Auto Insurance Guide Archive for May, 2010

• What are OEM parts and does your auto insurance cover them?

  by Hayden Krueger

  If you have had the misfortune of being involved in an accident, you are probably under a lot of stress right now. You have to first take care of all the injuries that have been sustained by your passengers. You have to also make sure that there is no long lasting disability as a result of negligence on your part. But in the mean time, there is also the other part about filing claims with your auto insurance company and also sending your car to a repair facility.

  Filing a claim can get pretty complicated. Any normal individual with a full time job will know that there is practically no time to do anything else but go about day to day activities. And then the bombshell is dropped. You need to do a lot of extra paper work and also talk to a lot of different people and research a … Click here to read more

• The security of gap insurance

  by Hayden Krueger

  People generally think they know all there is to know about auto insurance. But then along came gap insurance. Gap insurance is an absolute necessity for leasing a vehicle, however trivial it may seem. If a small down payment was made at the time of purchasing a car, then gap insurance could just prove to be a lifesaver. Let’s first understand what it is.
  What a traditional auto insurance policy does not cover is covered by the gap insurance. If your car is totaled in a mishap or stolen, and you owe the company some money then gap insurance can close that gap.

  How does gap insurance really work?

  Let’s examine a test case. A person bought a car around 2 months ago for $25,000. He chose to pay $500 a month, at an interest rate of 6 percent. Then one day a tree fell onto it absolutely flattening it … Click here to read more

• Surviving a car crash and filing auto insurance claims

  by Hayden Krueger

  It is always traumatic to be involved in an accident. But it is especially traumatic to be involved in a very serious car accident. Only few escape unscathed, a majority aren’t so lucky. If you’ve been involved in such an accident and escaped without a bruise, thank your stars. But your vehicle wasn’t as lucky as you. That brand new SUV you’ve just bought has been reduced to the size of a Mini Cooper.

  The bonnet’s folded over like a paper fan; you can barely recognize the interiors of the vehicle. A million questions swirl through your mind- How did survive it? What’s going to happen to the car? What should i do next? Will my insurance company compensate me? Calm down. If ever you catch yourself in such an unfortunate situation, don’t panic; read these steps now to be prepared.

  Read through your policy papers from time to time… Click here to read more

• Steps to help you switch auto insurance policies

  by Hayden Krueger

  The time has come for you to change your auto insurance policy. It may be done for a variety of reasons; maybe you’re selling your car, or you’ve got a job in another state and don’t need this car, or maybe you’re just plain unhappy about your present insurer’s service. If you’re one such person, then read on to know some important points that one must keep in mind while switching auto insurance policies.

  Send a written notice to cancel the policy

  The first thing to keep in mind is that a sufficient notice period must be given to your insurer, else you will end up spending more money and the whole thing will affect your credit history in a bad way too.

  At any point of time during the term of your policy one may send a written application to the auto insurance company mentioning the cancellation date on … Click here to read more

• Simplifying the process for buying Auto insurance for teenage drivers

  by Hayden Krueger

  If you are a teenager or the parent of a teen, you must be going through a lot of heart ache trying to figure out the best way to get the cheapest and best policy for your needs. Car insurance companies consider younger drivers to be a risk factor to the firm and hence charge a lot more in the name of premium.

  Drivers between the age group of 16 and 25 are considered to be high risk drivers. The car insurance companies depend on historic statistical data to come to this conclusion. So how did we arrive at this conclusion?

  it has been found that drivers between this particular age group are much more susceptible to be involved in an accident related fatality. There is almost a 50% greater chance of meeting with an accident related fatality for this age group. We now arrive at the question of why … Click here to read more

• Picking an auto insurance company to buy insurance from

  by Hayden Krueger

  It isn’t really hard to pick an insurance policy, what with all the help available on the internet, but what about choosing the right company? How can one ascertain that the company is reliable and legitimate? How will you know the way the insurance company treats its customers and handles claims? Read on to know what to keep in mind while going about choosing your auto insurance company.

  Visit the website of the department of insurance of your particular state:

  All states have their own individual department of insurance, even though many may not know about it. A ‘consumer complaint ratio’ is marked for each and every insurance company operating in the state, and this information is published on the website. Through this ratio, you will come to know every 1000 claims filed, how many complaints were received by the insurance company.

  These complaint ratios must be compared thoroughly in … Click here to read more

• Know more about Liability medical cover under your auto insurance coverage

  by Hayden Krueger

  Almost everyone is aware that auto insurance has its own set of terminologies, mostly misunderstood or not understood at all by the common man. Yet everyone known knows the importance of getting an auto insurance policy; it is mandatory as per the law. In addition to the basic coverage as put forth by the law, there are other additional areas in which one can obtain coverage.

  Each state has different requirements when it comes to auto insurance, so one must always check what the basic requirements of that particular state are. The best person to approach is an auto insurance agent, who is well versed with the laws of the state and will provide assistance on questions pertaining to auto insurance policies.

  No Fault States

  It is very important to know if the state in which you reside is a ‘No Fault’ state. When both drivers are required to carry … Click here to read more

• How good is your auto insurance company?

  by Hayden Krueger

  Cheap auto insurance – Cheap is not always what’s best 

  Cheap auto insurance is not always good auto insurance. A product may be cheap to buy, but if it doesn’t work when you need it to work it’s a complete waste of money. The same goes with auto insurance; many people are thrilled to see a very low auto insurance quote from a company and immediately sign up for it. Things like insurance and other financial dealings should never be completed in a hurry and should always be debated and compared extensively. 

  Auto insurance policies are not what they used to be fifty years ago and are much more complicated nowadays; it’s a task you need to rise up to and understand how the industry matures with time. Too many people today don’t understand that their auto insurance policies and the cover it provides them. The primary detail most people … Click here to read more

• Fraud and its effect on your premium

  by Hayden Krueger

  Many people go overboard when buying a new car and buy one that they can not afford to maintain or pay the monthly payments for. You sure would look cool in that droolsome new pickup or sport car, but can you afford it maintain it? Can you afford the monthly payments? These are questions you need to ask yourself before you purchase that dream car you have had your heart set on for quite a while now.

  Arson as a form of insurance fraud

  Many owners of such cars find that they have bought a car that is way above their means and there is no way they can afford to pay off the loan. Since the car is on a payment plan it is difficult to sell and in all probability the owner will not have enough money to finish off the loan and then sell the vehicle.

  In … Click here to read more

• Effects of your credit history on your auto insurance policy

  by Hayden Krueger

  An auto insurance company will study your credit scores, and based their findings determine your premium amount. Of course there are a volley of other factors which are also considered but let’s understand why credit rating is given so much importance.

  Credit score

  Statistics have proven to auto insurance companies and other financial organizations for years now that a customer is capable of making monthly payments on time. Many people today opt for monthly payments on their insurance premium, more so people with bad credit as they are mostly pressed for cash.

  A customer who can not make timely monthly payments and who regularly defaults translates into additional expenses for the insurance company as they need to hire a recovery agent or pay an in house recovery agent a salary in order to recover a payment that is rightfully theirs. It also leads to a great deal of mismanagement of … Click here to read more

• Cheap Auto Insurance Made Easier

  by Hayden Krueger

  Getting a cheap auto insurance policy is all about spending time on researching the various auto insurance companies. You need to realize that if you put in the time now, you will be able to reap the benefits for a much longer period later on.

  The first step to finding a cheap policy is to look for various options online. There are a lot of websites which belong to both first party insurance companies and also other third parties who put up information about a number of insurance companies on one single portal. With the former type of website, you can be assured of quality and genuine information considering that the original company itself is publishing the information. But with the latter type of website, you cannot be reliably assured of a genuine information data base. However the benefit of using such a website is that you can get multiple … Click here to read more