When the pandemic hit and I transitioned to working from home full-time, I realized that I was only using my car at most twice a week. Once to pick up groceries 2 miles away and once more if I visited my parents on the weekend.
Besides that, my car hasn’t seen much excitement this year.
Car insurance is my 2nd largest monthly, fixed expense. The only larger monthly expense is my rent. As you can expect, I was highly motivated to reduce my car insurance payments, mostly because I wasn’t fully benefiting from it with my car left in the garage, but also because I find it ridiculously expensive in the first place.
I called my insurance and told them that I would be driving drastically less than prior years, and we reduced my annual mileage from 10,700 miles to 7,800 miles (I probably won’t drive close to this new mileage either so will try to reduce this again in a few months).
This immediately dropped by monthly car insurance payments from $175/mo to $160/mo, resulting in a savings of $15/mo.
$15/mo may seem like small potatoes, but that’s $180 saved each year - and without sacrificing any quality in coverage that I would utilize.
Why does your annual mileage matter?
It’s simple, less driving = less time on the road = less risk to insure.
Insurance companies check for your annual mileage each year, and if you drive fewer miles per year, then you pose less risk to your insurer and so will pay less.
This is a quick conversation with your insurer. You can try saying: “I usually drive X amount of miles round-trip to work, but I’m working from home now, and I plan to for a duration into the foreseeable future. Can you see if I qualify for reducing my annual mileage?”
Anyway, I wanted to share this experience as it was a very easy and quick way to save some money for those who are driving less this year. If you’ve cut your driving, you will very much likely be able to lower your car insurance rate. Even if you are currently driving to work, you should periodically check your annual mileage to ensure you have the appropriate coverage that fits your driving needs (and not overpay for benefits you do not utilize).
The best car insurance companies in 2020 rated by MONEY MAGAZINE
🥔 Click here to see MONEY Magazine's top 10 car insurance companies in 2020
Personally, I am currently insured under State Farm, which is fortunately listed under MONEY Magazine's top 10 rated for 2020. As I am currently proactively looking to see what options other insurers may offer, this article was helpful in aggregating a solid list for me.