19 Year Old Driver Auto Insurance – Will My Rates Increase?
Reader’s Question:
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.
17 Year Old Teen Driver Insurance Rates In Georgia
A reader today asks: How does one go about obtaining vehicle insurance for a beginner 17 year old driver in Georgia, without paying an arm and a leg?
I think this is a super question to inquire about your teen driver. At 17 years of age this teenage beginner driver, can’t legally enter a binding contract since they are not considered an adult. I would also guess that most teenage drivers would be considered “good” drivers they are still not old enough to sign on the dotted line of the contract.
I would also assume that most vehicle insurance agencies would also require a parent and or a legal guardian to sign the contract and to be financially responsible.
You might want to start off your investigation by making a few phone calls the local insurance carriers in your immediate area and get their opinion on this question.
But I really do not see why you couldn’t get coverage for your teen driver. A better question to ask my be are you going to be able to afford this type of coverage?
You might also want to contact the Atlanta GA car insurance bureau or DMV to ask them if there are any restrictions for obtaining car insurance in Georgia.
Car Insurance Liability Coverage For Seperated Couples?
Reader question:
My husband and I are separated, and I have a question about his car insurance liability coverage. Is there a way that I could limit it so that it doesn’t apply to me?
Nina
I’m glad you asked, Nina.
Unfortunately, when one spouse gets into a car accident and or has a lawsuit brought against them, it usually ends up that both spouses are liable and end up sitting together in the court room while they lose everything they own. This is one of the reason that many couples in this day and age are signing pre nuptial agreements before they get married, so that they can retain their solvency against their spouse’s debts. The problem is, though, that such agreements only apply to wealth accrued and debt from before the marriage itself, so after marriage it is much more difficult.
The best advice that I could give to you at this moment is to get in touch with a lawyer to see what your options are should your husband be the cause of an accident while the two of you are separated. It is possible that, depending on what state you live in, your lawyer could set up something for you that would make it to where you do not have to take part in any of the repercussions of your spouse’s car insurance liability claims.
Failing that, the most foolproof way to get out of this situation is to go ahead and get a divorce. While the two of you are still married, if in name alone it does not matter, you are still economically tied and thus share an often joint culpability for many financial matters. The way to sever this tie is to start the divorce proceedings. While you should never rush into something like that, it is a thought.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Auto Insurance Claim – How To Prove Negligence?
Reader question:
What does it mean to be negligent in an auto insurance accident when making an auto insurance claim?
Mallory
That’s an excellent question.
The word negligent is a term used in the legal sphere to speak of an action that was caused as result of carelessness on the part of the negligent driver. This is often used concerning people, as in a negligent parent is someone who does not watch their child well enough and the child runs out into the woods and is eaten by a bear. In driving, negligent is much the same in that one driver’s careless action causes damage to another person or someone else’s property. For example, say you are passing through an intersection that has stop signs. While you’re in the middle of the intersection, another vehicle drives up to the stop sign that is perpendicular to you, fails to see it, and keeps right on going, and then smashes into the middle of your vehicle. You would have no fault in an accident such as this, because the second driver was completely negligent and didn’t keep an eye out for stop signs and other drivers.
Even direct acts involving the driving itself are not the limits when it comes to the word negligent as it is used concerning auto insurance claims. For instance, say someone who thinks they are especially cool goes driving after dark while wearing dark sunglasses. This person would then have a much lower visibility and could easily miss something and cause an accident. They would be considered negligent, and thus, at fault, because their silliness in wearing the glasses lowered their ability to drive responsibly and thus indirectly caused an auto accident.
Negligence is usually what is used to figure out who is the one who is at fault in a car accident and auto insurance claim, and it isn’t until negligence (or the occasional purposeful act) is found out that someone can be considered the at fault driver. If the other driver in your car accident is found to have acted carelessly, that is, to have been negligent, then they are responsible for any trouble they have caused you. Thi can extend from injuries and damages to your vehicle to anguish that you have suffered from the collision.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
What is The Most Common Auto Insurance Fraud?
Fraud is something that plagues all types of business, and car insurance is no exception. In fact, auto insurance fraud is rising, especially in no fault states where, while the premiums are lower, it is much easier to cheat the system. 
In no fault states, billions of dollars are lost every year into fraud, and it comes in many ways, shapes, and forms. So why should you care? Well, fraud is one of the largest factors into the rise of auto insurance premium rates everywhere, and while sometimes it is out of your control, there are several things that you can do to prevent it.
I know what you’re thinking. Tell me everything! Patience, now. Fraud is a difficult subject, and it is one that you have to be very sensitive to when you want to stay above the water in car insurance. You might think that it doesn’t affect you directly, but some kinds of fraud can end up with you implicated as an accomplice to the crime, even if you never had a hand in any of it. Even if you do end up being proved innocent, the court costs are phenomenal, and it’s just another good reason to keep aware of fraud.
So how can you protect yourself from fraud? The first step is to
DOCUMENT EVERYTHING.
This will help you if you are involved in repair shop fraud, for one. The way that this kind of fraud happens is when repair shops report the details of what about your car needs to be fixed incorrectly, so that they end up being paid more for repairs that they didn’t do or being paid too much for repairs that they did do. Documenting isn’t the only way to stay on top of this. You should shop around for a repair shop if given the option, and thoroughly discuss the problems with your vehicle with the repair shop so that it is clear what is getting fixed, why, and what is being charged from the beginning.
Another example of fraud where documentation comes in hand is when someone else instigates an accident with you on purpose. Keep track of their story at the time of the accident, in case it changes later. Take pictures of the vehicles, so that they can’t claim bogus repairs. Make sure you get a police report. Or avoid it all by practicing defensive driving.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
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