Guide to Getting Affordable Auto Insurance

  Affordable auto insurance is what every car driver wants and needs.  There are many types of coverage’s that you can get as well as many different factors that can affect your rates. All states require every driver to get minimum insurance coverage’s in order to legally drive your car, one will have to check with the state where you live as to what the minimum coverage’s that are needed.  In my opinion, it is never a good idea to just get the minimum coverage’s, there is nothing worse then being under insured, because whatever the insurance company doesn’t pay, you will be responsible for making up the difference.

The coverage’s that you should get when you get insurance are liability- which covers any property damage that may occur as well as any other damage that you are liable for from the cause of the accident. Medical payments- which will pay a set amount for each person involved in the accident. Comprehensive- which will cover any type of damage caused to your vehicle that are not directly involved from a car accident, like vandalism, acts of nature to name a few. Collision- which covers your car should you hit another vehicle and you are the one responsible for the accident. Uninsured motorist- which covers you in case the other driver that caused the accident has no insurance. The last coverage is underinsured motorist- which will cover you if the other driver at fault does not have enough insurance to cover the accident.  One does not have to have all these coverage’s on one’s policy, but it is highly recommended that you do. Every state has a minimum of what coverage’s are needed, so check with your state so that you know  what the bare minimum of coverage’s that is required to drive your car legally. I understand that sometimes do to budget constraints, one cannot afford to have full coverage, just be aware, and that you are responsible for the rest of the damages that the insurance company will not cover.

 Now that you know all the kinds of coverage’s that you can get on your auto policy, all these coverage’s come with deductibles and coverage limits. The deductibles are the amount of money that you are responsible to pay for whatever damage that has occurred to your vehicle before the insurance company will pay the rest. The limits are the amount per incident that the insurance company will pay. So for example, a tree limb falls on your car and causes 10,000.00 dollars worth of damage, you have 10,000.00 dollar coverage for comprehensive insurance with a 500.00 dollar deductible; you will have to pay 500.00 dollars of your own money, and the insurance company will pay the 9,500.00 to fix your car. Depending on the coverage amounts that you choose and the deductible limits that you pick, they will affect how much your insurance rate is. The higher the limit and the lower the deductible is the higher your rate will be, so this will give room to play with limits and deductible’s to get you a rate that you can afford. Also know, that the other coverage’s that you can get also come with varying limits and the higher the limits the more your rates will be, but as stated earlier, it is better to have good coverage amounts then to be underinsured.

 The next set of factors that affect ones insurance rates area: your driving record, credit report, one’s age, the type of vehicle you drive, the age of the vehicle, where you live, and the amount of miles that you drive to and from your job.  If you have a bad driving record, your rates will be higher at first, but if you stay accident and ticket free your rates will go down over time.  Believe it or not your credit score also affects your rates, if you have a low credit score, they will consider you to be a higher risk and charge you a higher rate. It is always a good idea to check your credit score at least once a year, especially with all the identity theft that is occurring.  If you find errors on your report, get them fixed either by challenging the bureaus yourself or by hiring a credit repair company to fix them for you and make sure the credit repair company is an attorney driven one. Drivers under 25 will always pay a higher rate, and male young drivers pay the highest rate. New vehicles cost more to insure. If you happen to live in a neighborhood with a high crime rate this will also make your rate higher, and if you drive more then 50 miles to and from work per day, this will also cause you to have a higher rate.

 Now that you understand all the coverage’s and factors that can affect your insurance rate, its time to go shopping for different rates. The easiest and fastest way to do it is to use the internet and go to the websites that compare rates from different companies for you, just enter your information and be accurate about it and then wait to get the quotes back from the individual companies. After getting all the rates compare them and all the coverage’s that they are offering you. I would recommend going to at least three comparison sites to get quotes from. If you don’t have access to the internet, then get your phone book out and call around to check on rates and another way to do it is to hire an insurance broker to check the rates for you. Once you have the rates, check out the companies that you want do business with, ask your family and friends and coworkers if they have done business with these companies and check them out with the Better Business Bureau to see if they have any complaints against them. Ask the companies if they offer any discounts, being a safe driver, the type of vehicle you drive may qualify for a discount, having an alarm in vehicle may get you one, being married can get one, being female can get one, being a good student, taking defensive driving courses can also get them. Dealing with the same insurance company that you have your homeowners or renters insurance through can also get you a discount.

 Getting affordable auto insurance can be done, one just need’s to understand the coverage’s that are offered and the other factors that affect the rates. Once you know what you need, the only thing left to do is to shop around for the best rates that you can get, and remember that not all companies are the same nor are the policies that they offer. Just do a little homework and you’ll get the auto policy that you want and can afford and try not to underinsure yourself or you will pay for it later.

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