Comparing and finding low cost rates for Volvo V50 insurance in Houston can seem to be difficult for drivers who are beginners to shopping for insurance online. You have so many options that it can easily become a real hassle to find the perfect company for you.
A study showed that the vast majority of consumers have purchased from the same company for four years or more, and about 40% of consumers have never compared rates to find cheap insurance. Most drivers in America can cut their rates by almost 47% a year, but they don’t know how much money they would save if they swap their current policy for a cheaper one.
You should make it a habit to get comparison quotes before your policy renews because insurance prices trend upward over time. Just because you found the lowest price on Volvo V50 insurance in Houston two years ago there may be better deals available now. Forget all the misinformation about auto insurance because we’re going to show you the fastest way to properly buy coverages and cut your premium.
Locating the best rates in Houston is much easier if you know where to start. If you’re already insured, you will most likely be able to lower your rates using the ideas covered in this article. Nevertheless, Texas drivers must understand how insurance companies sell insurance online and take advantage of how the system works.
The are a couple different ways to compare rate quotes from many different Texas insurance companies. One of the best ways to compare Volvo V50 insurance prices involves getting comparison quotes online.
When quoting insurance, remember that quoting more will improve the odds of getting the best rates. Not every company does price estimates online, so it’s important to also get rates from them, too.
The auto insurance companies shown below provide quotes in Texas. If multiple companies are listed, we recommend you visit as many as you can to get the most affordable price.
| Model | Comp | Collision | Liability | Medical | UM/UIM | Annual Premium | Monthly Premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V50 2.4I | $228 | $452 | $514 | $30 | $154 | $1,378 | $115 |
| V50 AWD T5 R-Design | $300 | $668 | $514 | $30 | $154 | $1,666 | $139 |
| Get Your Own Custom Quote Go | |||||||
Data based on single female driver age 30, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $500 deductibles, and Texas minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, multi-policy, claim-free, multi-vehicle, and homeowner. Information does not factor in specific location information which can increase or decrease auto insurance rates considerably.
Cost of full coverage in Houston
The example below visualizes the comparison of Volvo V50 insurance costs with liability coverage only compared to full coverage. The rates are based on no driving violations, no at-fault accidents, $250 deductibles, single female driver, and no discounts are applied to the premium.
When to eliminate full coverage
There is no set rule for eliminating full coverage, but there is a general guideline you can use. If the yearly cost for physical damage coverage is more than 10% of replacement cost minus your deductible, then you might want to consider buying only liability coverage.
For example, let’s pretend your Volvo V50 replacement value is $3,000 and you have $1,000 policy deductibles. If your vehicle is destroyed, the most your company would pay you is $2,000 after paying your deductible. If it’s costing you more than $200 annually to have full coverage, then you might want to think about dropping full coverage.
There are a few cases where buying only liability insurance is not a good plan. If you still owe money on your vehicle, you have to carry full coverage as part of the loan requirements. Also, if your savings is not enough to buy a different vehicle in the even your car is totaled, you should not consider dropping full coverage.
Cheap Volvo V50 insurance in Houston
Buying auto insurance is not cheap, but there’s a good chance there are discounts that could help you make your next renewal payment. Certain discounts will be triggered automatically when you get a quote, but some need to be specifically requested before they will apply.
- Include Life Insurance and Save – Not every insurance company offers life insurance, but if they do you may earn a discounted price on car insurance if you buy some life insurance in addition to your auto policy.
- Early Signing – Some companies give discounts for signing up prior to the expiration date on your current V50 insurance policy. The savings is around 10%.
- Membership in Organizations – Joining qualifying employment or professional organizations could qualify you for a break on auto insurance.
- Auto/Home Discount – If you combine your auto and home policies with one insurance company they may give you a discount of up to 20% off your total V50 insurance premium.
- Claim-Free Discount – Insureds with no claims or accidents have much lower rates when compared to frequent claim filers.
- Active Military Service – Having a deployed family member may lower your rates slightly.
- Discounts for Safe Drivers – Drivers who avoid accidents may receive a discount up to 45% than drivers with accidents.
- Accident Forgiveness – This isn’t a discount exactly, but some insurance companies permit an accident before hitting you with a surcharge as long as you don’t have any claims before the accident.
One thing to note about discounts is that many deductions do not apply to the whole policy. Some only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as liability, collision or medical payments. If you do the math and it seems like you could get a free auto insurance policy, nobody gets a free ride. But any discount will definitely lower your auto insurance premiums.
Popular auto insurance companies and a partial list of their discounts include:
- State Farm may include discounts for anti-theft, multiple policy, defensive driving training, accident-free, good driver, driver’s education, and Drive Safe & Save.
- Farmers Insurance policyholders can earn discounts including alternative fuel, mature driver, business and professional, good student, and homeowner.
- Progressive may have discounts that include online signing, multi-policy, homeowner, online quote discount, multi-vehicle, and good student.
- GEICO discounts include multi-vehicle, federal employee, seat belt use, five-year accident-free, and emergency military deployment.
- Auto-Owners Insurance may offer discounts for anti-theft, good student, mature driver, safe vehicle, paid in full, group or association, and paperless.
- The Hartford has savings for vehicle fuel type, driver training, bundle, air bag, anti-theft, good student, and defensive driver.
- Farm Bureau offers premium reductions for multi-policy, youthful driver, multi-vehicle, renewal discount, and good student.
- USAA has discounts for safe driver, military installation, defensive driver, multi-policy, vehicle storage, new vehicle, and annual mileage.
Before you buy a policy, ask all companies you are considering which discounts can lower your rates. Some discounts listed above may not be offered in Houston.
Insurance quotes from local Houston insurance agencies
A small number of people still like to buy from a local agent and that is a smart decision A nice benefit of comparing insurance prices online is that you can obtain the best rates and still have an agent to talk to.
To help locate an agent, after submitting this short form, your insurance coverage information is submitted to companies in Houston that give free quotes to get your business. There is no need to search for any insurance agencies because quoted prices will be sent directly to you. You can find better rates without a big time investment. If you wish to compare rates from a specific company, don’t hesitate to visit that company’s website and complete a quote there.
Selecting a insurance company needs to be determined by more than just the price. Some important questions to ask are:
- Is every driver in your family covered?
- Do they see any coverage gaps in your plan?
- Will the agent help in case of a claim?
- Are aftermarket or OEM parts used to repair vehicles?
- How much can you save by raising your physical damage deductibles?
- When do they do policy reviews?
Exclusive agents vs. Independent agents
If you want to buy insurance from a reliable insurance agent, you need to know there are two types of insurance agents and how they work. Insurance agencies in Houston can be categorized as either exclusive or independent agents depending on their company appointments.
Exclusive Insurance Agents
Agents that choose to be exclusive generally can only insure with one company and examples are Farmers Insurance, State Farm, Allstate, and AAA. These agents are not able to provide other company’s prices so they have to upsell other benefits. They are very knowledgeable on sales techniques which helps them sell on service rather than price. Some consumers prefer to use the same agent mostly because of the brand rather than having low rates.
Below is a short list of exclusive insurance agencies in Houston that are able to give price quotes.
- Linda Tuck – State Farm Insurance Agent
2402 Bay Area Blvd g – Houston, TX 77058 – (281) 488-9050 – View Map - Lucrecia Jasminoy – State Farm Insurance Agent
223 Cavalcade St – Houston, TX 77009 – (713) 884-1442 – View Map - Tammy Pham – State Farm Insurance Agent
13618 Bellaire Blvd, Ste E5 – Houston, TX 77083 – (281) 498-6800 – View Map
Independent Insurance Agents
Independent agencies are not locked into one company so they can insure your vehicles with any number of different companies depending on which coverage is best. To transfer your coverage to a different company, your policy is moved internally and you don’t have to do anything.
When comparison shopping, you will want to include price quotes from several independent agencies to have the best price comparison. Many can place coverage with companies that do not advertise much which can be an advantage.
Below are independent agencies in Houston who can help you get price quote information.
- AAIGOT Insurance Agency Inc.
6633 Hillcroft St #101 – Houston, TX 77081 – (713) 270-9373 – View Map - TDECU INSURANCE AGENCY, LLC
1235 N Loop W Fwy #1100 – Houston, TX 77008 – (979) 238-8283 – View Map - Duckworth Insurance Agency
3824 Broadway St – Houston, TX 77017 – (713) 645-1500 – View Map
Don’t assume everyone needs the same auto insurance coverage
When selecting coverage for your vehicles, there really is no one size fits all plan. Your financial needs are unique.
Here are some questions about coverages that might help in determining if your insurance needs would benefit from an agent’s advice.
- Does my Volvo V50 qualify for pleasure use?
- Is my ex-spouse still covered by my policy?
- Is there coverage for my trailer?
- Is my teenager covered with friends in the car?
- Am I covered if hit by an uninsured driver?
- What if I don’t agree with a claim settlement offer?
If you’re not sure about those questions, you might consider talking to a licensed agent. To find lower rates from a local agent, take a second and complete this form.
Houston Insurance Rates are Influenced by These Factors
Many things are part of the calculation when you quote your car insurance policy. Some factors are common sense like your driving record, but others are more transparent like your continuous coverage or your commute time.
The factors shown below are some of the things used by insurance companies to determine your prices.
- Policy add-ons may not be needed – Policies have extra bells and whistles that you can buy if you aren’t careful. Coverages like coverage for rental cars, accident forgiveness, and term life insurance are probably not needed. They may seem good at first, but now you might not need them so eliminate them to save money.
- Do you have enough liability coverage? – Your insurance policy’s liability coverage is the protection if you are determined to be liable for personal injury or accident damage. Liability insurance provides for a legal defense starting from day one. Liability insurance is pretty cheap compared to insuring for physical damage coverage, so do not cut corners here.
- Save by driving vehicles with better crash test results – Vehicles that have high safety ratings tend to be cheaper to insure. Vehicles engineered for safety result in less severe injuries and lower injury rates translates into fewer and smaller insurance claims which can result in lower premiums. If your Volvo V50 has at least an “acceptable” rating on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety website you may qualify for a discount.
- Certain vocations raise rates – Do you work in a high-stress field? Careers such as fire fighters, business owners and stock brokers are shown to have higher average rates in part from job stress and lengthy work days. On the other hand, jobs like professors, students and homemakers receive lower rates.
- Low credit score equals high prices – Having a bad credit score factor in determining premium rates. Therefore, if your credit rating leaves room for improvement, you could potentially save money when insuring your Volvo V50 by repairing your credit. People with very high credit ratings tend to be better risks to insure than those with lower ratings.
Three reasons to not skimp on insurance
Despite the high cost, buying insurance serves a purpose in several ways.
First, almost all states have minimum mandated liability insurance limits which means you are required to buy a specific level of liability protection in order to be legal. In Texas these limits are 30/60/25 which means you must have $30,000 of bodily injury coverage per person, $60,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and $25,000 of property damage coverage.
Second, if you bought your vehicle with a loan, almost every bank will force you to have insurance to protect their interest in the vehicle. If you do not keep the policy in force, the bank will be required to insure your Volvo at a much higher premium rate and require you to pay for the much more expensive policy.
Third, insurance protects not only your vehicle but also your financial assets. Insurance will pay for medical bills for not only you but also any passengers injured in an accident. Liability coverage will also pay attorney fees if anyone sues you for causing an accident. If your vehicle suffers damage from an accident or hail, comprehensive and collision coverage will pay all costs to repair after the deductible has been paid.
The benefits of carrying adequate insurance are definitely more than the cost, particularly when you have a large claim. According to a 2015 survey, the average American driver is overpaying more than $865 each year so smart consumers compare quotes at every renewal to make sure the price is not too high.
Frequent quotes can save
People who switch companies do it for any number of reasons including questionable increases in premium, lack of trust in their agent, policy non-renewal and policy cancellation. Whatever your reason, finding a new auto insurance company can be easy and end up saving you some money.
When getting Houston auto insurance quotes online, it’s not a good idea to skimp on coverage in order to save money. There are many occasions where consumers will sacrifice full coverage and learned later that saving that couple of dollars actually costed them tens of thousands. Your goal is to buy a smart amount of coverage at the lowest possible cost and still be able to protect your assets.
Budget-friendly auto insurance in Houston can be bought online and from local insurance agents, so you should compare both so you have a total pricing picture. Some auto insurance companies may not provide rates over the internet and usually these smaller providers sell through independent insurance agents.
More information
- Warning systems don’t curb driver distraction (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
- Who Has Affordable Houston Car Insurance Rates for Drivers with Accidents? (FAQ)
- Who Has Cheap Auto Insurance Quotes for Welfare Recipients in Houston? (FAQ)
- Who Has the Cheapest Houston Auto Insurance for Homeowners? (FAQ)
- How to Avoid Common Accidents (State Farm)
- Auto Theft Statistics (Insurance Information Institute)
- Get the Right Protection (InsureUonline.org)
- Should I Buy a New or Used Car? (Allstate)