Introduction.
It might seem a strange question to ask but – just what exactly are your auto insurance needs? The reason for asking the question is quite straightforward; without knowing what your auto insurance needs are – how can you be sure that you’re not paying more than you need to for your auto insurance or, possibly even worse, your level of car insurance might actually fall below what it needs to be?
The levels of car insurance.
In the USA you can buy car insurance at different levels, but as with most things in life – the more levels of auto insurance you have the more expensive it will become. Although there are slight variations from state-to-state; the absolute minimum level of auto insurance you can have to legally drive on public roads is liability auto insurance. This level of car insurance means that if you should be involved in an auto wreck or accident that is your fault – your insurance company will pay the other parties expenses arising from the incident. So, if their car needs repairs or they incur medical bills from the auto collision, they are all taken care of for you. However, any expenses you incur will not be paid for, or refunded to you. You can add another car insurance level of cover paying out for your expenses too. Collision cover will pay for repairs to your vehicle, even if the collision is your fault, as well as having the other person’s covered by the liability cover. However, that only applies to a collision, so you might be better off with a comprehensive insurance policy – which will fully insure your auto even if it is damaged by vandalism. Needless to say, depending on the medical insurance you have, you might also need to have some medical insurance cover in your auto insurance policy. The exact level of auto insurance you decide to take out will be affected by factors such as living in an urban or rural area – the more traffic the more likelihood of a collision or the risk of vandalism or perhaps the value of your auto, would it make sense to comprehensively insure a $1000 vehicle for $1500 etc?
Your vehicle and your auto insurance.
Following on from that last sentence, the more valuable the vehicle is that you’re driving the higher the level of auto insurance you’re likely to go for. Also, it is probably fair to say, someone who can afford a $60,000 Mercedes may well be more prepared to pay for comprehensive insurance than someone owning a used Ford hatchback. However, if you’re the Ford hatchback owner an important question to ask yourself is – if you’re in a wreck can you afford to buy a replacement car immediately? Lots and lots of people need their vehicle to work or at least get to work. Getting your auto insurance requirements right with a comprehensive auto insurance policy from a reputable company will pay out for the repairs or a replacement vehicle – without you having to worry about taking out an auto loan to buy a new car or a personal loan for the repairs. It really is all a question of how vital it is to ‘keep your wheels on the road’.
Recreational and classic vehicles and auto insurance.
OK, so just how much do you need to ‘keep those wheels on the road’? Applying for an auto insurance policy there’s an assumption that you’ll be driving an unspecified number of miles a year. Which is fine for most vehicles and their drivers, after all you could start a year doing an average of 2000 miles a month and finish the year, after changing your job, doing and average of 5000 miles a month. So you wouldn’t want an auto insurance policy that limits the mileage you do – or would you? Suppose you’ve got a Recreational Vehicle or a classic 60s Mustang; are you out driving it every day – or even every week? Chances are you’re not; on average people with an RV use it for less than a month of the year whilst some classic car enthusiasts only take their prized vehicles on the road a few days of the year. In such circumstances the vehicle owners may well want comprehensive car insurance cover but do they need to pay for a whole 12 months worth?
They will get a much better car insurance deal by specifying to their auto insurance company that they will only be driving that vehicle for a certain number of miles, or possibly even days, a year; thereby reducing their annual auto insurance costs.
