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.
Cheap Car Insurance Liability Coverage Only
Reader question:
Okay, I got into a car accident, and I didn’t outright cause it, but if it weren’t for certain physical limitations of mine, it wouldn’t have been as bad as it was. Will I still be able to make a car insurance claim for my injuries?
Lucy
That’s a great question, Lucy.
On every subject, there is a situation that is not as clear as others. While it is easy to say who is at fault when someone rear ends another car, it is a bit more difficult to say if someone had some sort of fault if their eyesight was not in good enough shape to be able to drive in the safest way possible on the road. If you have some type of physical limitation that makes you wonder if some of the negligence in an accident may be put on you, then this might make you think as little bit.
There are many physical limitations that have an effect on driving, and one of the main ones is eyesight. This is one reason why car insurance companies often only give discounts for senior physical car insurance liability premiums if those seniors get regular exams to make sure that they are in the best shape to be driving. There comes a point when simple corrective lenses do not work. However, most people are able to wear glasses and contacts to solve this problem. Then there are other situations–perhaps someone has a leg that shakes a little bit, which caused them to put their foot on the gas and make a accident caused by someone else worse.
There is an expectation from the car insurance company that a driver who has certain limitations will take certain measures that may be necessary to lessen or get rid of the impact that their problem might have on their driving. For this reason, there might not be an excuse if someone with very bad vision goes driving without their glasses. However, there are some conditions which may slightly worsen an accident, although not causing it, which are normally not dangerous and can not be expected to be taken care of in any other way; or if someone has already accounted for their physical limitations and is driving safely.
The truth is that the final responsibility falls on the person who caused the accident. It is their responsibility to make sure that it is safe for anyone who may be driving on the road or their property, regardless of their physical limitations. If someone plows into the side of your car, then it is not your fault that you were put into that situation, because that was due to their own negligence. Therefore, in most cases, you are not at all at fault.
However, there are some instances in which the situation may become a little more murky, such as if your problem should have been taken care of before you went driving or if it contributed more significantly to the damages. In these cases, it would be wise to hire a car insurance liability claim attorney, who can help you navigate the claims system and get the negligence quotient that you deserve.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Cheap Used Car Insurance Quote – How Much Should You Spend On Liability Only?
Reader question:
I have a 1987 sedan that I don’t use, but I own it. Do I have to get used car insurance coverage for it anyway?
Sam
That’s a great question, Sam.
The answer to that is dependent on where you live, though. The state car insurance laws are pretty mixed up on this point, because some states require you to have used car insurance coverage even if your car is propped up on blocks of wood in the front yard. In New York, you have to have auto insurance so long as you own a vehicle and have the title, or are buying a vehicle, and it is of no consequence that you aren’t actually using that vehicle. In order to be excepted from this rule, you would have to give evidence through a certain form that your car is not only unused, but unusable, or that you have sold it to another person or to a junk yard.
If you don’t want to get in trouble by falling victim to a random check of car insurance, then I would advise you to do yourself a favor and look up your state’s department of insurance website to find out what kind of laws your state has concerning this.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Do You Need Gap Insurance When Buying A New Car?
Reader question:
If I have to get a new car as a result of a car insurance accident, does my gap new car insurance coverage take care of the down payment for my new vehicle?
Britney
No, it does not, Britney.
Unfortunately, there is a reason why you have to be way more careful when you own a new car, and that is because even with gap new car insurance you will be entirely responsible for getting yourself a new vehicle. The reason for this is that gap insurance has one purpose only, and that is to create a bridge between what your car is worth and what you owe. For example, the car that I am purchasing right now is worth fifteen thousand dollars, but I still owe eighteen thousand dollars on it. This is called an upside down loan, and it means that you owe more for a car than it is actually worth. This happens a lot with new cars, which are worth a lot straight off the assembly line but depreciate rapidly.
If I had gap insurance (and I do), then if I got into a car insurance accident I would not have to worry about continuing to pay on a car that I know longer have. My collision coverage will give me the fifteen thousand dollars that my car is worth, and then the gap coverage will provide the other three thousand. However, at the end of all this, while I would be safe from debt, I would still be stuck paying for a new car. I would no longer owe anything on my old car, but the gap insurance does not worry about that, it only worries about bridging the gap between what you owe and what your car insurance coverage is actually worth.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Cheap High Performance Car Insurance
Reader question:
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.
Should My Car Insurance Pay for a Dent From a Parking Lot?
Reader question:
I went grocery shopping the other day and and when I came out of the store, there was a big dent in the back of my car that hadn’t been there before. Of course, no note at all. What part of my car insurance coverage takes care or this type of damage?
Juan
Thank you for asking, Juan.
In your case, you are going to want to make a car insurance claim using your collision coverage. Collision coverage is most often known to apply to any vehicle that has gotten into an at fault accident, where liability of the other driver does not extend to their vehicle. Car insurance coverage for this type of damage could also fall under comprehensive, but in a different situation.
You might wonder why it is that collision coverage is needed if you can’t be sure that another vehicle was involved. You also might wonder why it is that whoever caused the dent does not have to pay with their auto insurance liability coverage. Both are valid questions, and to the first one I’d say that there isn’t much rhyme or reason to it, it’s just the way the auto insurance business works. As to the second one, you could do that if you know who the driver is. If you see the driver run into your car and cause the dent, or if they leave contact information on your car so that you can make a claim with their auto insurance company, then you don’t have to make a car insurance claim with your own company at all.
Also, not in every situation would a dent be covered under collision coverage. If the cause of the dent was, say, a shopping basket colliding into the back of the car, and you saw this and didn’t just guess it, or someone else saw it, then so long as you didn’t know the person who did it you could make a claim under your comprehensive coverage, because that is what would apply.
Now, one more question that might be remaining is, would your auto insurance rates go up for a dent that you claimed for under collision coverage, since collision coverage is usually used when you get into an at fault accident? Ninety nine percent of the time it would not, because most car insurance companies do not go by what type of coverage you filed the claim under, but instead by who caused the accident. It is obvious in this situation that you did not. Some car insurance companies are very draconian, though, and your rates would indeed go up so long as your state allowed it. However, in many cases it would not be necessary to even file a claim because if you have a higher deductible you can usually fix a dent in a car for much less than the deductible. If you want to stay on good terms with your auto insurance company, though, you should at least advise them of the incident.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Who’s Auto Insurance Company Should Pay After a Collision?
Reader question:
Me and my girlfriend bought a car together, and she co signed. We are no longer going out and haven’t been for awhile, and I think she moved out of state. But last week I got into an auto insurance collision and my vehicle was declared a total loss, so now I have to replace it. Am I allowed to do that without her permission?
Mike
Thank you for your question, Mike.
There would be no problem at all with you being able to get a new car if she co signed for the old one with you. You might come up against problems if the thing that you were trying to do was sell the car, because as long as her name is on the vehicle’s title, a transfer of title does require the consent of both parties. However, that is not the case with you, so I advise you not to worry.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
At Fault Car Insurance Accident – Who Should Pay The Claim?
Reader question:
If I’m changing lanes and somebody in the lane I’m changing to is pulling out of a parallel parking spot, who is the at fault driver if we get into an auto accident?
Jerry
That’s a good question, Jerry.
It all depends on the timing of your little collision ballet, actually. For example, of the other car started pulling out before you started changing lanes, then that would bring one result. But if you started changing lanes before the other car began to pull out, then it would bring another. IT just goes to show how similar situations can be and how different the results are.
From the situation you describe, though, I want to say that it is most likely that the onus of the accident would be on the person who was changing lanes. The reason for this is, to begin with, that any time you collide with someone in a car insurance accident from behind, you are almost always at fault. This even applies when somebody slams on their brakes and then you run into them. The reason for this is that your car insurance company expects you to practice defensive driving techniques, which would have helped you avoid an accident.
It is also probable that if you started to change lanes and the other person started to pull out at the same time, that it would be a case of shared negligence. That way you would be considered responsible for a certain percentage of the other person’s damage, and they for a certain percentage of yours, depending on how much they are considered to be at fault in this car insurance accident. Either way, the person who ended up paying more would be the lane changer.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Why Should I Lower My Car Insurance Deductible?
Reader question:
What is the effect on your car insurance premium if you lower your auto insurance deductible?
Amy
Good question, Amy.
The greatness of the effect of a lowering of your car insurance deductible on your premium depends a lot on what good of a driving history you have. For example, someone who has a very good driving record would not have as much of a negative effect from lowering their car insurance deductible as someone who already has a couple of speeding tickets under the belt. Why is that? Mostly it is because the way the car insurance company charges you for your auto insurance premium depends mostly on how likely you are to get into a car accident, so if you have a five hundred dollar deductible for a good driver premium, it’s not as big a deal that they would have to pay more on the off chance that you get into an accident in which you are at fault, because it is very unlikely that you will get into such an accident. Do you see what I mean?
However, it does not matter so much how good your record is if you want to keep your auto insurance premium low, because regardless, if you lower your car insurance deductible then your premium will go up. It just might go up less if you lower it with a good driving record.
One thing you should remember before lowering your car insurance deductible is that raising the deductible is one of the best ways for you to save money on your car insurance. It is one of the things that I always suggest to people who want to do so. Before you consider lowering your deductible, think about why you are doing it. Do you not want to be inconvenienced out of the higher deductible if you get into an accident? Think about the fact that higher premiums will inconvenience you out of way more money than a one time deductible. Don’t go ahead with lowering your car insurance deductible unless you know for a fact that you would be unable to afford to pay the higher one if you ever got into an at fault car insurance accident.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Do You Really Need Uninsured Auto Insurance Coverage
Reader question:
What happens if I get crashed into by somebody who doesn’t have auto insurance coverage? For the record, I do carry uninsured motorist coverage. Is my car insurance going to give me my damages, and then chase after the uninsured driver to get from him what they paid out to me?
Lynn
That’s a good question, Lynn.
The first question that you should ask in this situation is what the policy of your company and state is. Some companies would do this, others would not, and certain states have laws concerning lawsuits against uninsured drivers. However, I would say that it is very likely that if this happens, then your insurance company would subrogate (go after with a lawsuit, as you might say) the insured driver.
First of all, you say you have uninsured motorist coverage. This will take care of all of the damages that a motorist’s liability insurance would normally pay for. While your car insurance company is able to subrogate the other driver, you are also allowed to go after him or her in order to get compensation for any emotional or other long lasting struggles that yo have faced.
When in doubt as to your options, consult with an attorney. If you intend to file lawsuit against the uninsured motorist that your auto insurance coverage took care of, then you will need to have legal consultation.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
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