Somewhere in your insurance company’s rating system, there is probably a discount you qualify for and are not getting. Maybe you started working from home and your annual mileage dropped by half. Maybe your kid made the honor roll. Maybe you have had a renters policy with one company and an auto policy with another for years, and nobody ever mentioned what combining them would do to the bill.

None of that money moves on its own. Insurers apply some discounts automatically, but plenty of them depend on information the company only has if you volunteer it. The Texas Department of Insurance puts it plainly in its consumer guidance: your company should sign you up for what you qualify for, but it never hurts to ask and make sure. So here is the list to run through, based on what state insurance regulators say companies commonly offer.

1. The good driver discount

This is the workhorse. If you have gone years without an at-fault accident or a claim, you are cheaper to insure, and most companies price that in. Where asking matters is after a milestone: when an old ticket or accident finally ages off your record, the discount does not always appear by itself at renewal. A five-minute call to confirm your current driving record is reflected in your rate is one of the highest-value calls in personal finance.

2. Bundling and multi-car

Insuring more than one vehicle on the same policy usually earns a discount, and so does holding another policy, home or renters, with the same company. Regulators list both among the most common discounts, and the Texas Department of Insurance auto guide is a good plain-English tour of how these policies and their pieces work. One caution that matters in 2026: bundling is a discount off each company’s own prices, not a guarantee of the lowest total. Sometimes two separate companies still beat one bundle. The only way to know is to price it both ways.

3. Low mileage

If you drive less, you are exposed to fewer accidents, and many insurers price mileage tiers accordingly. This is the discount most likely to be stale on your policy. Companies typically ask your annual mileage when you sign up and rarely revisit it. If you retired, switched to remote work, moved closer to your job, or gave up a commute since you last shopped, tell your insurer your new annual mileage and ask what it does to the premium. Some companies also offer usage-based programs that track driving through an app or plug-in device; those can cut rates further for genuinely light or careful drivers, though you are trading data for the discount.

4. Safe car and anti-theft equipment

Cars that are harder to steal and better at avoiding or surviving crashes can earn equipment discounts. Anti-theft devices are the classic example on state regulators’ lists. If you added a tracking device, an alarm, or other anti-theft equipment after you bought the policy, your insurer does not know unless you say so.

5. Good student and student-away discounts

Teen drivers are expensive to insure, which makes the offsetting discounts worth chasing. High school or college students with good grades commonly qualify for a break. And if your student is away at school without a car, most companies have a rating for that too, since the student only drives occasionally when home. Both usually require paperwork, a report card or enrollment proof, that the company will not request unless you raise it.

6. Driver training and mature driver courses

Defensive driving and driver education courses show up on regulator discount lists in many states. For older drivers specifically, California’s Department of Insurance publishes a senior driving guide covering approved mature-driver improvement courses that can qualify a driver for a premium discount. Course rules, approved providers, and how long the discount lasts vary by state, so check your own state’s insurance department site before paying for a class.

What no discount can do

Two pieces of honesty from the regulators. First, discounts are voluntary in most states: as the Texas department notes on its consumer blog, companies may offer discounts, but no law requires them to, and no rule sets how big they must be or how long they last. A company can also change or drop a discount at renewal. Second, a pile of discounts off a high base rate can still cost more than a competitor’s plain price. That is why the same Texas guidance ends with the least glamorous advice in insurance: shop your policy, ideally at least every three years, and be willing to switch, because companies often reserve their best pricing for new customers.

The ten-minute version

Call or log in to your insurer and ask three questions. What discounts am I currently receiving? Here is my updated situation, lower mileage, new anti-theft device, student with good grades, other policies I hold, so what else do I qualify for? And what would my price be if I raised my deductible? Write down the answers, then get two or three quotes elsewhere with the same coverage limits and run the identical script. Whichever company wins, you will know your price reflects your actual life, not the life you had when you first signed up.

This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Figures are linked to their primary sources; where a claim could not be verified from the public record, we say so.