Looking for Boulder car insurance? Rates and needs for car insurance are partially dependent on the nature of the community where you live and drive. For those of us in the Boulder area, here are some facts that contribute.

Boulder is a small town in Colorado with 103,650 people who reside here. Boulder, CO is a combination of a college town and a ski town and its 25.48 square miles rest at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Founded on February 10, 1859, Boulder increases in size each year about 3% on average since it was founded.

Boulder’s main source of transportation was initially horse and buggy. Eventually the electric car service allowed people to commute from their homes to work and to shopping and more. In 1899 the first vehicle appeared in the is small Colorado town and by 1906 there were six registered vehicles in Boulder and they were not so affectionately called man killers because of all of the life threatening accidents that they caused.  However, automobiles were here to stay and the last electric car shut down in 1931.

Cars were causing quite a traffic problem in Boulder, which led to the first speed limit of six miles per hour being enacted in 1904; but it was not until 1937 that the first traffic signal was installed on the corner of 12th Street and Pearl Street. By 1950, the Denver-Boulder turnpike opened and real traffic began to flow through and around the City of Boulder.

The Need for Boulder Car Insurance

The requirement for auto insurance is the same in Boulder as it is for the rest of the state. However, what you pay for your insurance will vary in Boulder from the rest of the state based on the amount of traffic accidents and other elements that determine the cost of auto insurance in specific areas.

Some of the things your potential Boulder auto insurance company will be looking at when you ask for a Boulder auto insurance quote is the rate of car theft in the area of Boulder that you live in, how many auto accidents occurred, what the claim rates were as a result of those accidents, how many of those accidents resulted the death of an individual and even how many traffic violations occur.

According to the Boulder Colorado Police Department, there were a total of 3,242 accidents that occurred in the City of Boulder in 2008. Of those accidents, there were two that resulted in death and 357 that resulted in injuries. There were 18,426 traffic violations issued in Boulder in 2008 as well.

These are some of the factors that your insurance company is going to consider when tabulating your rates. They are also going to consider things like the type of vehicle that you drive, how far you commute and that annual miles put on the vehicle. It is interesting to note that there are 60,000 people who commute in and out of Boulder each and every day. Considering the amount of vehicles on the road, it is surprising that so few accidents occur over the course of the year in this city.

Boulder Car Insurance Requirements and Recommendations

The minimum requirements for auto insurance in Boulder and the rest of Colorado is 25/50/15. What this means is that you will be required to carry $25,000 bodily injury coverage for a single person injured in an auto accident, $50,000 bodily injury coverage if more than one person is injured in an accident and $15,000 to cover any property damage to the other vehicle in the accident if you are the one that is at fault.

The average cost of auto insurance in Colorado is $1,682 a year, in Boulder the cost is 1,629, slightly lower than the state average. The cost of new policies decreased by $300 on average in Colorado as the national cost of auto insurance reduced; that is why it is always important to monitor the cost of auto insurance to ensure you are always getting the best rate.

However, there are other insurance options that you can choose from to provide you with additional protection and to protect you from uninsured and underinsured drivers. While experts cannot seem to agree as to how much auto insurance you should actually carry, a good rule of thumb is to ensure that you check the state average cost of an auto accident.

In Colorado the state average cost for an accident that results in minor injuries is $10,000, for moderate injuries the cost average is $45,000, serious injuries cost on average $490,000. Critical injuries average $1.9M and fatal accidents average about 2.5M dollars each. What you need to decide is how much you can afford to pay out of pocket above the cost of your auto insurance company to pay for damages. As a tort state, you are financially responsible for anything that your insurance does not cover.

If you are leasing your vehicle or you have a loan on your vehicle, your loan institution will require you to maintain comprehensive and collision coverage on your vehicle. They may also require you to maintain underinsured and uninsured motorist coverage in case an accident is caused by an individual that does not have auto insurance.

Comprehensive coverage covers your vehicle for things outside of an auto accident such as fire or flood, vandalism and theft. Collision coverage covers your vehicle in the event you strike something other than a vehicle (or something strikes you) like an animal, tree, etc. If your vehicle is not leased and you do not owe money on it, then you will want to consider the value of your vehicle when determining whether or not you want to carry this coverage on your vehicle.

You also have the option of roadside assistance and rental car insurance. How this is offered and what it covers is different in each company.

For example, State Farm’s roadside assistance consists of a tow when your vehicle breaks down. However, Progressive also includes giving your vehicle a jumpstart, a locksmith if you lose your keys or lock them in the car and will help you find a mechanic to fix your vehicle as well. Some insurance companies require you to pay for a rental car out of pocket while others will pay for it themselves and present you with a vehicle. These are all things to consider when purchasing your auto insurance.

Saving Money on Your Boulder Auto Insurance

Everyone wants to save money and there are many different ways that you can do that; however, each insurance company offers their own discount program so you will have to consider that carefully when you are looking at different Boulder car insurance policies.

All insurance companies offer a discount for being a good driver. However, the length of time that they require you to stay accident and ticket free vary from company to company. Some only require that you have a clean driving record for one year to receive a discount while others require you to have a clean driving record for five years or longer (and of course, others have a period in between).

Most companies offer a good student discount but they also vary as to how you can meet the criteria for this discount. Interestingly, many insurance companies will not apply this discount to adults in college, so if you are over the age of 25, you will want to see if you qualify for this discount as an adult student.

Another very common discount is driving a vehicle with a proven history of safety when they are involved in an auto accident. Vehicles with high crash ratings, and that statistically show that injuries sustained when in these vehicles are low, will garner you a lower auto insurance rate.

Once you have purchased your auto insurance, you should always inform your insurance company if your driving situation has changed. Anything from reducing or increasing the amount of drivers driving your vehicle, increasing or reducing the miles that you drive, if you have moved to a new address and so on should be reported. All of these things will affect your rate; some will increase them while other will reduce them. However, if you are in an auto accident and it is shown that your situation has changed, your insurance company has the right to withdraw their payment of a claim because you were not honest with them.

Compare Boulder Car Insurance Quotes!

In order to get the best rate on your Boulder auto insurance coverage, you should always get a rate quote that allows you to compare the rates of several different companies at one time. You will find that this process will save you both time and money and will reduce the confusion that occurs when selecting the right auto insurance.

You can use a free quote tool from an independent source with no obligation to purchase when you are done. These are widely available online simply by entering your zip code above, and offers consumers an easy way to compare before committing to a policy.

Get started comparing free Boulder auto insurance quotes online now!