Car Accident in Iowa How Will it Affect My Auto Insurance
Reader’s Question:
I got into a car accident in Davenport, IA where an insured motorist ran a red light and totaled my car. I did not have car insurance at the time which I got ticketed for since it is an Iowa law, but I was just switching policies. Will this make a difference in the at fault party’s insurance paying for my medical bills and my car damages?
Judith
Davenport, IA
The state of Iowa does not have a compulsory insurance law but does require motorist to be financially responsible for car accident damage or injury. This means that Davenport, Iowa motorists are not required to carry Iowa car insurance, but if they do not they will need to provide another form of financial responsibility such as a bond. According to Iowa law, motorists that choose to provide proof of financial responsibility with Iowa car insurance must be covered for bodily injury and property damage liability. The minimum amount of these coverage’s allowed is 20/40/15. This represents that you must carry $20,000 for bodily injury per person, $40,000 for bodily injury per accident and $15,000 for property damage per accident.
The Iowa Financial and Safety Responsibility Act law protects Iowa drivers by suspending the driving and registration privileges of any individual who has not been able to provide financial responsibility following an accident. It also makes sure that any individual who had his/her driving privileges suspended or revoked because of certain convictions, an unsatisfied judgment, or a violation of implied consent laws, will be able to financially compensate others for future damages or injuries that the driver may cause.
Even though you may be facing hefty penalties for being without insurance at the time of the accident, since you were not at fault, normally you would be able to make a claim with the at-fault party’s liability policy for your injuries and the car’s damages. I suggest you check with their insurer on how you would go about making your insurance claim.
I Just Want Liability Only Car Insurance – How Much Is It?
Reader question:
Right now I’m purchasing a car through a finance company. At what point am I able to get rid of the comprehensive and collision car insurance coverage and take it down to the minimum personal injury and property damage liability?
Isabel
That’s a good question, Isabel.
It really depends on what it says in your vehicles contract. For most vehicles, and probably all vehicles, which are purchased with the add of a financing institution such as the car dealer ship or a bank, extra coverage for comprehensive and collision, and sometimes gap coverage, is required until you have finished paying of your loan from the financial institution and they no longer have the risk of you ending your payments with them when the car has not been entirely bought. There are some dealer ships and banks that are more strict about this than others, but for the most part the best idea is for you to understand what your contract says and, if you have any questions, for you to just call up your dealer ship or where you got the loan from and ask what the policy is in regards to dropping your car insurance coverage for your new vehicle.
For the most part, though, in order for you to get rid of your extra required coverage on your vehicle, what you must first have is the pink slip noting that you have paid your new vehicle off completely, and a title in your hand allowing that you are the sole owner (unless you have a co signer, of course) of the vehicle in question. If you don’t have this, then you are in essentially a joint agreement between yourself and the financial institution that financed your purchase of the car. What’s yours is theirs and what’s theirs is theirs. If you decide to drop youtr coverage before the time comes up, they could either be surprisingly nice, or they could assert their ownership and repossess this car. Most financial institutions will try to get you to get insurance on your own first, because it is a lot more beneficial to them if you keep making payments on your car than it is if they have to sell it for a very depreciated price, so you probably wouldn’t have it repossessed right away.
Consider that it is not only in your vehicle insurance company’s interest, or in the financial institution financing your car’s interest that you have insurance on your new vehicle, but also in yours. It protects your health, your vehicles, and most importantly, your finances and credit report. While it’s good to have liability for the case of you causing an accident, the same important must be put on the other cove rages, because you can be in just as big a problem for having no insurance on a vehicle that you still haven’t paid off.
If you really are having a hard time trying to pay your car insurance coverage premium, then you should try alternative ways of making your bill smaller. You can try raising your deductible and asking for discounts, as well as getting instant online car insurance quotes from different companies.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Are You Looking For Cheap Florida Car Insurance?
Florida has two kinds of laws when it comes to car insurance. First there is the financial responsibility law, and then there is the no fault car insurance law. What the financial responsibility law does is that it requires you to have coverage for your vehicle if you get into an accident in which you are at fault, so that the other car can be covered by your insurance policy. The limits are lower than for other states, with a 10/20/10 policy required rather than the amounts of other states which tend to be several thousand dollars more. If your license is suspended, you have too many traffic violations, you get into a car accident, or you are caught driving drunk, then you will need to prove financial responsibility.
If one of those above things happens and you aren’t insured in Florida, then you will have your license revoked for a period of three years. The only way to avoid this is to get Florida car insurance before the suspension of your license. It’s possible to get it very soon afterwards, but then you will have to pay a couple hundred dollars to get your license backed. Once you are with a car insurance company, they will have to file an SR 22 form in order to prove that you are insured with them, and SR 22 insurance tends to cost more than other types.
Florida is not new with its policy of having car insurance companies tell the DMV whenever they sell a new policy or when another one isn’t renewed. The DMV is informed that your car insurance policy is either canceled or not renewed, then you wil be required to prove that you have insurance or turn in your license plates. If you don’t do either of those, you’re looking at a license suspension of three years, yet again. No fault car insurance comes with its own requirements for coverage, and those are $10,000 PIP (personal injury protection) and $10,000 PDL (property damage liability). Unlike the minimum under the financial responsibility law, these amounts apply to you and your vehicle. This simplifies the claims process by keeping you with your own car insurance company.
Every time you lapse in your car insurance, the amount that you’ll have to pay to keep it goes up. The first time it’s one hundred and fifty, the second it’s two hundred, and the third it’s a whole five hundred dollars. Even if you don’t live in Florida for the whole year, so long as your car is there for three months (which don’t need to be all together), you have to be insured. One of the exceptions is if you use your car entirely for business, such as if you ar a taxi driver. If this is the case with you, then you don’t have to have insurance. However, if you get into a car accident while you are not insured, then after that you will be required to have SR 22 car insurance, which is more expensive.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
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