When I got my first car, I didn't know the first thing about auto insurance.... well, except that when I was in high school my parents got a discount if I maintained good grades. So when I set out to find a 'good' auto insurance company to insure my 1995 Hyundai Accent, I didn't know what to look for. I called a few places and everyone kept giving me quotes 6 months out. The figure sounded way too rich for my blood so I kept calling. Finally I found one which gave me the amount as a monthly rate, and it sounded a whole lot lower (of course!... It's at least 6 times less!). That did it for me! Away I went to sign whatever I needed to sign and get whatever papers I needed to register my car! When I got there, the nice lady behind the desk started asking me all these questions. "Do you want full coverage or limited liability?" Huh? "Have you had any accidents on your record?" ... and on and on.... I had really very little clue what all of these things meant.
I eventually figured out how to answer what I could to get the lowest rate possible for my small student budget. My car managed to last all through school and even a year after. And so life went on. But then I got married. Though the mist of bliss, I did have some faint wonderings how my auto insurance would change... but I was too busy to worry about it. And now... I have to figure these things out and I want the best deal possible. I'm doing some research and will continue to share what I find. How about you? Some of you I'm sure have stories to tell, and experiences that we can all learn from.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Auto Insurance Rates
Posted by Emily at 12:27 PM
Labels: auto insurance
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5 comments:
This article was really helpful in reading about Auto Insurance rates. Recently I found myself calling for a tow-truck when I ripped a hole in my transmission pan going over a railroad track on the plains of Kansas. When I contacted my insurance company to cover the towing bill, since I thought we were paying for towing services within our premium, I was surprised by the news that it did not apply to my car ! What a rude and traumatic way to find out insurance plans need to be read and discussed ! Bronwyn O.
Recently my husband and I received a letter in the mail from our insurance company which happens to be Geico at present saying "fill this in and we'll save you money". So naturally I thought well I've give it a go, can't hurt to reduce a payment here or there, being a homemaker I like to think I can help financially where I can.
So I filled it in and sent it off. Before long a letter came back and said our payment will be going up quite a lot (almost $100 on the first payment alone) as a result from that paper I filled in and posted off. Grrrrr.... not the desired result I was after.
After griping about it for about a week to my husband. I wanted our policy to be accurate but at the same time I didn't want this extra financial burden. So I decided to buck up and call Geico and find out why they were increasing our insurance by so much money. I was relieved to get a great customer service rep. (granted this almost never happens to me) He was able to explain to me the reason for the increase, and the rules behind it. Being a details gal I appreciated his comprehensive response.
Things I learned:
* Even if your name is on the policy if they don't have your drivers license number your aren't really on the policy!
* If you are a foreigner your prior driving experience is nullified/ignored and you are put down as a new driver from the date you receive your American drivers license and that means you are put in a high risk category, hence you pay a higher premium until 3 years is up without any violations.
*If a violation appears on the policy holders license either tickets or accidents then the insurance goes up for 3 years until that clears off.
Ways to Save:
Insurance companies have some niche's that can save some money, which weren't explained to us when we joined.
*Certain banks and Credit Unions if affiliated with the insurance companies, give discounts for being members of the institution.
*By specifying that only policy holders will be driving the car this also lowers your monthly insurance payment.
* There are others also so I suggest you call and find out all the ways you can save on your policy. These two things allowed my husband and I to save around $15 a month on our policy plus reducing our first payment by $25, it all adds up and making the call was certainly worth my while.
Hope this helps others...
Oh, insurance. The pain in the budget. Comprehensive coverage: What?? I have found through the years this to be more important that collision or towing.
Comprehensive coverage will pay for a drowning -- a cute little Crossfire which has the breather on the bottom. Or the mini-truck being repaired in the garage and the creek floods. It will pay to fix the calamity of alost road-race with a deer -- 70 mph in a Chevy Lumina and a Lincoln Continental. It will also pay to replace the truck stolen in the night by a neer do well thief. (And burned after the joy ride).
The pings from hail can be fixed with this coverage too. And the window blown out by a rock thrown from the lawnmower.
Just remember when one asks for only the required insurance coverage, comprehensive is not required. MAKE SURE YOU CHECK.
Deductible amounts will vary and one should compare risk versus the ability to absorb the loss. I have experienced all these instances. I did not get paid for the stolen truck because I had simply requested the basic liability coverage. I was really disappointed
Also, as a funeral director who deals with car accident victims, consider the medical coverage offered. Medical coverage will pay for your funeral in addition to health/medical coverage. If you have no life insurance take out at least $5,000 coverage. Marian H
I also did the insurance through the same company as my dad. I didn't have any issues. The next time I got insurance was when I was married and Erik already had his car insurance well established with someone he trusted - the same as his parents. We haven't had to use it yet for an accident or anything, thank goodness, but we have full coverage, and this post helps remind me that I need to find out exactly what that means and what exactly we're covered for!
Thing about auto insurance, in my opinion, is that you can switch over to someone else if you don't like them. I don't think there's any reason to feel loyalty to one company, no matter how much of your money they done took already.
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