Insurance is one of those things no one wants to pay but everybody is happy they did when they need it. Whether you're looking for home insurance, auto insurance, or health insurance rates can vary tremendously. Where you live, your occupation, your credit scores, and your past history all influence what you'll have to pay for insurance. Getting free auto insurance quotes will help you find the policy that is right for you.

Auto Insurance

Like almost every business, the insurance companies have been hit by the rough and tumble state of the economy. While everyone is struggling to make ends meet, the costs of auto insurance has been on the rise. This is not good news for those who have lost their jobs. Are you looking for ways to lower the cost of what you are currently paying? Make sure to compare multiple cheap auto insurance quotes online to get the best rate.

You should be aware that your state may have a mandatory minimum insurance requirements. If you are looking for the bare minimum of insurance coverage as well as price, then you must know what that is before calling to find pricing. The insurance companies may not come right out and tell you what the minimum insurance level is because they want to provide as much coverage as they can. Remember insurance companies are profit driven like any other business. The TV commercials may make you believe that the insurance company is only looking out for your best interests when what they're really looking out for is their bottom line.

Don't consider dropping insurance entirely even if you're out of a job. It is better to cut the type of coverage you have than to quit paying for insurance altogether and drive illegally. Some states consider driving without insurance a misdemeanor which is one step below a crime. You really should spend some time to evaluating your budget and find what you need. Does your budget allow for full coverage? Do you need to cut back the liability insurance to the bare minimum? These are all questions only you can answer but the answers will help in your quest to find the best insurance for your needs.

Ask about any discounts you may qualify for. Increasing the amount of the deductible could decrease your premiums. Look at the value of your car, if it's more than 10 years old it may not pay to have comprehensive coverage. Different makes and models of cars, trucks, vans, and SUVs have varying records of safety and theft. If your car make and model gets stolen or vandalized more often than average you should be able to lower your premiums by trading for a model with a better safety record and lower theft record.

Shopping around is the best piece of advice anyone can offer. There are numerous insurance companies all fighting for your business. If you know exactly what you want, you should be able to go online and get several quotes there. This would be the ideal thing to do to find the lowest cost in insurance available. You can find cheap auto insurance in Florida for example by searching with those words.

Home Insurance

Having home insurance is imperative in today�s day and age. Equally important, your home and its contents should be adequately protected. But that's not all, it's also necessary to have liability insurance, in case someone gets hurt or injured on your property. Insurance rates, coverage, policies and costs can be confusing. You can find cheap home insurance with adequate protection.

When it comes to home insurance there are several different types of policy agreements. In fact, did you know that there are some policies that will not cover all of the contents inside the home? The contents may be covered at their resale value, which is second hand value, not their replacement cost. Even if you paid $5000 for that leather couch, it's second hand value may be only $500 and that's what your insurance company would reimburse you for. Or, if you are not married to a partner living in your home, your policy may not cover their content, only yours. If you have some of these special needs, you should review these types of issues in your policy before ever signing on the dotted line to purchase home insurance.

Another consideration is that in almost every policy any single possession typically won't be covered for more than $2500. So even if you have an appliance, a wide screen TV, furs, or jewelry, your insurance policy is likely to only cover up to that amount for that item. For additional coverage you have to have a rider which specifies the possession and its value. Of course the rider is an additional cost.

Your home insurance will cover the cost of rebuilding or repairing your home. The land is considered separately, so while your home may be appraised for, say $250,000, the land is worth perhaps $50,000, so your insurance company would only cover $200,000. The logic is that the land could be sold by itself for the $50,000.

A factor to consider is whether you live in an area where home values are changing, whether upwards or downwards. If you bought the home 10 years ago your policy may be woefully inadequate in coverage if the house has increased in value and your coverage hasn't been adjusted to reflect that increase.

A quick tip regardless of what type of policy you have is to get photographs or a video of everything inside of your home. Store these photos outside of the house somewhere. A relative's house will do or in a safety deposit box at a bank. Your photos will verify all of the items that were inside. This is key because there is no way to list all of the items you owned from memory alone. When you make new purchases take a photo and tape the sales receipt to the photo.

Health Insurance

With the way the economy is right now, people are looking for ways to put more money into their own pockets not their health insurance company's pocket. Without a doubt, one of the most costly monthly expenses in any budget is health insurance. For those who don't qualify for group insurance through their employment, paying health insurance premiums or putting food on the table can become a monthly nightmare.

Unfortunately this decision has become a sad reality for many. Before dropping health insurance completely, look at lowering the cost of it. This may be a real possibility if you are paying higher premiums than most people but you are in fairly good health and have had no major health problems in the past.

Decide how much you can realistically afford for your monthly premium and set that as your limit. If you can only afford $300 a month you won't be tempted by a plan that has extended coverage but costs $400 per month. Decide the deductible level you feel comfortable with. The deductible is the amount you have to pay before the insurance company makes any contribution towards expenses. The higher the deductible per year, usually the lower the premiums. Finally look at the co-pay. The co-pay is how much you have to pay for prescriptions, doctor visits, treatments, hospital stays, etc. There are policies that have very very low co-pays, say $5.00 for a prescription and $10 for a doctor's visit, the offset is that the premiums are considerably higher. Many insurance companies express the co-pay as a percentage rather than dollar amount. A policy with a 50-50 co-pay will usually cost less in monthly premiums than one where you pay only 10% and the insurance company 90%. .

Do some comparison shopping between plans and companies. HMO plans coverage and prices vary from State to State and from plan to plan so you should contact insurance companies in your area to get quotes. You don't have to be a techno whiz to do a search on the internet for �affordable HMO� (or PPO if this is what you need). If you find that there are too many results, place your state or city before your first search to narrow it down to local companies.

Look at any organizations you belong to, or could join, that provide health insurance. Sometimes the local chamber of commerce will provide the opportunity for a group health insurance for their members, as a benefit of membership, as do other professional organizations.

Be realistic, if you've had major health problems in the past the insurance company will assume that you will have health problems in the future. The premiums are based on your own health status, as well as the average health of someone your age. Don't lie on the application. It's a false economy. If you've been treated for high blood pressure, don't check the "no" box on the application, hoping you'll qualify for lower premiums. When the insurance company finds out, and they will through your doctor, they may disallow all benefits and cancel the insurance.