Accident Auto Insurance Discounts: How to save a little, or maybe even a lot on your auto insurance through discounts

As you may or may not know, the auto insurance industry is highly competitive mainly because it is also highly profitable. Consequently companies will do a lot to get, and keep, your business. One way that auto insurance companies do this is by offering auto insurance policy discounts to different types of drivers, generally deemed to be lower risk.

Some of the most popular, and obvious, discounts are given if you've had no accidents or tickets in the last 3 to 5 years. Another popular discount is called a "multi-line" discount where you are given a discount by purchasing multiple policies, such as a homeowner's or renter's insurance policy. There is also a "multi-vehicle" policy given when you purchase accident auto insurance for multiple cars.

Here are some other discounts you may not know about:

Engineers

21st Century Group gives auto insurance discounts to people with college degrees in engineering and science-related fields. They found that these folks tend to be a lower accident risk, go figure. This discount could save you between $40 and $120 on your accident auto insurance.

Teachers

The Horace Mann Insurance agency offers discounts to teachers belonging to the National Education Association or state education associations. This discount is based on the auto insurance agencies observations that teachers have stable jobs, and are under scrutiny by the community, which apparently lead to safer driving. 21st Century offers teachers an auto insurance discount, but to those certified by the State of California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, or full-time college or university professors.

Army

Geico offers a 2% to 5% discount to active and retired members of the military. This discount is not available to policy holders in the following states: Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, Tennessee and Texas.

Seniors

Hartford's AARP Auto Insurance Program offers AARP members a discount of as much as 45% of their auto insurance premium as follows: 20% to 25% off your auto insurance for insuring multiple cars on a policy, 10% if you also have a homeowners policy with Hartford, and 5% if you have been with the company for more than 5 years without blemishes on your driving record.

Internet

Unitrin will give you a $50 discount on your auto insurance premium just for purchasing through their website. They will give you an additional 10% discount if you are a four-year college graduate under age of 30. These discounts are only available in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Because of the great amount of competition in the auto insurance industry, it certainly pays to shop around for auto insurance quotes. As shown above, getting auto insurance quotes including discounts from multiple companies can save you 45% off your policy, if not more, so do your homework!