Safety and anti-theft discounts: what your car's equipment is worth

Two kinds of equipment discount

Equipment discounts fall into two groups, and they lower different parts of the bill. Knowing which part helps you judge what a discount is worth.

• Safety equipment, such as airbags and automatic seat belts (passive restraints), anti-lock brakes, daytime running lamps and newer driver-assistance features. These aim at the cost of injuries and crashes, so each insurer decides which coverages the discount touches.
• Anti-theft equipment, such as alarms, immobilizers, tracking devices and window etching. Theft is paid under comprehensive coverage, so this discount usually lands there; Kentucky's required discount, for example, applies to comprehensive.

Regulators list both kinds among the discounts insurers commonly offer. The Texas Department of Insurance names airbags, anti-lock brakes and anti-theft devices. Vermont's Department of Financial Regulation mentions airbags, automatic seat belts and anti-lock brakes. The Ohio Department of Insurance lists anti-theft devices and anti-lock brakes, the Maine Bureau of Insurance safety and anti-theft devices, and the Hawaii Insurance Division a vehicle with advanced safety features. Each company sets the amounts.

Where state law requires a discount

Most states leave equipment discounts to the insurer. In the three states below, the law requires them, though in each case the insurer still sets the amount through its rate filing.

In New York, the Department of Financial Services lists these alongside the accident prevention course discount as discounts every insurer must offer; see car insurance costs in New York. In Massachusetts the Division of Insurance names the passive restraint and safety feature discounts among those required by law; see Massachusetts costs. Kentucky's rule is on its state page.

Read the wording closely. New York's list specifies factory-installed anti-lock brakes and daytime running lamps, so equipment added after the car left the factory may not qualify for those two. Glass etching and tracking devices, by contrast, are things an owner can add, and the insurer may ask for proof that the work was done.

What an equipment discount is worth

Because each discount applies to part of the premium, the dollars are smaller than the percentage suggests. The NAIC's 2023 figures for a car carrying all three main coverages show the split: liability $737, collision $464 and comprehensive $238, out of a combined $1,438.

The 10% is an illustration, not a typical figure. Ask your insurer for its own percentage and which coverages it applies to, then do the same math on your bill. If you carry liability only, an anti-theft discount on comprehensive is worth nothing, because you don't have that coverage.

Equipment discounts also don't follow you automatically. When you replace the car or switch insurers, the new policy starts from what the company has on file for that vehicle. Go through the list again and send proof for anything added after purchase, or the discount can quietly disappear.

Why the car itself matters more

Insurers also price the vehicle as a whole: what it costs to repair, how often that model is stolen and how it protects the people inside. Those factors are built into the base rate for the make and model, and they can move the price more than any one equipment discount. Our page on how the make and model set your price explains how.

A feature that earns a separate discount at one company may simply be part of the vehicle's rating at another. Whether an insurer lists it as a discount or folds it into the make-and-model price is up to the company, so the absence of a discount line doesn't always mean you are being overcharged. Compare the total price for the same car and coverage across companies.

If you are choosing between two cars, ask for quotes on both before you buy. The gap in insurance can be larger than what any device would save later.

Getting the discounts you qualify for

1. 1 List the equipment your car has: airbags, anti-lock brakes, daytime running lamps, alarm or immobilizer, tracking device, window etching.
2. 2 Give the insurer the VIN and ask which of those features it has on file and which earn a discount.
3. 3 Keep proof for added devices, such as a receipt or installer's certificate, and send a copy.
4. 4 Check the declarations page for each discount line; our guide to reading your declarations page shows where to look.
5. 5 Ask before buying any device what it will save in dollars per year.
6. 6 Repeat the check when you switch insurers or cars, because the new policy starts from the new company's records.

The same habit works for every discount on the bill: list what you think you qualify for, ask the insurer to confirm each one in writing, and compare the final premium, not the number of discounts.

Questions drivers ask