Reader’s Question:
Are discount car insurance rates real? I saw them being offered in the classified ads, and I’m wondering if anybody can really avail them.
Rhea
Springfield, IL
Unless the car insurance company is a fraudulent one, I could say that discount car insurance policies are available and real. Discounts are a type of promotional activity used to attract customers. When car insurance companies give away discounts, they do it in the hope that more people would buy insurance from them. It’s like luring people to buy an insurance policy in exchange for a gift – in this case, the gift is the discount. But discounts are not always available. Often, they are seasonal and limited to a specific period of time–that’s why they are advertised well. Often, you would see these advertisements in the newspaper, magazines, over the radio, through flyer/leaflets, the mail, and over the internet (usually in the company’s website).
When you see an advertisement about an insurance company offering discounts, you could check if the promotion is real or not by calling your state’s insurance commissioner. The insurance regulator holds the records of insurance companies; they know which ones are real and which ones had cases of fraud. Once you have confirmed that the company is real, that’s the time for you to call them and ask about the discount. Do not hesitate to ask all you want to know because customers have the right to know what they are buying. By talking to the car insurance agent, you should know how the discount works and if it’s applicable to you or not.
