Increase your automobile insurance deductible

Automobile insurance should only be used for significant or catastrophic loss and not for small loses that your insurance company treats as nuance. Examples include the $350 parking lot bumper car challenge, a minor quarter panel repair, or a dented door. Your money saving opportunity in this area is to increase your deductible on all parts of your policy.

While you have every right to collect a $350 claim if you have a $100 deductible, you create a track record for your insurance company that will be reviewed year after year. Further, you are creating handling and processing cost for the insurer that, for small claims, many times exceeds to cost of the claim itself. Ultimately, you will pay premium rates for this service that you really do not need.

You are better off carrying at least a $1,000 deductible and pay for small losses if they occur. You’ll get a break from your insurance company and you can use these savings year after year to fund your own deductible payment. In the long run, nearly everyone comes out ahead.