Basic Information on Car Insurance

 Basic Information on Car Insurance

Of course you will get car insurance! It is required by your State, for pity's sake. Of course you are a responsible driver and you would not be caught dead driving in a public road without car insurance. Why are you even being asked such ridiculous questions? Why can't you just be given some useful information on car insurance instead of being asked nonsensical questions?

Every car driver who is starting with car insurance should have basic knowledge about car insurance before buying one. There are a lot of insurance companies that have emerged out of nowhere with fraudulent operations. If you do not know some of the basics about car insurance, you might end up among the victims of fraudulent insurance companies. There is a tendency for first timers to grab the first offer that sounds good to them especially if the agent sounds very convincing.

Your car insurance company will offer you policies having different coverage. There are six common coverage and some of it are required by the law. Depending on the laws of your Sate regarding insurance, choose the coverage that will be included in your policy. Consider how much you can pay for a policy. Consider which among the choices of coverage you are not likely to need. Do the math and you will arrive at an estimate of how much you will pay for your policy if you choose to do without the coverage that you are not likely to use.

Let us discuss Bodily Injury coverage (BI). It covers the costs that you have caused while driving your car. If someone is injured, the coverage pays for the hospital bills. Depending on the laws of your State, you will be required to carry a certain amount of the accident. Some financial experts would say that you should be carrying $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence translated as 100/300. Consider the properties you have to protect and how much you can afford. Property Liability coverage (PD) will take care of the cost if your faulty driving caused a damage to someone else's property. It usually applies to cars but it can also be applied to buildings, utility poles, garage doors, etc. Collision coverage will cover the cost of repairs or replacement if your car is damage due to collision with another car, a post, a brick wall or any other object. This coverage is not required by the law but if your car is on loan with a bank, your bank may have you take it.

Now you may also get in a mishap where collision is not involved. For instance, your car might get stolen or vandalized. Comprehensive coverage will take care of you in such instances. Aside from theft, it also involves damages caused by floods, fire, hail earthquake, explosion and encounter with wildlife such as a deer crossing your path. This is not required and you can choose not to include it in your policy. In cases where another car hits yours and the driver does not have enough insurance to cover your medical bills, Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) coverage will cover the cost (if the other driver is uninsured) or the difference (if the other driver is underinsured). Some States require car insurance policies to include this coverage. Meanwhile, Medical Payments coverage (Med Pay or MPC) will cover the medical expenses of any injuries sustained by passengers and the driver in a car accident regardless whose fault it was. This is also mandatory in some States and optional in others.