Best Insurance for an Audi A3 in Seattle

Being forced to pay for expensive auto insurance premiums can overdraw your family’s budget and make it hard to pay other bills. Performing a rate comparison is an excellent way to slash your bill and have more diposable income.

Sadly, a large majority of auto insurance policyholders have been with the same company for over three years, and about 40% of consumers have never quoted rates to find affordable coverage. With the average premium in Washington being $1,202, drivers could save approximately 40% a year by just shopping around, but most undervalue how much money they would save if they just switched companies.

With so many companies to choose from that have cheaper insurance for an Audi A3 in Seattle, it can be impossible to pick the right insurance company.

It’s a good habit to get comparison quotes once or twice a year since insurance prices change regularly. Despite the fact that you may have had the lowest rates on Audi A3 insurance in Seattle a few years ago the chances are good that you can find a lower premium rate today. Forget anything you know (or think you know) about auto insurance because you’re going to get a crash course in the best way to find lower rates on auto insurance.

Finding and buying the best car insurance in Seattle is not as confusing as people think. Just about every vehicle owner who has to purchase car insurance should find better rates. But Washington car owners must know the way insurance companies determine what you pay because it can help you find the best coverage.

Insurance discounts are available to cut your rates

Companies offering auto insurance don’t always list all their discounts in an easy-to-find place, so the list below details a few of the more well known and the more hidden credits available to you. If you do not check that you are getting every discount you deserve, you are not getting the best rate possible.

• Senior Discount – Drivers over the age of 55 are able to get reduced rates.
• Fewer Miles Equal More Savings – Driving fewer miles can earn lower prices on the low mileage vehicles.
• Student Discount for Driver Training – It’s a good idea to have your young drivers take driver’s ed class as it will make them better drivers and lower rates.
• Accident Free – Drivers who don’t have accidents can earn big discounts in comparison to frequent claim filers.
• Early Renewal Discounts – Some larger companies give discounts for buying a policy before your current coverage expires. It’s a savings of about 10%.
• Multi-Vehicle Discounts – Buying coverage for more than one vehicle with the same company qualifies for this discount.
• Paper-free Discount – Some companies will provide an incentive for buying your policy on the web.

Policy discounts save money, but most credits do not apply to the whole policy. Most only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as comp or med pay. Even though the math looks like adding up those discounts means a free policy, it doesn’t quite work that way. Any amount of discount will positively reduce the amount you have to pay.

Popular insurance companies and the discounts they provide are detailed below.

• The Hartford has discounts for defensive driver, driver training, anti-theft, good student, and bundle.
• American Family policyholders can earn discounts including good student, Steer into Savings, bundled insurance, mySafetyValet, multi-vehicle, and defensive driver.
• Progressive discounts include online signing, good student, online quote discount, continuous coverage, and multi-policy.
• Travelers offers premium reductions for payment discounts, multi-policy, early quote, student away at school, new car, good student, and multi-car.
• Farmers Insurance has savings for mature driver, alternative fuel, youthful driver, business and professional, good student, and multi-car.
• USAA offers discounts including family discount, new vehicle, multi-policy, loyalty savings, annual mileage, and driver training.
• Liberty Mutual may have discounts that include preferred payment discount, multi-policy, newly married, newly retired, and hybrid vehicle.

When quoting, ask each company or agent how many discounts you can get. Depending on the company, some discounts might not apply in Seattle. To view companies with the best discounts in Seattle, click here.

When shopping for Audi A3 insurance in Seattle there are multiple ways of comparing price quotes from lots of Washington car insurance companies. The recommended way to comparison shop consists of shopping online.

Online shopping is fast and free, and it makes it obsolete to drive around to different agent offices. The ability to buy insurance online reduces the need to sit down with an agent unless you’re the type of person who wants the professional advice that only a licensed agent can provide. You can, however, comparison shop your insurance online but buy the policy through an agent. When comparing car insurance rates, know that comparing a large number of companies will improve the odds of getting a lower rate. Not every company provides online Seattle A3 insurance quotes, so you need to compare price estimates from the smaller companies as well.

The following companies offer free quotes in Washington. If more than one company is shown, we recommend you visit several of them to get the most affordable price.

Data rating is based on single male driver age 30, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, and Washington minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include safe-driver, multi-vehicle, claim-free, multi-policy, and homeowner. Rates do not factor in Seattle location which can impact coverage prices greatly.

Cost of full coverage

The diagram below shows the comparison of Audi A3 auto insurance costs when comparing full coverage to state minimum liability only. The prices are based on no violations or accidents, $100 deductibles, married female driver, and no discounts are factored in.

Should you buy full coverage or liability only?

There is no set guideline of when to phase out comp and collision coverage, but there is a general school of thought. If the annual cost of your full coverage insurance is more than 10% of replacement cost minus your deductible, then it might be time to buy liability only.

For example, let’s say your Audi A3 claim settlement value is $9,000 and you have $1,000 policy deductibles. If your vehicle is totaled in an accident, the most you would receive is $8,000 after paying your policy deductible. If premium cost is more than $800 annually to have full coverage, then you may need to consider dropping full coverage.

There are a few cases where removing full coverage is not a good plan. If you still owe a portion of the original loan, you have to maintain full coverage as part of the loan conditions. Also, if you don’t have enough money to buy a different vehicle if your current one is totaled, you should keep full coverage on your policy.

Deductible comparison

The hardest decision when buying coverage is how high should the deductibles for physical damage be. The tables below may help you to understand the rate difference when you choose different coverage deductibles. The first data table uses a $100 physical damage coverage deductible and the second price grid uses a $1,000 deductible.

Prices above based on married male driver age 30, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, and Washington minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include homeowner, safe-driver, multi-policy, multi-vehicle, and claim-free. Rate quotes do not factor in zip code location which can modify premium rates greatly.

Based on these figures, using a $100 deductible will cost you roughly $34 more each month or $408 for a full year than opting for the higher $1,000 deductible. Since you would have to pay $900 more if you turn in a claim with a $1,000 deductible as compared to a $100 deductible, if you tend to average more than 26 months between claims, you would more than likely save some money if you decide on a higher deductible.

When to get advice from an agent

A small number of people still prefer to get advice from a local agent and that can be a smart move An additional benefit of comparing rate quotes online is that you can obtain lower prices but still work with a licensed agent. And buying from neighborhood insurance agencies is especially important in Seattle.

To make it easy to find an agent, after completing this quick form, your information is immediately sent to insurance agents in Seattle who will give competitive quotes for your business. It’s much easier because you don’t need to leave your computer since rate quotes are delivered directly to you. You can find better rates without a big time investment. If for some reason you want to get a price quote from a specific insurance company, feel free to navigate to their website and fill out the quote form the provide.

Different types of car insurance agents in Seattle

If you want to buy insurance from a local Seattle insurance agency, it’s helpful to know the different agency structures that differ in how they can insure your vehicles. Insurance agencies in Seattle can be classified as either independent agents or exclusive agents depending on their employer.

Independent Insurance Agencies or Brokers

Agents of this type are normally appointed by many insurers and that allows them to write policies through lots of different companies and get the cheapest rates. If prices rise, they simply move the coverage in-house and you don’t have to find a new agent.

If you need cheaper insurance rates, we recommend you include price quotes from several independent agencies to have the best price comparison.

Shown below are Seattle independent insurance agents that may be able to give you cheap rate quotes.

More Seattle agents

Exclusive Insurance Agents

Exclusive agents work for only one company such as State Farm, Allstate and AAA. Exclusive agents cannot provide other company’s prices so keep that in mind. Exclusive agents are well trained on what they offer which helps them compete with independent agents.

Below is a list of exclusive insurance agents in Seattle that can give you price quotes.

More Seattle agents

Choosing an auto insurance agent should include more criteria than just the quoted price. These are valid questions to ask:

• Are glass claims handled on-site or do you have to take your vehicle to a repair shop?
• Is there a 24/7 contact number?
• Does the company have a local claim office in Seattle?
• Is there any savings for paying the full premium?
• Does the agent have a valid license to sell insurance in Washington?
• How will an accident affect your rates?

Persistent drivers can save

We just showed you quite a bit of information on how to shop for Audi A3 insurance online. It’s most important to understand that the more times you quote, the better your chances of lowering your rates. You may even be surprised to find that the best price on auto insurance is with a small mutual company. These companies can often provide lower rates in certain areas than their larger competitors like State Farm and Allstate.

Lower-priced auto insurance in Seattle can be bought from both online companies as well as from insurance agents, and you should be comparing both in order to have the best chance of saving money. There are still a few companies who may not provide internet price quotes and these regional insurance providers provide coverage only through independent agents.

For more information, feel free to browse the resources below:

• Teen Driver Statistics (Insurance Information Institute)
• Who Has Affordable Auto Insurance for a Jeep Grand Cherokee in Seattle? (FAQ)
• How Much are Seattle Car Insurance Rates for 19 Year Olds? (FAQ)
• Who Has the Cheapest Auto Insurance for a Nissan Sentra in Seattle? (FAQ)
• Understanding Limits and Deductibles (Allstate)
• Winter Driving (Insurance Information Institute)