The sum you pay on an once per month basis will rely on how much deductible you need to pay, or what quantity of the up-front costs you are prepared to look after in the event of an accident.

The commonest amounts for deductibles in vehicle insurance are $100, $250, $500, and $1,000, though different firms may offer other alternatives.

The bigger the deductible, or the sum you pay in the event of an accident, the cut your monthly rates will be. So, if you select the lowest deductible, $100, meaning the insurer is responsible for just about all costs, youll finish up paying higher monthly rates. Which option you select ( high deductible / low rates or low deductible / high rates ) will rely upon what you are able to afford and also how often you are expecting to need your insurance. If you have an accident of some sort every couple of months, you’ll probably wish to pay the minimum amount and let the insurer take on the bulk of costs. For safer drivers who have a good driving record, its quickest to go with the higher deductible and pay lower rates instead. Limitations Each insurance firm has a limit to the amount they are going to pay. The rates you have every month will also have an effect on this, so you can decide how high you would like to go for the best limit, without requiring to pay too much every month. The bulk of drivers never need the highest boundaries. How does the limit have an affect on your deductible? Well, you are in charge of paying the quantity of your deductible, naturally, but once the insurer has paid up to the limit, you’ll have to pay any costs over that. To offer you a quick example, we could say your deductible is $500, the limit is $10,000 and damages finish up costing $12,000. You would pay the 1st $500.

The insurance corporation would then pay their $10,000 and you’d be in charge of the leftover $1,500. Your automobile insurance doesn’t need to be confusing. Make the effort to go over the numbers and work out what you’d be able to afford in the red in the event of an accident and how much you are able to afford to pay on an once per month basis.

A little research can go a great distance. Its also useful to speak with the car insurer’s broker who can provide you with a sensible idea of what normal would be for your automobiles age and your driving experience.

Malcolm Tarling of the Association of British Insurers (ABI) suggested that first-time drivers should opt for a lower-priced first car, as insurers take the cost of the vehicle and any parts into account when setting up a policy.

“Be sensible,” he said. “There is no point spending all your money on the car of your dreams if you can’t afford to run it and if you can’t afford to insure it.”

Mr Tarling also explained that the best way for young drivers to save is to shop around. He said that while young drivers will nearly always pay more for their insurance than older drivers, payments can be reduced on some policies if the motorist agrees not to drive at night or pledges to sign up to PassPlus or another post-driver test training course.

Every Investor has previously stated that young drivers can save by purchasing their insurance policies online and ensuring they fill their forms out correctly the first time, as many insurers charge a fee of up to £25 to make an amendment such as correcting a spelling mistake.

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The research, undertaken on behalf of swiftcover.com, found British drivers to be extremely confused as to what is and isn’t covered by their insurance. For example, while eating and smoking behind the wheel might not be a criminal offence, many drivers are not aware that they could be accused of negligence if involved in an accident while smoking or eating; resulting in a drastically reduced payout.

The main findings were as follows:

Driving other people’s cars
Hopping behind the wheel of your partner or friend’s car might seem like a perfectly acceptable thing to do – indeed a third (29 per cent) of drivers polled assumed that they would be insured through their own insurance. In fact, most car insurance policies only insure drivers if it’s included in the small print, and rarely offer more than third party cover.

swiftcover.com’s advice: Don’t just assume you’ll be covered – if you need to drive someone else’s car, check your insurance policy.

Eating, smoking and using a mobile behind the wheel
65 per cent of drivers eat whilst driving and 36 per cent still smoke. swiftcover.com’s poll found that over a fifth of British motorists don’t know whether they would be covered regardless if they were in an accident – in fact they could be caught for negligence if caught eating or smoking while an accident occurred, even if the accident wasn’t their fault.

swiftcover.com’s advice: Drive safe – drivers’ reaction times are 50 per cent slower when on the phone, eating or smoking, whilst the Highway Code recently listed eating and smoking as dangerous distractions.

Underrating your mileage
Not telling your insurer when you exceed your mileage can invalidate your policy. swiftcover.com’s poll showed that a quarter (25.8 per cent) of motorists didn’t know whether driving over their stated mileage would affect their insurance cover – whilst nearly a fifth (16.1 per cent) stated that it wouldn’t.

swiftcover.com’s advice: Keep a check and always inform your insurer if your circumstances change.

Petrol v diesel
Putting the wrong kind of fuel into your car is not something anyone wants to do – but thousands of British motorists each year get it wrong. Unfortunately, this can be a costly mistake – as many policies won’t cover this. Worryingly, 10 per cent of people assumed their policy would cover this.

swiftcover.com’s advice: Always double-check at the pump – an engine strip-down costs thousands of pounds, and this is not something you want to have to pay for.

Tina Shortle of swiftcover.com commented, “While choosing the lowest price car insurance policy is most people’s objective, it is also important to know exactly what is and isn’t covered. Drivers make a lot of assumptions about their policies, so it’s best to read all terms and conditions carefully and to regularly review the terms.”

The research was carried out via Survey Monkey in April 2008 and polled 386 drivers throughout the UK.

Auto insurance today is compulsory in most states. After all, a car is probably one of the most valuable assets that one purchases in a lifetime and it makes a lot of sense that anyone would insure it, especially since costs and damages after a car accident may sometimes even run into hundreds of thousands of dollars. However it makes a difference where and how you buy your policy.

Online policies typically cost 20 to 30 percent less.When thinking about car insurance you need to insure you’ll want enough coverage so you can buy another car in case of theft or in case of an accident.

The website itself helps potential insurers to estimate the actual cost of buying a similar car by providing online licensed insurance tools. On the website one may find tips to reduce your auto insurance premium before you start shopping around and comparing different premiums.

For more information please visit http://syubrawi.com/auto-insurance

Those who oppose the drafted bill say that could change if insurance companies get more control.” The only way to look at this is to see higher rates for drivers, more profits for insurance companies, less power for the people,” said Chrissy Pearson with the state Department of Insurance.Sen. Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, countered that the current system is unfair, with all drivers paying a surcharge that funds a coverage pool for risky drivers.”There are many ways to look at this,” Rand said. “One way is that it would be lower rates for some people who don’t have to subsidize. What we’re trying to do is get the subsidy out of this.”

“This is very easy to make a lot of trite statements about ‘we’re protecting people.’ But this is a very difficult problem to try to get straight,” Rand added. New Jersey has the nation’s highest average premium, $1,184, followed by Washington, D.C., drivers paying $1,183. Drivers in New York, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Florida, Rhode Island and Delaware all pay more than $1,000 a year on average.The Joint Study Committee on Automobile Insurance Modernization will likely only discuss the proposed bill Thursday. Rand said he is not sure whether the panel will vote on it.

We wanted to find out from an insider exactly what goes into those prices and what we can do to keep our car insurance costs down. We talked to Patrick Lawson, a 25-year veteran auto insurance agent.

Bottom line: Premiums

Have you ever wondered how they come up with these numbers? Lawson mentioned the common factors like age, sex, car type and driving record but also noted a new, little known factor. “Companies are now, of all things, checking credit because people with poor credit, statistically, can be susceptible to more claims,” he said.

He explained that some people in these cases are more apt to file a claim instead of settling it themselves because they might not have the means to handle it any other way.

“Insurance is nothing but numbers, and that’s all the industry has to go on is how they make these number come out. And the numbers suggest that people with less-than-perfect credit, sometimes, have a higher probability of claims,” says Lawson.

Regardless of good credit or bad credit, he always recommends that people shop around for car insurance, “Even if you have pristine credit, some companies put more of a value on credit than others,” he said. “You can’t make a blanket statement, but what you can say is it pays for everybody to shop around a little bit because it’s well worth it.”

He said that some car insurance companies have bad experiences with drivers and some have more positive experiences so, “You as a consumer, have the job to find the ones that are having the good experiences.”

Once you find a car insurance company that provides the services you’re looking for, keep in mind that the prices themselves are fixed by the insurance company, so haggling with your agent is out of the question. “Whatever the price is, it is,” he said.

Things to avoid

Many of us have let someone else borrow our car for a short time. Maybe we’re hurt and can’t drive, a friend needs a car for the day, or we simply just don’t feel like driving. Lawson says that lending your car to the wrong person can be a big mistake.

“You should always be careful who you let drive your vehicle. You just don’t arbitrarily say, ‘Hey take the keys and go’ because you don’t know what that person is doing, you don’t know their driving record, you may not even know if they have a license,” says Lawson.

He explained that if you lend your car to an unauthorized person and they get into an accident, your car insurance company might do everything it can to get out of settling the claim. This is especially important for parents who have their kids named on their policy as drivers. Sometimes their kids let their friends drive the vehicle as well. “As a rule of thumb, only the names of insured persons should ever give permission and only in extenuating circumstances, don’t use it as carte blanche,” Lawson said.

Speaking of things to avoid, we asked him if buying a red sports car was out of the question. “Here’s a real misnomer about auto insurance, people say if you get a red sports car, that’s like the kiss of death. Color has absolutely nothing to do with whether you get a speeding ticket or you don’t,” he said. If two cars are going 85 mph in a 65 mph zone, the police are not more likely to pull one over and issue a ticket because that car is red, Lawson said. When Lawson was studying to become a car insurance agent, he said the instructors made it a point to tell students that the red car theory is a falsehood.

The real problem with speeding tickets has to do with the drivers themselves, not the color of the car. “Some insurance companies are only equipped to deal with you if you get two tickets in a three year period. If you pick up three, you’ve gotten out of their underwriting mode where they’re not going to renew you,” he said. If your tickets (or accidents) build up, some companies will drop you because you’re a risk.

In some cases, drivers just don’t have any control over what happens when they get into their vehicles. Hitting a deer one too many times or being rear-ended on more than one occasion, can also affect your car insurance rate. “You hate to say it but that’s almost the case,” Lawson said. “Being at the wrong place at the wrong time can come back to bite you.”

Lawson acknowledged that it may not be fair that insurance companies handle certain people this way. Even if there’s no real reason why some people get into more accidents than others, the fact is their claims cause companies to lose money.

Another thing to avoid is lying to your auto insurance agent. If you think he doesn’t know about your tickets and accidents, think again. He’s had a few people tell him their driving record, minus a few small details. He’ll look up their record on the computer and, “They’ll watch it print,” he said, “and I’ve had a couple people just get up and gather their belongings and just walk out because they know they’re dead in the water.”

Serious side of auto insurance

With 25 years under his belt, Lawson has seen a lot. He talked about a family who came into his office wanting to purchase motorcycle insurance for a first-time bike owner, their 16-year-old son. They showed him a picture of the bike they were purchasing, a bike he described as, “A crotch rocket that does 0-60 as fast as you can sneeze.”

He told the mother that it was a mistake, but she emphasized how safe her son was going to be. He told her, “Ma’am, I don’t want to be inappropriate or hurt anyone’s feelings, but this is a death claim waiting to happen. When you take a fast motorcycle on an inexperienced operator, you’re begging for problems.”

The first weekend the kid was on the bike, he lost control on a rural road, became airborne and totaled the bike. He spent some time in the hospital and later recovered. The mom called Lawson after the accident. “They called me up and the lady was crying and said, ‘Why in the world did we not listen to you?’ What do you say to something like that,” Lawson asked, “You can’t say anything except, ‘I’m sorry it happened,’ and ask ‘how is he?’”

Motorcycles aren’t the only dangerous thing on the roads though. Drivers who talk on their cell phones and send text messages cause accidents as well. Lawson knows firsthand the dangers of these distractions. A close friend of his was permanently disabled when a woman dropped her cell phone on the passenger floor and swerved into his lane when she tried to pick it up. The woman didn’t have adequate insurance and his friend ended up being bankrupt by the medical bills.

“I think all the states should raise the minimum liability limits and require that all states make auto insurance mandatory,” he said.

Chances are, most of us live in a state where car insurance is mandatory. By keeping your credit score in check (or working to improve it), shopping around for a car insurance company that fits your needs and avoiding mishaps like speeding tickets and accidents, you’ll be able to keep the cost of your car insurance down.

Also make sure to know what your current car insurance policy covers. You may have coverage that you don’t need like windshield replacement or tow truck coverage. Adjust your coverage to get the car insurance that you need, with the price that matches your budget.

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In the rush to feel “covered,” they can skip the details. That can lead to frustration.

Following are five insurance myths heard by some of the more than 13,000 claims people at Progressive, one of the country’s largest auto insurance companies:

Myth

I bought “full coverage” so everything’s paid for.

Reality

There is no such thing as “full coverage.” In most states, only liability insurance is mandatory. There are a lot of other coverage options out there, so select what you need and can afford based on your personal situation.

Myth

I need three estimates before my wrecked vehicle can be repaired.

Reality

Not necessarily. Very few insurers actually require this, although some might. If you decide to use a shop that’s in an insurance company’s “network” of pre-approved shops, you may just have to get an estimate from that shop.

Myth

My insurance premium always increases if I’m involved in an accident.

Reality

It depends. Your rate can increase, decrease or stay the same. The information about your accident is combined with other information about you, your car and your driving history to determine your rate.

Myth

If I lend my car to someone and he/she crashes it, I’m covered.

Reality

Not so fast. If you or your friend doesn’t have optional physical damage coverages, damage to your vehicle generally won’t be covered.

Myth

If I buy a new car, my auto insurance company automatically knows and my new car is covered.

Reality

No. Most insurance companies require that you notify them or your agent within a specified number of days. Generally, you have 30 days to add the new vehicle to your policy.

“Insurance can be complicated,” says Chuck Crist of Progressive. “It’s not something people deal with every day. So the more informed you are, the better choices you’ll make.”

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Contact Geico Customer service at 1-800-841-3000 24/7 and ask to quote your new vehicle, new vehicles are sometimes less expensive due to better safety equipment and other underwriting criteria.You also want to compare the policy coverages and benefits, what seems to be less expensive now can cost you in the longrun. if after that you still want to cancel Geico will refund any unused portion of your premium paid when you provide them with proof of insurance at Allstate, you have to purchase the Allstate policy first then Geico will reimburse you.

They will have to refund you the remainder of your money after deducting for the one month you used.Yes, cancel that policy and they will send you a check for the balance of your unused insurance….about 5 months worth. It would be worth a call to the agent to make sure that there are no penalties….but I know that I have canceled insurance before and received money back.
Yes, any unused insurance is refunded… not only will you receive a partial month, any DAY you haven’t used you will get back… it’s prorated based on days.
Most personal policies ( Auto and Home) do not charge a penalty for canceling early. They will only charge a pro-rata ( the actual time the coverage was in force) with no penalty.

The state stopped mandating $10,000 in PIP coverage on Oct. 1. Days later, lawmakers approved legislation that makes PIP mandatory again, but not until Jan. 1.

Now that three-month suspension of the PIP requirement is about to end. Some drivers never lost PIP coverage and will see no change, but others will pay more for their insurance to get PIP back in their policies.

“It has been very confusing for folks, because it has been all over the place,” said Dan Tarantin, chief executive officer of Direct General Insurance Company, which sells insurance through the Florida No-Fault, Cash Register and Direct General brands. “I think there are a lot of people who don’t know about it really.”

Tarantin said the most vulnerable drivers are those who dropped PIP coverage after Florida’s no-fault auto insurance system expired on Oct. 1. In addition, he said drivers who bought auto insurance after Oct. 1 also might lack the coverage required by Florida law Tuesday.

Drivers who went without PIP coverage could save money. But Tarantin said when the requirement resumes Tuesday, the law has “real teeth.” Reinstatement fees for a suspended license range from $150 to $500, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. By law, insurance companies must cancel the polices of drivers that do not have PIP and notify the department, which will then suspend those drivers’ licenses.

Florida had no-fault auto insurance since the 1970s. But some large insurance companies sought to end the law, saying it was riddled with fraud. They also said PIP forced drivers already covered by health insurance to pay unnecesarily for auto insurance for crash-related injuries.

By eliminating PIP, the average savings for a two-car family in Jacksonville would have been more than $290 per year, according to Floridians for Lower Insurance Costs, a coalition including several insurance companies.

Hospitals and health care providers fought to keep PIP, saying it provides crucial coverage for people who lack health insurance when they are treated for crash injuries. The Florida Hospital Association said hospitals received more than $350 million in PIP money last year.

The new law required insurance companies to notify their customers by Nov. 15 if their policy does not provide PIP coverage, according to the Florida Association of Insurance Agents. In those cases, the companies must amend the policies to add on PIP coverage starting Tuesday.

Morris Busbia, an agent for GEICO in Atlantic Beach, said he’s been fielding calls asking about a PIP-related increase in premiums. Some are puzzled, while others are angry, he said.

“A lot of people don’t understand that insurance companies don’t make the law,” he said.

A small number of insurance companies will have higher rates for PIP coverage in January than they did before Oct. 1, said Tom Zutell, spokesman for the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. However, he said none of the state’s major companies have sought rate increase, so they will be charging the same premium for PIP.

“Most haven’t been tinkering with that because they think consumers are confused enough as it is,” he said.

PIP SCENARIOS

The best way to find out about your personal injury protection (PIP) coverage is by contacting your insurance company or agent. Here are three scenarios for drivers:

PIP coverage will start Jan. 1

Your company will add PIP to your policy and bill you accordingly, which could mean an increase in your premium. You must pay the additional premium to get the state-mandated PIP coverage. This could affect people who bought a policy after Oct. 1, or renewed a policy after that date without including PIP.

PIP coverage already in effect

Your policy retained PIP even after the old law expired Oct. 1. You won’t see an increase in your premium because you’ve been paying for the coverage all along.

You have no insurance

You’ve been violating the law even during the past three months because the state never dropped its requirement for $10,000 of property damage coverage. To comply with the law, you will have to get insurance for property damage, plus the $10,000 PIP coverage for medical expenses.

Sources: Direct General Insurance Company, Florida Association of Insurance Agents

This is according to the Independent, which recently examined why females often receive cheaper car and life insurance policies than their male counterparts.

Men are more likely to be involved in serious or fatal accidents and therefore pay higher premiums, the publication states.

“What you’ll find is that men tend to have more high-value accidents, whereas women tend to have more bumps and scrapes – usually at lower speeds and closer to home – which is why their insurance is cheaper,” said Niki Bolton of Sheilas’ Wheels.

The publication goes on to cite government figures that 60 times as many men are convicted of motoring offences than women, meaning that females can save hundreds of pounds on their women’s car insurance.

Last month, the Mail on Sunday made a similar claim based on findings by comparison site uSwitch.com.

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