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Buying auto insurance in the state of Mississippi involves comparative shopping and knowing the minimum legal requirements you must carry on your policy.
If you are a resident of Mississippi and you plan on operating a vehicle under your own name, then you are required by law to carry auto insurance. This guide will help you understand the process of buying auto insurance in Mississippi.
Step 1:

Don't settle for the first quote you get. Especially if money is tight, you should consider shopping around for auto insurance before you agree to go with any one auto insurance policy in Mississippi. You can likely save a few hundred dollars a year by calling around to three or four different auto insurance companies in order to determine the best premiums. Just be sure that you're also getting good coverage too. Lower auto insurance rates aren't necessarily the best deal if you're not sufficiently covered. Check your phone book for auto insurance companies in your area. You may also want to search online for insurance quotes. Try popular national auto insurance providers like State Farm (http://www.statefarm.com/) and AllState (http://www.allstate.com/) as well.

In the state of Mississippi, drivers pay around $750 a year for auto insurance.

Step 2:

Understand that you must carry certain liability coverage. In order to be considered legally insured, Mississippi drivers must carry minimum amounts of liability coverage. These rates are mandated by state government, and vary greatly from state to state. In Mississippi, required minimum liability coverage amounts are $25,000 for single bodily injury, $50,000 for total bodily injury (including death), and $25,000 for property damage.

While these are the minimum coverage amounts you must have, they're certainly not the recommended amounts. Mississippi is a Tort state, which means that at-fault drivers must cover the victim's expenses that result from a wreck. Consider the cost of your own and your victims bills (medical, auto repair, pain, suffering and loss of wages), and you can quickly see how minimum coverage amounts are insufficient. It is a good idea to carry substantially more auto insurance coverage in the state of Mississippi. Look into Underinsured / Uninsured Motorists coverage, at the least. You really do need some additional coverage like this that will cover you financially in the event of an accident.

Step 3:

Excluding drivers isn't necessarily a money-saving option. The Mississippi government allows auto insurance companies to exclude drivers in a household from an insurance policy. If you've got high-risk drivers under your roof, or even if you don't want to insure a child who is living away from home for the school year, this may be an option for you to consider. Just keep in mind that, in the event of an accident where an excluded driver is behind the wheel, your insurance company is in no way responsible for covering any of the fees associated with the accident. Uninsured drivers can be costly, so take some time to consider the decision to exclude drivers before you agree to it.

Step 4:

Your past dictates your premiums. Before an auto insurance company in Mississippi agrees to a certain policy rate for you, they will look at your past credit history. They want to know whether you'll be an insurance risk (and thus, if they need to charge you a higher premium that you will be required to pay up front). As well, Mississippi auto insurance companies will take into account your age, gender, location, car make and model, driving history and driving habits before they decide which coverage and auto insurance premiums they will offer you.

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