How To Save With Your Car Insurance Policy
It is a fair statement to say that nobody wants to pay more for something than they need to, and this is particularly true of one's car insurance policy.
You want to have car insurance, you realize for your own financial well-being that you need to carry a decent car insurance policy, and legally your state may require it.
And if your car is not paid off and you are still making payments on it, the company that you have your car loan with is definitely going to require it.
But one of the problems that many consumers end up with is that they do not understand the typical car insurance policy or what options they have available to them, which are their decisions, as far as what coverages to carry and what kind of deductibles make common sense based on their driving habits.
You should carry insurance coverage for medical payments, sometimes also known as PIP or Personal Injury Protection.
This will cover you for injuries to yourself and your passengers if you are in an accident.
In many cases, it does not matter how safe of a driver you are, and whether or not the accident is your fault, since many states use what is known as no fault insurance, you need to have this kind of coverage.
And truthfully, you WANT to have this kind of coverage.
With the costs of health care sky rocketing, even a relatively simple medical treatment or procedure can easily run into four figures or more, and it is not uncommon for more extensive medical treatments, combined with follow up care, to get well into six figures.
In some states, the state insurance regulations stipulate that the PIP coverage also cover the cost of funerals and even for lost wages for when you or your passengers could not go to their job for an extended period of time due to injuries.
This coverage, or with some insurance companies, a separate coverage known as bodily injury coverage, will cover you while you are driving someone else's car, assuming of course you have their permission to be driving their car.
You will want to carry property damage insurance coverage.
This comes into play if you are in an accident and run over a stop sign, a fire hydrant, or even run into an overpass or the side of a building.
Those things can be expensive to get repaired.
Collision coverage pays for damages to your car to get it fixed.
And comprehensive coverage will take care of things like fire or theft.
If your car is not paid for and you are still making payments on it, chances are excellent that your lender is going to require you to carry collision insurance, which protects their interests in the car until you have it paid off.
But if you have an old clunker that might be considered totaled if it got a flat tire, it is clearly not a car you need or want to carry collision coverage on.
One place where many policy holders pay more than they need to is with the deductibles.
You can typically have a separate deductible amount for each type of coverage that your car insurance policy is covering.
For example, you could have $500 deductible on collision, $1000 deductible on comprehensive, etc.
Most people think there is only one deductible amount, but by arranging your deductible amounts across the different types of coverages that you carry, you can save a bundle.
If you make a claim, the deductible is the amount of money that YOU pay out of your pocket before the insurance company pays anything.
For example, for a minor parking lot scratch or dent, the repair cost might only be $300.
If your deductible is $500, it makes no sense to file a claim with your insurance company at all, since they are not obligated to pay a cent, since the total cost to repair the damage was not greater than your deductible.
Examine your coverages and your deductibles regularly to make sure you are not paying more than you need to be.
And do not dismiss an online car insurance quote, since these companies can be very aggressive with quotes and could easily beat the current rate you are paying.
You want to have car insurance, you realize for your own financial well-being that you need to carry a decent car insurance policy, and legally your state may require it.
And if your car is not paid off and you are still making payments on it, the company that you have your car loan with is definitely going to require it.
But one of the problems that many consumers end up with is that they do not understand the typical car insurance policy or what options they have available to them, which are their decisions, as far as what coverages to carry and what kind of deductibles make common sense based on their driving habits.
You should carry insurance coverage for medical payments, sometimes also known as PIP or Personal Injury Protection.
This will cover you for injuries to yourself and your passengers if you are in an accident.
In many cases, it does not matter how safe of a driver you are, and whether or not the accident is your fault, since many states use what is known as no fault insurance, you need to have this kind of coverage.
And truthfully, you WANT to have this kind of coverage.
With the costs of health care sky rocketing, even a relatively simple medical treatment or procedure can easily run into four figures or more, and it is not uncommon for more extensive medical treatments, combined with follow up care, to get well into six figures.
In some states, the state insurance regulations stipulate that the PIP coverage also cover the cost of funerals and even for lost wages for when you or your passengers could not go to their job for an extended period of time due to injuries.
This coverage, or with some insurance companies, a separate coverage known as bodily injury coverage, will cover you while you are driving someone else's car, assuming of course you have their permission to be driving their car.
You will want to carry property damage insurance coverage.
This comes into play if you are in an accident and run over a stop sign, a fire hydrant, or even run into an overpass or the side of a building.
Those things can be expensive to get repaired.
Collision coverage pays for damages to your car to get it fixed.
And comprehensive coverage will take care of things like fire or theft.
If your car is not paid for and you are still making payments on it, chances are excellent that your lender is going to require you to carry collision insurance, which protects their interests in the car until you have it paid off.
But if you have an old clunker that might be considered totaled if it got a flat tire, it is clearly not a car you need or want to carry collision coverage on.
One place where many policy holders pay more than they need to is with the deductibles.
You can typically have a separate deductible amount for each type of coverage that your car insurance policy is covering.
For example, you could have $500 deductible on collision, $1000 deductible on comprehensive, etc.
Most people think there is only one deductible amount, but by arranging your deductible amounts across the different types of coverages that you carry, you can save a bundle.
If you make a claim, the deductible is the amount of money that YOU pay out of your pocket before the insurance company pays anything.
For example, for a minor parking lot scratch or dent, the repair cost might only be $300.
If your deductible is $500, it makes no sense to file a claim with your insurance company at all, since they are not obligated to pay a cent, since the total cost to repair the damage was not greater than your deductible.
Examine your coverages and your deductibles regularly to make sure you are not paying more than you need to be.
And do not dismiss an online car insurance quote, since these companies can be very aggressive with quotes and could easily beat the current rate you are paying.
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