Cheap Insurance for a Ford Flex in Houston

How long has it been since you compared the cheapest Ford Flex insurance in Houston? Did a good deal turn out to be an overpriced auto insurance policy? Trust us, you are not the only one feeling buyer’s remorse.

A recent auto insurance study revealed that the majority of drivers kept buying from the same company for a minimum of four years, and approximately 38% of consumers have never compared rates to find cheaper insurance. Many drivers in Texas could save 70% a year, but they just don’t understand how easy it is to shop their coverage around. Online insurance companies like State Farm, Allstate, GEICO and Progressive constantly bombard you with advertising and it can be hard to ignore the propaganda and take the time to shop coverage around.

What Affects Ford Flex Insurance Premiums?

Many factors are used when quoting car insurance. Some are obvious such as your driving history, although others are less apparent like your vehicle usage or your commute time. When buying car insurance it’s important to understand the rating factors that go into determining your policy premiums. If you understand what controls the rates you pay, this allows you to make educated decisions that could result in lower rates.

The factors shown below are some of the items used by companies to determine your premiums.

Rates impacted by your city – Having an address in small towns and rural areas can be a good thing when shopping for auto insurance. Lower population means less chance of accidents in addition to lower liability claims Residents of big cities tend to have traffic congestion and longer commute times. More time behind the wheel statistically corresponds to a higher accident and claim rate.

A policy lapse can increase prices – Driving with no insurance is against the law and any future policy may cost more because you let your insurance coverage expire. And not only will insurance be more expensive, failure to provide proof of insurance could earn you a fine, jail time, or a revoked license.

What’s your car’s crash test rating? – Safer cars tend to have lower insurance rates. Vehicles built for safety protect occupants better and lower rates of occupant injuries means less money paid by your insurance company and lower rates for you. If your Ford Flex earned at least four stars on Safercar.gov or an “acceptable” rating on iihs.org it may be receiving lower rates.

Bad credit will cost you – A driver’s credit rating is a big factor in determining what you pay. Drivers who have high credit scores tend to be better drivers and file fewer claims than those with bad credit. If your credit history is lower than you’d like, you could potentially save money when insuring your Ford Flex by spending a little time repairing your credit.

Avoid traffic tickets – Even a single ticket can boost insurance rates to the point where it’s not affordable. Drivers with clean records get better prices than their less careful counterparts. Drivers who have received severe tickets like reckless driving or DUI may face state-mandated requirements to complete a SR-22 with their state’s licensing department in order to continue driving.

Insurance losses for a Ford Flex – Insurers factor in insurance loss information to help calculate premium rates. Models that tend to have high amounts or severity of claims will have a higher premium rate.

The table below outlines the historical loss data for Ford Flex vehicles. For each coverage type, the claim amount for all vehicles, without regard to make or model, is a value of 100. Values that are under 100 mean the vehicle has better than average losses, while percentage numbers above 100 point to more losses or a tendency for claims to be larger.

The providers in the list below are ready to provide free quotes in Houston, TX. If multiple companies are listed, we recommend you get prices from several of them to get the best price comparison.

Prices above based on married male driver age 50, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $100 deductibles, and Texas minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include homeowner, safe-driver, claim-free, multi-policy, and multi-vehicle. Premium amounts do not factor in specific zip code location which can increase or decrease prices greatly.

Cost difference between full coverage and liability

The illustration below illustrates the difference between Ford Flex insurance premiums with liability coverage only compared to full coverage. The premium estimates are based on a clean driving record, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, married male driver, and no discounts are taken into consideration.

Deciding between full coverage and liability only

There is no specific rule that works best for making the decision to drop physical damage insurance, but there is a general guideline you can use. If the annual cost of coverage is more than 10% of the vehicle’s replacement cost less your deductible, then you might want to consider buying only liability coverage.

For example, let’s assume your Ford Flex replacement value is $7,000 and you have $1,000 policy deductibles. If your vehicle is totaled, you would only receive $6,000 after paying your deductible. If you are currently paying more than $600 a year for your policy with full coverage, then it might be time to consider dropping full coverage.

There are some conditions where dropping full coverage is not financially feasible. If you still owe a portion of the original loan, you are required to maintain full coverage as part of the loan conditions. Also, if you cannot afford to purchase a different vehicle in case of an accident, you should not consider dropping full coverage.

Should you raise deductibles?

When shopping for auto insurance, a common question is how high should the deductibles for physical damage be. The rates below can help show the premium difference when you select higher and lower comp and collision deductibles. The first rate comparisons uses a $100 deductible for comp and collision and the second set of rates uses a $1,000 deductible.

Data based on married male driver age 30, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, and Texas minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, multi-vehicle, homeowner, multi-policy, and claim-free. Rate quotes do not factor in vehicle location which can influence prices considerably.

Based on this data, we can arrive at the conclusion that using a $100 deductible will cost in the ballpark of $44 more each month or $528 each year than choosing the higher $1,000 deductible. Due to the fact that you would have to pay $900 more to settle a claim with a $1,000 deductible as compared to a $100 deductible, if you normally average at least 20 months between claims, you would most likely save money if you elect the higher deductible.

Three reasons auto insurance is important

Despite the high cost of buying insurance for a Ford Flex in Houston, buying auto insurance may not be optional for several reasons.

• Most states have compulsory liability insurance requirements which means the state requires specific limits of liability protection if you drive a vehicle. 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.
• If your Ford Flex has a loan, most lenders will have a requirement that you buy insurance to protect their interest in the vehicle. If the policy lapses, the bank may insure your Ford at a much higher premium rate and force you to pay for the expensive policy.
• Auto insurance preserves both your car and your personal assets. It also can pay for all forms of medical expenses for yourself as well as anyone injured by you. Liability coverage, the one required by state law, also pays for attorney fees and expenses if you cause an accident and are sued. If damage is caused by hail or an accident, comprehensive (other-than-collision) and collision coverage will pay to repair the damage.

The benefits of buying enough insurance greatly outweigh the cost, specifically if you ever have a liability claim. But the average driver in Texas overpays more than $800 each year so we recommend shopping around every year to be sure current rates are still competitive.

Companies offer money-saving discounts on Ford Flex insurance in Houston

Insurance can be prohibitively expensive, but there may be some discounts to help bring down the price. Certain discounts will be applied when you complete an application, but a few must be manually applied before being credited. If you’re not getting every credit possible, you may be paying too high a price.

• Discount for New Cars – Putting insurance on a new Flex can cost up to 25% less because new model year vehicles keep occupants safer.
• Save over 55 – If you’re over the age of 55, you can possibly qualify for a small decrease in premiums.
• Driver Safety – Taking time to complete a course teaching defensive driving skills is a good idea and can lower rates and easily recoup the cost of the course.
• Professional Organizations – Joining specific professional or occupational memberships or organizations is a simple method to lower premiums on car insurance.
• Bundled Policy Discount – If you insure your home and vehicles with the same insurance company you may earn 10% to 20% off each policy.
• Seat Belts Save more than Lives – Drivers who always wear seat belts and also require passengers to fasten their seat belts could save 15% on medical payment and PIP coverage.
• Telematics Discount – Drivers that enable driving data collection to monitor their driving habits by using a telematic data system such as Progressive’s Snapshot might get better premium rates if they have good driving habits.

Discounts reduce rates, but you should keep in mind that some credits don’t apply to the whole policy. Some only apply to individual premiums such as physical damage coverage or medical payments. Just because you may think it’s possible to get free car insurance, you won’t be that lucky.

Larger car insurance companies and some of their more popular discounts are included below.

• Travelers may include discounts for early quote, home ownership, save driver, driver training, multi-car, and payment discounts.
• 21st Century offers premium reductions for 55 and older, early bird, air bags, theft prevention, defensive driver, good student, and automatic seat belts.
• State Farm discounts include defensive driving training, passive restraint, multiple autos, good student, Steer Clear safe driver discount, multiple policy, and driver’s education.
• GEICO offers discounts for driver training, membership and employees, anti-theft, daytime running lights, defensive driver, federal employee, and air bags.
• SAFECO may offer discounts for multi-car, drive less, teen safe driver, accident prevention training, bundle discounts, safe driver, and anti-theft.
• AAA includes discounts for anti-theft, education and occupation, multi-car, good student, AAA membership discount, multi-policy, and pay-in-full.

Before buying, ask every insurance company what discounts are available to you. A few discounts may not apply in every state. If you would like to see a list of car insurance companies with discount car insurance rates in Houston, click here to view.

Do I need a local insurance agent?

Certain consumers still prefer to talk to a local agent. Licensed agents are trained to spot inefficiencies and help file insurance claims. One of the benefits of comparing rates online is that drivers can save money and get cheap rate quotes but also keep your business local. And providing support for local agencies is important particularly in Houston.

To make it easy to find an agent, after completing this simple form, the quote information gets sent to insurance agents in Houston who will gladly provide quotes to get your business. You won’t need to contact any agents since rate quotes are delivered to the email address you provide. If you need to get a comparison quote from one company in particular, don’t hesitate to jump over to their website and fill out the quote form the provide.

Listed below are Houston car insurance companies willing to provide rate quotes for Ford Flex insurance in Houston.

View more agents

Finding the right company requires you to look at more than just the price. These are some questions your agent should answer.

• If your car is in the repair shop, do you have coverage for a rental car?
• Which companies can they place coverage with?
• Do the agents have professional certifications like CPCU or CIC?
• Can they give you a list of client referrals?
• Will a damage claim use OEM or aftermarket replacement parts?
• How long have they worked with personal auto insurance coverage?
• Will the quote change when the policy is issued?

How to know if you need help

When quoting and comparing the best auto insurance coverage for your personal vehicles, there is no “perfect” insurance plan. Every situation is different.

Here are some questions about coverages that can help discover whether you may require specific advice.

• Are combined or split liability limits better?
• How high should deductibles be on a Ford Flex?
• When should I not file a claim?
• Am I covered when renting a car or should I buy coverage from the car rental agency?
• Is there a penalty for late payment?
• Does insurance cover damages from a DUI accident?
• Do I need to call my car insurance company before buying a new car?

If you’re not sure about those questions but one or more may apply to you, then you may want to think about talking to an agent. If you want to speak to an agent in your area, fill out this quick form. It only takes a few minutes and can help protect your family.

Affordable car insurance is out there

Insureds who switch companies do it for a number of reasons such as being labeled a high risk driver, extreme rates for teen drivers, delays in paying claims and even not issuing a premium refund. It doesn’t matter why you want to switch finding a new company can be less work than you think.

When buying insurance coverage, you should never skimp on critical coverages to save a buck or two. There are a lot of situations where someone dropped comprehensive coverage or liability limits only to regret at claim time that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. The ultimate goal is to buy enough coverage at the best price, but do not sacrifice coverage to save money.

A few companies may not have the ability to get a quote online and most of the time these small, regional companies only sell through local independent agents. Discount Ford Flex insurance is definitely available both online as well as from independent agents in Houston, and you need to comparison shop both to have the best rate selection.

Much more information about car insurance in Texas can be found at these links:

• Auto Insurance Facts and Statistics (Insurance Information Institute)
• What Insurance is Cheapest for 19 Year Olds in Houston? (FAQ)
• What Car Insurance is Cheapest for State Employees in Houston? (FAQ)
• What Does No-Fault Insurance Cover? (Allstate)
• Drunk Driving Statistics (Insurance Information Institute)
• What to do at the Scene of an Accident (Insurance Information Institute)