While the state of New Hampshire may not require that you purchase automobile insurance, if you finance your automobile then your lender will demand that you do purchase full automobile insurance coverage in order to protect their investment.

Also, while the state of New Hampshire is rather lenient in its demand that its citizens purchase automobile insurance, the state's generosity does have its limits.

For example, if you have a DUI (Driving Under the Influence) or a DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) conviction, you will be required to purchase automobile insurance for a full three years. A second such offense and you will be required to purchase automobile insurance for five full years.

New Hampshire has also initiated a policy of ?points? which may be accumulated by each driver ? too many points (based on an age formula) and you will be required to purchase automobile insurance.

Negative points can be accumulated on your driving record for such things as failure to follow the orders of a police officer, driving on a sidewalk, running a stop sign, speeding and so on. Accumulate too many points and you will be required to purchase automobile insurance.

If you do have to purchase automobile insurance there are several steps you can take to help keep your monthly premiums down.

First, always drive safely and within the law. Tickets for speeding, or any DUI or DWI conviction will send your automobile insurance rates through the roof.

Young drivers are considered a special risk and their premiums generally reflect that fact. However, drivers who remain in school through age 25 and who maintain at least a ?B? grade point average can qualify for a Good Student Discount with most insurance companies.

Similarly, drivers 55 and over can often qualify for a discount on their monthly premium if they take and pass a special driver's refresher course. Not all insurance companies offer such a program for older drivers, so check with your company to see if you might qualify.

One of the quickest ways of lowering your monthly insurance premium is to increase the deductible on your policy. When you increase your deductible you are agreeing to pay a larger portion of the cost to repair your vehicle if there should be a claim. If you agree to pay a larger part of the repair costs associated with a claim, your insurance company will reduce your monthly premium payment.

So now that you have the facts it's time for you get online and start comparing different policies from different insurance companies side-by-side until you find just the right policy at the lowest price you can find. If you take the extra time to make comparisons on more than one website you will be more likely to have gotten comparisons from every insurance company in New Hampshire and you can then feel confident that you have gotten the best rates on automobile insurance that you are ever likely to find in New Hampshire.