How long has it been since you compared quotes for more competitive Toyota 86 insurance in Houston? If you’re looking for more affordable insurance online, are you frustrated by the dozens of insurance companies available to you? You’re not alone. Consumers have so many choices that it can easily become a difficult challenge to lower your prices for Toyota 86 insurance in Houston. Everyone knows Houston is an excellent city in which to live, but high insurance prices can make it hard for many drivers to afford good insurance coverage.
Regrettably, nearly 70% of drivers have stayed with the same insurance company for more than four years, and nearly half have never taken the time to shop around. With the average premium in Texas being $2,679, drivers could save themselves as much as 70% a year by just comparing quotes, but they just don’t understand how easy it is to do a rate comparison.
Low-cost auto insurance in Houston, TX
The following companies provide price comparisons in Texas. If the list has multiple companies, we suggest you visit several of them in order to find the most competitive rates.
Cheap Houston auto insurance rates with discounts
Buying auto insurance is not cheap, but there could be significant discounts to cut the cost considerably. Certain credits will be shown at the time of purchase, but occasionally some discounts must be inquired about prior to getting the savings. If you’re not getting every credit you qualify for, you are throwing money away.
- Active Military Service – Having an actively deployed family member may qualify for rate reductions.
- Home Ownership Discount – Owning a house in Houston can earn you a little savings due to the fact that maintaining a home requires personal responsibility.
- Include Life Insurance and Save – Select insurance companies reward you with lower rates if you buy auto and life insurance together.
- Low Mileage Discounts – Keeping the miles down on your Toyota may allow you to get discounted premium rates on garaged vehicles.
- Buy New and Save – Adding a new car to your policy can be considerably cheaper due to better safety requirements for new model year vehicles.
As a sidenote, some of the credits will not apply to the overall cost of the policy. The majority will only reduce the price of certain insurance coverages like liability and collision coverage. So even though you would think you would end up receiving a 100% discount, it’s just not the way it works. Any amount of discount will definitely reduce your overall premium however.
A list of auto insurance companies and some of the discounts are included below.
- Progressive includes discounts for online signing, multi-policy, homeowner, good student, multi-vehicle, online quote discount, and continuous coverage.
- SAFECO offers premium reductions for teen safe driver, homeowner, accident prevention training, anti-lock brakes, safe driver, and drive less.
- American Family offers discounts for multi-vehicle, good student, good driver, air bags, defensive driver, accident-free, and TimeAway discount.
- MetLife policyholders can earn discounts including good driver, claim-free, good student, defensive driver, multi-policy, and accident-free.
- GEICO may have discounts that include five-year accident-free, emergency military deployment, anti-theft, defensive driver, multi-policy, and seat belt use.
- The Hartford has savings for driver training, air bag, good student, defensive driver, and vehicle fuel type.
When getting free Houston car insurance quotes, it’s a good idea to all the companies which discounts can lower your rates. All car insurance discounts might not be offered in your state.
Local Houston auto insurance agents
Many people would prefer to buy from a local agent and that is just fine! The biggest benefit of comparing rates online is the fact that drivers can get cheap rate quotes and still have an agent to talk to. And buying from local agencies is especially important in Houston.
To help locate an agent, after submitting this simple form, your insurance data is submitted to local insurance agents in Houston that can give you free Houston car insurance quotes to get your business. You won’t need to contact any insurance agencies since price quotes are sent to your email. It’s the lowest rates without requiring a lot of work. In the event you want to compare prices from one company in particular, you just need to navigate to their website and give them your coverage information.
If you want a reliable insurance agency, it’s important to understand the different agency structures from which to choose. Auto insurance agents in Houston can be classified as either independent or exclusive depending on the company they work for.
Independent Agents
Agents of this type are normally appointed by many insurers so they can write business with a variety of different insurance companies and find you cheaper rates. If premiums increase, your agent can just switch to a different company and you don’t have to find a new agent. If you need cheaper auto insurance rates, we recommend you compare prices from at a minimum one independent agency to have the most options to choose from. Most also write with additional companies that you may not be familiar with that may have much lower rates than larger companies.
Below are independent insurance agents in Houston that may be able to give you price quote information.
- El Dorado Insurance Agency, Inc
3673 Westcenter Dr – Houston, TX 77042 – (800) 221-3386 – View Map - Jason Jimenez Insurance Agency
8323 Southwest Fwy #390 – Houston, TX 77074 – (713) 270-0073 – View Map - Texas Insurance
210 W Greens Rd # B – Houston, TX 77067 – (281) 872-6100 – View Map
Exclusive Agents
Agents of this type can only provide pricing for a single company and some examples include State Farm or Allstate. Exclusive agents cannot compare rates from other companies so they really need to provide good service. Exclusive agents are very knowledgeable on their products and sales techniques which helps overcome the inability to quote other rates. Drivers often buy insurance from these agents mainly due to the brand name rather than having the cheapest rates.
Shown below are exclusive agencies in Houston that can give you rate quotes.
- Sean Wong – State Farm Insurance Agent
7035 Hwy 6 N – Houston, TX 77095 – (281) 550-0555 – View Map - State Farm: Al Johnson
8121 Broadway St #230 – Houston, TX 77061 – (281) 481-5778 – View Map - Lucrecia Jasminoy – State Farm Insurance Agent
223 Cavalcade St – Houston, TX 77009 – (713) 884-1442 – View Map
Choosing the best insurance agent should depend on more than just the quoted price. Here are some questions you might want to ask.
- What insurance company do they write the most business with?
- What will you get paid if your car is a total loss? How is that amount determined?
- What are their preferred companies if they are an independent agency?
- Is the quote a firm price?
- Can they give you a list of client referrals?
- Will the company cover a rental car if your car is getting fixed?
- Are claims handled at the agent’s location?
Specific coverages for a Toyota 86
Having a good grasp of insurance can be of help when determining appropriate coverage for your vehicles. The terms used in a policy can be impossible to understand and even agents have difficulty translating policy wording.
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM)
This coverage protects you and your vehicle’s occupants when the “other guys” do not carry enough liability coverage. Covered claims include injuries to you and your family as well as damage to your Toyota 86.
Due to the fact that many Texas drivers only carry the minimum required liability limits (which is 30/60/25), their liability coverage can quickly be exhausted. This is the reason having UM/UIM coverage should not be overlooked. Normally these limits do not exceed the liability coverage limits.
Comprehensive insurance
Comprehensive insurance coverage pays for damage from a wide range of events other than collision. You first must pay your deductible then the remaining damage will be covered by your comprehensive coverage.
Comprehensive insurance covers claims such as hail damage, falling objects and fire damage. The highest amount you’ll receive from a claim is the market value of your vehicle, so if it’s not worth much more than your deductible it’s not worth carrying full coverage.
Med pay and Personal Injury Protection (PIP)
Coverage for medical payments and/or PIP provide coverage for short-term medical expenses for chiropractic care, funeral costs, rehabilitation expenses, ambulance fees and nursing services. They can be used to fill the gap from your health insurance policy or if you are not covered by health insurance. They cover you and your occupants and also covers being hit by a car walking across the street. Personal Injury Protection is not universally available and gives slightly broader coverage than med pay
Liability coverages
This provides protection from damage or injury you incur to a person or their property in an accident. This insurance protects YOU from claims by other people, and doesn’t cover damage to your own property or vehicle.
Coverage consists of three different limits, bodily injury per person, bodily injury per accident and property damage. As an example, you may have liability limits of 30/60/25 that translate to $30,000 bodily injury coverage, a limit of $60,000 in injury protection per accident, and a limit of $25,000 paid for damaged property. Another option is a combined single limit or CSL which combines the three limits into one amount with no separate limits for injury or property damage.
Liability coverage protects against claims such as emergency aid, repair bills for other people’s vehicles and bail bonds. The amount of liability coverage you purchase is a decision to put some thought into, but it’s cheap coverage so purchase as high a limit as you can afford. Texas requires drivers to carry at least 30/60/25 but drivers should carry higher limits.
Collision insurance
Collision coverage covers damage to your 86 resulting from a collision with another vehicle or an object, but not an animal. You will need to pay your deductible and the rest of the damage will be paid by collision coverage.
Collision coverage pays for things like crashing into a ditch, scraping a guard rail, sustaining damage from a pot hole, driving through your garage door and hitting a parking meter. Collision coverage makes up a good portion of your premium, so consider removing coverage from older vehicles. It’s also possible to raise the deductible on your 86 in order to get cheaper collision rates.
Lower rates by being persistent
More affordable insurance in Houston can be sourced from both online companies in addition to many Houston insurance agents, so you should compare both in order to have the best price selection to choose from. Some insurance companies may not offer online price quotes and usually these small, regional companies sell through independent agents.
As you go through the steps to switch your coverage, you should never sacrifice coverage to reduce premiums. There have been many cases where an insured cut collision coverage and discovered at claim time that the few dollars in savings costed them thousands. The ultimate goal is to get the best coverage possible at the best possible price, not the least amount of coverage.
People who switch companies do it for a variety of reasons including policy non-renewal, not issuing a premium refund, extreme rates for teen drivers and being labeled a high risk driver. Whatever your reason, finding a new company can be pretty painless.
Other learning opportunities
- What is Covered by an Auto Insurance Policy? (Insurance Information Institute)
- Who Has Cheap Auto Insurance Rates for Uninsured Drivers in Houston? (FAQ)
- Who Has Affordable Houston Auto Insurance for Drivers with a Bad Driving Record? (FAQ)
- Booster Seat Ratings (iihs.org)
- Event Data Recorders FAQ (iihs.org)