Car insurers spend truckloads of money on advertising to lure customers away from the competition, and the promises of lower rates might be tempting.

But take stock of what you’ve got before you split. You might find that the perks of staying with your current insurer outweigh the ones offered by another company.

“Years ago, the coverage was apples-to-apples,” says Jeff Camara, an independent insurance agent and office manager of Vargas & Vargas Insurance in Dorchester, Mass.

But now carriers are differentiating themselves with a variety of offerings, so you have to take extra care when comparing.

There are some upsides to staying loyal. Here are some of the car insurance discounts you might expect:

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Written by:
Shivani Gite
Contributing Writer
Shivani Gite is a personal finance and insurance writer with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She is passionate about making insurance topics easy to understand for people and helping them make better financial decisions. When not writing, you can find her reading a book or watching anime.
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Reviewed by:
Laura Longero
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Executive Editor
Laura is an award-winning editor with experience in content and communications covering auto insurance and personal finance. She has written for several media outlets, including the USA Today Network. She most recently worked in the public sector for the Nevada Department of Transportation.

Loyalty discounts

The most obvious is the loyalty discount, also called a persistency, longevity or tenure discount, which gives you a small rate cut for staying with the company for a certain amount of time. Not all insurers offer them.

Camara says of the nine companies with which his agency works, three have loyalty discounts.

The time you have to remain with a company for a discount varies by insurer and location. State Farm in California, for instance, gives a loyalty discount for customers who stay for at least a year. With Ameriprise Auto & Home Insurance, you have to stick with the company for three years to earn its tenure discount.

Some insurers also offer discounts for switching to them, which might cancel out any benefit of a loyalty discount with your current insurer.

Accident forgiveness

Some insurance companies now offer accident forgiveness programs, which promise not to raise your rate the first time you have an accident after a period of remaining claim-free. Rules for the programs vary, but some insurers require you to be a customer for a certain number of years before you qualify.

For its major accident forgiveness program, for instance, Progressive requires customers to be with the company for at least five years and for everyone on your policy to remain claim- and violation-free for the last three. If you meet those criteria, then your car insurance rate won’t go up if you have a large claim.

Accident surcharges can be hefty and last for years.

Dwindling deductibles

Programs like Nationwide Insurance’s “Vanishing Deductible” promise to reduce your deductible each year you drive safely and are signed up with the program. Under the Nationwide program, your deductible decreases by $100 a year up to $500. Some companies, though, such as The Hartford, will knock money off the deductible if you haven’t had any accidents or violations, even if you had coverage with another company.

Losing deductible dollars and accident forgiveness might be a bigger deal than losing a loyalty discount when changing companies, Camara says.

Leniency

Some companies might be more lenient about minor accidents or violations with longtime customers, even without a formal accident forgiveness program. Another perk for loyalty is that once you’ve been with a company for a number of years, the insurer generally won’t pull your driving record every year, which could save you from an immediate premium increase if you get a ticket.

If you’re a longtime customer with a good track record, an insurer is also more likely to reinstate your policy without penalty if you’re a little late on a premium payment, Camara says, as long as you don’t make it a habit.

Customer service

For some folks, having a personal relationship with an insurance agent is important. You’ll lose that professional if you’re with a company that has its agents, such as State Farm or Allstate, and you change insurers. You can keep your independent insurance agent as long as you switch to one of the insurers represented by the agency.

At Progressive Insurance, customers who have been with the company for at least 10 years earn “Emerald Access,” and 20-year customers earn “Lifetime Crown Benefits.” The company says its customer service representatives give priority to Emerald and Crown customer calls. Crown customers also get a lifetime insurance renewal guarantee.

Deciding whether to switch insurance companies comes down to weighing what you have to gain and what you have to lose.

“As a consumer, it’s smart to shop, but you want to make sure you’re getting the same policy as you were before,” Camara says.

Or at least you want to make sure you take into account anything you might lose to calculate the true savings.

— Barbara Marquand contributed to this story.

Laura Longero

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Laura Longero

Executive Editor

Laura is an award-winning editor with experience in content and communications covering auto insurance and personal finance. She has written for several media outlets, including the USA Today Network. She most recently worked in the public sector for the Nevada Department of Transportation.

John McCormick

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John McCormick

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John is the editorial director for CarInsurance.com, Insurance.com and Insure.com. Before joining QuinStreet, John was a deputy editor at The Wall Street Journal and had been an editor and reporter at a number of other media outlets where he covered insurance, personal finance, and technology.

Leslie Kasperowicz

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Leslie Kasperowicz

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Leslie Kasperowicz is an insurance educator and content creation professional with nearly two decades of experience first directly in the insurance industry at Farmers Insurance and then as a writer, researcher, and educator for insurance shoppers writing for sites like ExpertInsuranceReviews.com and InsuranceHotline.com and managing content, now at CarInsurance.com.

Nupur Gambhir

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Nupur Gambhir is a content editor and licensed life, health, and disability insurance expert. She has extensive experience bringing brands to life and has built award-nominated campaigns for travel and tech. Her insurance expertise has been featured in Bloomberg News, Forbes Advisor, CNET, Fortune, Slate, Real Simple, Lifehacker, The Financial Gym, and the end-of-life planning service.

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Contributing Writer

Shivani Gite is a personal finance and insurance writer with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She is passionate about making insurance topics easy to understand for people and helping them make better financial decisions. When not writing, you can find her reading a book or watching anime.