How to Find the Most Affordable Car Insurance in DE

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Talk about some high auto insurance premiums! The average car insurance cost in Delaware is $1,700 per year, which is 19 percent higher than the national average. Those are some high premiums but there are several tips and strategies for lowering auto insurance premiums that can help. But before we get to those tips, which are bound to help lower auto insurance prices, let’s take a look at auto insurance in Delaware.

State Minimum Insurance Requirements

Liability coverage helps pay for the other person’s expenses if you are at fault in an accident.

Each state has its own minimum liability requirements for drivers in their state. The state minimum liability requirements in Delaware are $25,000 bodily injury liability coverage per person, $50,000 bodily injury liability coverage per accident and $10,000 property damage liability coverage per accident. The state minimum liability coverage in Delaware costs an average of $1,048 a year.

Delaware drivers also are required to pay Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage of $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident. Also known as no-fault insurance, this coverage pays the cost of lost wages and or medical bills for up to two years after a car accident, up to the PIP policy limit.

A Full Policy Costs More

A full policy that includes collision and comprehensive coverages with $1,000 deductibles costs $1,534 annually. Collision insurance is coverage that helps to repair or replace your car if it is damaged in an at-fault accident with another vehicle or object such as a fence or a tree. Comprehensive auto insurance covers events that are not covered by collision coverage. These events include fire, theft, vandalism and damages from weather such as a hailstorm, a windstorm, a hurricane and a tornado.

If you are financing your car, your lender may require you to have both collision and comprehensive coverages.

Both collision and comprehensive coverages come with deductibles. A deductible is the amount you need to pay before your auto insurance company begins to pay for damages to your car or losses. Opting for a high deductible will help to lower your insurance premium, especially on newer cars.

Cheapest and Most Expensive Cities

In Delaware, the city with the cheapest auto insurance is Harrington with an average annual premium of $1,573. The city with the most expensive auto insurance is Elsmere with an average annual premium of $2,255.

Why Is Car Insurance So Expensive in Delaware?

Delaware is a population dense state. The more congested a state is, the more traffic is on its roadways. This leads to more accidents and more insurance claims, which leads to higher insurance premiums.

The high cost of auto repairs is also a factor. If car insurance companies are paying out more for auto repairs than consumers will have this cost passed on to them in the form of higher insurance premiums.

Check Out Rates in Delaware and Save!

How to Save Money on Car Insurance

Here are some tips for lowering auto insurance premiums. There are several strategies that you can use. So try as many as you like. Many are very easy to do.

Have a good driving record. Being a safe driver who follows the rules of the road can save you money on your car insurance premium. So avoid speeding tickets, DUIs, moving violations and at-fault accidents and you will pay less on your car insurance. Delaware drivers without a recent at-fault accident save 35 percent on their car insurance. One slip-up is all it takes for a rate hike. In Delaware, a single speeding ticket could raise your car insurance rates by 18 percent!

Have good credit. Drivers with good or excellent credit pay less in auto insurance than those with bad or no credit. The difference can be startling. In Delaware, a driver with excellent credit saves on average about $1,782 annually on car insurance compared with a driver with a poor credit score. Auto insurance companies have been using consumer credit data to assign risk pools and determine rates since the mid-1990s. So if you have good credit you’ll save money on your insurance premium. If your credit is not so good there are things you can do to improve it. Get current on all your past due accounts and start paying down debt. Both those things will help to lift your credit score.

Get married. If you are married you will pay less for car insurance. There is a correlation between being married and exhibiting safe driving behavior. Because of this married drivers pay less for auto insurance than singles. In Delaware, married drivers save $52 annually on car insurance.

Bundle your policies. Bundle your auto insurance policy with another policy such as a homeowners policy and you’ll save money on your premiums.

Insure more than one car. Insure more than one car with the same insurance company. Doing so will save you money on your insurance premiums.

Pay once or twice a year. Rather than paying monthly auto insurance bills, pay the entire amount or six-months amount. Your premium is lower when you pay just once or twice a year.

Have anti-theft and safety features. Having certain anti-theft and safety features on your car will lower your auto insurance. So be sure to check with your insurance company about the anti-theft and safety features on your car. It could save you money.

Check your memberships. Members of particular professional groups and affiliates get discounts on car insurance. So check the memberships in your wallet. Reach out to your insurance company and ask if any of your memberships will get you discounts on your auto insurance.

Insure less on older cars. The maximum payout on collision coverage and comprehensive coverage is limited by the value of the car. So if your older car has a low market value, it may not make financial sense to carry collision and comprehensive coverages any longer.

Choose a higher deductible. As mentioned earlier, choosing a high deductible will help to lower your auto insurance premium. Just be sure to put the deductible amount in a small emergency fund. That way the money will be there if you need it for making an auto claim.

Maintain insurance coverage. You’ll pay higher insurance rates if you don’t maintain continuous coverage of your auto insurance. So stick with your coverage and save money.

Be a woman. Women make fewer accident claims than men and are rewarded with lower auto insurance rates. Men because of their higher accident claims pay more.

Be a low-mileage driver. Heavy commuters pay more for auto insurance. Low-mileage drivers pay less for their auto insurance. So drive less and pay less for auto insurance.

Be older than 25 and younger than 65. Younger and older drivers have more serious accidents and pay more for their insurance rates. Drivers with ages in-between pay less for car insurance.

Choose a safe neighborhood. If your neighborhood has high accident claims and high auto theft, you will pay more for your car insurance. On the flipside if your neighborhood has few accidents and low crime, you will pay less for your car insurance.

Shop around. One of the best ways to save money on car insurance is to shop around. You’ll want to get car insurance quotes from several different insurance companies. SmartFinancial makes it easy to do. Just enter the type of insurance you are looking for and a zip code to get started. Answer a few quick questions and you’ll be comparing auto insurance rates in Delaware in no time.

SmartFinancial has access to more than 200 insurance companies so you are bound to find the coverage and price that you want.

So shop smart, save money and drive safe on the roadways of Delaware.

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