What You Need to Know About Auto Insurance Claims

America is on the Move
When gasoline sells for $6. in some parts of Florida. The AAA reckons nevertheless that last holiday season, about 100 million people took their cars on the road on long trips.

If a full third of the country should take to the road when gas sells at these kinds of prices, there’s only one conclusion you can arrive at – America certainly loves the open road. Of course, statistics like these come with specifics of another kind – a third of a million car accidents, and a quarter of a million people coming in with auto insurance claims to report. But, that number doesn’t indicate a rise at all.

You see how there are fewer people coming in with claims on their car insurance than have automobile accidents? There’s a reason they do that. And if more people realized what they were doing, there wouldn’t be a quarter of a million people in these stats.

Auto accident —paulswansen (Flickr.com)

To File or Not to File

The thing is, when you crash your vehicle there is a right time and a wrong time to file a claim.

Sometimes, you just have to take a hit because you know that some kinds of claims don’t reflect well on you or will harm you in other ways.

The reason people go and try to file for everything that happens is that the auto insurance companies encourage this. They try to make it sound in their advertising like you just have to buy insurance from them, and they will fall over themselves to fix every scratch on your car for free – LOL.

Why Do They Call It Risk and Insurance?
They do that for a reason. When they encourage you to come in to fix every scratch, you become a needy and risky customer. And the needy and risky customers come with a whole different set of premiums.

Claim and Pay
The next time you come in to renew your insurance policy, they’ll happily double your rates because you’ve been an expensive customer for them. They can point to all the claims you’ve made when they raise your rates, and you’ll think that maybe they’re just being reasonable because after all, you really have made quite a few claims.

The thing is, you should ignore much of what they tell you in the advertising. You find car insurance online or through a broker and buy a policy in order to protect you from the big deals – the real accidents with injury – the life-changing ones.

When You Should File Car Insurance Claims
Basically, never file a claim when the payout is not a whole lot more than the deductible. Think about what your chances are of actually getting them to pay out anything first.

Personal Fault
If there is anything about the circumstances of your accident that that might allow the auto insurance agency to point a finger at you and say your carelessness was a contributing factor too, the advice is that you might not want to have anything to do with such a claim.

When you give them cause to think that you’ve done anything wrong, that only raises your rates. In most states, your wreck could cost you a small fortune! Is that what you want?

Uncover the Auto Insurance Requirements Before Buying

What Car Insurance Coverage Do You Need?
Almost every insurance provider gives an online calculator which helps you to learn how much they charge, and cost comparisons like this may help you locate the least expensive insurance rate open to you. When you embark on looking at rates on line, it’s important to take a peek at the car insurance policy requirements that organizations have.

Regulations
Auto insurance is one thing the law takes very seriously. There are very strict auto insurance requirements in place to do with the sale and purchase of this service. Regulations give requirements in place for instance, to do with what the minimum amount of insurance is that you can buy it for a given car. You are not even permitted to register your vehicle before you do this.

Buying Liability Insurance for Autos
Additionally they will often have vehicle insurance requirements set up related to the amount of liability coverage you need to have for all kinds of different scenarios. There are particular amounts they have in place for coverage against bodily injury, injury brought to an uninsured motorist, property damage, personal injury and so forth.

How Much Insurance?
Your bare minimum for liability coverage starts from $20,000 for bodily injury. Property damage coverage should be at least go up to $10,000 (as of this writing).

Needless to say, these numbers change from time to time, and it might be a good idea to check with the local Department of Insurance to get a look at the kind of numbers that are in currency at the moment. It would be a good idea before you go comparison shopping online, to start having an understanding of what it is that you are shopping for in the first place.

Purchasing Collision For Cars
Auto insurance doesn’t start and end with liability coverage. There are additional kinds of coverage that you could do well to take a look at. Liability insurance is insurance that is supposed to pay for injury or damage that occurs to the other vehicle in an accident or its owners.

Collision coverage however, can help you cover damage to your own car. No state has any car insurance requirements in place about how you ought to protect yourself. That’s entirely your decision. If the car you have is not fully paid off yet, you most likely have already got collision insurance – any car financing lender requires this with their customers.

Shop for Rates and Coverage Options – Compare and Save
Just before you really go and purchase automobile insurance, you must do more than simply take note of the car insurance prerequisites in your state. You possibly can check out going past the smallest amount and pay to safeguard yourself just in case.

Finding How SUV Insurance Rates are Calculated

Let’s say you’ve found that dream machine – a fantastic car or SUV you’ve always wanted and you are ready to shop rates online. Before you do, especially for SUVs, you’ll want to read this report. Are you aware of how the insurance companies determine coverage for these most-wanted vehicles?

Remember the crash dummies on TV?

Yep, they’re back! Well, actually they have never went away and insurance carriers factor in safety when they are considering insuring these autos. If the SUV did well in a crash test there is a good chance your premium will be cheaper for the same coverage on a different SUV.

Other safety features considered include how well the SUV performs on icy roads, etc. Believe me when I tell you that SUV insurance companies are not “dummies” themselves. They will know your vehicle much better than you ever could.

So, when you are ready to find car insurance for your SUV, do as much research as possible so that you know you are finding the best rates for the coverage you need.

Read more about buying SUV insurance online and learn how to buy car insurance …..

Understand More about Liability Car Insurance before You Buy

Buying auto or truck insurance can be confusing so I’ve written a new post about the definition and why you need liability car insurance, among other types.

Auto insurance is something that almost everyone has to have. There are some special cases, but for the most part, if you get caught driving without it, you can be in a world of trouble.

You’ll find many states that will not permit you to register a car unless you can certify that you have current insurance on that auto.

If you lease or finance a brand new or a slightly used car, you have to buy full coverage on it. All the same, those that own a car or pick-up truck outright can single out what they want, and some go with liability insurance and nothing more. This is very inexpensive, but not always the best advice. So, exactly what is liability insurance and what does it cover? If you read further, you will discover …

Find more about liability insurance …

Insurance Coverage for Antique Automobiles

Collectors are avid about taking care of their nostalgic vehicles but sometimes don’t put enough thought into insuring them. For this important step in ownership I have just put up some buying tips for antique car insurance that should help you in choosing a good company, getting a good policy at affordable rates.

Finding the right antique car insurance company

It’s important to first find an insurance company that offers antique car insurance. As stated earlier, some companies simply don’t offer insurance rates for antique vehicles.

You can usually search online for rate quotes and coverage options and it shouldn’t take very much time. The next step is to contact an insuring agent for each company that offers vehicle insurance for antique automobiles. This is when things start to get a little tricky.

Use common sense and shop around

If you take your time and use a little old fashioned horse sense, you should be able to match your ability to buy coverage while getting the protection you need as a classic car collector. So, you see? Shopping for antique car insurance is not such a chore, is it? Lastly, do it now while it’s on your mind!

If you watch TV or listen to radio advertisements, every auto insurance company has the best rates, the best coverage and the best service. But, how do you know? Here are a few tips to get you started.

How to Find the Best Auto Insurance

Let’s face it; there’s nothing more frustrating than having trouble with auto insurance companies. They charge so much for every month for a service you need once every couple of years – if that.

And then, when you do need the best auto insurance help, when you’re in an accident, when there’s damage, you get the worst auto insurance help. That’s the worst. For years I was paying best auto insurance prices for the worst auto insurance service.

Some of my complaints are that the claims are rejected far too often. I don’t get it; it’s not like I wanted to damage my car! Even the best auto insurance companies have such convoluted and confusing policy options that I never am quite sure what is covered and what isn’t.

The worst thing about even the best auto insurance companies is the wait time. The settlement payout process takes forever and is never exactly what they say it is. Luckily, there’s other companies out there. Here are some ways to find the best auto insurance.

How to get the most for your money

The easiest way to find the best auto insurance company is to ask the staff at your local auto repair shop. Think about it: who works with auto insurance companies more than the guys that have to deal with as part of their day-to-day jobs?

Many of these auto shops go through the same frustrating ordeals that us regular guys go through when dealing with the insurance companies, and they won’t be shy about telling you what they think if you ask. The shop I’ve gone too even has a rating system of the best auto insurance companies right in their lobby.

Another good way to find the right insurance company for you is to check online and through consumer forums. The Internet has been a great way for information to get around- for people to share their worst and best auto insurance company stories.

Just keep in mind one thing; most people go on web sites to complain about bad service and products. Most of the time if they are happy with a service they don’t think to go online and share it with the world. Many times, they’re too busy enjoying it! That said, it’s good to know some of the worst things that could happen – just remember it might not be whole picture.

Choosing the right auto insurance and making auto insurance claims

Like everything else, auto insurance is a necessary, but pricey expense. When you make auto insurance claims, your policy becomes an even spendier deal. You may not realize that when you make auto insurance claims, even minor ones, when your policy comes up for renewal, your premium may go up substantially.

Auto insurance companies have quite complicated algorithms which assess the risk of each insured individual.

When shopping for auto insurance, or updating your current policy, ask your broker for advice on choosing a deductible and the effect of a range of deductibles on your premium. A high deductible generally decreases your monthly premium amount.

The down side is that you are responsible for the cost of repairing damages to your vehicle, up to that amount. If you choose, say, a $500 deductible, be prepared to be able to sustain the cost of the repairs or drive around with the damages evident. A simple fender bender, sustained by hitting your own mailbox, may not require a police report, but can significantly detract from the appearance of your car, impacting your resale value as well.

However, if someone runs a red light and causes more than $200 in damage (this figure may vary from state to state) to your vehicle, a police report is required.

This means that the accident will be reported to your insurance company in any case, almost certainly resulting in an increase to your premium next time around, regardless of which driver was at fault! Here you have a case of having to make auto insurance claims, whether you like it or not!

Choosing a $0 deductible for your policy definitely raises your monthly premium. The up side to this scenario is that any damage is covered, right down to a cracked tail light. The down side is two-fold. In order to realize the benefit of no cost repairs to the body, you’ll need to make an auto insurance claim.

Second, if you make a couple of claims which might have cost just $50-100 each as an out-of pocket expense, your premium will increase automatically.

One example that fits this situation involves someone clipping your tail light, while backing out of a parking spot, while you’re in the grocery doing your shopping. Another common example is the theft of your radio from your unlocked car.

However, the insult-to-injury factor arises when you have a $0 deductible, but significant damage to your car in an accident. Your insurance policy will pay for the repairs, but your premiums will go through the roof upon renewal. Some insurance companies may even refuse to renew your policy!

This is why it’s important consult your insurance broker, to weigh the amount of your deductible against the corresponding difference in your monthly premium.

If you can afford to cough up $100 for minor damages of the parking spot variety, this might reduce your premium by an amount that adds up to $100 a year. If you’re lucky, this can be a $100 savings.

With that said, auto insurance companies offer free quotes. Always shop around. Don’t settle for the first good price you find. Do research, compare different quotes and ask other auto professionals. If you follow these tips, you’ll surely find the best auto insurance for you!

Tips for choosing the best auto insurance

Buying a car is just the beginning of your expenses. Next, comes the feat of insuring your automobile. Here are a few tips for how to buy the best auto insurance at affordable prices.

Let’s get started ..

Driving without an insurance cover is illegal. Furthermore, if you are ever involved in an accident, you could end up paying more than you would have if you have an insurance cover.

If you are reading this, then you definitely want to make the right choice in your selection of the auto insurance you wish to purchase. So how to do you choose the best auto insurance?

The insurance company or broker

You will agree that one of the most important factors to consider is the company that will handle your car insurance investment. Is it a trustworthy company that will pay out on time and in full?

One of the ways you gather this information is look at your state’s department of insurance website. Here you will find published the ‘consumer complaint ratios’ for all your state’s insurance companies.

Check out the car insurance company before buying

This will help you see the ratios of complaints a car insurance company has per 1,000 claims filed. This screening allows you to select the best auto insurance company that you feel safe in their hands.

Getting the best rates

Consider also the premium quotes. Jot down the companies with the lowest complaint ratios and have the lowest premium quotes.

The company that ranks highest merit consideration as the best auto insurance company. Keep in mind however that company practices can vary from state to state, sometimes significantly. However, if lots of complaints are received from several states, you are probably better off not having your insurance handled by that company.

Ask your auto body shop owner

Another good way of identifying a reliable if not the best auto insurance company is to find out what insurers body shops recommend. Body shops have a distinctive perspective since they interact regularly with the insurance adjusters.

They know the companies that are difficult to work with and those that have smooth claim processes. They also know the companies that push aftermarket parts in lieu of genuine manufacturer equipment parts to cut costs. This can help in determining the best auto insurance companies to root for.

The independent agency

If after all this you find that you cannot determine the best auto insurance company, consider working with an independent agent.

These brokers usually represent several companies and will give you what will make you happy based on your situation. Upon coming to an agreement, do not forget to have it down in writing before the purchase.

Get reliable coverage and the best auto insurance with these tips

Finding the best auto insurance at affordable rates is not difficult if you will read over these tips, use some of the procedures and proceed with caution when insuring your car or truck. Life’s too short to spend a ton of time on this so use the guide, then make a choice. It’s that simple.

There are plenty of options for getting a liability insurance quote for your car but read my story and make your own decision. Maybe I am just hard to please but I see these ads for car insurance on television, and I still wonder why I paid so much for so many years.

My rates were higher than all of my friends’ rates for nearly 10 years, even though I had a perfect driving record and no accidents, and the only type of insurance I had on the car was liability.

Auto insurance for teenagers

I remember when I went to receive my first liability insurance quote. I was 18 at the time, driving a 1980 Chevy Caprice Classic with well over 100,000 miles on it, and was quoted at more than $100 a month. I was very inexperienced with such matters at that time in my life, but I remember coming home and telling my parents, and they looked shocked.

“That’s really high,” my mother said.

I didn’t know how to react, so I called the auto insurance company and told them what my mother had said. I asked them why my liability insurance quote was so high, and they really could not give me any kind of satisfactory answer. I figured I would stay with them for a month or two, and then move on to another company.

Shopping around?

In the meantime, I called some of my friends and asked how much they were paying, and some told me that they were not paying that much more than I was paying for full coverage. I had one person tell me that he was paying about a third of what I was paying, and could not believe that I was being charged as much as I was.

I started calling around to other companies, and every liability insurance quote I received seemed to be very high. I got it knocked down a little bit from what I was paying with the first company I chose after a few tries, but I was still paying a lot more than anybody else I knew.

The price seemed to be a fixed rate

I figured that I would just wait out, keep a perfect driving record with no tickets or accidents or any other traffic violations, and it would go down on its own. I did all of those things, but the price never went down, and this was after years.

Credit rating and high car insurance rates?

By the time I was 28 years old, I had finally managed to get the amount I was paying down to $77 a month, when I finally learned why I was being charged so much.

I was told that how car insurance costs was due in part to your credit rating, and my credit was bad at the time. Even though I had never had any kind of problem, and I had never missed a payment, I was still being penalized for my credit score.

Online liability insurance quote

I did some research online, and found an insurance company that did not base your rate on your credit score, so I went in for a liability insurance quote. I was very pleased when I was told that I would only have to pay $37 a month for liability.

If anyone has received a liability insurance quote that seems high, I would check into this and find out why. There is almost always a reason, and sometimes you are not told the reason unless you ask the right questions. So, get on line and do some comparison shopping to get the best auto insurance rates and coverage.

Buying coverage for your auto or pickup truck can be challenging. How do you know you are getting the best car insurance quotes and services for your money? Here is a story about how to buy car insurance from a personal point of view to give you some insight into automobile insurance companies.

Finances and car insurance

I’m going through a bit of a financial crisis at the moment. Thanks to cutbacks at my job, I’m down to working four days per week for the next six months, which essentially amounts to a 20 percent pay cut.

I doubt that my meager savings will help carry me through until my hours pick up again, so I have to go over my household budget and try to trim out any fat that I see. I believe getting a good quantity of car insurance quotes from different agents would be a good place to start, as the monthly premiums I’m currently paying are a bit on the high side.

Time vs. money and savings

Gathering a list of car insurance quotes from different providers used to be a time-consuming ordeal that I didn’t even want to bother with.

That’s probably why I stuck with that other company for so long despite the ever-increasing rates. It was just a combination of habit and laziness. And, by the way, this route ended up costing me a ton of cash in higher premium rates.

Fortunately, these days I can find enough car insurance quotes online to ensure that I’ll end up with a policy that provides comprehensive protection at an affordable price.

Buying auto insurance online

There are many websites out there that offer searchable databases that prospective customers can use. All I have to do is enter in some information about myself and my vehicle, and in no time I’ll get a bunch of car insurance quotes from carriers all across the country.

Some are from the well-known, national companies, of course, but others are from places that I never would have learned about on my own.

Benefits of smaller insurance agencies and brokers

Since some of these smaller companies are actually able to offer more competitive car insurance quotes than the major carriers, I’m pretty sure that I’ll get a better deal out of this whole process — which of course is precisely what I’m after.

Examine the policy and look at the coverage

Now that I have a few affordable car insurance quotes in hand, all I have to do is follow up with the providers in order to learn the specifics of each policy.

I want to know how if, once I find car insurance companies I like, whether I will be locked into a long-term contract or if short-term options are available, and I’ll also have to ask about the deductible expected for each incident.

Good driving record discounts

In addition, I would like to find out if I can get extra discounts for being a good driver, not getting any tickets, having a late-model vehicle, etc. Those extras can really add up to significant savings, so it’s definitely worthwhile to at least ask.

A penny saved …

Anyway, I know that lowering my monthly premiums is just the tip of the iceberg as far as getting my personal finances under control, but I have to start somewhere, correct?

After I do some research online to find several car insurance quotes and decide which ones will have the lowest rate and best services, I can try to tackle the other items in my budget. If you are planning to buy or change car insurance companies in the near future, take some time, look online and check with local brokers; you’ll find the good deals too!