I just saved $75 on my auto insurance!

No I didn't switch to Geico but went back to Allstate. I'm with State Farm now and I'm paying $310 per month for auto insurance for both my cars. Allstate, my former insurance company, is now offering me $235 per month and with increased coverages - 100/300 bodily injury, 100 property, $500 deductible. Since I recently wrote a piece about buying a new car, I thought I would give out my advice on buying auto insurance.

- Avoid those Mickey Mouse Tio Pepito's Seguro Hialeah types. Yeah they are cheap, but as in everything else in life, you get what you pay for. If you actually have an accident or are the victim of theft or vandalism, God forbid, and need to file a claim, I wish you luck. These little insurance companies will do everything it can to avoid paying out the claim. A friend of mine had his car stolen in December 2004. He had some small unknown insurance company because they were the cheapest he found. He filed the claim, they denied it saying that they suspect that he stole his own car. Stole his own car! To this day, he still does not have his money or his car and still needs to pay his monthly financing payments for a car that he no longer has. Its a pretty crappy situation.

- Auto insurance companies look at several qualifying factors... credit, age, sex, marital status, home owner or renter, location, driving history, accident history, claim history, insurance record, year/make/model of your car. From this they calculate your insurance rating.

- To get the best rate, you should have a 700+ FICO score, be over 25, male, married, home owner, no points in your driving history in the past 3 years, no accidents in the past 3 years, no claims in the past 3 years, no lapse in auto insurance in the past 5 years.

- What does credit score have to do with auto insurance? It really doesn't but auto insurers seem to believe that people with bad credit are a higher risk and they have studies to prove it. I call BS.

- At 25, you qualify for regular adult rates.

- Under 25, guys are considered more risk. Over 25, the situation is reversed so why are women considered higher risk? Because women cannot drive. Just kidding!

- Getting married also drops the rate a little. But I wouldn't run out to ask any random girl to be your insurance discount just yet.

- Usually people freak when they get a ticket and think their auto insurance will go up. False. Simply getting a ticket will not affect your policy. Being found quilty and acquiring points does however. This is why when you do get a ticket, do not just pay for it and forget it. Take it to a lawyer. Its only $75 and he'll deal with it. I get several tickets a year for speeding usually. I simply fax the ticket and a copy of my credit card to my lawyer and a few months later, its dismissed. No worries.

- Even when switching between policies, do not let your old policy end before the new one begins. If it lapses, you will be looking at higher rates.

- Get as much discounts as you can. Because I have two cars, I qualify for the multi-car discount. There are passive restraint, educational, active alarm discounts, etc.

- If you have two cars, list one as your daily driver and the other as your weekend pleasure vehicle.

- Shop around for the best rate. Allstate, State Farm, Geico, Progressive, Traveler's are good places to start. In my experience, Geico has very strict credit and driving history requirements. I didn't even qualify for Geico. Progressive is probably the most expensive out of the group but if you have a bad driving record, they'll probably accept you. Both Allstate and State Farm are good, but I find Allstate's rates, customer service and claim handling to be better.

Allstate's rate is lower, I'm getting better coverage and better service. State Farm has treated me good these past two years but in the end, I'm in good hands with Allstate.