Best Cheapest Car Insurance in New York for 2020
Here’s how you will get the best and cheapest car insurance policy in New York.
The Empire State is one of the most populous and one of the most advanced states of all.
People like to travel, people love to do road trips and there are 242,769 miles of road just waiting to be driven.
Smart Apple will get you equipped with all the knowledge you need, to get only the very best and cheapest insurance, so you can take the wheel and start driving around in your favorite city.
While the rate of a car insurance policy varies depending on a lot of factors, what Smart Apple will do for you is get you the best and cheapest car insurance policy in New York.
Not by selling, but by educating you with everything there is to know about Car Insurance policies.
That way, you will be able to make an informed decision by yourself, after carefully evaluating all your options, reviewing all the factors that play a role in getting you the best and cheapest car insurance deal.
Remember one thing, getting a cheap deal on car insurance does not mean that you are getting a bad deal or a weak quality one.
Shopping for car insurance is just like shopping for a dress, a vehicle, or a house… the more places you look at, the more quotes you get, and once you’ve got enough quotes, you can compare them all and choose the one that best suits your needs.
And we, at Smart Apple can help you compare the best prices, get you information on customized deals that best suit your needs and help you select the most beneficial deal while paying the least possible.
If a question like “Why is car insurance important?” comes to your mind, then you are not the only one.
A lot of people feel that getting an insurance policy means spending hard-earned money every month for not much benefit.
However, that is not true, since insurance is basically your own money and it stays with you like a friend in need is a friend indeed.
Why is car insurance an important necessity?
In order to understand the importance of car insurance, it would be wise to understand how exactly car insurance works?
Getting a car insurance policy means you will have financial protection in case of an accident causing injury to the drivers involved and any property damage (yours or others).
Any licensed driver can buy a policy from a car insurance company, which guarantees specific levels of coverage in the event of an accident.
Car insurance will provide payouts for the driver’s vehicle repairs and medical expenses as well as with any damage that the insured driver or vehicle may have caused to other people or property.
So the very first huge benefit of having a car insurance policy is saving you from costs for medical injury, car damage, or property damage both yours and anyone else involved in the accident.
Car insurance is a legal requirement in all but two states and it is illegal to drive a car without having an insurance policy.
If you are found driving a car without insurance in New York, then it is very possible that your driving license could get revoked and you will have to pay a heavy fine.
The penalties are tougher if you’re actually pulled over by a police officer while you are driving without insurance – and the situation gets even worse if you get into an accident.
Police can give you a ticket, you can be arrested or your vehicle could get impounded.
The DMV also has the right to revoke your registration and your license, and trust us, they will not hesitate to do that.
At times, the fine can go up to $1,500 and you will also have to pay an additional $750 penalty in case you wish to restore your driver’s license.
Because an auto insurance policy will help you financially in covering damages to the vehicle involved, damages to the property that you crashed into (such as a shop, tree, fence, signboard, etc.) and medical expenses to cover the injuries of all the persons (including you and your passengers) that got into an accident due to your vehicle. That is why it is an important necessity.
Minimum legal requirement for car insurance in New York:
Car insurance requirements in New York are pretty steep but you have to have them if you don’t want your license and registration getting suspended.
The minimum amount of liability coverage that you will need in New York:
➡ $10,000 for property damage for a single accident.
(If you are responsible for the accident then, this pays for damage to other people’s cars or their property)
➡ $25,000 for bodily injury and $50,000 for death for a person involved in an accident.
➡ $50,000 for bodily injury and $100,000 for death for two or more people in an accident.
➡ $25,000 in uninsured motorist bodily injury liability per person and $50,000 per accident: Uninsured motorist (UM) covers the costs if you are in an accident caused by a driver with little or no car insurance or a hit and run driver.
➡ $50,000 in personal injury protection (PIP): this type of policy can pay medical bills for you and any other people covered on your policy, it doesn’t matter who’s at fault in the accident.
It is also required that you carry the New York State coverage for a vehicle registered in New York.
How to get a cheapest car insurance policy deal?
To get car insurance quotes, you will need to gather your personal information and a few other things:
➡ Driver’s license number (To check your driving history and records)
➡ Social Security number (To check your credit rating and credibility)
➡ Your car’s VIN (particular information associated with your unique car)
➡ Address of your home or location where the car will be kept.
All this information will be used by companies to learn about your driving history and any potential risks and benefits associated with your car, like safety features.
They use your data as a factor in your quote. Your location plays an important role because certain areas have higher crime rates while some areas are prone to natural disasters.
The policy’s coverage requirements and costs vary from company to company depending on a large number of factors, like the person’s age, person’s car, the location of where the vehicle is kept, the home location of the person, and driving record.
After this, what you need to do is decide what kind of coverage you want or need.
That can be a tough question but it usually can be answered by doing a few calculations.
For example, would you be needing collision coverage for your new car, or is your vehicle too old and is not worth spending thousands of dollars for repair?
The more coverage you buy, the more you’ll have to pay for insurance. Smart Apple can help you in deciding what is more important for your insurance needs.
What sort of protection you get depends on the coverage of your policy, for example, protection from the following?
➡ Fire
➡ Theft
➡ Vandalism
➡ Hail damage
➡ Animal damage (for example, if you accidentally hit a deer or if rats infest your engine)
Types of Car Insurance Coverage and Important Terms
There are terms that you must know prior to shopping for a car insurance quote. Some common terms are:
Appraisal: A professional, formally written estimation of the value of the property.
Coverage: Details of protection and benefits provided to you.
Collision Coverage: Optional coverage for when your car is damaged as a result of colliding with another car or another object, a pole, tree, fence, wall, a glass of a shop, etc. It also can come into play if you hit a pothole that severely damages your car. This insurance applies only to your car. Important to take notice is that it doesn’t cover what the car collided with (that’s what your property damage liability is for).
Comprehensive Coverage: It is optional coverage but heavily required, for when your car is stolen or damaged in ways that do not involve a collision. It covers hail damage, glass breakage, fire, vandalism, getting damaged due to an animal intervention, flood, earthquakes, falling objects, and theft. The price of comprehensive insurance is affected by the risk of loss, meaning the chance that an insured car will be stolen or damaged, and the car’s value at the time of the loss.
Property Damage Liability (PD): This type of coverage is for when you damage someone else’s property with your vehicle. This can apply to all the property such as buildings, utility poles, fences, and garage doors.
Claim: Request made by an insured for the insurance company to cover an incurred loss. A claim may be filed online, by phone or in writing.
Limits: Maximum amount of protection for specific coverage (such as $50,000)
Policy: Contract between you and your insurance company.
Premium: Price (per interval) of your insurance policy.
Deductible: The amount that must be paid out of pocket by the insured for covered losses before the insurance company pays a claim. Choosing a higher deductible will reduce annual payments but in case of a claim on loss, the amount paid by the insurance buyer will be higher.
Surcharge: An increase in your auto insurance premium due to an at-fault accident or a moving violation.
Replacement cost: The cost of replacing or repairing lost or damaged property without allowing for depreciation in value or considering the market value.
Indemnity: The principle upon which all auto insurance contracts are based. According to this principle, the objective of insurance is to restore the insured to the same financial position after a loss that he or she was in prior to the loss.
Grace Period: Some auto insurance policies have a grace period that allows customers to make a payment after the due date. But, many companies will not accept a payment after the date shown on a cancellation notice. Online payments and EFT can prevent policy lapses.
Free Look Period: An insurer may cancel an auto insurance policy for any reason during the Free Look Period, which is usually the first 30 days of the policy. The exact number of days varies by state.
Exclusions: Items that are specifically denied coverage under the terms of an insurance policy. For example, most auto insurance policies exclude coverage for normal wear and tear, drag racing, and intentional acts.
Extended Coverage: An endorsement added to an insurance policy, or a clause included in the policy, to provide additional coverage for risks other than those covered under the basic policy provisions.
Endorsement: A written agreement attached to an insurance policy to add or subtract coverage. Once attached, the endorsement takes precedence over the original terms of the policy.
Deposit Premium: It is the deposit paid by a prospective policyholder when an application is made for an insurance policy. It is usually equal to at least the first month’s estimated premium and is applied toward the total policy premium when billed.
Liability Insurance: Coverage for sums that an insured becomes legally obligated to pay because of bodily injuries or property damage, or financial losses caused to other people. Liability insurance is legally required because it covers the costs associated with injuries, death, or damage caused to another vehicle or property that you or another driver causes while driving your car.
Lapse: The expiration of a right or privilege when one party does not live up to its obligations during the time allowed. A lapse in auto insurance coverage means a period of time without an insurance policy, which may result in paying higher premiums for a new policy because insurers have determined that drivers who maintain continuous coverage are less likely to make an insurance claim than those who let a policy lapse.
Uninsured Motorist coverage: may help compensate you for your injuries or property damage caused by a driver without insurance.
Underinsured Motorist coverage: can protect you from at-fault drivers with insufficient insurance coverage to pay your claim.
Gap insurance: If your car gets totaled or stolen, collision or comprehensive policies usually only pay out the car’s actual cash value (ACV). But that amount, which factors in depreciation, might not cover the amount you still owe on a car loan or lease. Gap insurance pays out the difference, so you can pay off the loan or lease.
Roadside assistance: is an optional coverage add-on. It is usually inexpensive to add to your policy but very useful because it covers the type of emergencies that can leave you stranded on the side of the road, like flat-tire changes, jump-starts, fuel delivery, or towing to the nearest mechanic.
How do I get the cheapest rates for car insurance in New York 2020?
There are a number of ways you can reduce the rates of your insurance policy and get the cheapest car insurance deal. We’ll discuss the most effective ways which can help you save money.
Bulk Purchasing:
Just like the general rule of bulk purchasing, if you buy an insurance policy for more cars or more drivers with the same company, the overall cost will be lower and you will be able to get the cheapest deal.
When considering the discount for multiple drivers of the same car, it is taken into account whether the drivers are blood-related, married, or live at the same residence.
Bundled Deal:
Another way to get the cheapest car insurance deal is if you combine two or more insurance policies, such as auto insurance and life insurance or auto insurance and home insurance.
Doing so, particularly with the same company, can help you get the cheapest best car insurance policy.
Driving History:
You can reduce the cost of your insurance policy if you have a good driving history, zero or least previous accidents in the past, few or none moving violations, and overall fewer points assessed to your driving’s license.
Insurance companies usually obtain driving reports from DMV for a particular vehicle or a driver using VIN number and driver’s license, respectively.
This means if your records are clean, your insurance rates will also be less.
Raising the Deductible:
When a claim is made on a covered loss, the deductible is the amount that the owner of the insurance policy pays out of pocket first before the insurance company comes in and provides assistance.
Choosing a higher deductible will reduce annual payments but the insured will have to pay more.
If you can afford a larger out of pocket payment when you file a claim, consider raising your deductible. A higher deductible typically makes your car insurance cheaper.
Look For Discounts:
Every insurance company offers different sorts of discounts. Be sure to check them all! And pick the one that gives you the most benefit.
From good student discounts to association discounts, there are plenty of discounts available.
➡ Good driver discount (no accidents in the past 5 years).
➡ Military, marines or navy officers get an exclusive discount.
➡ Discount for Seat Belt Use.
➡ New Vehicle Discount.
➡ Senior drivers get another discount.
➡ Federal employees with GS-7 and above get a discount. Even if you are retired.
➡ Good student driver discount: If you have grades maintained at “B” average or better, then you are eligible for this discount. There are various alumni, colleges, universities, and student organizations that allow you to get discounts.
➡ Memberships in particular organizations or groups that offer discounts. Such as your employer or your association with a doctoral group.
➡ Anti-theft discounts.
Credit Score:
Improve your credit score. If you have a higher credit score, it is generally considered as the high credibility of a person.
Insurance companies carefully scrutinize your credit history, if you have a clean record, you pay your bills on time; then you are likely to get the cheapest possible deal.
Incentive programs:
Some companies offer incentive programs, if you sign up with them then you become eligible to get a discount.
Programs like telematics which put a tracker or a camera on your vehicle, so the insurance company can monitor your driving, can actually give you a big discount.
Complete a defensive driving course:
In the State of New York, if you pass an approved defensive driving course and you had points on your driving records, you may be able to have those points reduced, which means, a cleaner driving record. This will also reduce your insurance costs.
Your Car’s Make and Model:
Carefully consider which type of vehicle you purchase when shopping for a new car, a smaller and safer car will have lower insurance costs and a large SUV type vehicle will have a higher insurance cost.
Obviously, if your car requires a higher cost to repair, then the insurance premiums will likely be more expensive.
The most important factor:
The most important factor that can help you reduce your payments is carefully analyzed your needs and pick the insurance policy that will be best suitable for you.
This is where Smart Apple can be your encyclopedia, we can actually put our backs into it and dig out the best cheapest car insurance policy in New York.
A lot of times a particular type of coverage is not required however insurance companies often will persuade you to buy them.
An expert opinion from insurance brokers at Smart Apple can save you from this kind of trap and only get you what you need, rather than what the insurance company is selling.
Why are prices in New York higher?
If you feel like the cost of insurance policy in New York is higher than average, then that is because of a few reasons.
We might be able to help you in understanding that. New York is a state where almost 88 percent of the population lives in highly developed and urban areas.
Usually, there’s more traffic and more crime in a face-paced city, which means that the chances of something bad happening to your car will also be higher.
Another reason is that New York’s no-fault system actually increases car insurance costs due to the high rate of fraud.
In a no-fault system with PIP (personal injury protection) insurance, it’s easy to claim money from insurance companies for medical bills, which allures scammers to do just that.
However, just because you live in New York doesn’t mean you will have to pay higher.
With Smart Apple as being your insurance consultant, we will help you get the cheapest best car insurance policy for your vehicle.