Auto Insurance Calculator - A Useful Tool to Use While Shopping for Auto Insurance

Shopping for auto insurance online is the easiest way to save money, but how do you know what amount of coverage you should purchase? The fact is that many people have no idea how much insurance they have on their vehicle. They are unsure whether or not they are covered if an uninsured motorist hits them, and they don't know how much the insurance company will pay out if people are injured in an accident.

All of the above scenarios can have serious financial, and in some cases legal, consequences. The reason people are often unsure of their coverage level is that they simply bought the amount of coverage that was suggested to them by an auto insurance agent.

When shopping for insurance online people don't even have the advice of the agent to go on so many people have found that an online auto insurance calculator is just the tool to help them figure out how much coverage they need.

An online auto insurance calculator is basically a web based tool that asks several questions ranging from your income bracket to you educational level. The questions are each aimed at discovering what your insurance needs may be and when they are all answered you will get a recommended amount of insurance to purchase.

The car insurance calculator is a good tool to use in order to get an idea of what you need, but remember this figure is still an estimate. If you have any unique financial situations this estimate may not indicate what the policy will actually cost. The only way to find this information is to speak with an insurance agent, which you can do after deciding on which company to use for your automotive insurance needs.

The automobile insurance calculator is a good tool to use in order to obtain a ballpark figure of your insurance needs, but it should be used in conjunction with other methods when searching for a new insurance policy.

by: David Ackland

What Should You Look Out For When Getting Teen Auto Insurance?

There are many things you should think about when you are purchasing teen auto insurance. Many things you should think about are paying annually, the type of car your teen is driving, adding a named driver, and more.

Finding cheap auto insurance can be difficult. So your teenager finally got their driver’s license and you now need to find them good insurance. There is a Pass Plus exam that is offered right now. The Pass Plus is an intensive driver’s training course that is aimed at teens and new drivers becoming better drivers. When a teenager passes this exam you will automatically receive a 35% discount on your auto insurance. This is a big deal because teenagers are very expensive to put on your insurance.

The car your teenager drives will make a big difference to what your premiums are for them also. You can find the lists on the Internet which cars are the most expensive to insure and which cars are the cheapest to insure. If the car is not on the highest stolen list then it will be cheaper to insure for your teen. The theory is that the cheaper the car is then the cheaper the teen auto insurance will be.

Although you are looking for cheap auto insurance you also need to realize you must have the appropriate coverage for your child. Statistics show that teenagers have more accidents than adults because they have less experience driving. This is a proven fact. If your child is in an accident you should be sure that your insurance will cover the damages your teen may have done to the other vehicle. You don’t want to have an insurance claim that you cannot afford to pay and your insurance didn’t cover. Be sure of all of the coverage you have opted for your child. Don’t be looking for only the cheapest because this might put you in a bad position.

If you have a teenage daughter then you are in a little bit of luck. It is proven that girls and women get in less accidents then teenage boys and men. Because of this statistic, females are cheaper to insure. However, just because of the gender doesn’t mean that the insurance will remain at a low rate.

Maintaining a low auto insurance rate for your teenager also means that they are driving without being pulled over for traffic violations. The first ticket is usually a freebie and your teenager will be sent to defensive driving school. That is of course if the violation is something simple like speeding. Your rates will begin to drop every six months as your child drives without any tickets on their license. If your teenager begins to get tickets and pulled over then your insurance rates will begin to increase and you may not be able to afford to insure them.

When you are looking for cheap auto insurance for your teenager you need to think about many things. Consider the type of car your teenager will be driving and be sure your teenager is driving responsibly not getting pulled over.

by: Kian Chew Chong

Cut Your Auto Insurance Rates With These Discounts

It is a pretty ugly landscape out there from an economic perspective. It has reached the point where you barely want to turn on the news. With saving money being all the rage, you definitely should seek out discounts on your car insurance. Fortunately, most insurers offer multiple opportunities to slice and dice your premiums.

Before we talk about discounts, let's make sure we've covered the simplest ways to lower your premiums. The first thing to do is make sure you are only buying the coverage you need. Second, consider raising the amount of your deductible. Both of these moves can make a huge difference in what you pay. Okay, on to the discounts.

Bundling

Most insurance companies write policies in many different areas. The company writing your auto coverage probably also does home insurance and what have you. If you move all your insurance business to one company, they will almost always give you a big discount in the premiums you pay. Make sure to ask for it and be aggressive!

Bundling Cars

Some insurers just stick to auto policies. If your company is one of these, you can still generate a discount by enticing them. How so? Offer to move all your cars over the company. You'd be surprised how often they will consider the situation and cut your rates.

Safe Driving

Make sure to ask for a safe driving discount. If you haven't had any driving accidents, tickets or what have you in the last five years, you should be able to get a discount on your rates. Why? You've proven yourself. Regardless of the statistics the insurance company maintains, you've show that the company isn't risking much giving you a policy.

Security Devices

Car theft has been with us a very long time and it is safe to say that it isn't going away anytime soon. With this in mind, many insurance companies will give you a discount if you go with proactive and reactive security measures. Proactive could be having a security system. Reactive could be having a locater system like Lo Jack that helps police locate your car if it is swiped. Ask your insurer for specific discounts.

Saving money on your car insurance is hugely important. It can make a big difference even if you only save a few bucks. Why? Well, you have to pay for car insurance each and every year. You are going to drive for 40 years or so. If you can cut your insurance by $200 a year, that is $8,000 you'll save over time.

by: Thomas Ajava

What Should You Look Out For When Getting Cheap Auto Insurance?

When shopping for auto insurance, it is important that you seek out the best deals for your money. Many are under the impression that car insurance rates are determined by the overall quality of the automobile insurance that is provided. However, there are many companies out there that offer cheap auto insurance and offer quality benefits, and services. Here, you will be introduced to a few things that you should look out for when it comes to getting cheap auto insurance. Whether you are shopping for rates that will cover a used vehicle, or a new one, these helpful techniques will assist you in your endeavor.

One of the very first things that you should do when searching for the cheapest auto insurance rates is to make a personal commitment to shop and compare. It is important to not just compare the prices of the coverage that is offered by various insurance companies. It is equally important to compare the services and the benefits that are associated with the coverage itself. Many times, you may find that a higher costing insurance coverage may not offer as many benefits to you as a low costing insurance can, or vice versa. However, if you take the time to shop and compare every aspect of the coverage, you are sure to find out some things that catch your interest.

The next thing that you should look out for when it comes to shopping for car insurance is discounts. Yes, many car insurance companies advertise discounts for safe drivers, and similar discounts but did you know that many companies have discounts available that they do not advertise? When calling about your potentially new policy in car insurance, you should ask about discounts, like:

• For keeping your car in a locked yard

• Keeping your vehicle in a garage

• Safe driving discounts

• Driving course discounts

• Discounts for military personnel

• Senior Citizen discounts

• And, similar discounts!

You will probably discover that you qualify for more discounts than you ever imagined. However, you must understand that most auto insurance companies will not advertise these discounts. It is important that you inquire about these when you call to establish your rates for coverage with that particular company.

There are many features that can add additional discounts to your auto insurance policy. When inquiring about and seeking out cheap insurance plans, you should research these features to determine if any of them qualify you for additional discounts. You will be surprised to find that items such as certain brake systems, and airbags can prove to be beneficial when it comes to lowering the cost of your insurance.

In conclusion, there are many different things that you should look for when it comes to your car insurance. The items mentioned throughout this guide can lead you to save hundreds on your car insurance each year. If you are looking to obtain cheap car insurance, you must know and understand the basics behind the prices that are charged for car insurance.

by: Kian Chew Chong

How to Know How Much Auto Insurance You Should Carry

How much automobile insurance should you carry? The answer is easy: as much as you can afford. The primary reason to buy automobile insurance, both liability and uninsured motorist (UM) coverage, is to protect yourself and your assets. Your insurance company will never pay more in damages, to you or to a person you negligently injure, than the dollar amount of the coverage you paid for, no matter how high a verdict there may be either against you or for you. Sound complicated? Let's look at two hypothetical examples regarding liability and underinsurance coverage.


Liability Coverage

If you pay a policy premium for $25,000/50,000 in auto liability insurance coverage[1], this is what could happen if you negligently cause injury to another person in an auto accident and the injured person sues you. With significant injuries and damages, a jury might award the injured person $75,000 (a hypothetical figure). Under these facts, your insurance company would pay the injured plaintiff only $25,000 on your behalf, the amount of coverage you bought[2]. As a result, you could be held liable for payment of the remaining $50,000 yourself! This is a harsh result, I am sure you would agree.

What would happen if you had purchased a larger $100,000/$300,000 policy? Your insurance company would ordinarily pay the injured person the entire judgment amount of $75,000. Consequently, you would not be obligated to pay any part of the judgment yourself. To sum it up, the more insurance coverage you buy the less likely it is that you will ever be called upon to pay any part of a legal judgment against you.

Underinsurance Coverage (UIM)

Your purchase of high insurance limits can also help you or your family members when one or more of you are injured through the fault of another driver. This might occur if you and/or relatives who live with you sustain serious injuries in a motor vehicle accident, and the negligent driver who caused the accident has less insurance coverage than you do.

How does this work? As an example, let's say the negligent driver has purchased a $25,000/$50,000 auto liability insurance policy, and you have a policy that provides $100,000/$300,000 in UM coverage. Your injuries are serious. Your medical bills and lost wages are substantial. In your lawsuit against the negligent driver, a jury awards you $100,000 in damages. The defendant driver's insurance will pay you only $25,000, the maximum amount of liability coverage the defendant bought which can be paid to one person with respect to one accident. However, you can look to your own UM coverage to see if there is underinsurance coverage (UIM) available to you. Given the above facts, your insurance company would pay you $75,000 in underinsurance coverage.

How do you arrive at the $75,000 figure? It happens this way. Under Virginia law, if there is UM coverage available to you in an amount greater than the defendant's liability coverage, you will have underinsurance coverage. If not, there will be no underinsurance for you[3]. The availability of underinsurance coverage depends on a comparison between a specific defendant's liability coverage and the UM policy or policies which provide you coverage. With regard to the above example, your own insurance company would pay you $75,000 because that is the amount by which your own UM motorist coverage exceeds the defendant's liability coverage of $25,000. By adding your $75,000 in underinsurance coverage to the defendant's $25,000 liability limits, the $100,000 judgment against you would be paid in full.

However, there would be a different result if there was just one policy available that provided you only $25,000/$50,000 in UM coverage. Under the described facts, your insurance carrier would pay you nothing because your UM insurance coverage of $25,000/$50,000 does not exceed the defendant's own $25,000/$50,000 liability limits. Yes, you can pursue the defendant driver personally through collection proceedings after trial. However, the average defendant has few assets and collecting on a judgment can be a long, expensive, and often futile endeavor. In the end, it is always better to carry high liability/UM insurance limits yourself and ensure that you and your own family are protected in the event one or more of you sustains severe injuries caused by the negligence of a driver with low automobile insurance coverage limits[4].

Footnotes

1.) Auto insurance limits of $25,000/$50,000 constitute the minimum amount of auto liability and uninsured motorist coverage you can buy in Virginia. Each state determines its own auto insurance minimum limits; therefore, minimum limits differ from state to state as do laws related to auto insurance. The facts in this article are based on Virginia law only. If you live in another state, you will want to learn about the applicable insurance laws in your own state.

2.) When you see a figure like $25,000/$50,000 in relation to an auto policy, it means the limits are "split", that is, one injured person can recover a maximum of $25,000 under the policy while $50,000 is the most coverage the insurance company will pay out to all injured persons regardless of the number of people injured in the same accident or how badly they may be injured.

3.) In Virginia, you may be entitled to undersinsured motorist coverage under more than one policy, and these policies can sometimes be "stacked" to give you more coverage. Va. Code § 38.2-2206. This is a complex area of law, and it is wise to consult an attorney to explore whether there is underinsurance in your case.

4.) In Virginia, you cannot buy UM coverage in an amount that is higher than your auto liability insurance limits.

by: Elizabeth Allen
About The Author
Elizabeth M. Allen, of the law firm Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen, has been engaged in the practice of personal injury law for over 30 years. Allen and Allen has been protecting the rights of injured victims in Virginia for nearly a century. They can be found online at: http://www.allenandallen.com