How Do I Lower My Car Insurance Rate?
Reader’s Question:
How do I lower my car insurance rates?
Jim
Wilmington, DE
There are a lot of ways to lower your auto insurance rates. Here are a few simple tips on how you can save on you car insurance rates
1. Shop around. Check car insurance company websites and compare rates and quotes.
2. make sure that the quotes that you’re comparing are for the same coverage.
3. Request for higher deductibles for comprehensive and collision coverage.
4. Ask about discounts that you can take advantage of|
5. Maintain a clean driving record and credit history.
One of the best ways to lower your annual premiums is to have a higher deductible amount.. Like a $1,000, is what I carry personally.
Now, if you are a claim free and safe driver like I am, you could be saving a ton of money each year on your premiums. People fail to realize that the deductible amount is only paid when they file a claim and their insurance company pays that claim.
Ask for discounts, you never know what you might be able to get and how much you can save by asking. Some popular discounts can be given for:
1. Military personnel
2. Good grade students
3. Union membership and bank member affiliations
4. Safe drivers with no claims in last 7 years
5. Defensive driving school attendance
6. Clean credit history – used by many carriers to determine payment risk
Car Insurance And Your Credit Score – How It Affects Your Rates
Reader’s Question:
Why do car insurance applications include questions about for credit history or if you have claimed bankruptcy in the past?
Sarah
Birmingham, AL
There is much debate over the use of credit scoring to determine car insurance rates. There have been similar issues in the past with regards of using age, marital status, sex, etc.
Car insurance rates are not solely calculated based on credit score. There are other factors such as the type of car, where you live, driving record, etc. The purpose of getting all of this information is to correlate the insurance rate as closely as possible with the actual cost of potential claims. That is essential to understand.
Using insurance carrier statistics it is known that motorist with bad credit record historically file more accident claims than motorist with good credit. Credit score may also determine whether an applicant is likely to pay premiums in a timely fashion.
Auto Insurance Terminology
Reader’s Question:
What does it mean when you say “list only” status of a driver?
Ashley
Kansas City, MO
Each insurance providers has their own terms they use when they rate an individual for a insurance policy or how they list an individual on a policy. Each state has different requirements for residents of a household and how they are listed, excluded, rated, or excluded with surcharge on an insurance policy.
Some states require that all residents be listed on an insurance policy, however in some situations you may want to exclude coverage for a resident (due to that individual never been licensed, having other insurance, etc).
You may contact the insurance provider that you saw using these terms to know exactly their intended meaning.
Since insurance companies have their own different definitions for motorist’s statuses, consult with the insurance carrier you know that is using this specific auto insurance terminology or read through the terms of their policy to verify what their intended definition is for “list only” drivers.
Santa Ana, California Auto Insurance
Reader’s Question:
I bought a car in my name in Santa Ana, California (CA), and I need insurance for it but my license has been suspended. Can I insure my vehicle to someone else’s name or, can I insure it with suspended license?
Matt
Santa Ana, CA
Even though your driver’s license is suspended, some insurance companies will permit you to insure your vehicle.
There are some insurance company that will allow it, but they will require you provide them proof of it’s reinstatement within 30 days from your policy’s inception date. Otherwise, they will cancel your policy.
There are also insurance providers that will permit someone else to insure your car in their name, even if that individual has no insurable interest in your car. Those carriers are limited and they do require the owner to be listed as a driver on the insurance policy. Under certain circumstances you may be listed on the policy, but you would not be included and not covered under the policy terms.
Car Insurance Information
Reader’s Question:
If I pay my car insurance every month, does it helps me to build good credit standing?
Gene
Sacramento, CA
Typically car insurance premiums are not paid on a loan contract, but rather directly to the insurance providers. You pay for future coverage and if you don’t pay, then you wont have future coverage, therefore no credit is being given to the consumer. In some circumstances, you may finance your premium through a premium finance contract but those contracts don’t report to a credit bureau and like I said if you don’t pay the collateral (coverage) is removed.
If you have unpaid premiums or outstanding balances for coverage received then a company will try to collect. If they can’t collect they may forward to a collection agency. Those will for sure negatively affect your credit rating.
Not having a credit history can make it hard to get insurance, buy a car or get a house mortgage. A credit score is assigned by many insurance providers and it is based on your credit history including such things as bill paying history, late payments, the number and type of accounts you have, collection actions and outstanding debt. Your payment history typically makes up the most important aspect of this, about 35 percent usually.
Dallas TX Car Insurance Question
Question: How does one go about obtaining vehicle insurance for a 17 year old driver in Dallas, without paying an arm and a leg?
Comment: I think this is a super question to inquire about your teen driver. At 17 years of age this teenage driver can not legally enter a contract since they are not considered an adult. I would assume that most teenage drivers would be considered “safe” drivers they are still not old enough to sign the insurance contract.
I would also assume that most insurance companies would require a parent and or a legal gaurdian to sign the contract and to be financially responsible for the vehicle and the driver’s actions.
I would start off your investigation by making a few phone calls the local insurance carriers in your area and get their opinion on this question.
I really do not see why you could not get decent coverage for your teen driver, but a better question might be are you going to be able to afford this type of coverage?
You might also want to contact the Dallas car insurance bureau or DMV to ask them if there are any restrictions for obtaining Dallas auto insurance in your area or specific situation.
Car insurance claim left
I was thinking about it after my last post, and I realized that I have another example of a type of accident that is almost always a one way thing. Like I said before, these sorts of accidents are pretty common, and when they happen there’s little to no hope for you to prove that the person who seems to be obviously at fault was not, and the person who seems to be obviously the victim was actually at fault. There are rare situations in which this is possible, but normally it is hard to prove.
The new example that I have is of a left turn accident. This means that a car making a left turn gets hit by a car turning straight. It is normally very difficult to prove that the car turning left was not at fault, because there are certain requirements and responsibilities placed on the car that is turning left.
What are the exceptions? There may be an exception if:
- the car that is coming straight is going at a particularly high speed. This is because, normally, a car can gauge whether or not they can go by noting how fast the car before them is going. If the car coming in the opposite direction suddenly speeds up when the car was partially across the intersection, then the car that was turning left is usually not liabile.
- the car that is coming straight has run a red light. This is consistent with the use of traffic violations committed by the other driver to prove that they are the at fault driver–make sure you get witnesses, pictures, statute number, and a police report in your favor for the easiest results.
- the car that is going left has to go slower or come to a stop for some reason that was not expected. This is a tough one, because the car turning left is not supposed to even start going until it can be sure that it can make it across the intersection safely, according to the rules of right of way. However, let’s say that a deer runs out into the street while the car is turning left, and so the car has to stop because it would normally be worse to hit the deer than to stop–you can’t run over a deer. The car going straight then runs into the left turning car. In this case, the negligence might be entirely on the car going straight, because it might have been going to fast, or it could be shared. It’s hard to give proof in situations like these (okay, the deer one might be easy, but in your typical situation it isn’t).
Knowing which type of accidents are car insurance claim givens is key to making the car insurance claim process easier for you. If you get into an accident like this and it is one of the exceptions to the rule, then you know right away that this is something that you have to be very careful about and document more.
Certain car insurance claim
Reader question:
Are there certain types of accidents for which you don’t have to go through all the car insurance claim hassle?
Beth
That’s a great question, Beth.
Actually, there are. Car insurance companies consider certain types of accidents to be pretty immune to debate when it comes to figuring out who is at fault in a car insurance claim. This makes it much easier for the people involved, and things are solved a lot faster. Like with everything, there are a few exceptions to the rule. However, these are rare and often they don’t even end up with you being completely at fault.
The main car insurance collision claim that would be considered in this category is the rear end accident. The rear end accident is usually caused when one car drives into another cars rear end. This is a pretty cut and dry situation, because it is very hard to simply change the story or manipulate the evidence. There’s a crunched back end bumper on one car, and a crunched up front end on the other. Obviously, these two fit like puzzle pieces.
Some might argue that a car insurance accident cannot be their fault if the person in front of them hit the brakes. Your car insurance company won’t buy that, though. I’m with everybody else in thinking that there is a special place in hell for people who hit the brakes with passion and frequency, but regardless of your feelings, if you had been practicing defensive driving then you would have been far enough behind the other car to have slowed to a stop before coming in contact with them. The usual rule is that you be at least three seconds behind the car in front of you. This may be a difficult distance to determine, since you can’t see seconds, but be generous. You’re only helping yourself.
The reason that rules like that are in place is because there are many excusable reasons to hit the brakes all of the sudden. While the majority of jerk drivers do it because they forgot they needed to turn here, or realized they wanted a hamburger, it could also be because a kid walking home from school darted out into the street. If someone hit their brakes in that instance, and you ran into them, is it their fault? Yet it applies to all situations.
There are some cases in a rear end accident where your car insurance claim rewards might be diminished because you contributed somewhat to the negligence. For example, if you are driving at night and your lights, or even one of them, is out? It is your own fault, because you were putting yourself at danger and in many situations another driver would not be able to see you.
There is the much more rare situation where someone will actually back into another person. This doesn’t often happen in traffic, but I have seen it before, such as when people realize too late that they need to change lanes. However, it does happen. Since you can’t tell from the damages what happened in this case, it would be wise to get the statements of some witnesses.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
What Are The Car Insurance Laws?
Reader question:
When I am filing a car insurance accident report, how will traffic car insurance laws effect who is considered to be the at fault driver?
Ronny
Thanks for asking, Ronny.
I think that one of the greatest ways to get your car insurance accident claim done your own way is to be educated. Be the smart one in the situation, and impress your car insurance claim adjuster with your knowledge. So, let’s begin. What’s a good thing to know about when you need to prove that a car insurance accident wasn’t your fault? Car insurance law and state traffic laws. State traffic laws can be the biggest factor in showing that the other driver, while they may not have been a very direct cause to the accident, was at least reckless or negligent in some manner.
Traffic laws govern the way people drive, and it isn’t very hard to find out which ones rule the roads of your own state. The information is publicly available in your local library. The listing is usually called the complete vehicle code. Other places that you can get a hold of it are law libraries (which you can find in universities, usually, and if you want to find one somewhere else, just check the yellow pages) as well as the department of motor vehicles.
How do you use the complete vehicle code when making a car insurance accident claim? It’s simple, and it doesn’t really take very much time so long as you have a clear idea in your head of the event of your car insurance accident. Just look in the index section of the vehicle code book and try to find any sort of laws that might apply to your car insurance accident claim report. These might be things such as speed limits, or right of way, or stop sign laws. Once you find the laws that apply to you, don’t just scribble a note down. For the best effect, you need to have the entirety of the wording of the law, correctly, as well as the statute number. This way, when you submit it to your car insurance company they will be able to confirm what you are claiming. It is always good to have accurate data and sources when you are using information that is not simply from your memory. It’s the same principle when they require you to submit your medical bills and statements so that they can verify your car insurance accident injury claims.
What happens if you have trouble finding the right laws to apply to your car insurance accident? All you have to do is ask a librarian to help you. They know what they’re doing. This is why I always suggest going to the library over going to the department of motor vehicles–considering that, concerning the latter, we know that they don’t know what they’re doing, and don’t want to help you.
Traffic law violations are also often included in the police report if they happen. If this is the case with your car insurance accident, then you should reference the police report. However, you might find it necessary to look up your law anyway–just for extra back up.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Car insurance accident police report
Reader question:
If I get into a car insurance accident, how am I supposed to prove that I’m not at fault?
Juan
Thank you for your question, Juan.
Many times, when someone gets into a car insurance accident with, say, a pedestrian or someone riding a bike, it is easy to tell who the blame needs to be laid on. The percentage of the blame laid on a certain participant in a car insurance accident is called negligence, and there are many ways in which this kind of negligence can be determined. While common sense always plays a big role in the decisions as to who is at fault for a car insurance accident, what really seals a good car insurance claim case is the presence of a traffic or law violation that can be seen as having caused the accident. Without such a violation on the part of the at fault driver, you may have a tougher case to prove.
The best way to back your story up is to get a police report written up on the accident. This is always done whent he accident involves an injury, but should be done any time you intend to make a car insurance accident claim for the collision. All you have to do is call the police, and they will send some officers over to check out the damage and to take your stories.
Often, a police report will contain what the police officer claims as to who is the at fault driver in the incident. Normally this is stated because the person who is claimed to be the at fault driver appears to have committed some sort of traffic violation and the police officer believes that this puts them rather obviously at fault for the car insurance accident. Other times, while there will not be an outright opinion stated in the police report, the police officer will report any sort of violation that occured, whether a citation was given, and so on, although he or she may not state that it was this that was one of the main contributing factors to the accident. The first situation is pretty bad for the at fault driver, the second slightly better, but still not a good sign.
As the driver who was not at fault, these police reports can definitely be used in your favor, even if the police officer did not stater their opinion. Sometimes in a car insurance accident where there is some dispute as to who caused the accident, it is difficult to get documentation proving it, especially if you can’t contact witnesses who might have been there at the time, or if there weren’t any witnesses at all. In this case, using the police report comes in handy.
But what happens if the police officer who writes the police report about the car insurance accident is of the opinion that you are the one who was at fault for the accident, and you know that you were not? Well, it’s not the end of the world. It is possible, indeed, to fight a police report, but it will be difficult at times. First of all, make sure you have as much of your own documentation as possible, such as pictures and contacts with witnesses. This can be useful if you need to challenge a claim so that you don’t have to py a deductible and your rates don’t increase.
A lot of times, the police report will only have a contributory effect on the final outcome of the car insurance accident claim decision. This is because most car insurance companies have their own investigations, which sometimes take days or weeks and involve experts who might be able to see more details than a police officer would. While the police report does play a part, car insurance companies pay more attention to their own people.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
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