How Can Loyal Customers Save on Car Insurance?

Last Updated on December 9, 2019

Car insurance companies offer a number of discounts to their customers to encourage them to keep coming back. If you’ve been with the same car insurance company for years, you can actually get a discount just for being loyal and continuing to purchase insurance from them. These discounts can really add up over time and save you a lot of money on car insurance. Many of the most popular car insurance companies in New York have loyalty discounts for their customers. Here’s what you should know about loyalty discounts and how they can help you save.

What Are “Loyalty Discounts”?

When you’ve been with the same car insurance company for a certain amount of time, they will give you a discount as a thank you for staying with them. The length of time that you need to stay with the company to earn the discount varies. In most cases, you’ll need to be with them anywhere from three to five years. Some car insurance companies also offer discounts to new customers whose parents have been insured with them in the past. If you have a teen or young adult driver in the family, this type of discount is a great way to help them save money. Keep in mind that not every insurance company offers a loyalty discount, and some have stricter requirements to qualify than others.

How Much Can I Save with a Loyalty Discount?

Loyalty discounts aren’t standard across insurers. Some are less than 5 percent, while others can be as high as 10 or 15 percent. When assessing the value of a loyalty discount, pay less attention to the percentage of the discount, and more attention to the dollar amount you’re actually saving and the overall cost of your policy. A 15 percent loyalty discount might not be worth it if you can find a policy with a cheaper value somewhere else.

What Other Discounts Can I Earn on My Car Insurance?

Loyalty discounts are just one type of discount you can earn on your car insurance. There are many other discounts that you can apply to your policy to save even more money. Stacking these discounts together is one of the best ways to get the overall cost of your payments down. Here are some of the many discounts that are commonly offered by car insurance companies. These are very easy to combine with a loyalty discount.

• Bundling discounts. If your car insurance company also offers home insurance or life insurance, you can earn a significant discount by purchasing all of your insurance policies through them. Not only will you get a discount on your car insurance, but you’ll also get a discount on any other types of insurance you want to bundle with it. Bundling saves you money, and it can also make it much easier to manage all of your insurance policies.
• Multi-car discounts. If you have several cars in the household, you can save money by putting them all on the same policy. While your overall cost will still go up, you’ll pay less per car than you would if each car was on a separate policy.
• Good student discounts. If you have a teenage driver, they can earn a discount for getting good grades. These discounts are usually available for both high school and college students, although you may need to be taking a certain number of credits to apply. Some insurers also offer discounts for parents who have a student away at college.
• Telematics discounts. Many insurance companies are now offering discounts for drivers who use telematics tracking devices in their cars. These devices monitor your driving habits and give you discounts when you drive safely. Telematics help insurance companies learn more about realistic driving habits to provide better coverage.
• Safe driving discounts. There are even more discounts you can earn as a safe driver, even if you don’t use telematics. Car insurance companies will give you a hefty discount if you have a good driving record with no insurance claims. In New York, you can also get a discount for taking a defensive driving course. You can take the course every few years to continue renewing the discount. Safe drivers are the least likely to file expensive claims, which is why they are so highly rewarded by insurance companies.

When Should You Switch Car Insurance?

There are many instances where it makes sense to stay with the same insurance company for a long time. If you’re happy with the coverage and you enjoy significant discounts with them, then there’s no reason to switch. However, you shouldn’t stay with a car insurance company just because they are offering you a loyalty discount. Many car insurance companies will offer loyalty discounts just as they are raising car insurance rates in an effort to distract customers from the fact that their rates are going up. Even if you’re happy with your insurance company, you should be getting quotes from other companies every year or two. Car insurance rates are constantly shifting, and you might find that the cheapest company one year is more expensive the next year.

Being a loyal customer can help you save money on car insurance in many cases. Not only can you get a loyalty discount, but you can also get discounts for bundling or insuring multiple cars. However, you should always be prudent and check to make sure there aren’t better options out there.