How can I get cheap car insurance? I don’t have a bunch of money and my car is not worth a bunch

Malen

Baltimore, MD

You can head right away to the insurance shop and save time-but you will be wasting a lot of money. Take time to know more about yourself and what it is in you that you could take advantage of to save on your car insurance rate.

You probably heard how high your neighbor paid for his teenage son’s insurance. Teens are statistically found to engage more in accidents so they are charged higher. The rates are even greater if they are male. The only time they can get lower rates is when they reach 25. If you are under this age, it is better to enroll in an advance driving course to save a few dollars. You can also avail discounts if you perform good in school. If you fall between 50 to 65 age brackets, you have the lowest rate in relation to your age. But don’t expect to have low rates if you are a 50-year old doctor.

Medical doctors get paid big time, but they also have heavy premiums-second highest, just a little under students. So if you are a farmer or firefighter, bring validations of your employment because your job has the lowest rate. Pilots, politicians, and homemakers have the least accident rates. Hence, they have the lowest rates in relation to their job. Soldiers, active or retired, are also rewarded for serving the country and they are expected to get at least 2 to 15% off their insurance rates.

You can get more savings if you pick the same company that insures your house or other properties. You may also insure your motorcycle in the same company.

While you have read that it is important to shop around to get the best quotes, it is even more important to continue shopping around. It does not mean that you have to settle once you have chosen your carrier. You must do a regular comparison of quotes, e.g. every 4-6 months. The dollars you save will surely be worth your time.

I am shopping for a used car in Tulsa Oklahoma, and have learned from a co-worker that it is more costly to insure a red car than other colors, is this correct?

Melanie

Tulsa, OK

No Melanie, the color of the car is not generally one of the factors that are being considered by a car insurance company in Tulsa, OK to use as a rating factor. The type of car, such as sports, sedan, minivan, etc is taken into account though and can influence or affect your insurance rates. It is a common misconception that certain colored vehicles, such as red and silver, costs more to insure but that is not so.

The myth is out there that a silver or red car costs more to insure but in all actuality car insurance companies do not consider the color, but they do look at the type of car. If it is a red sports vehicle it will likely cost more than a green family vehicle to insure but because of the powerful engine and accidents statistics relating to sports cars compare to a 4-door family sedan, and not the color.

Some other factors that insurers consider includes your age, the kind of vehicle you drive, your claims history, in some states your credit history and your driving record.

If I am under my parent’s car insurance policy in Alabama, is it possible that I can be a private driver on the insurance policy so if I will get a ticket or accident it would not affect their car insurance rate?

Harry

Mobile, AL

If you are going to be added on your parent’s car insurance policy in Mobile, Alabama as a driver then your driving history will be a rating factor and therefore could affect the car insurance rates.

As a listed driver and licensed household member on the auto insurance policy the insurance carrier will want to check your MVR. Any traffic tickets you are convicted of and accidents you may be involved in will be put on your driving history which the insurance provider would see as part of your Motor Vehicle Record.

Depending upon the insurance carrier’s rating system the accidents or tickets could affect your parent’s auto insurance rates. There is not a way to be on the insurance policy but not have your driving history used as part of the rating process since you are a driver of the vehicles listed on the insurance policy.

Reader’s Question:

How long does a DUI remain on my driving record in Louisville, Kentucky?

Helen

Louisville, KY

Your driver’s license record is maintained by the Transportation Cabinet, Division of Driver Licensing. This agency keeps record of all traffic violations, suspensions, accidents, reinstatement, and assignments to traffic school. If you have any questions regarding your driving record, you may contact them directly.

According to the Kentucky’s driver’s manual convictions of violations stay a part of your driver’s record for a period of 5 years for an operator’s license and 10 years for a commercial driver’s license. It does not say specifically driving under the influence offense here though so you may want to contact the KY Transportation Cabinet to check if this violation is also on your driving record for five years or more.

The penalties for the first DUI offense in Louisville, Kentucky may include:

• $200 – 500 Fine
• 90 Day Alcohol or Substance Abuse Program
• 30 to 120 Day License Suspension
• 2 to 30 Days in Jail
• Possible 48 Hours – 30 Days Community Labor
  

I recently got into an accident while I was driving for school. Should I report this accident to my insurance company? Will he be covered by my insurance? How will that affect my insurance rate? I am 19 years old.

Carl

Las Vegas, NV

Yes.

You should report all accidents to your insurance company, including this one. In most cases, anyone using your car with your permission is covered by your insurance. Your insurance will pay just as if you were the driver. Though in some states, some insurance companies might limit the coverage. Avoid putting your insurance company at a disadvantage in case other people involved in the accident would sue by reporting all accidents, regardless of who is driving your car.

Your insurance should not be affected if you are not at fault in that accident. But if you were at fault, or if you got a ticket for a serious violation such as drunk driving, your rates would certainly increase when you renew your policy. When you get a ticket or get into an accident, you are categorized into a higher risk group of people who have recently been in an accident. It takes you out of the accident-free group that you are supposed to be in before that accident. So better drive safe next time to cut down on insurance costs.

I have a great car but it has a dent on it now, which I found when I came out of the store. Should I make a high performance car insurance claim?

Michael

I’m glad you asked, Michael.

You know, I think that one of the reasons that people can’t get cheap high performance car insurance is because they are too worry some about their vehicles. Now, don’t get me wrong. Most high performance cars are expensive, and thus even the smallest scratch could cost more money than usual to fix. However, you should not compensate for your worry for your vehicle by making a high performance car insurance claim for every little thing that happens. Even if it is something that will cost money to fix, that does not mean that your car insurance company will need to know.

The way I see it is that if something is under your deductible or you are otherwise able to afford to pay for the damages, then most of the time there is no reason to contact your high performance car insurance company unless you are a hundred percent sure that this would not put your clean auto insurance claim record in jeapordy. The reason I say this is, even though auto insurance companies want you to report all accidents in good faith even if you don’t file a high performance auto insurance claim for them, and they won’t punish you after the first couple, once you start a list then you will begin to see that they don’t think you are as good a customer as they thought you were before.

There are some guidelines that you should go by when deciding whether or not to report your high performance auto insurance accident to your company, and I’ll give you a list following this. You should think about these before you decide to call up and advise your company of your dent, although there are always going to be more factors and these should not be the deciding ones for your situation. Here they are.

• Can I pay for this?

This is the number one primary thing that you should consider. I got a dent in my car, too, recently, but I didn’t bother to call up my vehicle insurance company. It will probably cost me around fifty dollars to get fixed, which is five percent of my auto insurance deductible, so it doesn’t make any sense to report it. I can just wait and be lazy and go get it fixed when I’m ready, instead of having to worry about the long problems making a claim with my auto insurance collision coverage.

• Am I alone in this?

Another thing that will obviously play a huge role in you reporting your little accident to your high performance car insurance company is whether or not someone else is involved. If someone else is involved in the accident, then go no further. REPORT IT. I really don’t think there should be exceptions to this guideline, because even if the other person says they are okay and there is no need to report it and claim, that does not mean that it is true.

I’m not saying that the other person is lying, but I am saying that the evidence of damage may not be apparent right away after you get into an accident. The other person might start to feel back pains later that night, or might notice their vehicle making weird noises on the way home. One time I barely nicked a guy, and although there was no outer damage to my car, it wouldn’t start! You never know what will happen. If you get into an accident involving another party, report it.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

This car insurance commercial that I found on YouTube really cracks me up. It sort of embodies the confusion that most people feel when they are trying to hash out their car insurance policy with their company, and everything seems both repetitive and lost on them every time. I’m going to try to help make this feeling a little better by giving you a short guide to different types of car insurance coverage that you might need when you go to get your policy.

• Comprehensive.

Comprehensive coverage is often required if you are financing a vehicle, but is to required by law in any state. This covers any damage or loss of vehicle in the event of a natural disaster, such as a flood or fire, or in the case of theft or vandalism. These are basically accidents that do not involve driving.

• Collision.

This is another type of coverage that might be required by your financer. Collision covers the damages or total loss of your vehicle of you get into a car accident with somebody else and you are the at fault driver.

• Gap insurance.

Third in the financer trilogy, gap insurance picks up where all of your other coverages leave off. In order to get this type of coverage, you have to have the max limits on all of your other coverage. This could be a lot of help if you total a car that you’re still paying on, because the value is often less than what you still owe.

• Liability.

This is the basic car insurance coverage that is required by most states. Liability encompasses three types of coverage, for injury or death to one or more persons, and for property damage. It covers the other driver in the case of an accident in which you are at fault.

• Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.

When a driver causes an accident and does not have enough insurance, or any at all, to cover your damages, this type of car insurance coverage kicks in.

• Personal injury protection.

This is very popular in no fault states, and where it is not required might not be necessary if you have health and life insurance. It kicks in before the other driver’s liability does, and covers you if you are at fault. It handles medical expenses, wage loss, and death.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

I’m adding a teenager to my policy. How do I keep my rates low?

Michael

Good question.

Adding a teenager to your car insurance policy means high costs all around. It could mean the doubling or tripling of the current amount of your auto insurance premium, and because of that the best amount of effort should be put into keeping that premium down, a lot of the responsibility for keeping it down should be put on the shoulders of the teenager. In order to find out who will be best suited to insure you and your teen, you should get free instant auto insurance quotes and compare prices. But that’s not all. While they should naturally try to avoid accidents and drive safely, there are plenty of other ways for them to stay safe on the road and still be saving you money in the car insurance office.

• Driver’s ed.

Most teenagers under the age of eighteen take some kind of driver’s education course before they get their license, as required by law. However, these classes aren’t always considered enough for creating safe drivers. Getting them an additional class in driver’s ed or defensive driving can get you a discount on your car insurance, even though research shows that these classes don’t decrease the amount of accidents.

• Good grades.

Get your kid to study hard in school for their driver’s privileges. The upside of this is that, if your student brings home all B’s or above, most car insurance companies will give you as much as a fifteen percent discount on your premium.

• Mileage.

Many car insurance companies offer discounts for low mileage cars. Usually, this is under five thousand miles every year. If you restrict your teenager’s driving practices and keep the car as strictly school and back affair, then you could save money from a low mileage discount.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

What determines how much car insurance rate are?

Rebecca

Let’s see.

You probably know what factors go into your own car insurance premium, but why is it that, with all of your factors being the same, some car insurance companies have drastically different prices? Are they just over charging? This isn’t always true, although it can be. Generally, the main thing that factors into a car insurance companies average premium price is how much it costs them every year to pay for accidents and all the claimed results thereof. Then there are the normal costs that come with operating a car insurance business, such as advertisement and paying the salaries of all of the workers.

Car insurance companies have to plan ahead in what they charge because, due to the nature of the business, some years they make plenty of money and other years they don’t make much at all. The underwriting goes and comes in cycles. So long as they have enough money from previous years, they are able to handle the bad years, even if a few come in a row. Most companies work like this because they like to have more than necessary so that they can make a profit. As well as that, most of the time the state requires that an insurance company have cash set aside to avoid going under financially. All of these factors affect free auto insurance quote rates.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.