5 Ways to Save Money on Car Insurance

Got a car? Then you have car insurance, a requirement for drivers everywhere. That insurance can range in cost vastly depending on your age, the length of time you've been driving, the type of car you drive, and a variety of other variables.

While you can't change the time since you've gotten your license or reduce the number of "bad driver" points you have on your record, I've recently found out some ways to reduce your yearly payment.

1. Call your auto insurance company twice a year or so and just ask if there's anyway to lower your rate. Mention you're shopping around. If they've started a new program for discounts, they'll likely not offer up the information unless you ask.

2. How far are you really driving to work each day? Many car insurance agencies charge you more for the amount you drive per year. But they base this on the miles you drive to and from work. It's never good to lie, but if you have moved closer to your job, or if you think the miles you noted in past are too high for how much you actually drive (or maybe you work from home a few days a week now), call up and ask to change the yearly mileage noted on your account. You'll notice that your yearly fee will be reduced.

3. Did you know that the cost of car insurance changes based on your zip code? Out of curiosity, I recently talked to an agent and asked her to plug in some different zip codes within my county, and found out that where I used to live, and where I'm still paying for, costs $50 more a year than most of the other zips in the county. Again, lying here is probably pointless, but if you're looking to move, it might make sense to call up your insurance agent and find out if your insurance price will go up or down with the move. You can always change your address to a friends if they live in an area that's cheaper.

4. Check out that auto billing. I thought my pay was on auto billing because I've set it up to pay automatically from my bank account, but for some reason I didn't do it through my insurance company, so they were still charging me $4 a month to send me bills. Not only did those mailed bills go straight to the trash, it turns out that I was wasting $48 a year on them.

5. Every year, take a half-hour or so to shop around to see if you can get a better deal with another company. Look at the small insurance companies and the big ones. Just be careful with ones that offer six month rates, as this means they can change your rate after the first six months.