The TV ads are true. You may be paying to much for your car insurance. And do not make the mistake of assuming that your present company is cutting you the best deal out of loyalty. Insuring cars is a very competitive business these days, and some companies offer discounts that you may not be taking advantage of. Since these discounts can range from 10% to 30%, and can also be cumulative, you may be able to slash your bill in half by doing a bit of research. If your present household premium is $200 a month, then you could be saving $1200 a year by taking a little time to check around.

For instance, some insurers offer a 15% discount for taking approved defensive driving or driver's education courses. This discount really helps younger drivers, and it also helps drivers who have had a ticket or accident recently. Younger drivers who keep up a B grade average can also earn a discount from some insurers. The companies will use the high GPA as evidence of a student's responsibility level in place of a driving history.

I have also seen 30% discounts for safety features or anti-theft devices. Insurers are very interested in minimizing claims activity, so anything that keeps you, and your car, safer will be likely to lower your premium rates. If you purchased a car with safety features or anti-theft devices, or if you added some of these features later, make sure that your insurer knows about them.

And some cars are just cheaper to insure than other cars. Your intuition may tell you that newer, and more expensive cars will cost more to insure than older or cheaper cars. This may be true sometimes. But the newer car may be considered safer by insurers. If the insurer's claims history demonstrates that a certain vehicle tends to cause larger bills, then they will charge more to cover that car. Of course, high horsepower sports cars will usually cost more to insure than a sedate family car. And some people think that large SUV vehicles will always be safer than smaller cars, but an insurer may feel that those larger cars also cause larger claims.

Multiple policy discounts are a very popular way to save money. If you have more than one vehicle, or also need to insure a home, look into insurers who want to encourage consumers to place all of their business under one roof.

Of course, age, zip code, and driving history affect premiums. In fact, many of the big car insurers also take credit history into account these days. They believe that people with poor credit have demonstrated that they are also poorer car insurance risks. But every company has its own formula for calculating rates. You need to find the insurer who will give you a break for the things you do to make yourself a safer driver, and who will forgive a few things you may not have much control over.