Online Auto Insurance Basics

If you are a US motorist, the human conscience dictates that you carry auto insurance policy as this takes care of you during an accident and the ones affected by it. Furthermore, most US states compel its motorists to carry insurance policy before they can drive around.

Let’s discuss the different auto insurance policies offered in the market today. The first one is liability insurance. Now, there are two types of liability insurance: bodily injury and property damage. Now, we would often see numbers such as 25/30/25 when we go through auto insurance literature.

In the case of a car wreck the insurance company will pay up to $25,000 for bodily injury per person, $30,000 per accident, and $25,000 for any property damage that has occurred per accident. If your policy does not carry these minimum requirements you should get advice from an agent to correct it. You should periodically re-evaluate your current situation and lifestyle and decide what is the best option for you. Almost all states in the US require drivers to carry liability insurance. New Hampshire and Wisconsin are not part of those states which hold minimum requirements.

The next form of insurance is \\\”collision\\\”. Collision coverage would cover not only your vehicle and any personal property that you have damaged but also damage to the other vehicles involved in the accident.

If your vehicle gets vandalized, flooded or catches fire, comprehensive insurance will cover the damage to your vehicle. Comprehensive insurance kicks in when the damage to your car is not caused by collision.

There are drivers who are currently driving around without car insurance coverage. If you get in an accident with one of these drivers, your uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance coverage will cover you and your vehicle. Uninsured/underinsured policy takes care of you when the other driver does not have insurance or has insufficient insurance to compensate you for damages.

\\\”PIP\\\” insurance or personal injury protection. PIP covers medical bills and other expenses, such as wage loss and funeral expenses, caused by the accident. PIP covers you and the other occupants regardless if the accident is your fault or not. PIP is now required in 16 states in the nation.

The last type of coverage is “no-fault” auto insurance. Its name can be confusing to many drivers as you can imagine. With no fault insurance , each driver in an accident pays for his or her own damages. There is no need to find who is at fault under this insurance program. Many states thought this would minimize the number of lawsuits caused by road accidents. Unfortunately this was not the case as statistics showed that accident rates and costs rose, and so did insurance their premiums.

Because of this, no-fault laws have been repealed in some states that had originally enacted the program. These states were Nevada, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Colorado, Florida and Washington DC. The rest of the states that had the “no-fault” law still have them. NJ and PA now allow drivers to choose between a no-fault policy and a regular car insurance policy. It is too early to tell if this situation is more affordable than the traditional methods.

Getting Cheaper Premiums

For us average consumer, premiums rates can be hard to decipher. Somehow, it defies reason. Auto insurance companies seem to have a weird way of computing your insurance premium and increasing them. If you were in a car accident, your insurance premium will increase even if you were not the one at fault. It does not matter to them where you caused the accident. The accident goes against you just because you got yourself in the position to be a part of an accident.

It can be a long hard road to find an insurance agent that is honest and offers great prices on the brands you come to know, so it seems. There are many factors to consider that will affect the way the insurance carrier determines premiums. The first factor they consider is age. Females tend to get lower rates than male drivers do.

If you’re a male driver and you’re 25 years old or younger, you might want to ride a bike! Not much can be done to lower your rates, you are in a very high category, sorry! They’ll check your vehicle location, where you park your vehicle at night. Drivers in urban states get higher rates than the ones living in rural areas. For example NC and CA drivers pay out higher annual insurance premiums. If you’ve filed a claim or multiple claims in the past five years, this will greatly increase your annual premiums. If you have been ticketed for speeding or other moving traffic violations, your rates will increase as well.

Your car plays a role in factoring annual premiums too. Vehicles that are expensive to repair, luxury cars, and high performance vehicles usually pay higher premiums. There are a handful of cars that are prone to auto theft like the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. If your car is on the list, you will pay higher premiums. Off road vehicles, modified vehicles and large SUVs will also cause your premium to rise above other vehicles.