Tip two for comparison Shopping your auto insurance:  When making phone calls to an insurance company, ask if the insurer is a mutual company ( mutual company is one owned by its policyholders). If so, ask what percentage of its premiums are returned to policyholders.

You may find, for example, that one company’s premiums are higher than those of some other companies, but that it pays annual dividends of 18 to 20% to policyholders, which reduce your insurance costs.