How to Save on Dodge Ram 3500 Insurance in San Antonio

Would you like to find the cheapest Dodge Ram 3500 insurance in San Antonio? Did a good deal turn out to be an under-performing, overpriced insurance policy? Trust us when we tell you many San Antonio consumers are in the same pinch.

It’s easy to assume that car insurance companies don’t want their customers to go rate shopping. Drivers who do rate comparisons will most likely switch companies because they have a good chance of finding discount prices. Remarkably, a study showed that consumers who made a habit of comparing rate quotes saved an average of $3,500 over four years as compared to drivers who never shopped around for lower prices.

If saving money on Dodge Ram 3500 insurance is the reason you’re here, then learning about how to find companies and compare coverage rates can make shopping around easier.

Big companies like GEICO, Progressive and Allstate all claim big savings, bombarding you with catchy ads and it is difficult to see through the deception and effectively compare rates to find the best deal.

You should take the time to do rate comparisons occasionally because insurance rates change quite often. Despite the fact that you may have had the best premium rates on Dodge Ram 3500 insurance in San Antonio last year other companies may now be cheaper. Ignore everything you know about insurance because you’re about to find out one of the quickest ways to find the best coverage while lowering your premiums.

When comparison shopping, there are several ways to compare prices from auto insurance companies in your area. The best way to comparison shop consists of obtaining rate quotes online.

Getting price quotes online is very simple and it makes it obsolete to actually drive to insurance agencies in your area. Doing it all online has made agencies unnecessary unless you require the professional advice that only an agent can give. Although you can get prices online but purchase the actual policy in an agency.

When quoting auto insurance, remember that comparing more prices provides better odds of finding the best price. Some smaller insurers do not give rate quotes online, so you should also compare quotes from those companies as well.

The companies shown below offer free rate quotes in San Antonio, TX. If the list has multiple companies, we recommend you visit two to three different companies in order to get a fair rate comparison.

Auto insurance discounts help lower rates for Dodge Ram 3500 insurance in San Antonio

Auto insurance is not an enjoyable expense, but there could be significant discounts that can help lower your rates. Certain reductions will be credited when you quote, but a few need to be specially asked for prior to getting the savings.

• Service Members Pay Less – Being on active duty in the military could trigger a small discount.
• Discount for Home Ownership – Owning your own home or condo may trigger a policy discount on auto insurance because maintaining a house demonstrates responsibility.
• Seat Belt Discounts – Forcing all vehicle occupants to use their safety belts could cut 10% or more on the premium charged for medical payments and/or PIP.
• Distant Student Discount – Youth drivers who are enrolled in higher education away from home and don’t have a car can receive lower rates.
• Discounts for Good Drivers – Drivers who avoid accidents can pay as much as 50% less than their less cautious counterparts.
• Driver’s Ed – Make teen driver coverage more affordable by requiring them to complete a driver education course in school.
• Fewer Miles Equal More Savings – Fewer annual miles on your Dodge could be rewarded with discounted rates on garaged vehicles.
• Discount for Swiching Early – A few companies allow discounts for switching companies prior to your current Ram 3500 insurance policy expiring. This discount can save up to 10%.

Consumers should know that most of the big mark downs will not be given to your bottom line cost. Most only cut the cost of specific coverages such as comp or med pay. So when the math indicates all the discounts add up to a free policy, nobody gets a free ride. But all discounts will help lower the amount you pay for coverage.

The illustration below compares Dodge Ram 3500 insurance rates with and without policy discounts. The costs are based on a male driver, no accidents or driving violations, Texas state minimum liability limits, full coverage, and $250 deductibles. The first bar for each age group shows premium with no discounts. The second shows the rates with multi-car, claim-free, homeowner, safe-driver, marriage, and multi-policy discounts applied.

A list of companies and some of the premium reductions they offer are shown below.

• Progressive offers discounts including multi-vehicle, continuous coverage, good student, multi-policy, homeowner, and online signing.
• AAA may have discounts that include pay-in-full, anti-theft, multi-car, education and occupation, and multi-policy.
• Farmers Insurance may offer discounts for business and professional, electronic funds transfer, good student, mature driver, multi-car, early shopping, and youthful driver.
• GEICO policyholders can earn discounts including anti-theft, driver training, seat belt use, multi-vehicle, five-year accident-free, and emergency military deployment.
• Esurance may include discounts for paid-in-full, renters, claim free, homeowner, and safety device.
• SAFECO has savings for drive less, accident prevention training, safe driver, multi-car, and anti-lock brakes.
• State Farm has discounts for good student, passive restraint, student away at school, accident-free, and multiple policy.

Before buying, ask all companies you are considering which credits you are entitled to. Some credits might not apply in San Antonio.

Coverage statistics and figures

The table shown next showcases detailed analysis of insurance premium costs for Dodge Ram 3500 models. Knowing how insurance premiums are figured is important to be able to make informed coverage decisions.

Data based on married male driver age 30, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $500 deductibles, and Texas minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, multi-policy, homeowner, claim-free, and multi-vehicle. Price estimates do not factor in specific garaging location which can raise or lower auto insurance rates substantially.

Analysis of deductible levels

The hardest decision when buying coverage is how high should your deductibles be. The following tables determine the rate differences between high and low deductibles. The first data table uses a $250 physical damage deductible and the second pricing table uses a $500 deductible.

Table data represents married male driver age 30, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, and Texas minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include homeowner, multi-vehicle, claim-free, multi-policy, and safe-driver. Rates do not factor in vehicle garaging location which can change insurance rates greatly.

Using the premium rates above, we can conclude that using a $250 deductible will cost in the ballpark of $19 more each month or $228 for a full year than quoting the higher $500 deductible. Because you would be required to pay $250 more if you turn in a claim with a $500 deductible as compared to a $250 deductible, if you go at a minimum 13 months between claims, you would come out ahead if you choose a higher deductible.

Annual premiums for males versus females in San Antonio

The chart below illustrates the comparison of Dodge Ram 3500 insurance prices for male and female drivers. The premium estimates are based on a clean driving record, no at-fault accidents, full coverage, $250 deductibles, drivers are not married, and no discounts are applied to the premium.

Full coverage versus liability-only

The diagram below illustrates the comparison of Dodge Ram 3500 insurance premiums with full physical damage coverage compared to only buying liability only. The premiums are based on no claims or violations, $250 deductibles, drivers are single, and no discounts are factored in.

Guidelines for dropping full coverage

There is no clear-cut formula of when to phase out physical damage coverage on your policy, but there is a broad guideline. If the yearly cost of comp and collision coverage is about 10% or more of the settlement you would receive from your company, then you might want to think about dropping full coverage.

For example, let’s say your Dodge Ram 3500 book value is $5,000 and you have $1,000 deductibles. If your vehicle is damaged in an accident, the most you would receive is $4,000 after paying your deductible. If premium cost is more than $400 annually for comprehensive and collision coverage, then it might be time to consider dropping full coverage.

There are some circumstances where only buying liability is not advised. If you haven’t satisfied your loan, you have to maintain full coverage as part of the loan requirements. Also, if you don’t have enough money to buy a different vehicle if your current one is in an accident, you should not remove full coverage.

Buying car insurance from San Antonio car insurance agents

Some consumers still prefer to get advice from a local agent and that is OK! One of the great benefits of comparing insurance prices online is that drivers can save money and get cheap rate quotes but also keep your business local. Putting coverage with neighborhood insurance agencies is definitely important in San Antonio.

After completing this form (opens in new window), the quote information gets sent to participating agents in San Antonio who want to provide quotes for your business. There is no reason to leave your house as quotes are delivered to the email address you provide. You can find the lowest rates and an insurance agent to talk to. If you wish to get a rate quote from one company in particular, don’t hesitate to jump over to their website to submit a rate quote request.

Picking an insurance company requires more thought than just the price. The following questions are important to ask.

• Does the agency have a current Errors and Omissions policy?
• How long has the business existed?
• How often do they review policy coverages?
• Are there any hidden costs in their price quote and does it include driving and credit history?
• Is auto insurance their primary focus in San Antonio?

Car insurance 101

Understanding the coverages of your policy aids in choosing the right coverages for your vehicles. Policy terminology can be confusing and reading a policy is terribly boring. Listed below are the normal coverages available from insurance companies.

Comprehensive protection

Comprehensive insurance pays for damage from a wide range of events other than collision. A deductible will apply and the remainder of the damage will be paid by comprehensive coverage.

Comprehensive can pay for claims such as fire damage, damage from flooding and hitting a deer. The maximum payout your insurance company will pay is the cash value of the vehicle, so if the vehicle is not worth much consider dropping full coverage.

Uninsured or underinsured coverage

Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist coverage protects you and your vehicle when other motorists do not carry enough liability coverage. Covered losses include hospital bills for your injuries as well as damage to your Dodge Ram 3500.

Due to the fact that many Texas drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits (30/60/25 in Texas), it doesn’t take a major accident to exceed their coverage limits. For this reason, having high UM/UIM coverages is important protection for you and your family. Normally these coverages do not exceed the liability coverage limits.

Medical expense coverage

Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and medical payments coverage reimburse you for expenses for hospital visits, surgery, pain medications, dental work and doctor visits. The coverages can be used to fill the gap from your health insurance plan or if there is no health insurance coverage. Medical payments and PIP cover all vehicle occupants in addition to if you are hit as a while walking down the street. PIP is not an option in every state and may carry a deductible

Collision coverage protection

This pays to fix your vehicle from damage resulting from colliding with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. A deductible applies then your collision coverage will kick in.

Collision insurance covers claims like hitting a parking meter, hitting a mailbox and scraping a guard rail. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so analyze the benefit of dropping coverage from older vehicles. It’s also possible to increase the deductible on your Ram 3500 to save money on collision insurance.

Liability auto insurance

This coverage protects you from damage that occurs to other people or property that is your fault. Split limit liability has three limits of coverage: bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. As an example, you may have policy limits of 30/60/25 that means you have a limit of $30,000 per injured person, a total of $60,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and $25,000 of coverage for damaged property. Some companies may use one limit called combined single limit (CSL) which provides one coverage limit with no separate limits for injury or property damage.

Liability insurance covers things like repair bills for other people’s vehicles, court costs and pain and suffering. How much liability should you purchase? That is a decision to put some thought into, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase as much as you can afford. Texas requires minimum liability limits of 30/60/25 but you should consider buying higher limits.

The illustration below shows why the minimum limit may not be adequate coverage.

Do the work, save more money

While you’re price shopping online, it’s very important that you do not skimp on coverage in order to save money. In many instances, an insured cut collision coverage and found out when filing a claim that saving that couple of dollars actually costed them tens of thousands. Your goal should be to purchase plenty of coverage at the best cost but still have enough coverage for asset protection.

We just covered some good ideas how you can shop for Dodge Ram 3500 insurance online. The key concept to understand is the more rate quotes you have, the more likely it is that you will get a better rate. Drivers may even discover the lowest car insurance rates are with a company that doesn’t do a lot of advertising. These companies may have significantly lower premium rates on certain market segments than the large multi-state companies such as Allstate and Progressive.

Additional learning opportunities

• Booster Seat Ratings (iihs.org)
• Who Has Cheap San Antonio Car Insurance for Retired Military? (FAQ)
• How Much is Car Insurance for Police Officers in San Antonio? (FAQ)
• What Car Insurance is Cheapest for a GMC Acadia in San Antonio? (FAQ)
• New Honda safety features benefit drivers of all ages (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
• Tread Depth and Tire Safety (State Farm)