Besides car payments and gas, perhaps the biggest cost for drivers in the US is insurance premiums. Whether or not you get into accidents, these insurance costs remain a constant hassle throughout any person’s driving career. Those costs don’t have to be unreasonable though. Here are three things you can do to make your insurance company happy and save yourself some money:

1. Buy from the Same Company

The first thing you can do to cut down your insurance bill is to deal with just one company for all of your insurance policies. Oftentimes insurance companies will offer discounts and other sorts of incentives for customers who demonstrate loyalty like that. After all, they want to encourage people to buy all their insurance policies there! Of course you should investigate whether or not the company has a history of offering deals like that before you invest all your money in their policies. Regardless of if you buy all your policies with that company, though, it would still be in your best interest to ask the car insurance provider about any other discounts they might offer for other actions to get cheap insurance rates. It always pays to ask about how you might save money! If they do not, you would be best served by visiting a computer to compare auto insurance quotes online. This applies to all sorts of insurance though. Whether you’re searching for “dental insurance colorado springs” or “auto insurance syracuse,” you’re bound to find lots of options. Of course more specific searches like “dental insurance colorado springs” will come later in the search process as you narrow down exactly what you want. Instead of “dental insurance colorado springs,” perhaps you would want to begin by searching “insurance companies colorado springs” to compare rates directly.

2. Pay Bimonthly

Another thing you can do to save on your car insurance is to pay your bill bi-monthly instead of monthly. Many companies have indicated that they prefer the premium payments to be made in lump sums rather than other forms and will offer discounts for customers who do. After all, having fewer, larger payments from customers means less paperwork for the company. This is a move that would benefit both the company and yourself, so you might as well try to get the best auto insurance rates you can!

3. Take a Defensive Driving Course

Finally, a third thing you can do to lower your insurance premiums is to take a defensive driving course. Every time an accident occurs between insured drivers, an insurance company pays for the repairs. In 2012 alone, the average payout for an American collision claim was $2,950. An insurance company might lower your premiums for taking a defensive driving course as an incentive because, for the auto insurance specialists, it’s a kind of investment. If they receive a little less money each month, then perhaps they won’t have to make the larger payout for an accident later on. This saves both paperwork and money for the company, so it’s a win for both you and them. There is often talk about how evil insurance companies can be, but it seems like ultimately they want you to be safe as much as you do. Has this changed how you view insurance companies?