Simply Junior

Starting with excessive rates to buying a separate policy for your teen driver, dealing with auto coverage is often confusing, complicated and it also involves a lot of money to be spent. Still, you can’t go around it, as it a legal requirement in most states and a helpful tool to give you a peace of mind when dealing with traffic accidents. Sure, it may seem like a dirty job and you don’t want to waste your time on it. But what if there’s an easier way to get your auto insured without all the hassle you fear of dealing with? If you are interested, read the frequently asked questions below as answered by insurance experts, who know how to get the right policy no matter what’s your situation.

Q: Am I obliged to carry insurance coverage when driving my car?

A: Nearly all states have it as a legal requirement for drivers to carry liability auto coverage as a guarantee that the damages you deliver in a car accidents are paid for. Each state has a minimum amount of liability coverage that a driver must carry with his policy. And even the states that don’t have vehicle insurance as a legal requirement oblige the driver to show proof that he has enough financial resources to pay for the caused damage. Any other types of insurance coverage, outside liability coverage are purely optional and can be purchased with respect to your personal insurance needs.

Q: Is insurance required before buying a new vehicle?

A: If that’s your first vehicle, you will be required to have insurance coverage before even taking it from the dealer. Moreover, if you’re using an auto loan to finance the purchase, you may be required to buy additional types of coverage besides liability. If you already have a car and are changing it to a new one or buying an additional vehicle, you have 14-30 days to report the changes to your insurance company.

Q: How can I get cheap car insurance?

A: Compare insurance quotes in order to see what other providers are offering, and if it turns out that you’re overpaying – switch the provider. If your current rates are quite competitive, compared to other companies, see if you’re taking advantage of all the discounts you can opt for.

When looking for a new car, always make sure that the make and model you are interested in provides cheap auto insurance options. Some cars are a lot cheaper to insure than the others, ask your insurance agent to learn what cars are the most cost-effective from the insurance perspective.

Another way to get cheap auto insurance, although a bit risky one, is to increase your deductibles. By raising the amount of out-of-pocket expenses you can afford before the policy kicks in you get lower premiums. And if you’re driving an older vehicle that has a low market value, you may want to drop collision and comprehensive coverage as it takes depreciation of the car value into account.

You can also adjust the amounts of coverage your policy carries, although experts do not recommend decreasing them to the level of state minimums as it is usually not enough to pay for a serious accident.

Insuring your car is mandatory if you want to drive it without any legal penalties. And when it comes to purchasing a policy, most car owners don’t take much time to think about what they are buying and get the first thing they are offered. The cheaper the policy the better, so drivers base their choice only on the price tag their policy comes with. Such a strategy definitely looks like a smart one, but in most cases it turns out to be the biggest mistake you will make when buying an insurance policy.

Auto coverage is the type of spending most people would love to avoid, especially taking into account its mandatory nature. Insurance is used to protect you against financial trouble in case of an accident, but in most cases such circumstances never take place. That is why most car owners feel that they pay their money for nothing, giving it away for something that is very likely to never happen.

Still, there are many accidents out there on the road. They may be quite uncommon in your area but sooner or later you will encounter accidents of various severity and will understand why exactly you need to insure your car. That’s what the concept of insurance is based around – pooling funds from numerous participants in order to pay for the losses any of them encounters due to a special situation. In case of auto insurance we are talking about car accidents.

It is very important to understand that buying cheap car insurance doesn’t necessarily mean that you have the best policy. Of course, paying lower premiums is nice, but what if you discover that your policy won’t cover your costs arising from an accident to the necessary extent? And you will have to pay a lot of money out of own pocket. That’s definitely not cheap.

Buying an insurance policy for your vehicle is not a hard task at all. Learning a bit about the basics of insurance coverage and using your common sense will let you get exactly what you need without any hassle.

Prior to investing a sum of money into a costly product, such as a car for example, people tend to analyze the offer, the product and are very picky when it comes to purchasing it. The same should apply to vehicle insurance coverage.

When starting your research, make sure to get car insurance quotes from trusted companies with a long working history and good financial credibility. You don’t want to pay money to a company that won’t be able to cover you in case of an accident, right?

Don’t fall for “cheap” offers. Paying less money usually means having less coverage with your policy and in most cases this is very risky. Instead, try to remove the types of coverage you don’t need at all and raising coverage amounts for those types of insurance you want to be covered against.

Spend some time on the internet and compare the offers from different companies there. A lot of sites provide quotes from different insurers on the same page and that’s really useful when comparing the offers and shopping around. It takes only a few minutes but as a result you will be able to locate a really attractive deal in your area and get the policy that will be both adequate and inexpensive.

In case you are caught being drunk behind the wheel your insurance rates will increase and you will most probably learn about a thing known as SR-22 to many. And it doesn’t matter what it’s called in your state – driving while being under influence or intoxicated – the result is the same. Your insurance rates rise dramatically even before you can actually drive a vehicle again.

The laws are different

Different states have different penalties regarding drunk driving, but in all states you will be denied of the right to drive for a period of time (starting with 30 days to 12 months). And in order to get your license back and drive again most states require you to present SR-22 form proving availability of necessary auto coverage. Such form can be presented by the insurance company unless your policy is lapsed, canceled or terminated.

Premiums will rocket sky-high

When time comes for taking the SR-22 form from your insurance company, the company will automatically put you in the “high-risk driver” category, which eventually means that your rates will go up. And by “go up” we mean double or even triple according to state you’re registered in. Of course, you can shop around as there are insurance companies with “high-risk” specialty.

SR-22 policies are not that accessible

Certain companies do not provide SR-22 insurance coverage, and if you’ll require one from them after being convicted in drunk driving, they are likely to cancel your policy. It will require you to address a company that provides SR-22, however your premiums will still be higher because you will already have a history of policy cancellation. However in some states, insurance companies have no right to cancel your policy before its term expires. So check your local laws to know better.

How long will it last?

This also depends on the state you live in, but the usual picture is that you will have to pay higher premiums for at least three years after being convicted. And if you’re caught driving under the influence again there will be more serious penalties.

It also depends on the condition you’ve been in while driving. In most states there are stronger penalties for increased alcohol blood levels, passengers (especially kids) in the car, damage to property or injury to people done and other factors involved.

How to avoid increased rates?

The most drastic measure to keep your auto insurance rates low is not driving at all after being convicted in drunk driving. Even if you were driving a car you don’t own you will still have to present a SR-22 form in order to restore your driver’s license.

Of course, there’s still the most effective way of keeping your cheap auto insurance as it was. Simply don’t drive while being drunk, intoxicated, under the influence or any other altered state of mind. It will not only save you auto insurance but will save your and someone else’s life. If you’re messed up, call a taxi or ask your sober friend to drive. It’s not that hard, isn’t it?