While shopping for affordable car insurance quotes do NOT ignore “the deductible” which is the amount that is going to come out of your pocket before your car insurance provider starts paying any money, in the event of an accident or claim made against you. 

For example, if you are in a fender bender, judged to be your fault, and you do $1,500.00 worth of damage to someone’s new Mercedes (which may not be much more than a broken headlight) and you have a policy with a $500.00 deductible, you will have to pay $500.00 and your insurance company will pay the balance of $1,000.00. 

However, if you caused an accident, which caused medical expenses for the other party to run into the tens of thousands of dollars, you would still pay “the deductible” and your insurance company would pay the rest. 

When getting car insurance quotes ask that the quotes reflect both a high and a low deductible and what the premiums would be in both cases.

Obviously, lower premiums look appealing, but they come with a cost – in the event of a claim, however small, against you your out-of-pocket expenses are going to be higher.  You may find that you have access to the money difference between a higher and a lower deductible, hence for you obtaining a lower premium would work out.  If you do not have, or do not have access to, the amount between the lower and the higher deductible you may find it necessary to pay the higher premiums to enable you to have a lower deductible. 

There really is no right or wrong as to which deductible is best – you either pay more monthly (or whenever your premiums are due) in order to have less out of pocket expense if there is a claim against you; or you pay less in premiums, but your out-of- pocket expense would be more in the same situation. 

When shopping for car insurance quotes giving due consideration to the deductible is in your best interest