These days most of us are looking for ways to stretch our household expense dollars.  One big drain on these funds is auto insurance .  Her are some quick and easy tips you can use to help you find some savings in your auto insurance budget without putting your assets at risk.

How Far Do You Drive To Work?  In the North Carolina Auto Insurance policy there are several different classifications for your driving habits.  One focuses on the number of miles you drive to work each day.  Of course if you don’t drive to work and your policy is classified that way you can get a reduction by changing the classification to pleasure use.  Within the drive to work categories, there are two.  One is for those who drive less than 10 miles one way to work and the other is for those who drive more than 10 miles one way to work.  If you drive 10 or less miles one way to work, check with you agent to be sure that your policy reflects this classification.  Likewise, if you have changed jobs or if your work location has changed recently, make sure you correct your policy.

Watch Those Deductibles.  If you have comprehensive and collision insurance coverage on your auto policy, be sure to check them as well.  Generally, you want your deductibles to be as high as you could handle in the event of a loss.  There are some exceptions to this, for instance once you get to very high deductibles, the savings may no longer be worth it.  Also, if you have a very old car and the collision and comprehensive costs are already very low then a high deductible just might not get you enough savings to be worth it.  Still, many people have deductibles that are very low and can realize substantial savings by increasing them.

Pay In Full Discount.  Some companies are now offering savings of up to 10% if you pay your auto insurance renewals in full.  They have found that people who pay in full have less losses and thus should be entitled to a lower rate.  If you can afford to do this, you should certainly take advantage of the offer.  Some companies are offering as much as a 10% discount when you pay in full.  Since there are not many places right now where you can earn a 10% return on your money, this deal is just too good to pass up if you have the money in the bank to do it.

Bundle Your Policies.   Almost every insurance company will now offer you a substantial rate reduction if you buy both your homeowners insurance policy and your auto insurance policy from them.  You should always take a look at this option since it is rare that you will find these two policies to be cheaper when purchased separately.

Safety Equipment Discounts.  Check with your agent to make sure that you are receiving all available discounts for the safety equipment in your car from anti-lock brakes to airbags  and automatic seat belts.  Most companies apply these discounts by using the vehicle identification number on your car to discover exactly which safety features your car has.  So it is somewhat rare for them to miss on these discounts.  Still, you should check in with your agent just to be sure that you are getting all the safety discounts you deserve.

At Clinard Insurance Group in Winston  Salem, NC,  we work hard to make sure that all of our clients are informed consumers who are purchasing the best possible protection at the lowest possible cost.  If you need help with either your home insurance policy or your auto insurance policy, please visit us on line at www.ClinardInsuranceGroup.com or call us toll free at 1-877-677-7557.

Used car dealers in North Carolina certainly have many options regarding which insurance company they choose for their garage liability insurance.  But very few of these dealers, no matter how insurance savvy, understand the impact of using a company with their own special garage form.  This form can save the dealer thousands of dollars in premiums and claim costs as well as dozens of hours in the claims process.  But you have to have the right form to benefit.

Let’s start with a scenario that is all too familiar for used car dealers in North Carolina.  In order to sell the car you need to let your customer test drive it.  Now we all know that dealers are busy and often the customer goes out alone in the car.  The customer starts messing with the stereo and other unfamiliar items on the dashboard and suddenly they have hit another car.  Now your product is damaged and there is damage to a third party and their car.  When you file this claim with your garage liability insurance company you will be entangled in hours of claims processing from statements to phone calls and on and on.  In addition, you will now have a claim against your record which might result in higher rates with your insurance company and higher rates from other insurance companies when you decide to shop around.  Or worse yet, you may be cancelled by your insurance company for this large claim and you will find it hard to replace this coverage.  Without garage liability insurance, you are out of business.

There is a way to avoid all this heartache, simply by choosing the right garage liability insurance company.  There are insurance companies out there who write North Carolina Garage Liability Insurance for Used Car Dealers on their own policy form.  And this form excludes protection for your customer driving your car unless your driver has no personal auto insurance, or your customer’s auto insurance limits are below the state mandated minimums.  So now, in the above accident scenario, if your client has his or her own personal auto insurance policy, then that policy will have to pay this claim.  This protects your policy from claims, keeps your claims record clean, and keeps you out of the awful time sucking claims process.

There are three caveats to this trick.  First of all, if your garage policy limits protection for your clients you still need to do two things to make it work.  First of all, verify that they have an auto insurance policy with liability insurance equal to or exceeding the minimum liability limits required by law in your state and secondly, make sure that they have collision coverage on their policy on at least one of their cars.  The collision coverage will be necessary for you to be paid for the damages to your vehicle that they are test driving.  The third is that you will need to have an agent who specializes in used car dealers who will understand this policy form and who can help you intervene in the claims process and get the necessary information to the customer’s insurance company so that the claim never gets filed against your garage policy.

So what must you do?  Call your agent and ask them if your garage policy will pay on behalf of a customer test driving your vehicle.  If they answer yes, then you may need to find another agent, one who specializes in used car dealers.  If you need help with this process, please fell free to call Clinard Insurance Group, in Winston Salem, NC, toll free at 1-877-687-7557 or visit us online at www.TheAutoDealersHelper.com.  We can help you find a company using their own garage liability form that can give you these advantages.