Auto Insurance Leads to Peace of Mind

Auto insurance leads to peace of mind for many reasons, including the fact that you won’t violate any state laws by driving uninsured if you have it. This may seem simple, but a growing percentage of the U.S. population currently drives without proper automobile coverage each day.

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The Florida Insurance Council shows that this state along with New Mexico, Alabama, Mississippi and Oklahoma have the highest instances of uninsured motorist claims. They all rate well into the 20% range.

Uninsured drivers represent 23% of all drivers in Florida. Perhaps this is why auto insurance rates in this state are so high. Statistically speaking, nearly one out of every four drivers has no coverage.

Does this mean obtaining the correct amount of car insurance should ease your mind? The correct answer is yes, it most certainly should. This is especially true if you encounter a driver without insurance on the road.

A collision with someone who does not have car insurance is bound to have serious consequences.

If you live in an at-fault state, the damage escalates beyond standard claims practices because these states require a fault assessment. Even before your car insurance company pays you a dime, they need to know who caused the collision.

If it is the other driver and they have no real protection, you could be in for a long legal battle. It may take weeks or months before you receive any type of compensation. This can severely inconvenience your lifestyle and make it difficult for you to travel to work each day.

Liability Coverage Keeps Medical Payments Low

The legal team from Law.com defines liability as a person’s responsibility from a legal standpoint for their actions or omissions. To put this in simple terms, you have a legal responsibility for anything you do or fail to do.

Since many car accidents are not malicious or intentional, you should understand the results still require protection. Of course, anyone who blatantly causes a collision in an attempt to defraud his or her auto insurance company has different consequences. In this case, the term generally refers to innocent people who make errors in judgment or common errors while driving.

When you have liability bodily injury coverage, you can relax and maintain a worry-free attitude because you know your selections will protect you from lawsuits resulting from high medical bills incurred by your accident victims. Your policy addresses such issues as damaged property and minor to serious injuries.

You need to keep in mind that your coverage level has a lot to do with the amount of money the victim receives, so be sure to calculate the correct amount. Overall, you can go along with your normal routine in most circumstances.

Choosing Collision Car Insurance Pays Off

Mitchell International, a leader in developing industry trends shows the repair revenue for auto body shops increased to $30 billion last year. This is an increase of 5% from the previous year. The average driver who filed a collision damage claim with their car insurance company contributed heavily to this number.

Clearly, this type of coverage pays off because of the minimal out-of-pocket expense to the car owner. In cases of collision claims, your financial responsibility begins and ends with the deductible. Your auto insurance provider pays for everything else.

In extreme situations, where the damage outweighs the value of the vehicle, your car insurance company also has an option. To prevent massive losses, they may remove the vehicle from their books and change the status from damaged to totaled. This helps balance their profit margin because they still need to pay you, but instead of giving you the money to restore the vehicle, they pay the current value only. In this case, the payment is much lower than the cost to repair the damage.

Since the insurance company received regular monthly or annual payments from you, they are really just using your money.

Comprehensive Car Insurance Means No Concerns

Have you ever walked away from your car with a sinking feeling only to return to an empty parking spot? If you experienced the loss of your vehicle due to theft, you know it is one of the most disheartening events you can go through.

Even if the FBI does show a national decline of 7.4% in auto theft, it can still happen to you.

What happens when a hurricane or tornado strikes your hometown and you suffer property damage on a colossal level? What will you do now? According to the statistics provided by Wunderground.com, Hurricane Katrina caused $105 billion in damage back in 2005.

To date, people still feel the effects of this horrific, natural disaster. Some areas of New Orleans remain untouched by clean-up efforts because of the widespread devastation.

For people who have comprehensive auto insurance, a violent storm or other kinds of destructive acts carry a lower level of concern. They know that they have sufficient protection against these types of issues. When something unplanned happens, whether it is from theft, nature or vandalism, comprehensive coverage can put you in a better frame of mind.

Comprehensive automobile insurance often comes with a hefty price tag. If you were to review your current policy, you might find the rate for this level of coverage is substantially higher than collision and liability. However, because you have protection from a multitude of events, it is worth the rate. After all, you cannot place a value on resting easy knowing your problems have a solution.

Mechanical Breakdown after the Warranty Expires

Many auto insurance companies offer something called mechanical breakdown insurance coverage because nothing lasts forever. Have you ever noticed that your car starts to have problems as soon as your manufacturer’s warranty expires? You might even start to think the warranty has a jinx attached.

The truth is you are not alone and if you think your standard auto insurance policy has you covered; think again. You probably do not have protection against these types of issues and handling an internal problem is just as costly as a collision.

Another factor is your vehicle may have engine problems or electric issues after an accident and your car insurance will not cover this either. What you need to do is consider purchasing mechanical breakdown protection as an add-on.

For a few extra dollars every year you can stop worrying if your vehicle does not respond when you crank the ignition or worse, clunks out on the highway.

For most new cars, you can find coverage that requires a small deductible of about $250 to provide approximately 100,000 miles of protection.

It works similar to the warranty in that your miles or years dictate the length. If you drive fewer miles, you can extend your coverage to the full time period of the agreement. More miles will decrease coverage.

Car Rentals Can Be Expensive

The average cost per day to rent a compact car is approximately $35 to $50 depending on your state. If you find yourself without access to your own vehicle this expense could start to add up. Car rentals are not just for vacations as many people utilize this type of service when they need repairs made to their personal automobile.

You could have an accident and need to bring your car to the body shop for repairs. Many times if the damage is severe, they could have your car for a week or more. The majority of the time, they need to wait for your car insurance company to approve the work before they begin.

This means you could be out of a vehicle for a while. You still need to go to work every day and for some a rental car is the best option. To take advantage of this opportunity, make sure you speak with your auto insurance representative or agent and find out the annual cost of rental coverage. You might be shocked to find that it is not as expensive as you thought.

If you do not have this additional benefit included in your auto insurance policy, you will need to come up with extra money and fast. To rent a car you will need some type of deposit and it is not cheap. The price usually begins at around $400 and you do not receive the refund until you return the vehicle. They also make deductions to your deposit if you fail to fill the gas tank or do not return it on time. Soon you could see your deposit dwindle far below the original amount.

In addition, you still have the car insurance deductible to worry about and depending upon your insurance, it could be as high as $1,000. This means you could shell out at least $1,400 up front, before you even have approval to get your car fixed. Finally, the car rental charge is a daily amount and that comes out of your pocket as well.

It seems like a better decision is to pay for the rental car option through your auto insurance provider. At least you know that you will not have to make extra payments for an alternate mode of transportation.

Guaranteed Auto Protection for New Car Owners

If you just purchased a new car and have a devastating accident, no worries, your car insurance company will pay for the damages. However, if they decide the car has depreciated in value and the damage is too great, you may be in trouble. That is unless you have GAP insurance.

GAP insurance is something that most new car dealers offer to people who finance their vehicles using a bank or other lending institution.

When you sign your loan agreement, you oblige yourself to their requirements. Virtually 100% of all of these contracts stipulate you must make payments until the loan reaches zero. This is regardless of what happens to your car.

If your car is stolen or damaged too badly, your car insurance company settles the claim with you and clears you from further financial responsibility. However, the bank still wants their money. They have the title and no car. This means you had better work something out and quick or legal action quickly emerges.

If you have GAP insurance coverage, the provider will contact the lien holder and make sure they receive compensation. You are in the clear and can go out and purchase another vehicle.

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