For driving a car in Indiana, you should possess a valid driver license and adequate auto insurance coverage, according to the state driving and traffic law. Several types of insurance coverages are offered by the insurance companies in Indiana. Selecting the right type of coverages could be a confusing affair. Hence, first you should understand the basics of auto insurance. The terminologies might vary marginally between the various insurance companies but the five basic parts would not change.
Declarations Provided by You
When you apply for auto insurance, you should submit several details in the application form of the insurance company. These declarations would include your personal details, details of the family members in your household who would be driving, the number of vehicles in your home and their registration numbers, your house address, the types of coverages that are purchased by you, the limits for the coverages, and the period of the auto insurance policy. You would also be required to commit the deductibles that you would be willing to pay in case an accident occurs. Still, you should be careful about the details furnished by you. If any information is found to be false or incorrect in future, the insurance company would be able to refuse your auto accident claims and it would be deemed legal.
Insurance Coverage Agreement
After the insurance company accepts your application and provides you the premium quotes for the various coverages sought by you, you should enter into a written agreement with the insurance company for the auto insurance policy. The agreement would stipulate the types of coverages that had been agreed upon between you and insurance company, the premium amounts to be paid by you on each coverage, the period of the policy, the deductibles committed by you and the commitment of the insurance company to honor your insurance claims in case of an auto accident. The various clauses of this agreement would be legally binding on you and the insurance company.
Exclusions from the Agreement
When an insurance company offers you auto insurance, it includes certain items that it would accept in your accident claims. At the same time, it would also exclude a few more items from the gambit of the auto policy. The items excluded could become important when you are actually involved in an accident. Hence, you should study this section carefully. Inclusion of all the items that are considered as risk by the insurance company could make your insurance premium too costly and unaffordable. Hence, you should diligently select the items that should be included in the policy and the items that should be in the exclusions section.
Terms and Conditions of the Agreement
This section would contain the legal obligations and responsibilities of you to the insurance company in premium payments, filing of accident claims, and disagreement resolving procedures. The terms and conditions would also define the obligations and the responsibilities of the insurance company when you file an accident claim.
Definitions
The definitions section in the auto insurance agreement is a crucial one. In this section, the insurance company would explicitly define the rights of the policyholder and the insurance company. This is one of the trickiest sections, since the definitions could be interpreted in more than one way. As such, it would be advisable for you to consult an auto insurance expert to understand the true implications of this section, known as ‘fine print’ in insurance parlance.
