A question you might ask yourself is: why must we carry auto insurance? Hopefully one answer you should hear is to protect yourself and your car. For those same reasons the government also requires you to have car insurance.
The state of Florida requires you to carry at least the minimum requirements, which is property damage at ten thousand dollars and personal injury protection at ten thousand dollars. Property damage covers another person's vehicle if you are at fault in an accident. Personal injury protection covers 80 percent of medical expenses and 60 percent of loss wages as well as up to a five thousand dollar death benefit for you and your relatives (that reside with you), minus the deductible if it applies. This coverage would protect you in case there is any damage to other vehicles and gives you medical coverage for yourself.
There are many different types of auto insurance coverage to choose from, depending on what you want covered and what you can afford. Where should you get started?
First you should ask yourself if you have enough coverage in case of an incident occurring. Besides the minimum requirement coverage previously mentioned, there is another type of coverage that is very important, bodily injury.
Bodily injury coverage is not required by the state of Florida until you get into an auto accident. This would cover you if you were at fault in an accident and the person in the other vehicle suffered injuries exceeding their personal injury coverage. If you did not have this coverage the other party has the right to sue and the state may place a financial responsibility on your motor vehicle report, which you would have to carry for 3 years. That financial responsibility is called an SR22.
Uninsured motorist is another coverage you may want to consider. Uninsured motorist covers you if the other party was at fault and you were injured (exceeding your personal injury coverage) and they did not have bodily injury coverage. You may use this coverage to cover the difference of your injuries.
Where does you car fit for injury theft and collision? What about your dream car? Take a look at this run down based on 2000-2002 HLDI data:
There are two more very important types of coverage that you might want to explore they are: comprehensive and collision.
Comprehensive coverage would cover your vehicle in the event of fire, theft, vandalism, hail storm damage or any natural causes minus the deductible you agreed upon when purchasing your insurance.
Collision coverage would cover physical damage to your vehicle, if you were at fault in the accident, minus the deductible. The insurance company would pay the actual cash value of your vehicle. If your vehicle is financed comprehensive and collision coverage are possibly are required by your lending institution.
Extra medical payment coverage can also be provided if you are interested and the list goes on. All types of coverage are important but the reality of it is, what we can afford? Keep in mind your life and your family is very important so having insurance should be one of your main priorities.
With the web easily accessible you have a vast amount of knowledge at your fingertips to help you choose the best coverage for you and your lifestyle. Life is too shortFeature Articles, get good advice and get the right insurance coverage for you and your family.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
Inexpensive Car Insurance - Six Secrets

I learned a lesson about inexpensive car insurance when I was younger: Insurance agents lie. I would love to be able to say this is rare, but my experience tells me it is depressingly common. Apart from lying, they just won't tell you some things you need to know to save money.
Car insurance was just a legal requirement as far as I was concerned. I didn't have valuable cars when I was young, and I had no assets to protect from lawsuits. All I wanted was the minimum legal coverage needed to be on the road. I always made this very clear to my insurance agents, using many rephrasings, like "Just what the law requires, and nothing more," just to be sure they understood.
I assumed that this minimum was what my insurance company was giving me. Only after paying the premiums for many years did I learn that they had lied. I didn't have the most inexpensive car insurance policy, as they claimed. They gave me not the minimum coverage required by law, but their own "company minimum." I was pissed off.
I went to other insurance companies and they tried to do the same thing, passing off their own normal liability policies as the state-mandated minimum requirements. Only when I pushed would they provide the policy that I wanted - as long as I signed more paperwork, acknowledging that I was "under-insured." That was fine. I had no assets to protect at the time (Having few assets means you're less of a target for a lawsuit).
The bottom line is that by commission and omission, you will likely be lied to by insurance agents. I overpaid by hundreds of dollars over those years, because of one such lie. Now you know what to watch for if you just want a basic liability policy. Here are some other things you should know about getting inexpensive car insurance.
Secrets Of Inexpensive Car Insurance
- Get several quotes, of course. The important part here, though, is to be sure that each quote is for the same thing. Write down and compare the specific policy limits, deductible and a other parts of the policy.
- Review your policies annually. Ask for a policy review and get new quotes every year or so. Suppose that speeding ticket you had is past the three year mark (or whatever the company guideline is). They will often "forget" to drop the rate, so you may need to remind them.
- Take the kids off your policy. If your kids are at a college that's more than 100 miles away, you can have them taken off the insurance policy and save a lot of money. You can't let them drive the car when they come home to visit though.
- Raise your deductible. You will always get more inexpensive car insurance with higher deductibles. Plan to pay the first $1,000 of that accident if it happens someday. In the meantime, you may save far more in premiums over those years.
- Drop collision coverage. Once the value of your car is below a certain amount (an amount you can afford to lose), drop the collision coverage. It doesn't make sense to pay out thousands over a few years to insure a car that is worth just a few thousand.
- Ask about special discounts you might be eligible for. Non-smoker discounts, car/home policy discounts, and others are a possibility. Ask what discounts you may be eligible for in the future, too, and remind your agent when the time comes.
-Look at every part of the policy, and don't pay for things you don't need. Ask about anything you don't fully understand. Asking a lot of questions and really understanding the policy is one of the surest ways to get inexpensive car insurance.
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