Simply Junior

Doesn’t it feel sometimes that when it comes to auto insurance it’s like playing the game no one tells you how to play it right and where the rules are written without your consent? Well, to ease the situation, here are some auto insurance rules most insurance companies won’t tell you about.

1. If your credit rating is good you will have better rates.

Most of the insurance providers, whether big or small, use credit information to determine the rates you will be charged with. That’s because numerous studies have shown that there’s a direct link between a person’s credit rating and the probability that the very same person would file an insurance claim. Those who have poor credit scores tend to file claims more often than drivers with good credit reports. And we know how insurance companies don’t like insurance claims.

Tip: If your credit report is not that good, don’t haste with buying auto insurance. First, make sure you have settled all your debts and closed unused credit lines. After doing this wait for a month and your rates will be much lower than you would expect.

2. The model of your car affects your premiums.

Insurance companies don’t disclose the exact methods they use to calculate their rates, but your car make and model certainly plays an important part in the equation. All insurance providers have charts on all car models and their respective insurance cost based on theft rates, repair costs and overall safety.

Tip: Try purchasing a car with reasonable repair costs, good safety scores and low theft rates in your area in the first place. This will always give you the chance of having cheap car insurance.

3. Bad driving means higher rates.

Most insurance companies will raise your rates up to 40% of the initial premium you’ve paid if you have a single at fault accident. However, not all companies follow this rule.

Tip: There are insurance providers that have higher tolerance for first-time accident drivers. So when you purchase your cheap auto insurance policy or ask the provider if they have such incentives and what are their rules.

4. If your friend borrows your car and ends up in an accident you will still have to pay higher premiums.

It doesn’t matter who was driving the car if it was with your own consent. It will be you who will file the claim and this will eventually lead to increase in your premiums.

Tip: In case you didn’t give consent on using your vehicle your friend will be liable for the accident. However, if he or she doesn’t have own insurance or the damage resulted exceeds the amount of coverage contained with his or her policy the other party may come to you in order to settle additional medical and repair costs.

5. Official cancellation is required when switching providers.

You are free to cancel your policy any time you feel the need to. All that is required is to inform your current provider in written form.

Tip: After you have searched for cheap auto insurance and chosen another provider you can simply contact your insurance agent and inform him that you want to cancel your current policy from a certain day. In most cases the company will send you a filled out form where only your signature will be required.

The market for insurance in the US is somewhat unusual. In most every other line of business, companies are allowed to compete with each other across state lines. This helps to keep pricing and the quality of the product to higher levels and protect the consumer. But, the insurance industry is licensed and regulated state-by-state. There’s no such thing as a federal insurance policy. You have to buy a policy written by a company licensed in the state where you live. This is frustrating because, if you live near the border, your friends and colleagues at work probably tell you how little they pay or complain you have the better deals. Either way, it’s not very fair. Worse, the companies often decide not to set up in all fifty states, but pick and choose where they will operate. The result is that many states only have a small number of licensed insurance companies. Because there is no real competition, their premium rates tend to be high. This produces a big political divide. In Republican states, this is the free market at work and no intervention is necessary. If you do not like this, move to another state which has lower rates. In Democratic states, there is more interest in protecting consumer interests. Some states have intervened in their local markets to introduce “managed competition”. Needless to say, this has outraged the insurance industry and the insurance agents who survive on the commission earned from the insurers. There have been heated debates between the lawmakers. Where the local Department or Office of Insurance has produced new rules, they have been referred to the local courts. Who would have thought helping millions of average people to save money on their premium rates would produce so much heat.

Anyway, the latest state to surface in this national debate is Massachusetts. In some ways, this state is also slightly nonstandard because of the dominance of the local agents who handle about 80% of the insurance business. Agents have more to lose if the markets are opened up to competition (and sites like this offer a direct line to insurance companies without having to go through an agent). Not surprisingly, they have been the fastest to the courts in the fight to protect their income. We have just had the decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Court on two rule changes made by the state’s Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes (she has since retired to a university post). Let’s start with the effect of the move to open up the state to competition. Before the rule changes, there were nineteen insurers writing auto insurance policies. Twelve more companies have now entered the markets. In most cases, premium rates have been stable as insurers cut their costs and accepted a reduced profit. But agents have been hit because the opportunities to earn commission have been reduced.

The Massachusetts Supreme Court has supported the reforms, finding the effect of managed competition is sufficiently beneficial that it should represent the prevailing public policy in the state. Put another way, the judges think the many consumers should pay less rather than the few corporate officers and stockholders earn excessive profits. Because one of the agent’s automatic rights to a commission has disappeared, they will be looking to recover their losses in other ways. There are two morals to this story. The first is that, if you want to find cheap auto insurance, support the lawmakers in those states who promise to introduce more competition into the car insurance market. Secondly, always get your auto insurance quotes through a site like this and avoid agents who earn commission.

We doubt there is a person in this world that wants to pay double for nothing. Yes, it is true that people want discount with almost anything. We are programmed to want to economize some money. When you want to cut some of your expenses off you usually make a list. This list includes everything you spend money on during the month. Let’s see – house rental payments, vehicle payments, utilities plus your insurance! Could you actually believe anybody if they told you that you could save money on your insurance company services without suffering for it afterwards? We don’t think you would believe but you will have to do it as now it is very possible to save on you insurance.

The most important thing that you have to remember is to use Internet. You can’t find better options than those presented to you via the Internet. There are plenty of Nevada auto insurance sites and you could easily do yourself a favor by surfing them well.

When you visit agencies and companies they feed you with lots of promises. Some of them never happen. Insurance agents like to have long meaningful conversations with people – some of these conversations do make people their clients but it seems more like hypnosis. If you ask for our opinion we would recommend you to take a cup of tea, lay down with your laptop and search the best offer you can find or the deal that will not give you a discount but also leave you satisfied with the service.

Everything is pricy in Nevada. Some of us have a very mistaken opinion about this state. It is not only about high class cars… don’t compare the whole state with Las Vegas – those are different things. Just like in every other US state there are plenty of drivers in Nevada and they all wonder one and the same thing – how to save on the insurance? Believe it or not, but being a good driver with a good driving record always helps. You can easily get yourself a good deal that will not hit your pocket too much. If you are careful on the road you are obliged to some privilege. Let a 10% discount be that thing for you. We are sure you will appreciate it more than words.

You should also know to shop around for Nevada car insurance quotes before you get yourself into any sort of deal. You should be able to compare the prices for the same services and figure out what is more beneficial to you by yourself. Don’t let anyone pressure you in this decision.

If you decided to go to any car insurance company please push the agent towards the discount. You can tell the agent that you were offered something else that you might consider as well and you will see how fast this trick will work.

And the last but not the least, it is the car that matters the most. If you have a good car, get ready to pay more than you would pay for your 1995 old BMW. That is the truth of the insurance company business. So think it over and make sure you know what you are doing.