Finding cheap New York car insurance rates is crucial for all NY residents. The state of New York is a great venue for automobile insurance companies, because it has a great number of consumers looking for the product that is best for them. New York State has an estimated population of 19,306,183 and has risen by 1.7% in comparison with the year 2005, based on the findings by the U.S. Census Bureau. Although the increase in population is not enough to change the insurance rates simply because the amount of people is not that significant.

It is important to note that New York State is home to one of the largest, if not the largest city in the United States; New York City. This means that the automobile insurance companies will be charging a lot more if you reside in this city in comparison to rural areas of the state. Reasons for this can be the amount of cars on the road (the more cars the higher the risk for an accident) and the increasing theft rate in a large city.

It is important to know however, that although people in New York will be facing a higher rate that does not mean they cannot find a cheap NY automobile insurance company. On the contrary, since it’s a big city, the chances of finding one become greater because there is more choice. It is certainly possible to find cheap New York City auto insurance rates if one does a little digging.

Before trying to find a cheap automobile insurance company in the state of New York it is important to know the state’s minimum requirements. When it comes to automobile insurance, a person in the state can only operate a motor vehicle if they have a 25/50/10 coverage. This means that a person must have a bodily injury coverage per person of at least $25,000, a bodily injury total per accident of $50,000 and a property damage liability of $10,000 per accident.

However, it is important to remind people that New York is one of the twelve no-fault auto insurance states in the country. This means that get in a car accident; you will have to go to your own car insurance so they can pay for your damages regardless of who is at fault in the accident. Even if the car accident is not your fault (an example would be when you get rear-ended) your insurance company will still have to take care of the expenses.

The other driver (or drivers) involved in the wreck, will also have to go to their own car insurance company in order to pay for their damages. The system basically places limitations on drivers to sue others at the time of an accident. This means that finding a cheap New York no fault auto insurance policy is key. Also, personal injury protection is not required, but it’s important for a driver to have it in case they get in a bad accident and they result injured.

Cheap automobile insurance for New Yorkers might mean to just get the minimum coverage required by the state, however there is much more you can do if you want more coverage to your policy that will lower the cost of your automobile insurance immensely. One of those things is to raise your deductible so that your rates become lower. With a lower deductible you will pay more a month because the company pays a lot in the case of an accident. With a higher deductible however, you take expenses away from the company and get more out of pocket costs after a wreck that in turn lowers your yearly rate.

Another thing you can do if you have a full coverage NY car insurance policy is to drop some of the coverage. This is especially good for the people that have coverage they don’t need. If you have an old vehicle there is relatively no use to having a comprehensive or collision coverage, especially if the vehicle is really old. This however won’t work for the people that are leasing on making payments on a car because the state requires those people to have comprehensive and collision coverage.

Another good way to lower your New York car insurance rates even more would include buying a car that is considered “low profile”. This means that the car is not near the top in the list of the top 10 most stolen vehicles. This helps especially in New York City because as theft rates escalate, so will your NY City auto insurance rates.

Something that goes along the lines of safety that can save you even more money is the discounts given by the automobile insurance companies. Although they vary by company, they all give some sort of discount for safety features including air bags, anti-lock breaks and alarms. Other common NY auto insurance discounts include the good student discount, the defensive driving skills class discount, the low mileage discount (always ask for this if you don’t drive that much), and the good driving record discount. This last one is the one that will get you higher savings because it requires for a person to have a clean record for at least three years. The driver cannot have one single accident or citation, and if you have a DUI then forget about this discount.