It’s safe to conclude that car insurance companies want to keep you from comparing prices. Consumers who compare price quotes are likely to switch to a new company because of the high probability of finding more affordable rates. A recent car insurance study revealed that people who compared price quotes annually saved about $70 a month compared to drivers who never shopped for cheaper rates.
If finding the most affordable car insurance in Stockton is your goal, then knowing how to get price quotes and compare coverages can save time and make the process easier.
The best way to get affordable car insurance rates in Stockton is to compare quotes once a year from different companies in California. Prices can be compared by completing these steps.
- First, spend some time learning about how car insurance works and the measures you can control to keep rates low. Many rating factors that are responsible for high rates such as speeding and poor credit rating can be eliminated by making minor driving habit or lifestyle changes.
- Second, request price quotes from independent agents, exclusive agents, and direct companies. Direct and exclusive agents can provide rates from one company like GEICO and State Farm, while independent agents can provide prices from multiple companies.
- Third, compare the new quotes to your current policy and see if there is a cheaper rate in Stockton. If you find a better price, make sure there is no coverage gap between policies.
One tip to remember is to use similar deductibles and liability limits on each price quote and and to get price quotes from as many auto insurance providers as possible. This ensures an apples-to-apples comparison and the best rate selection.
How Insurance Providers Calculate Chrysler 200 Insurance Prices
Lots of things are taken into consideration when you get your auto insurance bill. Some factors are common sense such as traffic violations, but other factors are less apparent such as whether you are married and annual miles driven. The best way to find cheaper car insurance is to take a look at the rating factors that come into play when calculating your policy premiums. If you have a feel for what influences your rates, this helps enable you to make changes that may reward you with big savings.
The factors shown below are some of the things utilized by car insurance companies to help set prices.
Cheaper rates using alarms and GPS tracking – Owning a car with a theft deterrent system can help bring down rates. Anti-theft devices such as OnStar found on GM vehicles, advanced tracking like LoJack, and vehicle immobilization systems can help prevent your vehicle from being stolen.
Big cities mean more claims – Having an address in less populated areas is a positive aspect when insuring your vehicles. Fewer drivers means fewer accidents. Drivers who live in large California cities have to deal with more road rage incidents and higher rates of accident claims. Longer commute distances can result in more accidents.
Teen drivers are expensive to insure – More experienced drivers are shown to be more cautious, file fewer claims, and usually have better credit. Young drivers are known to be less responsible when driving with friends and because of this, their car insurance rates are much higher.
Save money with responsible credit – Your credit history will be a significant factor in calculating your car insurance rates. Drivers with excellent credit tend to be better drivers and file fewer claims than drivers with lower credit ratings. Therefore, if your credit score is lower than you’d like, you could save money insuring your Chrysler 200 by improving your rating.
Battle of the sexes – Over time, data shows females are less aggressive when driving. However, don’t assume that women are BETTER drivers than men. Males and females get in at-fault accidents in similar percentages, but the males tend to have more serious accidents. In addition to higher claims, males also get higher numbers of serious violations like DWI (DUI) or reckless driving. Male drivers age 16 to 19 generally have the highest accident percentage and are penalized with high car insurance rates.
Raise your physical damage deductibles for better costs – Comprehensive and collision coverage deductibles are the amount of money you are required to spend in the event of a claim. Coverage for physical damage, also known as collision and other-than-collision, covers damage that occurs to your car. Some coverage claims could be collision with another vehicle, vandalism, and damage from wind. The higher the amount the insured is willing to pay, the lower your rates will be.
High performance equals high rates – The type of vehicle you need insurance for makes a huge difference in the rate you pay. The cheapest insurance rates are usually for small economy passenger cars, but the final cost of insurance is determined by many other factors.
Loss probability for a Chrysler 200 – Insurance companies analyze claim trends for every vehicle to help set a rate to offset losses. Models that the data shows to have higher claim amounts or frequency will cost more for specific coverages. The table shown below demonstrates the compiled insurance loss statistics for Chrysler 200 vehicles.
For each coverage category, the loss probability for all vehicles averaged together is considered to be 100. Percentage numbers below 100 suggest a better than average loss history, while percentage numbers above 100 indicate higher probability of having a loss or statistically larger losses.
| Vehicle Model | Collision | Property Damage | Comp | Personal Injury | Medical Payment | Bodily Injury |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrysler 200 2WD | 117 | 113 | 116 | 174 | 189 | 152 |
| Chrysler 200 4WD | 117 | 112 | 108 | 127 |
Empty fields indicate not enough data collected
Statistics Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety for 2013-2015 Model Years
Buy Stockton Chrysler 200 insurance online
The companies shown below have been selected to offer free rate quotes in California. If several companies are displayed, we recommend you visit two to three different companies in order to get a fair rate comparison.
Why you need to buy insurance
Despite the high cost of buying insurance for a Chrysler 200 in Stockton, insurance serves several important purposes.
- Most states have mandatory insurance requirements which means it is punishable by state law to not carry specific limits of liability coverage in order to drive the car legally. In California these limits are 15/30/5 which means you must have $15,000 of bodily injury coverage per person, $30,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and $5,000 of property damage coverage.
- If your vehicle has a lienholder, most lenders will require that you carry insurance to ensure loan repayment if the vehicle is totaled. If you let the policy lapse, the lender may have to buy a policy to insure your Chrysler at a much higher rate and force you to pay for it.
- Insurance protects both your Chrysler 200 and your personal assets. Insurance will also pay for medical bills for yourself as well as anyone injured by you. Liability insurance, one of your policy coverages, will also pay to defend you if you are sued as the result of your driving. If you receive damage to your vehicle caused by a storm or accident, your insurance policy will pay to repair the damage.
The benefits of carrying enough insurance definitely exceed the price paid, particularly for liability claims. In a recent study of 1,000 drivers, the average customer is currently overpaying as much as $865 each year so you should quote and compare rates once a year at a minimum to save money.
Cheaper Chrysler 200 insurance in Stockton
Auto insurance is neither fun to buy or cheap, but you can get discounts that you may not even be aware of. Some discounts apply automatically when you get a quote, but some need to be requested specifically before you will receive the discount.
- Passive Restraints – Vehicles with factory air bags or automatic seat belts can receive discounts of 25 to 30%.
- Professional Organizations – Having an affiliation with a civic or occupational organization in Stockton could qualify you for a break on your bill.
- Driver’s Education for Students – Teen drivers should enroll and complete driver’s education as it will make them better drivers and lower rates.
- Active Service Discounts – Having a family member in the military could trigger a small discount.
- Auto/Life Discount – Some companies give a small discount if you purchase a life insurance policy as well.
- Paperwork-free – Many auto insurance companies will provide an incentive for signing up on the internet.
- Cautious Driver Discount – Drivers who avoid accidents can pay as much as 50% less than drivers with accidents.
- Payment Discounts – If you pay your bill all at once rather than paying in monthly installments you could save 5% or more.
- Defensive Driving Course – Taking time to complete a defensive driver class could cut 5% off your bill and easily recoup the cost of the course.
Don’t be surprised that most of the big mark downs will not be given to the overall cost of the policy. A few only apply to individual premiums such as liability and collision coverage. Despite the appearance that you would end up receiving a 100% discount, company stockholders wouldn’t be very happy.
If you would like to choose from a list of providers with significant discounts in California, click this link.
Can’t I compare rate quotes from local Stockton insurance agents?
Certain consumers would prefer to visit with an insurance agent. Experienced insurance agents are trained to spot inefficiencies and help in the event of a claim. The best thing about comparing rate quotes online is the fact that drivers can get cheap auto insurance quotes and still choose a local agent.
For easy comparison, once you complete this form (opens in new window), the coverage information is immediately sent to participating agents in Stockton who will return price quotes for your coverage. It makes it easy because there is no need to contact any agents because quoted prices will be sent directly to your email. If for some reason you want to get a rate quote from a particular provider, you just need to go to their quote page and fill out the quote form the provide.
Picking the best insurance company should depend on more than just a cheap price quote. These are valid questions to ask:
- Are they actively involved in the community?
- Do the agents have professional certifications like CPCU or CIC?
- Are they paid to recommend certain coverages?
- Where would glass claims be handled in Stockton?
- Is the coverage adequate for your vehicle?
Pick the best auto insurance agent in Stockton for you
If you would like to find a local insurance agency, it helps to know the two different types of agencies and how they function. Insurance agencies in Stockton can be categorized as either independent agents or exclusive agents depending on their employer. Both handle auto insurance, but it is important to understand the difference in the companies they write for since it can affect your selection of an agent.
Exclusive Auto Insurance Agencies
Exclusive insurance agents can only provide pricing for a single company and examples are Farmers Insurance, Allstate, or State Farm. Exclusive agents cannot provide rate quotes from other companies so if the price isn’t competitive there isn’t much they can do. Exclusive agents receive a lot of sales training in insurance sales which helps them sell insurance even at higher premiums.
The following is a short list of exclusive agents in Stockton who can help you get rate quotes.
Farmers Insurance: Edward Barney
1350 W Robinhood Dr #3 – Stockton, CA 95207 – (209) 477-6215 – View Map
Farmers Insurance – Beatriz Salazar Perez
2111 W March Ln b201 – Stockton, CA 95207 – (209) 463-2302 – View Map
Farmers Insurance – Brian Craney
42 N Sutter St #208 – Stockton, CA 95202 – (408) 390-4092 – View Map
Independent Auto Insurance Agents
Independent agencies are not restricted to one company so they can insure your vehicles with any number of different companies enabling the ability to shop coverage around. If your premiums go up, they simply switch companies in-house and you can keep the same agent. When comparing rates, you will definitely want to include rate quotes from a few independent agents for maximum quote selection.
Shown below is a short list of independent agents in Stockton who can help you get comparison quotes.
Pan American Insurance Agency
2800 W March Ln – Stockton, CA 95219 – (209) 955-2600 – View Map
Berbower Insurance Agency
1330 W Robinhood Dr Suite A1 – Stockton, CA 95207 – (209) 405-1088 – View Map
Protection Providers Insurance Agency
304 W Harding Way – Stockton, CA 95204 – (209) 466-1072 – View Map
Once you have received positive responses to your questions as well as low cost Chrysler 200 insurance quotes, you’ve probably found a car insurance agent that meets the criteria to insure your vehicles. Just keep in mind policyholders can cancel coverage for any reason so never feel that you are permanently stuck with any specific agency with no way out.
Best auto insurance in Stockton
Finding the right insurance company can be challenging considering how many choices drivers have in California. The company ratings in the next section could help you decide which insurers you want to consider comparing prices from.
Top 10 Stockton Car Insurance Companies Ranked by Customer Service
- AAA of Southern California
- GEICO
- State Farm
- The Hartford
- Mercury Insurance
- The General
- Progressive
- Allstate
- AAA Insurance
- American Family
When should I discuss my situation with an agent?
Always keep in mind that when comparing insurance from an agent or online, there really isn’t a best way to insure your cars. You are unique and a cookie cutter policy won’t apply.
For example, these questions might point out whether or not you would benefit from an agent’s advice.
- Is my camper covered by my car insurance policy?
- Are rock chip repairs covered?
- Am I covered when using my vehicle for business?
- Who is covered when they drive my Chrysler 200?
- Why am I be forced to buy a membership to get insurance from some companies?
- What is an adequate liability insurance limit?
- What states are considered no-fault?
- Is there coverage for injuries to my pets?
- If I drive on a suspended license am I covered?
If you can’t answer these questions but a few of them apply, you might consider talking to a licensed agent. If you don’t have a local agent, simply complete this short form or you can also visit this page to select a carrier It only takes a few minutes and can provide invaluable advice.
The lowest rates come from being thorough
There are still a few companies who do not offer rates over the internet and most of the time these regional insurance providers only sell coverage through independent agents. Lower-priced Chrysler 200 insurance in Stockton is possible from both online companies and also from your neighborhood Stockton agents, so compare prices from both to have the best selection.
When trying to cut insurance costs, make sure you don’t skimp on coverage in order to save money. There have been many cases where an insured cut collision coverage to discover at claim time that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. Your focus should be to find the BEST coverage at the best possible price but still have enough coverage for asset protection.
More information can be found at these links:
- Crash Avoidance Technologies FAQ (iihs.org)
- Who Has the Cheapest Stockton Car Insurance Rates for Welfare Recipients? (FAQ)
- Who Has Affordable Car Insurance Rates for a Hyundai Elantra in Stockton? (FAQ)
- Who Has Affordable Car Insurance After a Speeding Ticket in Stockton? (FAQ)
- What Car Insurance is Cheapest for High School Students in Stockton? (FAQ)
- Understanding Rental Car Insurance (Insurance Information Institute)
- What if I Can’t Find Coverage? (Insurance Information Institute)
- Pickups fall short in headlight tests (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)