For most people insurance is a necessity. Whether for the car, the home, your health or even your life, insurance is a monthly expense that is non-negotiable in most cases. The average person might see hundreds of ad each week on the television, and hear just as many on the radio. Each insurance company wants to have as many customers as possible, and often tries to do that by offering discounts on bundling policies. Essentially, this means that the customer will receive a reduced rate if they get their home, care, life, health and even car insurance all from one business. While this is a great idea in theory, it is important to make sure that a multiple insurance policy discount is actually saving you money.
Get Quotes
The only way to tell if you can save money with a multiple insurance policy discount is by asking for quotes from a wide range of insurance companies. Be sure to ask what the individual rates are for car, home and health insurance, and then ask for the overall price if you bundle the insurance together. Get a few quotes from a range of companies, so you have plenty to compare later on.
Compare The Rates for Each Company
Sit down and take a look at the rates provided by one individual company. Add up what your monthly costs would be if you paid for their car insurance policy, their home insurance policy and their health insurance policy separately. Then, compare that to the price given for bundling those policies together. Make sure that there is a significant difference between the prices to ensure that you are really saving money. Some companies will offer a percentage reduction for each policy you add, which is a great way to know that you are truly saving money.
Paying for Convenience
Sometimes, it will be more expensive to have all your policies bundled with one insurance company. Many people don’t mind the slight increase in price thanks to the convenience of having all policies with one company, or even one bill at the end of the month. However, if price is your main concern then be sure to stick with the cheapest policies, no matter what. This might mean that you get each insurance policy from a separate company.
Family Discounts
Some married couples or extended family can actually save money by combining their insurance plans. If you have multiple cars on separate insurance policies, ask each company if they can offer you a discount by bringing your spouse into the plan. Many companies consider this to qualify for a multiple insurance policy discount, which can further save you money.
While many advertising ploys are used to encourage consumers to bundle their insurance policies for their cars, home and health, it is not always the best way to save money. Ask for plenty of quotes and compare the deals to make sure that the multiple insurance policy discount will in fact save you money in the long run.
Gina Hamilton is an insurance consultant and content contributor for Kanetix. Check their site at www.kanetix.ca/auto-insurance-quotes for rate comparisons of all the most popular companies, such as York car insurance.
Most people hate to shop for technical products like insurance because they feel they are not knowledgeable enough to make an educated decision.
I find that with insurance, nothing beats having a good old fashion one-on-one with an agent where they can explain every option and how it affects cost.
Now, I don’t do this for every purchase, but insurance is one of the most important decisions a family can make.
-Joe
I would rather save money by taking the time to learn about each individual rate and what they are combined. I’m sure there are times when it’s cheaper to get them separately, and times when a bundle is a good idea. Whichever I do it’s worth my time to make sure I’m getting the best deal. Is it still better to try and stick with the fewest number of insurance providers? Thanks for the advice.
It’s surprising how much variety there is! I’m looking around for guelph insurance companies in Canada, and there are so many factors that govern what defines the best rate. Do you have any advice on what should be my priorities for coverage? Thanks for the article, Mitz! It’s a great breakdown.
I always knew I should get quotes, but I never thought about getting them for the different insurances separately AND bundled together. It makes a lot of sense, though, because then you can actually see if the company is really giving you a discount. When I renew my auto insurance in a few months, I am going to follow this advice and see what bundling everything will do for me.
its not that multiple insurance will save you money….as it depend on company to company and plan to plan…..and also many insurance plans like pet insurance are irrelevant at times to buy…..so understanding the needs and importance of insurance plans and then choosing the best option is the right way to buy an insurance plan….and by that way yes you can save money from multiple insurance:)
wonderful post….as it tells the benefits of multiple insurance policy….and saves your money…
really a good blog post..