auto insurance basics

At the most basic level, auto insurance is simply a contract between you (the first party) and your car insurance company (the second party). The third party to this contract has not come into the picture yet, because he or she is probably somebody you have not met yet. That would be the other guy or gal involved in a car accident.
Liability Insurance
No matter how carefully you drive, over your driving last, you will probably have an accident. Even a minor car accident can cause thousands of dollars worth of property damage. And again, no matter how carefully you drive, there is a good chance that you will have a car accident that is your fault.
This is where a liability insurance policy comes in. Your car insurance policy probably covers a certain amount of property and injury coverage. One covers damage to the other person's car, and the other one covers damage to the other person's body.
Almost every state requires a minimum amount of liability insurance. Even those states without such a law, require drivers to have a “proof” of financial responsibility when they operate a car. The most common type of proof consists of liability insurance. You pay the premiums, and your insurance company agrees to pay a certain amount of damages if you cause an accident.
Make sure that your liability insurance actually covers the assets you are protecting. If you have a lot of assets, the state minimums may not even be enough. Furthermore, if you use your car for your work or business, the state minimums probably will not be enough. In that case, you may want to look into commercial car insurance.
Now that you have protected yourself from the other claims by the other guy, also consider passengers in your car. If they are hurt, and the accident is judged to be your fault, they could make a claim against you. Be sure to consider the personal injury and medical payment coverage for yourself and people in your car!
Uninsured Motorist
The last basic insurance to consider is uninsured or under insured motorist protection. Even if you do not cause the accident, when the other driver does not have insurance, your odds of collecting for damages drop like a stone. You really want to rely on your own insurance company to pay your bills and attempt to collect for damages.
Collision and Comprehensive Insurance
Of course, collision insurance pays to repair your own car, and not the other guy's, in case you cause an accident. If you cannot afford to repair or replace your car, collision insurance is an affordable way to protect yourself! Many people tell you to consider the car's book value, but I would tell you to consider the replacement cost! If you cannot replace it, insure it. A collision policy should also pay for a rental car while your own vehicle is being replaced. That is a big convenience.
Comprehensive insurance covers damage or loss that is not covered by a car accident. Examples of comprehensive insurance include theft or storm damages. Make sure you understand your own coverage.

auto insurance, decision!

When it comes to car insurance comparison, it can get quite overwhelming. There are so many things to consider when comparing your insurance coverage. However, here is a list of 5 major aspects that you should definitely take into consideration when comparing insurance for your automobile.

1. Decide what is the best coverage.Comprehensive and collision coverage pay an important role in your car insurance premium. Depending on the value of your vehicle, it may be adviseable to ask that collision coverage not be instated in your policy. For example, if your vehicle is a junker, then liability makes the most sense, because when your car is damaged in an accident, it really isn’t worth it to have the run-down vehicle repaired in the first place.

2. Scope out the insurance companies.There are so many insurance companies that its ridiculous. This means that there is a lot of competition amongst these car insurance companies to sign you up with a policy. The best approach to getting a good car insurance comparison is to shop around. The more insurance companies you contact, the greater chance you will find the lowest rate with the same coverages that you are looking for.

3. Look for insurance discounts.It doesn’t hurt to ask what discounts the insurance companies offer. You will find that there are discounts based on whether you have a clean driving record, whether you have a college degree, or the amount of miles you drive your car each day. Check into this. You may be surprised that you will find that your insurance premium may drop significantly as a result.

4. Ask for a higher deductible.Depending on whether you can afford the deductible in the event of an insurance claim, consider requesting for a higher deductible. This will lower your premium, but the drawback is that you will have to pay that deductible in the event of an at-fault accident.

5. Choose installments to make paying your premium easier.Not everyone of us is loaded with cash to pay up front for our car insurance. To remedy this, you will find that many insurance companies will give you the optioin to make payments through monthly or quarterly installments. This will help you budget your finances in order to make the necessary payments on your premium without cleaning you of your money all at once.

insurance, why?

There is something to be said for the Fanatical Insurer – that person we all know, who insists upon insuring his new car before he even breathes upon the paintwork.
My friend Solange picked up her beautiful, shiny new BMW from the showroom, having waited impatiently for months for her personal specifications to be applied to the car. This was the gift she had waited for her entire adult life – a new car. Every other vehicle she had ever owned had been driven by someone else.
This one was special, her fiftieth birthday present from a grateful husband, and her reward for putting up with him for umpteen years. She had ordered the car in silver, with leather interior and all the latest gadgets one could ask for, it was a dream of a car.
Solange invited everybody over to supper to celebrate and dropped into the supermarket on her way to collect the car to pick up groceries for her celebration supper. She intended to leave the car parked on the driveway so she could admire it from her kitchen window and so her friends could see it when they arrived later that evening.
She intended to insure the car as soon as she got home, only a couple of hundred yards from the showroom. Honest! Unfortunately, the French baguette loaf of bread she had bought at the supermarket slid off the console when she braked on the corner just before home, and when she tried to brake in her driveway, the bread slid beneath the brake pedal, preventing the pedal from reaching the necessary distance from the floor and leaving the car at considerable speed.
Poor Solange hurtled into her garage door at 25 mph and instantly wrote off her beautiful car, having owned it for precisely 12 minutes. To make matters worse, the now somewhat bent garage door was extremely expensive, being of the electric variety and was only installed a month previously.
My father spent an entire summer renovating a Chinese junk one year in Hong Kong, and just happened to finish the project on a Sunday morning when all the insurance agents were closed for the weekend. Oh no, I hear you shout – oh yes, I reply! This beautiful fifty foot boat slid down the slipway into the bay, and caught on a spike just as it hit the water. It sank in 65 feet of water, twenty minutes later. All attempts to raise it failed and the last attempt ripped the deck so badly there was no point in sponsoring further disaster.
Always insure before you try that maiden voyage or first little drive, it may save you a fortune in the end.