Basic Automobile Insurance

Buying a new car is almost always an expensive endeavor. Not only do you need to consider the cost of the vehicle itself but you also have to take into account how much the automobile insurance premiums are. A great way to determine your potential future premiums is by asking for quotes before you actually buy the car. This way you’ll be able to decide whether your budget can balance both the car payments and the insurance.

In North Carolina if you buy a new automobile and finance it, the finance company will require that you have collision and comprehensive coverage. If you don’t purchase this coverage yourself, the finance company will do it for you and add the cost onto your premiums. For this reason comparing low cost automobile insurance in North Carolina is the best route. You can be certain to find the best price and then purchase the insurance to ensure you are covered.

When you contact each insurance company that you are interested in obtaining a quote from, ask them what their standard deductible level is. In most cases, an amount of $250 or $500 is typical. Your quotes will reflect this and if you want to save money, ask them to quote you a policy with a deductible of at least $1,000. This will help you to obtain a lower rate that you can then use when it comes time to compare prices and make a final decision.

Also be sure to ask each company’s agent about their claim process. You may find that you receive a rock bottom quote but the company’s reputation is lacking. Well priced coverage is useless if the company isn’t there to provide support and guidance after a collision or theft. Check out their history in North Carolina and then use that information along with the price quote to choose a company to work with.

Limited Tort, Stacking, Uninsured Motorist Coverage, Deductible, the list goes on and on. These are all terms that are present in your automobile insurance policy, but I have found that many of my clients do not know or understand what these terms mean. This article will attempt to give you a basic understanding of common Automobile Insurance related terms.

Limited Tort is the big one these days. Most people have heard of it, but few know what it means. Limited Tort is a selection on your automobile insurance policy that essentially waives your right to sue another driver for pain and suffering if you have been injured in an accident. Hopefully, that caught your attention. By selecting Limited Tort, you are agreeing that you cannot sue another driver for pain and suffering if you are injured in an automobile accident. I have found that many of my clients, or potential clients, have selected the Limited Tort option without a true understanding of what it means. They do so because selecting that option saves them a few dollars on their insurance premium. The savings, I have found, amount to approximately 5 to 10 percent of the total policy premium (that is merely an estimate, contact your agent for exact savings). To some, that is a sizable savings, but to others, at least those who understand what Limited Tort means, that is a risk not worth taking. There are a few exceptions that will allow you to sue a driver if you have selected the Limited Tort option, but those are for another article.

Uninsured Motorist Benefits are benefits that cover you if you are injured by another driver who does not have automobile insurance coverage, or if you are struck by a phantom vehicle (a hit and run vehicle). These benefits are meant to provide you with compensation for lost wages and/or pain and suffering that you incur as the result of a vehicle accident.

Underinsured Motorist Benefits are benefits that cover you if you are injured by another driver who does not have enough automobile insurance coverage to adequately cover you for your injuries and damages. For instance, in Pennsylvania, the minimum amount of insurance coverage that a driver must carry on his policy is $15,000 for personal injury. If you are involved in an accident with a driver who maintains only the minimum coverage, and you sustain a serious injury, $15,000 will likely not fully compensate you for your injuries. In this instance, you would file a claim for Underinsured Motorist Benefits to attempt to receive additional compensation.

The next automobile insurance term that we want to look at is Stacking. Stacking is the combining or adding of either Uninsured Motorist Benefits or Underinsured Motorist Benefits. Stacking means that you can collect from either more than one auto insurance policy that you hold, or that you can collect the limits of your policy for each vehicle that is covered by your policy. In the first instance, if you are injured you by another driver who fails to maintain automobile insurance, you can bring a claim against your Uninsured Motorist coverage on the vehicle that you were operating. If you own a second vehicle, that is insured with another company, you can bring another Uninsured Motorist claim against that policy, if your injuries and/or damages are substantial. Another variation of stacking is where you own more than one vehicle on a policy. If you have selected stacking, you can receive the equivalent of your policy limits for each vehicle that you have on your policy, if your injures warrant that.

The final term for today is Deductible. A Deductible is the amount that you have to pay for damages to your car if you are involved in an accident that is your fault. Your insurance company will pay for any damages amounts that exceed the deductible amount that you have chosen. A typical deductible is $500, though other options include $100, $250 and $1,000. Typically, the higher deductible that you choose on your policy, the cheaper your premium is.

Governor Mitt Romney has started to make good on his promise to get a move to overhaul the Auto Insurance industry in his home state. His move gets the vote of confidence by his constituents who hail it as a well timed helping hand for the messy auto insurance industry. The changes aim to get insurance firms an equal spread of the good the bad and ugly of drivers, getting all to share the burden of the various risk-levels drivers are categorized into. This has been a sour lemon for many auto insurance firms have the right to deny people who have poor standing with respect to their driving records. The Insurance companies also use their own evaluation standards which can have a moderate-risk driver classified as a high-risk one in another firm. The standardization is aimed to level the playing field and getting everybody an equal share of the market. The move is sure to rock more carriers who have been struck heavy by the financial crisis due to ties in the sub-prime credit problems that now has effects circling the globe.

You may not need to carry insurance that protects only your property.  If you still have an unpaid loan on your vehicle, the contract you have with your bank or lender will probably force you to carry this type of protection.  If you have paid off your car, you can decide to keep or drop these aspects of your policy.  You can lower your automobile insurance premiums if you remove or reduce these parts of your insurance policy’s protection.

Collision insurance can pay for the cost to repair your vehicle  when your insured auto hits or is hit by another car.  It can also pay for your car’s damages when a covered car hits a something other than a automobile  such as  a tree.

Comprehensive insurance is also known as “Other than Collision.”  This part of your auto insurance policy pays for damages caused by flood, vandalism, contact with birds or animals, etc..

Since both collision insurance and comprehensive insurance pay for damage to your automobile and not someone else’s, you can decide whether or not to drop these from your policy.  However, if your car is leased, or you have a lien on your auto, you probably will not be able to do so because the actual owner of the auto or the lender will want their interests protected.

The liability portion of your vehicle insurance  policy is the primary aspect of the policy that pays others for their damages.  If you run into another vehicle and you don’t have collision insurance, that fact will not impact the amount of money the other party might get.

Why Should You Eliminate Collision Insurance?

The premiums for this portion of your auto insurance  policy may be more than you want to pay.  If your vehicle is totaled, the insurance company will only pay you its book value.  At some point, you may feel that the potential return has been reduced enough that thepremiums of the collision insurance is no longer justified by the potential payment you might get from your insurance company.  If you own your car free and clear you can ask your insurance company to drop or lower the coverage.

You can reduce your collision coverage by reducing your coverage.  This will lower therates and still give you some protection.  Your lender or leaser may allow you to raise the deductible up to a specified limit.

Why Should You Drop Comprehensive Insurance?

The thought process behind cutting or reducing car comprehensive insurance is the same as the thinking associated with dropping collision insurance.  However, since the cost for comprehensive insurance is less than the cost of collision insurance, you may want to keep it even after you have dropped your collision coverage.

If your automobile is leased or you have a lien on it, you may not be able to drop the coverage.  However the leaser or lien holder may allow you to reduce the coverage by raising your deductible.  This will reduce your Costs, although not as much as completely cutting the coverage would.

Most autos  lose value when they get older.  This reduces the amount of money that an insurance company is likely to pay to repair or replace a automobile.  At some point you may feel that the amount of premium your auto’s collision or comprehensive coverage adds to your auto  insurance bill is too much.  Exactly when that point comes is determined by your personal comfort level with risk.

Eliminating comprehensive insurance coverage and/or collision coverage means that you take more risk.  If your feel that you are unlikely to have an at fault accident since you drive safely this may make sense for you.  If you garage your vehicle your car is perhaps less likely to be impacted by the perils that other than collision coverage protects you against.  If this is the case, you may want to take these risks as well.

Connecticut residents should be aware of certain variables when comparing low cost automobile insurance. Although all insurance companies have certain rules and regulations to follow, they are afforded some flexibility in underwriting. Here are a few things you should be aware of:

1. Young Drivers: Some companies prefer not to insure young drivers and that preference will translate into higher premium dollars. Let’s face it, they will charge a little more to do things they don’t want to do.

2. Accidents: If you have too many accidents, you might be forced to place your auto coverage through the Connecticut Automobile Assigned Risk Plan. The state of Connecticut established the Assigned Risk plan to enable policyholders who have been denied insurance (within the past 60 days) an opportunity to get insurance. The coverage, as you might have guessed, is not cheap. This is the place where the uninsurable go as a last ditch effort.

3. Credit – This is not a mandatory underwriting requirement, however, many Connecticut insurance companies do use credit information when underwriting a policy. If they do, however, they must notify you. If you know you have bad credit, you might want to select a company that does not use this in their premium formulation as poor credit translates into higher rates.

5. Ask for discounts: Speak to the insurance agent to find out what discounts you may qualify for. Did you know that if your high school student maintains a B or better average in school qualifies for a premium discount? Your agent knows of the various discounts available, make sure you do too.

6. Shop on line. By shopping on line and going directly to the insurance company, there is a chance you may bypass the insurance agent. By doing so, your premium calculations should be a bit lower as the agent’s commission will not be built into the premiums bottom line.

A number of suggestions for bringing down your rates usually compromise the quality of coverage you enjoy and so are NOT advisable. You can, however, easily pay a lot less without downgrading the quality of your coverage if you understand and use the right tips. These are tips that are good for you…

1. Taking a drivers’ refresher course will help those above fifty-five years reduce their rates. Going through this type of course will qualify you for discounts as high as ten percent. To find out extensive details of what to do and how much you can save with your insurance provider, ask your agent.

2. You will get discounts with a number of insurers if you’re part of an auto club. Even if this discount is very small it’s still some savings for you.

3. Are you retired? Then you should qualify for a retiree discount with a good number of insurance carriers. Retired persons do NOT get to drive to a place of work every day. A driver’s total mileage is an important issue which determines what they pay in premiums. Therefore, anything that lowers your annual mileage by a big margin must lower your rate.

The fine points for each insurance company might differ but this is definitely a good way to cut down your auto insurance cost. So it is recommended that you discuss this with your agent. If for some reasons they do NOT have a discount like this, remember to tell your agent about your change in mileage. This should result in more affordable rates for you.

4. You’ll get cheaper rates if you make your payments by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). By doing this you authorize your insurance company to automatically withdraw your premiums from your account at specified intervals. This reduces an insurer’s overhead by eliminating the need for payment notices or checks. Your insurance carrier passes part of what they save to you by bringing down your rates.

5. Re-assessing your car insurance policy periodically is one way you can lower your rates. The straightforward reason for this is that things about us change frequently without us even being aware of them. A perfect instance is a case where a couple leave their wedded daughter on their policy for months or even a few years simply because it did NOT occur to them.

The changes in your profile might have made you eligible for particular discounts. You might also have “outgrown” the need for several coverage types.

Therefore, don’t fail to review your insurance policies periodically. You might see several points that are no longer needed and save when you drop them.

6. Get and compare quotes. Make out some time to visit a minimum of 5 insurance quotes sites that offer quotes on auto insurance policies. It will require not more than 25 minutes.

As you visit each quotes site, ensure you input the same details. Doing otherwise will give you misleading results. When you’ve received your auto insurance quotes, compare them to see which serves your interest best in price/value.

People have long been filing claims for bodily injury even though there aren’t any that have actually resulted from an auto accident. The cases just keep multiplying that investigators are spending more and more time going out and finding out if an accident is legit or staged which can result in Insurance Fraud. Hospitals have also taken the brunt of such incidents for they are the ones who take in alleged injuries from auto accidents, which without proper investigation would go unchecked leaving them with un-reimbursed costs (Costs insurance firms contest or do not pay due to non-coverage or lack of evidence to support such claims).

Most people think that the clause in automobile insurance that states the insurance agency would replace the vehicle in case of theft is quite a complicated matter. The fact that your vehicle ages everyday has a profound bearing on it�s values or so-called Cash Value/Actual Cash Value in insurance terms. This ACV is determined by the Claim�s Adjuster by taking the replacement cost minus the depreciation which is determined through a table stating the amount or percentage of decrease in value the vehicle suffers per year of ownership.
The so-called replacement cost is determined if say a part of your vehicle is stolen, the adjuster(who is quite knowledgeable in the value of parts through experience and affiliation with auto supply shops) would give this value as the amount of money it would take to replace the said part with another of the same kind and value without deducting the depreciation value of the whole vehicle. That hopefully clears up some of the terms in the fine print of most auto insurance contracts, which by the way, “YOU SHOULD ALWAYS TAKE THE TIME TO READ” however dizzying it may be.

Many people who live in California are under the impression that their automobile insurance will cover their vehicle in the event a friend or relative is driving it and it’s involved in an accident. Although there are circumstances where an insurance company will honor the policy, there are many instances when the coverage is void because of the driving history or age of the person driving your car. For that reason, it’s good to have a rule in place that the only ones granted access to the car keys are those specifically named on the auto insurance policy.

When you do start shopping for affordable automobile insurance in California you must think about who you really do want to insure. If you are a married parent, your spouse is likely one of the people you want insured. If you have a teenage child who has their driver’s license, you may want to consider adding them to your policy too.

Insuring a teenager is generally a fairly expensive endeavor. Without a proven driving record, teenagers are often offered high priced policies. As a parent you can help them find affordable automobile insurance in California by putting them on your policy as an occasional driver, insisting that they take a driver’s training course and encouraging them to maintain good grades.

Insurance companies give more affordable rates to professionally trained young drivers. They also often offer a rate reduction if the child excels in school by maintaining a good grade point average. For a family with one or more teenagers, these discounts can add up to a sizable premium reduction.

Naturally encouraging the child to follow the rules of the road and stay within the posted speed limits will help ensure they enjoy reasonable automobile rates for many years to come. A good way to reinforce this message is to have an agreement with the child that they will need to pay for any speeding citations that they are responsible for.

Auto insurance or car insurance protects you and your vehicle from any damage occurred due to an accident and acts as safety device from sustaining any loss. Not only accidents, your vehicle can also be covered from damages due to vandalism, adverse weather, theft, fire and other scenarios.

Auto insurance is a “necessary evil” which is necessary for all automobile owners. But it is not enough to have an insured vehicle; the main thing is to have an insured vehicle with best auto insurance. And you must know the “in and outs” of auto insurance policy.

Here we are giving some basics of coverage, which will help you greatly while selecting the best auto insurance policy for your vehicle.

Collision Coverage: This part of auto insurance policy provides you safe side when your car hits another car and you pay for the repairs, without making any difference who is at fault. Policy providing wider collision coverage can be considered as the best auto insurance policy.

Comprehensive Coverage: It covers each and every damages to your vehicle, whether it is accident or falling of a tree branch or what so ever on your car.

Deductible: This is the amount of money you pay at the time of filing a claim. Higher deductibles = lower premiums.

Effective date: This is the time period for which your auto insurance policy is valid. Don’t let your policy lapsed.

Endorsements: The term endorsement includes all possible discounts and additional coverages, which can be offered to you on your car insurance. Discounts like multipolicy discount, student discount, and multifamily discount can change any normal auto insurance into best auto insurance.

Exclusions: This section includes things that are not covered by your policy. Small list of exclusions indicates toward best auto insurance policy.

Glass Coverage: You can go for free glass replacement after any accident, if your auto insurance policy includes glass coverage.

Some auto insurance policies provide other specific coverages like No-fault Coverage, Personal Injury Protection and property damage.

We hope that the provided information in this article will help you choosing best auto insurance policy.