If you are looking for auto insurance discounters you need look no further than the mirror because your are your own best discounter! When shopping for car insurance it is very important that you shop around. Different companies can have different rates for different vehicles or zip codes. Quotes from different companies can range by hundreds of dollars. If you want a good idea of which companies offer the better rates go to naic.org. Once you are there, click on your state. Although this varies for each state website, you should find you should find comparison info in the consumer section of the website. Then you should find a “brochures” section which will lead you to the comparison chart. Some state sites, such as Nevada, already have their comparison chart within their auto insurance guide. On these sites you can also find view the financial stability of the company as well as the complaint ratio, which is a good indicator of customer service, or lack thereof.

Sites like CarInsurance.com, Insurance.com, Esurance.com, or Insure.com allow to you compare quotes. But be warned that these sites take a commission, thus making you pay more. After all, they are in it to make money. These sites might not place the lowest price insurance quotes on their sites because they do not make money off the quotes that are too low, according to J. Robert Hunter, director of insurance with the Consumer Federation of America.

You also have the option of going talking and/or meeting with local insurance agencies. Independent agencies, which offer insurance from multiple companies, will have a name you’ve likely never heard of before. Insurance giants such as All State or Geico have their own offices and only sell their type of insurance.

Here are some more tips to empower you to be your own auto insurance discounters…

Drive safely! Speeding tickets raise your premiums.

Insure your car with the same insurance company as your house. Ask your home insurer to see if this combined coverage exists. You might very well save money on your home insurance in the process. However, you should still shop around. Your “combined” insurance might not be so great after all when compared with the car insurance quotes of other providers.

You might get an early bird discount from another car insurer if you shop a good amount of time before your current policy expires.

Insure all of your cars with one company.

Get insurance quotes for cars before you buy them. One car can have a much higher premium than another one. Generally, the less flashy or sporty your car is, the more likely that the premium for it will be lower. The more expensive and higher-performance the car is, the higher the premium will be. However, even very similar cars can have very different premiums for one reason or another. Furthermore, insurance companies will give you lower premiums if your car has safety features, such as anti-lock breaks, daytime running lights, or automatic/motorized seat belts. You will also have a lower premium if your potential car has good crash test ratings. This makes sense from the viewpoint of the insurer because the more “crash-proof” your car is, the less the potential damage there will be, which they will have to pay for. Check out iihs.org to find the crash test ratings for a car you are considering to buy.

Ask if your occupation qualifies you for a discount. Although you might not get any discounts if you are, say, a professional bungy jumper, you might get a discount if you are an accountant or a war veteran. Some insurance companies give discounts if you are a senior.

Are you affiliated with AAA or other business organizations such your employer or alumni group? Some insurance companies will give you a discount for being in such organizations.

Always stay insured. Even if your insurance expires and you are technically without it for a day or two, insurance companies see you as a higher risk and you will thus get higher premiums.

Increase your deductible. The higher it is, the lower your premium will be, just make sure that you can afford it. A deductible is the amount of money you pay for damage to your car by yourself, before the insurance company comes in and pays the rest. This applies to collision and comprehensive insurance. Say you had a $250 deductible. You increase your deductible to $1000. Your premiums will now be lower, but you also assume more risk. You will now have to pay for all the minor repairs, which cost less than $1000. If you happen to get into a more serious accident, you pay $1000 out of your pocket, but the insurance company will pay for the rest of the damage. You just have to make sure that if you do get into an accident, you have the resources available to pay by yourself.

Ask yourself if you really need some coverage when you really don’t. Just make sure that in the event of an accident, you can afford the additional risk. For example, you may not need collision insurance nor comprehensive insurance if your car is worth $1000. If the market value of your car (which you can find on Kelley Blue Book) is less than 10 times the cost of your premium, you should consider dropping both collision and comprehensive insurance. This "10 times" amount is suggested by J. Robert Hunter, director of insurance with the Consumer Federation of America, who is quoted in an Edmunds article.

Don’t insure vehicles you don’t drive. Most states require all cars to have insurance, just make sure that you tell your insurance company that this vehicle is not operable.

Buy a longer policy. This is basically like buying wholesale. Although the standard time for a policy is 6 months, buy longer.

Pay the price of your policy in full and not in monthly payment. This is pretty obvious.

Taking a driver training course or defensive driving course might save you some money. However, the discount likely won’t be large enough to substantiate for the time and money spent on the course.

Ask for an accident-free discount if you have been free of accidents in which you were not the guilty party.

You’ll likely get a discount on your premium without you knowing if you have good credit. You can get your credit score for free from by going to sites like freecreditscore.com. However, keep in mind that sites like these are only “free” if you cancel the free subscription they give you. There is no doubt that they prey on customers who forget to cancel their subscription, like me!

If you drive less than average, some insurance companies will give you a discount. If you have a car which you rarely use, make sure that the insurance companies you get quotes from know this because you might very well be eligible for a low-mileage discount.

Ask your insurance company if you can get a discount for installing an anti-theft device. Depending on how “anti-theft” it is, you can save a lot of money on your premium.

When your policy is about to expire, check to see if you can add any discounts. Make sure that get the discounts you qualify for.

Some auto insurance companies which have the most discounts have the highest overall rate. So even if a company is giving you discount after discount, you may still end up paying more for your premium than other insurance providers offer. Even if a company has few discount options, it may still have a lower rate than a company who has loads of discount options. It is the final price that matters.

If you stay long enough with a certain company, you may be eligible for a long customer discount, a renewal discount. Long time customers might also be eligible for accident forgiveness.

It pays to make sure that your teens get good grades. The higher their GPA or average grades are, the less your insurance coverage will be for that son or daughter.

Make sure to be adequately covered. If you are found to be the guilt party in an accident, medical costs can be hundreds of thousands of dollars. You can hit a really expensive car. If your liability coverage doesn’t pay it, you’ll be forced to pay it out of your pocket. If you can’t afford it, you risk being sued, wherein your assets such as your house can be at stake.

Keep in mind that there there is no one auto insurance discounter. Although Geico's gecko is cute and Flo from Progressive is charming, don't stick with just one auto insurance company. Be your own auto insurance discounters!