Did you know auto insurance companies significantly change the way they price policies over the past few years and the company that offer you the best rate a few years ago may no longer have the best deal for you. I am Kim Langford, a contributing editor with Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine and I am here to tell you how you get the best deal on auto insurance.

The most important step is to shop around. Prices for auto insurance can vary by hundreds of dollars from company to company with the exact same person and car depending on the claims experience that the company has had. Also, some companies had changed the way they price policies over the past few years while others have not. So if you have a good credit record and a good driving record, you may get a much better deal at some of the companies that have changed their rates.

One important way to improve your auto insurance rate is to improve you credit score. That is one of the biggest changes that insurance companies have made over the past few years. Most all of them now look at your credit score when setting your rate and many of them look in great detail at your credit score. First of all, make sure you pay your bills on time even if you are not about to shop for a loan and also check out your credit report at annualcreditreport.com to make sure there are not any inaccuracies that are causing you to have a lower rate than you should.

It is also very important to buy a safe car. Having a safe car makes an even more of a difference in your premiums than it did in the past. You can go to a website like carsafety.org and check out the crash test results from the car you are considering.

Raising your deductible to at least a thousand dollars can lower your premiums by about 15%. It is also a good idea to eliminate your collision and comprehensive coverage entirely once your car is worth only a few thousand dollars. You can check out the value of your car at a website like Kelly bluebook which is kbb.com and then use the money that you save to increase your liability limits. It is good to have at least $250,000 per person and $500,000 per accidents.

Finally, hunt for discounts. If you have a young driver, they can generally get a discount, if they have a B average and/or better in school or if they take a special defensive driving course offered by the insurance company. You may also be able to get a discount if you drive your car less than 7,500 hundred miles a year and you may be able to lower rate by having your auto and home insurance with the same company.

I am Kim Langford and these are the basics.