Out-RATE-geous

Here are things you NEED to know, or could do, to decrease what you're paying for car insurance.

Don't Pay: You can get up to $3,000 paid to cover for the cost of your car insurance if you purchase or lease a new or used vehicle from Markville Toyota.

Call Markville Toyota 1-800-828-6585 to get the vehicle you're interested in. Then do a quote on InsuranceHotline.com, and we'll email you a link to their "Insurance Certificate" that you'll need to get this insurance deal.

Rate Rip-offs: Understand that insurance rates for the same car and driver can vary by $1,000's of dollars.

By law, insurance companies have to sell the same policy. If you pay $500 or $1,000 more to your insurance company you're not getting any extra coverage for it. It's like an airline ticket, the person sitting beside you may have paid far less, and you're going to the same place. To see if you're overpaying, click here.

Collision Deductible: Increasing your deductible for collision coverage can save money. You may be paying a premium for a $500 deductible, yet you'd never make a claim these days unless the damage is several $1,000's of dollars for fear of your insurance rate skyrocketing. So take advantage of a higher deductible for a lower rate.

Comprehensive Deductible: Comprehensive coverage covers your car for such things as fire, theft and vandalism. If you have a $300 or $500 dollar deductible, consider increasing it to a $1,000 deductible for a lower rate.

Rate Example: This example shows how rates change when the collision and comprehensive deductibles change.

Here are the lowest to highest rates, from 30 insurance companies, for a 28 year old driver with a good driving record, living in Mississauga, and driving a 2004 Acura RSX 4 door.

Deductible Collision Deductible Comprehensive Lowest Rate Highest Rate No Collision No Comprehensive $1,356 $4,415 $500 $300 $2,469 $7,294 $500 $500 $2,363 $7,228 $1000 $300 $2,283 $6,993 $1,000 $500 $2,116 $6,927 $1,000 $1,000 $2,013 $6,848

Increasing your deductibles to $1,000 for both collision and comprehensive coverage appears to be the most cost effective way to go.

Older Cars: For older vehicles, consider dropping collision coverage.

If you don't have collision coverage, and somebody hits you, your insurance company will still fix your vehicle.

If you have collision coverage, and you hit someone, your insurance company will cover the damage, but your rate will increase for 6 years, in most cases, in excess of what the car is worth to buy.

Rate Example: Let's say you're driving a 1997 Toyota Corolla CE 4 door, and have 2 tickets on your record. You have collision coverage to protect your car. To actually replace this car, in today's market, it would cost $4,000.

Here's how much you would end up paying if you were to make a claim for an accident for which you were at-fault.

* The highest to lowest quotes are from 30 insurance companies.*Rates resulting from at-fault accidents remain high for 6 years.

Driver - 2 Tickets Lowest Highest No Accidents $1,338 $4,229 1 Accident - 1st Year $4,278 $7,863 2nd Year Rate $4,136 $6,453 3rd Year Rate $3,775 $5,777 4th Year Rate $2,616 $5,029 5th Year Rate $2,373 $4,444 6th Year Rate $1,611 $4,229 Total Amount Paid: $20,127 $38,024

In this case the driver would end up paying 5 to 9 times what the car was worth to the insurance company.

This would be a good time to check out the best new and used cars on the market right now, click here.

For an older vehicle you may wish to also drop comprehensive coverage, but if you have the coverage, a loss from fire, theft or vandalism won't increase your rate.

Free Tenant, Home or Condo Insurance: Having your home, condo or tenant insurance with the same insurance company that insures your car, on average will provide a 10% discount off the cost of your auto insurance. Don't miss out on this deal... here's why...

A number of young people don't get tenant insurance, but pay a huge amount for their car insurance. Let's say you're paying $2,500 for your car insurance. All you need to do is tell your broker that you want tenant insurance too.

They take that 10% discount from your car insurance. In this case, $250, and apply it to your "new" tenant insurance. BINGO - Free tenant insurance. If you have home or condo insurance, the savings will pay for a good chunk of that too.

Discounts: Some discounts like multi-vehicles, graduated licensing, being retired, and so forth are automatically taken into consideration when you are being quoted at InsuranceHotline.com.

The discounts that you need to ask about are for theft alarms, which include disabling devices. This could yield you an extra 5% to 20% off what your comprehensive coverage costs.

Ensure Your Policy Is Accurate: There have been slight errors in information that has caused drivers hundreds of dollars more for their car insurance than necessary.

Commute to work: If you drive 9 km to work and 15,000 km annually, and your policy states that you are driving 10 km to work and 20,000 km annually, that could make a rate difference of $100 or more annually.

Rate Alert: Easiest way to make sure you're paying what you really should be is by doing a quick rate comparison on InsuranceHotline.com. When you do so, sign up for our free "Rate Alert" service that will automatically advise you of the changing rates throughout the year.

Remember When You Were Licensed: Ensure you're getting credit for the full number of years you have been licensed.

New Drivers: It's critical for drivers within the first 6 years, as a driver licensed 5 years and 6 months could be quoted $2,300, but in another 6 months would be quoted $1,600.

Experienced Drivers: Now some insurance companies are reducing rates for drivers who have been licensed over 20 years. So never guess the date you were licensed. This information is available on your driver abstract and should be shown on your policy.

Cover Your Butt: Request a 6 month policy if you have any tickets that are about to fall off after 3 years, or accidents about to fall off after 6 years, if your insurance company is surcharging for them. That way you don't have to pay the extra charge for the entire year.

A driver paying for a ticket and accident before it falls off their policy could be paying $1,811, yet if it falls off in 6 months their rate could decrease to $1,107.

If your insurance company doesn't offer a 6 month policy, call your agent or broker to contact your insurance company to update your driving profile to reduce your rate.

Changes: When your driving profile changes, your rate changes. Some companies will charge more, some less.

A friend of mine moved 10 km from where she was living and her insurance company increased her rate by $1,300. She went on-line to InsuranceHotline.com, and found another company offering a rate $1,520 lower.

If you add or remove a driver, get another car, change the distance you drive one way to work, or have any change, it changes everything "rate wise", so re-calculate your rate.

Bad Drivers Make Good: If you have tickets or accidents, many drivers don't believe any insurance company would want them. That's NOT true.

There are a number of insurance companies with attractive rates that would welcome your business. Some examples are Pafco, Pembridge, Coachman, Kingsway, Perth, and so forth. InsuranceHotline.com will direct you to the company with the best rate for your crappy driving record. It will also help you find better rates each year until those great rates come back.

2 or More Cars: Insuring all your vehicles with the same insurance company may yield you anywhere from a 5% to 20% multi-vehicle discount. Yet the vast difference in rates between insurance companies could mean another company's rate is still lower.

This is where InsuranceHotline.com comes in especially handy. Get your lowest quote for each car separately, and then see what your quote will be when you combine them. Then do the math.

Accident Protection: Some insurance companies offer a form of "Premium Protection", which means if you have an accident which is your fault, your rate won't go up because of the accident. It usually costs only $35 to $50 annually, but is well worth it to avoid a rate hike of 1,000's of dollars for an accident.