Currently you may feel that your insurance company or insurance companies in general have all the power when it comes to rate determination, but in actual fact you are the one in the driver’s seat. You control a lot if not all factors that determine insurance costs, from how and what you drive to the type of plan you choose.

Check out my three steps to capping high insurance costs this summer:

Step one- Comparison
It’s a fact like no other that insurance premiums and excesses vary significantly from company to company. It thus pays or rather saves to do a little policy shopping. It is however of utmost importance to keep in mind that the cheapest deal may not always offer the best benefits in terms of coverage. It’s recommended that you look for a combo of good coverage and a great rate. Cheap car insurance is worthless if the policy doesn’t meet your coverage needs or State requirements.

Comparisons are best conducted a major life change is experienced. These events include changes to marital status, child or driver additions, moving home or new car purchasing. Mentioned events have a sure-fire impact on insurance rates you may qualify for.

Step Two- Improve your driving
A good driving record is a great bargaining chip during affordable yet quality insurance shopping. The primary thing insurance companies are interested in is minimizing risk as much as they possibly can, and drivers with clean driving records are generally considered to be a substantially lower risk. You should thus always practice safe and courteous driving.

Step three- Insurance considerations when purchasing a vehicle
Your vehicle’s make and model directly affects your insurance rate. Should you thus be in the market for a new car, it will make sense to do necessary research on the insurance expense associated with the vehicle you’re considering.

Insurance companies give consideration to numerous factors when assigning premiums and excesses to a particular vehicle, including the vehicle model, body type, vehicle class, safety features such as ABS Brakes and if the make and model is a popular target for car thieves.

Once you’ve narrowed down your list of possible cars to only a few candidates, you should contact your current insurer and get quotes for coverage on your list of cars.

Young people are new to the driving game. Insurance companies have to decide on a certain amount of risk that they can take in order to maintain their profit margin. If your youngster has an accident, the insurance company will have to pay out a reasonable rate for repairs, hospital and physician bills and anything else that is covered by your auto policy.

The bills add up quickly. Insurance companies base their monthly premiums on how much risk you cause their company to have. Young drivers are inexperienced; they’re just learning to drive at this time of their lives. They are still maturing and becoming a safe, grown up driver will take a little time.

Young drivers cause the most accidents as a demographic group. This is the reason that many times, car insurance for young drivers is more expensive. However, there are specialty auto insurance groups that do nothing but cover young drivers or do their primary business covering young drivers. Because they have larger numbers behind them, they can afford to lower their monthly premiums. This may be one place for you to look for lower insurance for the minor drivers in your home.

Another way to get lower prices on auto insurance is to speak to your current auto insurance agent. You may qualify for many kinds of discounts that you were unaware of that existed. The first place to look for a discount is through your current policy because if you are already a customer, chances are you’ll get a discount on your child’s policy. The more policies you have through an insurance company, the more likely you are to get a discount. Ask about multi policy discounts.

Make sure to get discounts for all safety features that the vehicle that your teen will be driving has, as well. Don’t forget to ask about good student discounts, too. Depending on where your child took their driver education courses, you may be able to get a break with policies. Ask about additional courses that your child can take. This can also help lower your monthly premiums and help you get cheap car insurance for young drivers.