If saving the most money is your goal, then the best way to save on Honda Element insurance is to begin comparing prices regularly from different companies in Raleigh. Drivers can shop around by following these guidelines.
- First, it will benefit you to learn about how companies set rates and the modifications you can make to keep rates down. Many rating criteria that cause high rates like getting speeding tickets and a less-than-favorable credit history can be amended by making minor changes in your lifestyle. Continue reading for more ideas to help prevent costly coverage and find additional discounts you may qualify for.
- Second, quote rates from direct carriers, independent agents, and exclusive agents. Exclusive agents and direct companies can provide rates from one company like Progressive or Allstate, while independent agents can quote rates for many different companies.
- Third, compare the new rate quotes to your current policy to see if a cheaper rate is available in Raleigh. If you find a lower rate and make a switch, make sure the effective date of the new policy is the same as the expiration date of the old one.
- Fourth, give proper notification to your current agent or company to cancel your current car insurance policy and submit a signed application and payment to the new insurer. As soon as you can, store the certificate of insurance in an easily accessible location in your vehicle.
An important bit of advice to remember is that you use identical coverage information on each quote and and to get rate quotes from as many different insurance providers as possible. Doing this guarantees a level playing field and a complete price analysis.
We don’t have to tell you that auto insurance companies don’t want you quoting rates from other companies. Insureds who shop around for the cheapest price are inclined to move their business because the odds are good of finding a lower-priced company. A study discovered that consumers who routinely compared quotes saved an average of $865 a year as compared to drivers who don’t regularly compare prices.
If finding budget-friendly Honda Element insurance is the reason you’re here, then having some knowledge of how to compare car insurance can help make the process easier.
If you are insured now, you will be able to cut your premiums using these methods. Our objective is to teach you how to compare rates easily. Nevertheless, North Carolina car owners must learn the way insurance companies determine what you pay because it varies considerably.
To find more affordable rates, there are a couple of ways to get quotes from different Raleigh insurance companies. The recommended way to compare rates is simply to get online rate quotes. Just remember that comparing a wide range of rates helps you find the best offered rates. Not every company provides online Raleigh Element insurance quotes, so you should also compare price quotes from the smaller companies as well.
The companies shown below have been selected to offer quotes in Raleigh, NC. To locate the best car insurance in Raleigh, we recommend you visit two to three different companies in order to get a fair rate comparison.
Car insurance data for a Honda Element
The rate information shown next showcases different policy rates for Honda Element models. Understanding how car insurance premiums are formulated is important to be able to make smart choices when selecting a policy.
| Model | Comp | Collision | Liability | Medical | UM/UIM | Annual Premium | Monthly Premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Element LX 2WD | $164 | $322 | $234 | $14 | $70 | $804 | $67 |
| Element LX 4WD | $164 | $322 | $234 | $14 | $70 | $804 | $67 |
| Element EX 2WD | $164 | $322 | $234 | $14 | $70 | $804 | $67 |
| Element EX 4WD | $164 | $322 | $234 | $14 | $70 | $804 | $67 |
| Element SC 2WD | $164 | $322 | $234 | $14 | $70 | $804 | $67 |
| Get Your Own Custom Quote Go | |||||||
Data based on married female driver age 50, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, $100 deductibles, and North Carolina minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include multi-vehicle, claim-free, homeowner, safe-driver, and multi-policy. Rates do not factor in specific Raleigh garaging location which can influence prices considerably.
Higher deductibles save money
One of the more difficult decisions when buying car insurance is the level to set your comp and collision deductibles. The comparisons below help summarize the rate fluctuation when you select higher and lower policy deductibles. The first rate table uses a $100 deductible for physical damage and the second price table uses a $500 deductible.
| Model | Comp | Collision | Liability | Medical | UM/UIM | Annual Premium | Monthly Premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Element LX 2WD | $214 | $386 | $250 | $14 | $74 | $963 | $80 |
| Element LX 4WD | $214 | $386 | $250 | $14 | $74 | $963 | $80 |
| Element EX 2WD | $214 | $386 | $250 | $14 | $74 | $963 | $80 |
| Element EX 4WD | $214 | $386 | $250 | $14 | $74 | $963 | $80 |
| Element SC 2WD | $214 | $386 | $250 | $14 | $74 | $963 | $80 |
| Get Your Own Custom Quote Go | |||||||
| Model | Comp | Collision | Liability | Medical | UM/UIM | Annual Premium | Monthly Premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Element LX 2WD | $156 | $262 | $250 | $14 | $74 | $756 | $63 |
| Element LX 4WD | $156 | $262 | $250 | $14 | $74 | $756 | $63 |
| Element EX 2WD | $156 | $262 | $250 | $14 | $74 | $756 | $63 |
| Element EX 4WD | $156 | $262 | $250 | $14 | $74 | $756 | $63 |
| Element SC 2WD | $156 | $262 | $250 | $14 | $74 | $756 | $63 |
| Get Your Own Custom Quote Go | |||||||
Data rating is based on married male driver age 30, no speeding tickets, no at-fault accidents, and North Carolina minimum liability limits. Discounts applied include multi-policy, homeowner, claim-free, multi-vehicle, and safe-driver. Premium amounts do not factor in specific location which can lower or raise premium rates significantly.
We can estimate from the data above that using a $100 deductible costs approximately $17 more each month or $204 each year than requesting the higher $500 deductible. Because you would pay $400 more if you file a claim with a $500 deductible as compared to a $100 deductible, if you have at a minimum 24 months between claims, you would probably come out ahead if you choose a higher deductible.
How to calculate deductible break even point
| Average monthly premium for $100 deductibles: | $80 |
| Average monthly premium for $500 deductibles (subtract): | – $63 |
| Monthly savings from raising deductible: | $17 |
| Difference between deductibles ($500 – $100): | $400 |
| Divide difference by monthly savings: | $400 / $17 |
| Number of months required between physical damage coverage claims in order to save money by choosing the higher deductible | 24 months |
The diagram below demonstrates how deductible levels and can increase or decrease Honda Element insurance rates for each different age group. Data assumes a married female driver, full coverage, and no policy discounts are applied.
Full coverage versus liability-only in Raleigh
The illustration below visualizes the comparison of Honda Element car insurance rates with and without full coverage. Data assumes a clean driving record, no at-fault accidents, $1,000 deductibles, drivers are single, and no discounts are factored in.
When to stop paying for full coverage
There isn’t a written rule of when to stop paying for physical damage coverage, but there is a general guideline you can use. If the yearly cost of comp and collision coverage is 10% or more of the vehicle’s replacement cost less your deductible, then you might want to think about dropping full coverage.
For example, let’s pretend your Honda Element claim settlement value is $9,000 and you have $1,000 policy deductibles. If your vehicle is severely damaged, the most you would receive is $8,000 after the deductible is paid. If it’s costing in excess of $800 a year for physical damage coverage, then it’s probably a good time to buy liability coverage only.
There are some cases where removing full coverage is not advised. If you still owe money on your vehicle, you have to maintain full coverage as part of the loan requirements. Also, if your savings is not enough to buy a different vehicle if your current one is totaled, you should not consider dropping full coverage.
Protect more than your vehicle
Despite the high cost of buying insurance for a Honda Element in Raleigh, car insurance may be required for several reasons.
- The majority of states have minimum liability requirements which means it is punishable by state law to not carry a specific minimum amount of liability insurance if you want to drive legally. In North Carolina these limits are 30/60/25 which means you must have $30,000 of bodily injury coverage per person, $60,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident, and $25,000 of property damage coverage.
- If your Honda Element has a lienholder, almost every bank will have a requirement that you have physical damage coverage to ensure they get paid if you total the vehicle. If you do not keep the policy in force, the lender may have to buy a policy to insure your Honda at an extremely high rate and make you pay for the expensive policy.
- Car insurance protects not only your Honda Element but also your assets. Insurance will pay for medical transport and hospital expenses for you, any passengers, and anyone injured in an accident. Liability coverage also covers all legal expenses up to the policy limit if you cause an accident and are sued. If your vehicle suffers damage from an accident or hail, comprehensive (other-than-collision) and collision coverage will pay to repair the damage.
The benefits of insuring your car definitely exceed the cost, particularly for liability claims. The average driver in North Carolina is overpaying more than $800 each year so it’s very important to do a rate comparison every year to ensure rates are inline.
Components of Your Honda Element Insurance Premiums
An important part of buying insurance is that you know some of the factors that play a part in calculating your policy premiums. If you have a feel for what influences your rates, this enables informed choices that can help you get much lower annual insurance costs.
The list below includes some of the factors used by your company to calculate premiums.
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Get a ticket, pay higher rates – Only having one citation may cause rates to rise forty percent or more. Drivers with clean records have lower premiums than their less careful counterparts. Drivers unfortunate enough to have multiple tickets such as reckless driving, hit and run or driving under the influence may face state-mandated requirements to prove financial responsibility with their state in order to prevent their license from being revoked.
The diagram below highlights how traffic violations and at-fault claims impact Honda Element yearly insurance costs for different ages of insureds. The rates are based on a married female driver, full physical damage coverage, $500 deductibles, and no additional discounts are factored in.
- Never have insurance lapses – Driving with no insurance can get your license suspended and your next policy will cost more because you let your coverage have a gap. And not only will insurance be more expensive, not being able to provide proof of insurance could earn you a fine, jail time, or a revoked license. You may have to submit proof of financial responsibility or a SR-22 with the North Carolina DMV.
- Multiple policies with one company can save – Most companies allow a discount to insureds that buy multiple policies, otherwise known as a multi-policy discount. Even with this discount applied, it’s still a good idea to compare other Raleigh Element insurance rates to verify if the discount is saving money. Drivers may still save even more by splitting coverages up.
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Gals pay lower premiums – Over the last 50 years, statistics have shown that females tend to be a little less risky than males. However, don’t assume that females are better at driving than males. They both are responsible for at-fault accidents at a similar rate, but the male of the species tend to have higher claims. Men also get higher numbers of serious violations like DWI (DUI) or reckless driving. Youthful male drivers are several times more likely to be in an accident so it costs more to insure them.
The chart below visualizes the comparison of Honda Element insurance rates for male and female drivers. The prices are based on no driving violations, no at-fault accidents, full coverage, $100 deductibles, single status, and no discounts are applied to the premium.
- Don’t buy extra policy coverages that may not be needed – There are many extra add-on coverages that sound like a good idea at the time when buying insurance. Insurance for coverage for rental cars, better glass coverage, and Farm Bureau memberships may be wasting your money. They may seem like a good idea when you first buy your policy, but if you don’t need them remove them from your policy.
- Buy a safe car and pay less – Cars with five star safety ratings tend to have better insurance rates. Vehicles engineered for safety have better occupant injury protection and better occupant protection translates directly to fewer claims and more competitive rates for policyholders. If the Honda Element has ratings of a minimum an “acceptable” rating on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety website or four stars on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website you may pay a lower rate.
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Is your car built for speed? – The performance of the car, truck or SUV you are trying to find cheaper insurance for makes a significant difference in your rates. The lowest premiums are for low performance passenger models, but many other things help determine your insurance rates.
The next chart assumes a married female driver age 50, full coverage with $250 deductibles, and no discounts or violations. It compares Honda Element insurance rates compared to other vehicles that have different performances.
- Prevent theft and save money – Buying a car with a theft deterrent system can get you a discount on your insurance. Systems that thwart thieves such as tamper alarm systems, vehicle immobilizer technology and General Motors OnStar all hinder auto theft.
Don’t overlook these Honda Element insurance discounts
Companies offering auto insurance do not advertise every discount they offer very well, so here is a list both well-publicized as well as some of the hidden discounts that you may qualify for.
- Early Signing – A few larger companies give discounts for signing up before your current Element insurance policy expires. You could save around 10% when you buy Raleigh auto insurance online.
- Defensive Driver – Completing a course in defensive driving could cut 5% off your bill if you qualify.
- Telematics Discount – Insureds that choose to allow data collection to spy on when and where they use their vehicle by using a telematic data system such as Allstate’s Drivewise and State Farm’s In-Drive system could save a few bucks if they are good drivers.
- Club Memberships – Having an affiliation with a professional or civic organization could qualify you for a break on your next renewal.
- Drive Safe and Save – Safe drivers may save up to 50% more compared to rates paid by drivers with frequent claims.
A quick disclaimer, most discount credits are not given to all coverage premiums. Most only cut the price of certain insurance coverages like comp or med pay. So even though they make it sound like all those discounts means the company will pay you, nobody gets a free ride.
The chart below shows the difference between Honda Element insurance costs with and without discounts applied to the rates. The costs are based on a female driver, no claims or driving violations, North Carolina state minimum liability limits, comp and collision included, and $250 deductibles. The first bar for each age group shows premium with no discounts. The second shows the rates with homeowner, claim-free, multi-policy, multi-car, marriage, and safe-driver discounts applied.
A few of the larger companies and some of their more popular discounts are shown below.
- State Farm offers discounts including good driver, multiple policy, driver’s education, safe vehicle, anti-theft, defensive driving training, and Steer Clear safe driver discount.
- Liberty Mutual may offer discounts for new vehicle discount, newly married, teen driver discount, preferred payment discount, and multi-policy.
- American Family may have discounts that include bundled insurance, good driver, defensive driver, air bags, and mySafetyValet.
- Progressive may include discounts for homeowner, continuous coverage, multi-vehicle, good student, multi-policy, and online quote discount.
- Farmers Insurance has savings for teen driver, mature driver, bundle discounts, multi-car, and alternative fuel.
- Auto-Owners Insurance has discounts for safe driver, group or association, company car, safe vehicle, paid in full, and air bags.
- SAFECO offers discounts for anti-theft, accident prevention training, safe driver, teen safety rewards, and bundle discounts.
If you need affordable Honda Element insurance quotes, ask every company how you can save money. Some credits may not be offered in your state. To see insurance companies who offer discounts in North Carolina, click here to view.
Independent or exclusive insurance agents
Some consumers prefer to sit down and talk to an agent and often times that is recommended An additional benefit of comparing rates online is the fact that drivers can get cheaper premium rates but also keep your business local.
Upon completion of this simple form, your insurance data is instantly submitted to participating agents in Raleigh who will return price quotes for your coverage. There is no reason to search for any insurance agencies since rate quotes are delivered to your email. You can get cheaper insurance rates without the usual hassles of price shopping. If for some reason you want to compare rates from a particular provider, you would need to search and find their rate quote page and submit a quote form there.
Finding a good provider should depend on more than just a low price. Some important questions to ask are:
- What insurance company do they write the most business with?
- How will an accident affect your rates?
- Does the agent have a valid license to sell insurance in North Carolina?
- Does the agency have a current Errors and Omissions policy?
- How much will you save each year by using a higher deductible?
- Is the quote a firm price?
Types of car insurance agents in Raleigh
When searching for a reliable insurance agent, there are a couple of different types of agents and how they operate. Raleigh agents can either be independent or exclusive.
Exclusive Insurance Agencies
Exclusive agents work for only one company like Farmers Insurance, State Farm, Allstate, and AAA. Exclusive agents are unable to provide other company’s prices so they have no alternatives for high prices. Exclusive agents receive extensive training on the products they sell which helps offset the inability to provide other markets. A lot of people use the same agent primarily because of the prominence of the brand instead of buying on price only.
Listed below are exclusive insurance agencies in Raleigh who may provide you with rate quotes.
- Alex Burt – State Farm Insurance Agent
3021 Berks Way #102 – Raleigh, NC 27614 – (919) 435-1417 – View Map - Vincent Boone – State Farm Insurance Agent
7850 Alexander Promenade PI #105 – Raleigh, NC 27617 – (919) 957-9009 – View Map - Karen Boone – State Farm Insurance Agent
5603 Creedmoor Rd – Raleigh, NC 27612 – (919) 782-6666 – View Map
Independent Insurance Agents
Independent insurance agents do not work for one specific company and that gives them the ability to insure through lots of different companies and find the cheapest insurance rates. If you are not satisfied with one company, they can switch companies in-house which makes it simple for you.
When searching for an agent, you should always get several quotes from several independent agencies so that you can do a thorough price comparison. Most also have access to lesser-known insurance companies which may have better rates.
Shown below are Raleigh independent insurance agencies that are able to give price quote information.
- Nationwide Insurance: Terry E Nobles
557 Pylon Dr a – Raleigh, NC 27606 – (919) 833-3803 – View Map - HealthMarkets Insurance Agency
3700 National Dr #100 – Raleigh, NC 27612 – (919) 720-4724 – View Map - Durfey-Hoover-Bowden Insurance Agency
3741 Benson Dr – Raleigh, NC 27609 – (919) 790-6415 – View Map
If you get positive feedback to any questions you may have as well as a affordable price, most likely you have located an insurance agency that is a good match to service your policy.
Be persistent to save money
Insureds leave their current company for a variety of reasons including denial of a claim, high rates after DUI convictions, questionable increases in premium and even poor customer service. No matter why you want to switch, finding the right insurance provider can be less work than you think.
Some insurance providers may not have the ability to get quotes online and most of the time these small insurance companies provide coverage only through independent agencies. Affordable Honda Element insurance in Raleigh is attainable on the web as well as from independent agents in Raleigh, and you should compare price quotes from both to have the best rate selection.
As you shop your coverage around, you should never buy poor coverage just to save money. There have been many cases where someone dropped uninsured motorist or liability limits only to regret that they should have had better coverage. The ultimate goal is to buy a smart amount of coverage at the best cost but still have enough coverage for asset protection.
Much more information about insurance in North Carolina can be found at these links:
- Teen Driver Statistics (Insurance Information Institute)
- What Car Insurance is Cheapest for High Risk Drivers in Raleigh? (FAQ)
- Who Has Cheap Raleigh Auto Insurance for Seniors? (FAQ)
- What Insurance is Cheapest for Retired Military in Raleigh? (FAQ)
- Who Has Affordable Raleigh Car Insurance for a Ford F-150? (FAQ)
- How Much is Car Insurance for Drivers Under 25 in Raleigh? (FAQ)
- Who Has Affordable Auto Insurance Rates for Drivers Over Age 70 in Raleigh? (FAQ)
- Car Insurance: When not to Skimp (BankRate.com)
- Winter Driving (Insurance Information Institute)
- Teen Driving Statistics (GEICO)
- State Laws for Cellphones and Texting (iihs.org)