Dec 17
adminInsurances Acts Of God, Adequate Cause, Auto Insurance Policy, Car Accidents, Collision Coverage, Collision Insurance, Collisions, Deductible, Deductible Amount, Deductible Amounts, Deductible Reimbursement, Homeowners Insurance, Insurance, Insurance Company, Insurance Coverage, Insurance Deductibles, Insurer, Object Collision, Reimbursement Policies, Supplemental Coverage, Vandalism, Viceversa
A deductible is the amount of that the insured must pay out of pocket before an insurer will pay any expenses. Typically, a general rule is: the higher the deductible, the lower the premium, and viceversa. Depending on the policy, the deductible may apply per covered incident, or per year. A deductible will apply to claims arising from damage to or loss of the policy holder’s property, whether this damage/loss is caused byaccidents for which the holder is responsible, vandalism/theft or “acts of God”.
For example, a person might have an auto insurance policy with a 0 deductible on collision coverage. If this person were in an accident that did 0 worth of damage to the car, then the insurance company would pay him or her 0. The insured is responsible for the first 0. Insurance deductibles can also differ depending on the cause of the claim.
As an example the typical auto insurance policy contains two deductible amounts one for comprehensive claims and one for collision claims.
Comprehensive and Collision claims
It is a notorious fact that most car accidents happen due to collisions. This is in itself an adequate cause why you should consider purchasing Collision Insurance, a type of Auto Insurance that, less the insurance deductible, covers the damages of the car resulting from a collision with another car or object. Collision coverage reimburses you, less the deductible, for the repairs or replacement costs of your car after an accident. Comprehensive Auto Insurance includes almost everything that might go wrong with your vehicle except collision. This is the reason why Comprehensive plans are sometimes called “Other than Collision” insurance coverage.
Deductible reimbursement policies
There are also policies available called deductible reimbursement policies. A deductible reimbursement or zero deductible policy works as a supplemental coverage to your primary auto, boat or homeowners insurance policy and will reimburse the insured the entire deductible amount in case of a paid claim. A deductible reimbursement or zero deductible policy is usually a good thing to have as most insurance claims are small or partial losses and the deductible limit has been put in place by the insurance companies to prevent the insured from filing these type of claims. The insurance company saves money by not having to administer and pay claims that otherwise would have been covered under the insured’s primary insurance policy. The premium for a deductible reimbursement policy is usually much less than trying to get the same coverage with primary insurer. Check with your insurance agent for details.
Nov 17
adminArticles Act, Adverse Weather Conditions, Auto Insurance, Deductibles, Doing Business, Insurance, Insurance Commissioner, Insurer, Leading The Way, Perfect Market, Policyholders, Premium Rate, Reason, Single Family, State Farm, Variable Percentage
Most of the research shows up to 90% of all policyholders renew automatically. Only the remaining 10% actually consider the possibility of changing insurer and a variable percentage then makes the change. With such a low level of “churn”, insurers have little need to change their products to make them more attractive. There’s no real competition between them to force an improvement in the terms. As a result, insurers tend to act unilaterally, changing the terms with little or no warning given to their policyholders. Although some states have given their Insurance Commissioner the power to intervene, the majority of these changes are waved through. Everyone in “authority” assumes this is a perfect market where you are free to switch to a different supplier if you feel unhappy with the level of service.
So beware changes in the deductible. Up to two or three years ago, almost all insurers offered discounts if individuals opted between deductibles in bands up to $1,000. That’s no longer standard. State Farm is leading the way in forcing an increase in the minimum flat deductible. This is no longer a choice. It’s imposed as a condition of doing business with the company. So, in some states, a single family occupying a home will now be required to pay a minimum of $2,000 towards every claim made. If families bundle home and auto insurance, this is reduced to $1,000. When asked to explain the reason for this increase, the company was remarkably honest. It intends to deter claims. Most people decide not to claim, but pay for their own repairs when the deductible is high. This reflects the fact that most claims are for relatively small amounts and, if claims are made, insurers often retaliate by increasing the premium rate when the policy falls for renewal.
When other companies were asked to justify their increases of both rates and deductibles, the majority spoke about the increasing number of claims made because of adverse weather conditions. This last two years has seen more damage due to winter storms, and spring and fall have seen major tornado and hurricane damage. Indeed, last year saw record payouts by the insurers and this year will see last year’s record broken. If the companies are genuine about having enough cash in hand to repair or replace damaged homes, more money needs to be collected in and less paid out for the smaller claims.
These increases in the deductibles would not be so bad if the insurers were reducing their premium rates. If you deter small claims, there’s a cost-saving to pass on to the policyholders. Sadly, this is not happening in the majority of states. Even more depressing is the number of insurers imposing a change from flat-rate to percentage deductibles. So, if you own a $300,000 home, you could find the deductible ranging between $6,000 and $15,000 for some of the perils covered. Curiously, very few home insurance policyholders have lodged formal complaints with their local Insurance Commissioner. Either they feel powerless or they have yet to realize the change which is not always obvious when the home insurance quotes or renewal notices come in. If you are affected, shop around to find any local insurers who have yet to increase their deductibles.
Nov 12
adminArticles Auto Car, Auto Insurance, Comparison Shopping, Extent, Family Budget, Few Minutes, Insurance, Insurance Agent, Insurance Car, Insurance Costs, Insurance Price, Insurer, Premiums, Quotes, Shop Insurance, Short Overview, Vehicle Insurance
Shopping around for vehicle insurance is one of the best and most efficient ways of getting a policy that will suit all your insurance needs for a good price. And this is important in our time when insurance costs of all types tend to get higher and higher, delivering more and more pressure over your family budget. Still, if you think that shopping around is an easy task you may be a bit surprised when it comes to actually comparing different offers. Comparison shopping also requires some effort and knowledge and this short overview will give you a couple practical tips on how to do it right!
Define your exact needs
The first and foremost thing you should do when buying just any type of insurance is defining your exact needs. Depending on how much coverage you need and what options should be covered the cost of your policy will fluctuate to a great extent from being affordable to very expensive. That’s why you should seat down and think over your insurance needs before doing any kind of quoting. First of all define how much coverage your policy should include since it will have a direct effect on your premiums. Then see what additional types of coverage you might really need and include them too. Once you have a precise list of what your policy should look like only then you may proceed to getting quotes.
Get quotes
Getting quotes is so easy these days. In the past when online quoting wasn’t so widespread you had to visit the insurer’s office, get quotes over the phone or work with an insurance agent just to get an idea of how much will it cost you to get auto insurance for your car. These days it’s much less complicated since there are so many sites you can get quotes from. Sure, other options are still present but the vast majority of customers use the Internet to get all the info they need in a prompt and a convenient manner. Within a few minutes you can get your quotes from just any provider out there. Although, it’s important to get quotes only from companies that are licensed in your area so pay attention when you’re getting quotes. And remember to quote only for the amount and type of policy you’ve defined on the previous stage of your preparations.
Compare the quotes right
So you’ve taken your time to define your needs and got a set of quotes from different providers, what’s next? There’s only one step left yet it is a very important one which isn’t as simple as it may look. Comparing quotes is what may save your money on auto insurance but you should do it right. First of all, keep in mind that the price isn’t the only aspect quotes may be compared by. Besides the actual cost of the policy you should also compare its contents for there may be different provisions and exclusions that can make one policy very attractive and the other one useless. If you happen to have any questions regarding terminology – spend the time on the web to learn the meaning since it not knowing it may have unpleasant effects. And once you’ve done so with all the quotes you’ve selected it’s only a matter of selecting the most attractive and competitive.
Nov 09
adminArticles Alarm System, Auto Insurance Policy, Carelessness, Common Misconceptions, Custom Car Owners, Custom Cars, Custom Insurance, Custom Paint Job, Custom Vehicles, Customized Cars, Fad, Individuality, Insurance Aspect, Insurance Company, Insurance Policies, Insurer, Lcd Screens, Necessary Coverage, Seat Belt, Totality
The fad for custom vehicles has taken over the minds of many car owners in the US. And now you can see a lot of customized cars roaming the streets of suburbs, downtowns, highways and even rural areas. This method of manifesting own individuality is certainly very American in nature since we spend a lot of time in our cars, driving to work, university, mall or the club. But after doing some custom paint job or installing a powerful audio system and LCD screens to the car little custom car owners actually take the time to think about the insurance aspect of their new vehicle. And this can really be important.
One of the most common misconceptions people share about their insurance policies is that the insurance company makes all the adjustments on their own in case you change your vehicle somehow. It’s not only about visual customization. Installing an additional seat belt or an alarm system is also considered as modification. Truth is that you are responsible for informing the insurer and it’s your job to keep the policy up to date with all the changes you make to your vehicle. Some of you may think that it’s not a big problem to keep the policy out of date. However, there could be serious implications due to such carelessness.
When you sign the auto insurance policy the insurer takes the responsibility to cover a specific totality of parts, ie all the parts that your vehicle is comprised of. When you introduce changes to certain parts like boost your engine, improve aerodynamics or even simply change the factory installed seats with custom ones the totality of all the parts becomes different from the one you’ve purchased insurance for. In most cases custom parts cost more than factory installed ones. And the insurance company is likely to pay only for replacing the original ones. So if you do not update your policy after customization you risk lacking the necessary coverage for the new more expensive parts, losing the money you’ve invested into customization. Yet, it can get even worse.
Some auto insurance companies can even deny your claim once they learn that you’ve performed customization without informing them and ended up in an accident. Certain types of custom works can really affect the risk factors associated with a vehicle, making it costlier to repair, more likely to get stolen or simply more prone to being involved in an accident. And insurance companies are really fixed on risk, so when you modify the risk associated with your car without informing the insurer they will get really “upset” when you’ll file the claim. So upset that they will accuse you in breaching the agreements of the policy and deny you with coverage when you really need it.
So, the easiest way to make auto insurance adequate to your customized car is to inform your company about all the changes you perform to your vehicle right after you’ve done it. Your rates can be modified depending on the cost of custom parts installed and the overall risk factor changed. However, it’s much better than risking to get denied of coverage altogether, right?
Sep 16
adminArticles Bad Manners, Commercial Transaction, Conviction, Generous Person, Gift Horse, Gm, High Risk Group, Independent Expert, Insurance, Insurer, Models, New Car, New Model, Pig In A Poke, Premium Rate, Scam Artists, Showrooms, Sounds, Veterinary Science, Volume Sales
In some cases, the idea of looking inside the gift horse’s mouth to see how old it is and judge its health is bad manners. The generous person making the gift would be insulted if you were seen to question the value of the gift. But when you’re looking at a commercial transaction, it’s an idea to have the horse go through a full physical from an independent expert in veterinary science to ensure you’re not buying a pig in a poke. Remember there are a lot of scam artists out there who want your money and would give you nothing in return. Checking you are about to receive what’s being promised is always a good first step to protecting yourself. So have you seen the latest offer from GM? This once-great company is out to rebuild volume sales. To tempt people back into the showrooms, it’s packaging insurance with the car. Yes, friends, if you live in either Oregon or Washington, you can buy one of GM’s new models and get your first year’s insurance without paying another cent. All you have to do is sign up for a new model before September 2011, and you can drive the car off the dealer’s lot the moment the ink is dry on the sale contract. This sounds like a good deal. Is it?
The unknown is how much GM is paying for the insurance. Let’s say you go into a dealership and negotiate a discount in the list price of the vehicle you want to buy. Who’s to say that saving will not pay for your first year’s insurance? The problem with this offer is that you have to buy at the list price or walk away. You cannot refuse the insurance cover and buy the vehicle at a discount. So, if you have a low premium rate on your current car, it may well be worth buying a different new car and staying loyal to that insurer. But, if you are unlucky enough to be a member of a high-risk group, e.g. you have a conviction for driving while intoxicated, this promotion could be good value for you. Let’s assume you still hold a valid license. Instead of being forced to pay the top rates, you get insurance without question. GM guarantees you will be insured when you drive away no matter what your claims record or risk profile. This is not to say the insurer will continue covering you should there be an extravagant claim or claims. But, if you can afford to buy new, you will at least start off with cover.
GM also claims this will reduce the number of uninsured drivers on our roads. This is not real. If people can afford to buy new, they can afford the insurance. The majority of the uninsured are from low-income families who usually buy secondhand. Putting all this together, this could be a good offer for everyone currently paying high car insurance rates. Check out the list prices and see whether you can get discounts that would cover the premiums. If not, buying a new car through this program will save money on your cover. At the end of the year, hopefully with no claims, get multiple car insurance quotes. Hopefully, they will be more affordable.
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