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Car Theft and Motor Vehicle Insurance

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Ever owned a car that’s been stolen? It can happen to anyone. It always leaves one feeling sullen and traumatized for many days. The incidence of car robbery has been steadily increasing that a lot of motorists today have decided to protect their cars with motor vehicle insurance.

The rising incidence of car theft also led to an increase in insurance claims. This ultimately caused insurance premiums to shoot up drastically.

Even those who do not have vehicles are affected indirectly. They also end up partly shouldering costs of vehicular theft when they pay for public rides. Taxi or bus fares increase and even excursion expenses have become more expensive.

Why do transportation costs increase? Think of it as a domino effect. Insurance companies increase premiums to give allowances for claims against car theft, and motorists are left with hardly any choice, but to get motor vehicle insurance. Public transportation drivers could either pay for increased premium rates on their own, or they could pass it on to commuters. The latter is a more preferable option. Hence, they pass this burden to commuters in the form of increased transportation fees.

Prevalence of car theft affects so many people in different levels, but personal car owners are the most affected because they have to shoulder all expenses. In their attempt not to experience being robbed of their cars, they pay more not just to get motor vehicle insurance, but also to install different car accessories that will deter car thieves.

However, insurance companies can be quite lenient on insurance premiums once they do a background check and find out that a driver had the means to protect his or her vehicle. Insurers will like it if a driver has a garage at home because cars that are just parked along the streets are more prone to being stolen. In addition to this, anti-theft devices installed in an automobile will be a good reason also for insurers to lower a driver’s premium.

Motor vehicle insurance with coverage for theft is quite expensive because in actual cases of stolen cars, insurers are left to shoulder the cost value of a vehicle at the time an incident happened, plus cost of valuables inside if this was covered in the policy. Although liability coverage is only a minimum requirement by law, a lot of motorists are still looking into paying a little bit more for their cars to be covered against theft. It is all a matter of priorities and how much risk a driver takes in being robbed. The general lifestyle that a driver leads as well as financial capability should be considered when deciding if this is worth it.