How Seniors Can Save on Auto Insurance

DEAR SAVVY SENIOR – Can you offer any tips to help seniors save on their auto insurance? I recently turned 70 and got hit with a 25 percent premium increase on my car insurance and am looking for ways to save. – OLD DRIVER

DEAR DRIVER -As auto insurance rates across the country continue to rise for all drivers, seniors can face an even bigger price hike, once they reach their 70s and their driving skills begin to decline. Fortunately, there are ways you can reduce your premiums. To find out what discounts may be available to you, contact your auto insurer and inquire about these options.

Increase your deductible: Paying a higher deductible could save you big on premiums. For example, raising your deductible from $500 to $1,000 can bring your annual premiums down by 15 to 20 percent, on average.

Adjust your coverage: If you're driving an older vehicle, you may want to consider dropping collision and/or comprehensive coverage if your premium is more than 10 percent of the car's value. Collision insurance covers damage to your car if you're involved in a crash (or if you're the victim of a hit-and-run) and comprehensive covers damage caused by acts of nature (such as storm damage), vandalism, theft or fire. But if you're scaling back to liability coverage, make sure you have enough to pay for damages out of pocket if you're in an accident or your car sustains damage due to weather, theft or another non-collision event.

Take a defensive driving course: Some insurance companies offer defensive driving discounts – between 5 and 15 percent – to drivers who take a refresher course to brush up on their safety skills. Organizations such as AARP (aarpdriversafety.org), AAA (aaa.com/stop) and The National Safety Council (nsc.org) provide these classes, for around $20 to $30 and they can be taken online.

Report your milage: Most insurers offer discounts to customers who drive limited miles each year, which is usually beneficial to retirees who drive less because they don't commute to work every day. These discounts usually kick in when your annual milage drops below 7,500 or 10,000 depending on your provider.

Bundle policies: If your auto insurance policy is issued by a different company from the one insuring your home, call each insurer and ask if bundling the policies would be cheaper.

Sign up for driver monitoring: Some insurers offer discounts based on how and when you use your car. They will monitor things like your acceleration, braking habits, driving speeds and phone use, via smartphone app or a device that plugs into your car's diagnostic port. Drivers can be rewarded anywhere from 10 to 30 percent for safe driving.

In addition, many insurance providers also offer discounts to drivers who do not have any violations or accidents for three or more years.

Ask about membership discounts: Many insurers offer discounts through professional associations, workers' unions, large employers or membership organizations such as AAA, NARFE, AARP, etc. You could even qualify for savings based on the college you attended or the fraternity or sorority you belonged to decades ago.

Improve your credit: You may be able to lower your car insurance premium by paying your bills on time and reducing the amount of debt you carry. Insurers look at how their customers manage credit to get an idea of risk and to price policies. Better rates are given to those with good credit scores, typically 700 or above.

Comparison shop: To find out if your current premium is competitive with other insurers, shop around through insurance marketplace websites like TheZebra.com, Insurify.com, Lemonade.com or Policygenius.com. Or use an independent agent (see trustedchoice.com/agent) to help you compare.

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of "The Savvy Senior" book.