7 Ways Seniors Can Keep Their Car Insurance Affordable

With the cost of car insurance rising each and every year, it is no wonder that car owners have been looking for ways to make their insurance more affordable. No group of car owners, however, has been hit by rising insurance premiums as much as seniors. 

This sector of the population generally has low incomes but high car insurance costs, especially if one has not built up a good driving record over the years. Follow these tips to keep your car insurance premiums as low as possible for years to come. 

1) Keep out of trouble! 

The best way for anybody, not just seniors, to keep car insurance premiums low is to ensure that your driving record is clean and you never get into any at-fault accidents. Your insurance company is bound to get wind of any problems with your driving record at some point, so keeping out of trouble is the best policy. 

2) Take a defensive driving course

Aside from the obvious benefits of showing you how to control your car effectively, many insurance companies provide discounts to drivers who take defensive driving courses. 

3) Find a senior citizen insurer 

Some insurance companies specialize in providing cover to senior citizens, and these companies might be a little more forgiving of previous misdeeds on the road, especially if such incidents occurred decades ago. 

4) Drive less and ask your insurer for a discount 

Many seniors do not use their cars very much. Often, a senior citizen's car is only used for short drives down to the shops or to visit family. Some insurance companies provide discounts to people who use their car very little, as a reflection of the sharply decreased risk involved by driving occasionally. 





It is well worth speaking to your current insurer to see whether any such offers exist, and if not, consider switching insurance companies.

5) Keep up to date with medical checks

Insurance companies just love to see medical reports come in outlining issues with vision, as this is a great excuse for them to hike their premiums. If you detect issues with your vision, it may be worth your while to visit an optometrist to see whether corrective lenses can be worn to ensure that while on the road, these vision problems will have no impact on your ability to drive safely. 

This not only looks good to an insurance company, but it also helps to keep you safe while on the road. 

6) Switch insurance companies

Many seniors do not have access to the Internet, and hence do not 'shop around' to get the best rates on their car insurance. It is a good idea to shop around, so if you do not know anybody willing to source quotations for you, get out your copy of the White Pages and start calling around. 

7) Stop driving.

Many seniors use their cars so infrequently that it may be cheaper to get rid of the car altogether and just take cabs whenever transport is needed. Often, the cost in cab fares that will be incurred by not driving will be less than the yearly insurance premium. 

Author Bio: Anna Peterson works for InsurancePanda.com a company that provides numerous quotes to compare. 

Insuring Your Teen Driver as an Older Parent

Mark McCrell is an auto aficionado who loves to drive his 1974 Buick LaSabre around town and write about all things auto. He currently blogs for the website AutoInsuranceQuotes, which specializes in cheap auto insurance. 

Of all the benefits and drawbacks of becoming a parent later in life, a strong benefit is that you are most likely more equipped to handle the financial challenges that accompany raising a teenager. This is most true when it comes to adding your teen driver to your car insurance policy. Your greater age and experience are powerful allies to have in your corner for this fight. Here are some tips for surviving adding your teen to your insurance policy. 

You have some good things on your side as an older parent: 

● Your credit score is generally higher 

● You’re more likely to be married, which can lower your premium overall 

● You’ve most likely been with your insurance company for a long time 

● You’re more secure in your financial affairs, including investments and saving 

● You’re more likely to be a homeowner, in which case you can bundle home and auto 

● You’re more likely to have multiple cars under the same policy 

Tips to insure your teen driver for less: 

Give them an inexpensive, safe car 

If you are giving them a car, make sure that it’s a safe car that’s cheap to insure. They may beg for the dragster or the muscle car, but if you put your foot down and get a car that’s safe and reliable, then you can make sure they are safe and save money on insuring your teen. 

Raise their deductibles 

Raise the deductibles on your teen’s policy to $1,000 more. They are almost sure to have a few small dings and scrapes along the way and if you don’t have to file a claim for every paint scratch, then you will save money in the long run with a claims free discount. 

Drop the comprehensive coverage 

If your teen is driving an older, or less expensive car, you may want to drop your comprehensive coverage entirely. If your car is worth less than the deductible, then you definitely want to consider dropping it off your policy. 

Continued education 

Enroll your teen in a defensive driving course, or some insurers will send an information packet out or instructional DVD to your teen. If they complete the included material, then you could get another break on your insurance. 

Don’t let your teen modify their car 

Many teen drivers may be in to learning about car modifications that make cars look cooler or driver faster, but these modifications can lead to huge jumps in your insurance premiums. If you modify your car to give it more horsepower or modify the body to make it look “sleeker,” then it could pose a greater risk for theft or vandalism. If your teen wants to help modify a car, just make sure that it’s a friend’s car. 

There are lots of tools in your tool belt as an older parent that will help you to build a better financial future for your teen driver. Make sure you take advantage of your wisdom and experience and turn it into extra money in your pocket each month, just in case your teen wants to borrow money to go to the movies.

How to Save Money on Car Insurance When You Retire

 (Photo credit: West Midlands Police)

When going to work or driving the kids to school you can really put a lot of miles on your car. Also running errands to the mall and grocery store add to those miles. But what happens when you are in your retirement years when none of that occurs anymore? When lifestyle changes occur in your life it's best to have your car insurance policy reevaluated to see if you can save some money. 

When you call or meet with your car insurance agent you need to ask if there are ways to lower your monthly payment. The amount of driving you do has changed, you drive less so it makes sense that you should pay less. When discussing your policy be sure to ask a lot of questions. I have listed a few topics to consider. 

Driving less every month.

Not driving to work and family commitments can really reduce the mileage driven. Keep a log and record the mileage when you make trips to the store and other errands. You will find that there is a drastic reduction in miles driven. Bring the log to your agent and show them the miles you drive, I am sure it will get you a reduction in your payment.

Offer to take driving courses.

Some car insurance companies have or can tell you about safe driving course for the older driver. These course for people over 55 years old are similar to drivers education courses that are taught in high school for teenagers. Many car insurers offer generous discounts when you have taken a course. Some states even require insurers to give you discounts when you complete a course. 

These courses can be had for as little as $25. They can be taken in a classroom or online. The American Automobile Association (AAA) has information about these courses and can be contacted via phone or email. 

Cut down to just one car.

When everyone has to go their separate ways to work or shopping; it pays to have multiple cars. But when there is no need to do a lot of driving it makes sense to cut back to one car. If it's just you and your spouse and you mostly go everywhere together, why two cars. Get rid of the older car and save some money. Not paying insurance and maintenance on a the car save you a lot of money over time. Read more

Related articles

• College Student Car Insurance Tips (50plusfinance.com)
• How to Save Money on Car Insurance (savealittlemoney.com)
• How to Always Receive the Best Price on Car Insurance (50plusfinance.com)
• 4 ways to cut the cost of car insurance (totallymoney.com)

How to Shop for Cheap Car Insurance

(Photo credit: Patrick Beeson)

Having to deal with bills that never seem to stop growing, means finding ways to reduce our monthly costs. One of those bills that we will never be able to do without is car insurance. So finding cheap car insurance is always on a the mind of the families bill payer. There are so many car insurance providers in your town or on the Internet that it should be relatively east to find a cheap rate. Thank goodness for this abundance of car insurers, it's one of the reasons we can get our insurance inexpensively.

If you are smart, you will shop around every year or so to find a lower price for your car insurance. There is no penalty to changing your insurance from one company to another. As a matter of fact insurance companies know you are shopping around so they want to give you the best price possible. Competition is fierce among insurance companies and that's why you will always get a competitive price.

Whatever your needs, you will be able to find the right car insurance policy when you search online. The web has so many insurers and all of them want you as a customer so that means you can take advantage of this fact and get a lower price. Comparing insurance quotes online is easy and you can go about it in one of three ways. You can either, go to that site that you have seen advertised on TV and see if they can really save you hundreds of pounds or, you can use a search engine to bring you a few of the most popular sites to choose from and see what each has to offer. If you don’t particularly want to spend much time on the task but want to be sure you are getting the best for your money; you can use a comparison site and have the short term car insurance quotes, or full term quotes, you need bought to you in minutes. This option also means you only have to enter all of that information about yourself and your vehicle once which is an amazing time saver in itself.

Whichever option you prefer, it can be an idea to use a comparison site to begin with anyway; just to give you a guide as to what sort of money you should be expecting to spend. Either way, shopping around is imperative to make sure you get the best price as well as the best protection. A good place to start your search is cheapcarinsurance.net

Related articles

• Can Married Couples Have Separate Auto Insurance? (50plusfinance.com)
• Car Insurance Shopping Online Saves You Time And Money (50plusfinance.com)
• Do Baby Boomers Still Need Life Insurance? (50plusfinance.com)
• Picking The Right Insurance Company (50plusfinance.com)