Car Insurance Explained

Car insurance is something which we rarely think of, but all need. You may not spend a lot of time thinking about your policy unless you really need it. Most of us for this reason have little idea if we are really getting a good deal on our insurance. Learning a bit about car insurance can help you to avoid being taken in by smooth talking insurance salespeople and buying a policy with coverage you don't really need.

The minimum coverage which you are required to have is different in each state. The exact stipulations of thee no-fault laws also vary slightly, but work basically the same everywhere.

The most important part of your car insurance policy is the first section, which covers your automobile itself. This part includes two subsection; collision and comprehensive coverage. Collision is meant to cover those situations where a tree "jumps right in front of you" while driving and those unfortunate incidents when another driver thoughtlessly places their car in the path of yours. Comprehensive covers a lot of things: hail damage, theft and so on.

Liability is the second part of your car insurance policy. This covers the damage done to another driver's car when you have caused an accident. Liability coverage will be represented in numbers - for instance, 25/50/10. These numbers mean that your policy covers up to 25,000 in costs per person, up to 50,000 per accident and will cover 10,000 in property damage per accident.

Medical payments to others, covers anyone in the accident, regardless of fault. Your policy even covers you if hit while walking. If you have an accident and no health insurance, this part covers you. It also defrays expenses from an accident your health insurance doesn?t cover.

Your policy will also cover damage when you are hit by an uninsured or underinsured motorist, including hit and run incidents. If you have comprehensive and collision coverage as well as liability insurance, you may be able to add towing coverage to your policy for a nominal fee.

Keeping a few simple rules in mind can save you a lot of money on car insurance:

1.Always get several quotes when it's time to renew your policy. There are several Internet sites that you simply fill out the form once and they would check hundreds of companies. Be sure you always compare like coverage. Check to make sure that all quotes contain exactly the same thing you have.

2.Look to see if there are discounts available from your home insurance company. There may be a price break available for buying both policies from the same company.

3.Ask if any discounts are available. There are often discounts available for drivers who have higher premiums (such as young drivers) who maintain good grades (if students) or for those who take additional driving courses.

4.Make sure that you really need to cover your car. If you don't have a loan on the car, you might find it cheaper to just let the comprehensive and collision part of your policy go. Compare the payments you will receive if the car gets totaled against the Kelly blue book value - If this amount is less than two years of your monthly premium, you may want to drop this coverage and use the savings for a newer vehicle. However, don't be cheap when it comes to liability coverage; it is well worth the cost.

5.Get a weather beater. These are older cars that you use for driving back and forth to work. Save the good car for special trips. When you assign the most driving to the old car, carry only liability and use the new car with full coverage for pleasure us only, you save wear and tear on the car and the money spent on the beater is more than covered by your savings.