end up receiving a 100% discount, companies wouldn’t make money that way. But any discount will definitely reduce your auto insurance premiums.

The example below compares Buick Lucerne insurance costs with and without discounts. The premiums assume a male driver, no accidents or driving violations, Ohio state minimum liability limits, full coverage, and $500 deductibles. The first bar for each age group shows premium with no discounts. The second shows the rates with multi-car, safe-driver, marriage, multi-policy, claim-free, and homeowner discounts applied.

A list of companies and some of the discounts are included below.

• American Family offers premium reductions for good driver, defensive driver, early bird, TimeAway discount, air bags, accident-free, and multi-vehicle.
• Nationwide includes discounts for defensive driving, anti-theft, multi-policy, business or organization, easy pay, good student, and accident-free.
• MetLife has savings for accident-free, good student, claim-free, defensive driver, good driver, and multi-policy.
• 21st Century discounts include student driver, homeowners, good student, driver training, and theft prevention.
• Farmers Insurance has discounts for teen driver, electronic funds transfer, early shopping, youthful driver, switch companies, alternative fuel, and business and professional.
• Allstate policyholders can earn discounts including multi-policy, good payer, economy car, passive restraint, auto/life discount, and FullPay discount.

Before purchasing a policy, check with all the companies to give you their best rates. Some credits might not be offered on policies everywhere. To see companies who offer auto insurance discounts in Ohio, click here.

Do I need an insurance agent?

Some consumers would rather sit down with an agent and that is recommended in a lot of cases Professional insurance agents are trained risk managers and will help you if you have claims. One of the great benefits of getting free rate quotes online is that you can obtain cheap auto insurance rates and still have an agent to talk to. Buying insurance from local agents is definitely important in Columbus.

To help locate an agent, after submitting this quick form, your coverage information is transmitted to insurance agents in Columbus that can give you free Columbus car insurance quotes and help you find cheaper coverage. You won’t even need to contact an agency because prices are sent immediately to you. If you need to get a price quote from a specific insurance company, you just need to find their quoting web page and fill out their quote form.

The type of car insurance agent you choose is important

When researching a reliable insurance agency, it’s helpful to know the different types of agencies and how they can write your policy. Auto insurance agents in Columbus can either be independent agents or exclusive agents. Either one can insure your vehicles properly, but it’s worth learning the difference between them since it can affect the selection process.

Independent Auto Insurance Agents (or Brokers)

Independent agencies are not required to write business for one company so they have the ability to put coverage through many different auto insurance companies and help determine which has the cheapest rates. If they find a cheaper price, they can switch companies in-house and you don’t have to find a new agent.

If you need cheaper auto insurance rates, we recommend you compare quotes from a few independent agents so that you can do a thorough price comparison.

Listed below is a small list of independent agencies in Columbus that can possibly get you price quote information.

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Exclusive Agencies

Agents that elect to be exclusive work for only one company like Allstate, Farmers Insurance or State Farm. Exclusive agents cannot provide prices from multiple companies so you need to shop around if the rates are high. These agents are well schooled on their products and sales techniques which helps offset the inability to provide other markets.

The following is a list of exclusive insurance agencies in Columbus that are able to give price quotes.

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Selecting a insurance agency requires more thought than just the price. These are some valid questions you should ask.

• Are all drivers listed on the coverage quote?
• Is vehicle damage repaired with OEM or aftermarket parts?
• Do they regularly work with personal auto policies in Columbus?
• By raising physical damage deductibles, how much would you save?
• Is coverage determined by price?
• What insurance companies do they work with in Columbus?

After you get good responses to all your questions as well as cheap Lucerne insurance quotes, you may have found an insurance agency that can be relied on to insure your vehicles.

Auto insurance 101

Knowing the specifics of auto insurance helps when choosing the best coverages at the best deductibles and correct limits. Policy terminology can be impossible to understand and nobody wants to actually read their policy. Listed below are the normal coverages found on most auto insurance policies.

Med pay and Personal Injury Protection (PIP)

Medical payments and Personal Injury Protection insurance kick in for bills for things like dental work, surgery, ambulance fees and funeral costs. The coverages can be used in conjunction with a health insurance program or if you lack health insurance entirely. Medical payments and PIP cover you and your occupants in addition to if you are hit as a while walking down the street. Personal injury protection coverage is not universally available and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay

Comprehensive insurance

This coverage covers damage caused by mother nature, theft, vandalism and other events. You first have to pay a deductible then your comprehensive coverage will pay.

Comprehensive insurance covers claims like vandalism, damage from flooding, rock chips in glass and fire damage. The maximum amount a auto insurance company will pay at claim time is the actual cash value, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible it’s not worth carrying full coverage.

Auto liability insurance

Liability coverage protects you from damage that occurs to other’s property or people in an accident. This insurance protects YOU against claims from other people, and doesn’t cover your own vehicle damage or injuries.

It consists of three limits, bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. As an example, you may have liability limits of 25/50/25 which stand for a limit of $25,000 per injured person, a total of $50,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and a limit of $25,000 paid for damaged property. Alternatively, you may have one limit called combined single limit (CSL) that pays claims from the same limit without having the split limit caps.

Liability coverage protects against claims like pain and suffering, structural damage and legal defense fees. The amount of liability coverage you purchase is up to you, but consider buying as much as you can afford. Ohio state law requires minimum liability limits of 25/50/25 but drivers should carry more coverage.

The chart below shows why minimum state limits may not provide you with enough coverage.

Collision coverage

Collision coverage pays for damage to your Lucerne resulting from colliding with another car or object. You first must pay a deductible and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.

Collision insurance covers claims like colliding with another moving vehicle, sustaining damage from a pot hole and colliding with a tree. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from lower value vehicles. It’s also possible to choose a higher deductible on your Lucerne to save money on collision insurance.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM)

Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage protects you and your vehicle from other motorists when they either have no liability insurance or not enough. This coverage pays for medical payments for you and your occupants and damage to your Buick Lucerne.

Since many Ohio drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits (25/50/25 in Ohio), it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. That’s why carrying high Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage should not be overlooked. Most of the time these coverages are similar to your liability insurance amounts.

Cheap insurance premiums are possible

We just presented many tips how you can shop for Buick Lucerne insurance online. The key concept to understand is the more you quote Columbus car insurance, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. You may even discover the best price on insurance is with a smaller regional carrier. Regional companies can often provide lower premium rates in certain areas than the large multi-state companies such as GEICO and State Farm.

When getting Columbus car insurance quotes online, do not sacrifice coverage to reduce premiums. There have been many cases where an insured cut liability coverage limits and learned later that their decision to reduce coverage ended up costing them more. Your focus should be to buy enough coverage at the lowest possible cost.

Other learning opportunities

• Steps to Take After an Auto Accident (Insurance Information Institute)
• Who Has Cheap Car Insurance Quotes for Used Cars in Columbus? (FAQ)
• Who Has the Cheapest Columbus Car Insurance Quotes for Drivers with Bad Credit? (FAQ)
• What Auto Insurance is Cheapest for a Ford Explorer in Columbus? (FAQ)
• Child Safety FAQ (iihs.org)
• What is a Telematics Device? (Allstate)
• Parking Tips to Reduce Door Dings (State Farm)
• Teen Driving Statistics (iihs.org)