The vast majority of people obtain insurance for their vehicles. In many states across the U.S., it’s mandatory to get some form of insurance for your automobile. Whether it’s a motorcycle, car, truck, ATV, or SUV, your vehicle needs to be covered. The great thing about auto insurance is that it offers many different types of coverage for your vehicle. Some people will get as much coverage as they can afford. Others will get the bare minimum needed, just so they can travel from point A to point B with coverage. Some of these coverages include liability coverage, collision coverage, comprehensive coverage, personal injury protection, uninsured motorist protection, under-insured motorist protection, and anti-theft protection.
Some of these types of coverage also include discounts, most notably anti-theft discounts. Anti-theft discounts are provided by insurance companies when a vehicle already has anti-theft systems. This helps to reduce the comprehensive car insurance rates for an auto insurance policy. This also helps to save an insurer on overall costs when paying for insurance. Since anti-theft discounts play such a large role for many drivers in the U.S., it helps to understand just how they work on insurance. For today, we’ll provide an explanation for how anti-theft discounts work on insurance.
Check the type of anti-theft discounts.
As mentioned before, in some cases when you install an anti-theft system in your vehicle, you will receive a discount on your insurance. Before installing this type of system, it’s best to first contact your insurance company to find out how your premiums will be affected. Hold off before adding an OnStar system to your car or a passive disabling device. There are several different types of anti-theft discounts which are available. They include the passive alarm discount, active alarm discount, a sound only alarm discount, an engine disabling discount, and a tracking system discount. These anti-theft discounts will be applied based on the types of car alarms that will be installed on your car.
The passive alarm discount is applied to car alarms which activate once you take your keys out of the ignition. The active alarm discount is applied to the cheapest alarm systems in the market. These are ones which you can purchase at an auto store. You press a button to activate this type of alarm. A sound-only alarm discount is applied to those anti-theft devices which use loud noises to scare off potential thieves. An engine disabling discount is applied to those alarm systems that have programmable software in the car, which can disable an engine. Lastly, a tracking system discount is applied to vehicles that have an active device in the car, which can track the whereabouts of a stolen vehicle.
Savings will be different based on the type of anti-theft discount.
Each type of anti-theft discount is different in terms of savings amounts. The same is also true due to the fact that each insurance company prices its discounts differently. For example, with some insurance companies, passive alarm discounts will range between 15%-20%. With active alarm discounts, these discounts might fall a bit lower—somewhere between 5%-10%.
You’ll want to find the best discount which works for you based on your own anti-theft device preferences. For example, say you’re getting ready to take a one-of-a-kind Mississippi trip. You’re ready to check out such sites as the Mississippi Delta, the Mississippi River, Vicksburg National Military Park, local juke joints, and Delta State University. Acclaimed Mississippi cities like Vicksburg, Clarksdale, and Memphis are all calling your name to visit. Before taking your trip, you decide to add an anti-theft system to your vehicle. Before making this decision, it’s a good idea to contact your insurance agent to determine which discount will work out for you in terms of savings.
There’s a difference between factory car alarms and aftermarket car alarms.
Factory car alarms are those alarms that were added to the vehicle when it’s built-in a factory. For aftermarket car alarms, these are alarms that are added separately, after the car was built. These can include store-bought car alarms and custom car alarms. The rates for such alarms will be different, so make sure to do your homework to find out which discounts you’ll be able to get.
