Posts Tagged car insurance
Get Cheap Car Insurance in California (of all places)
Posted by Steve in How to get cheap insurance on April 21st, 2009
California - You can get cheap car insurance, courtesy of the state!
Did you know that if you live in California you can get cheap car insurance, courtesy of the state? It’s true, the State of California has just such a program, known as the California Low Cost Automobile Insurance program. While the insurance itself is not actually purchased through the state, but from participating insurers, the effect is great for those who are suffering through our tepid economy. Relax, it’s not paid for paid for out of state tax revenues (good thing too, since the state has no more money).
Since the year 2000, the program, which has approximately 45,000 participants, can effect a dramatic drop in liability insurance rates. Typically, liability insurance under the program runs between $300 and $400 per year! That’s cheap where I come from, no doubt about it.
Here are the conditions (you knew there had to be some of those, didn’t you?)
Drivers must have a clean driving record (but you can have one at-fault accident), be at least 19 years old, and have at least 3 years of driving experience. Not too bad so far. There are income restrictions you must meet if you want to participate in the program too. You have to be driving a vehicle that does not have a value of more than $20,000. Your combined, family income must not exceed 250 percent of the federal poverty level (currently $26,000 for a single person, $35,000 for two persons and $53,000 for a family of four)
So, there is a way to get cheap car insurance, even in California. Now if you could just sell that house you bought a few years ago…..
What is Comprehensive Car Insurance – and Why Do I Need It?
Posted by Steve in Types of Insurance on March 31st, 2009
Get Cheaper Truck Insurance
Comprehensive car insurance is insurance that covers any damage to your vehicle that is not caused by the insured actually driving it. For example, if you wreck your car, that is not covered by your comprehensive policy. On the other hand, if your vehicle is stolen, or is damaged by a storm, a falling tree, or the neighbor’s kid with a spray can, that is all covered.
Theft is another province of comprehensive coverage. That is why cars that have been found more likely to be stolen cost more to insure than you may think. That is not always the most expensive car either. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) list for July, 2008, the most frequently stolen vehicle nationwide was the 1995 Honda Civic.
Stolen vehicle statistics vary by location. For instance, in California the top 5 most stolen vehicles were the 1991 Honda Accord, the 1995 Honda Civic, 1989 Toyota Camry, the 1994 Acura Integra, and the 1994 Nissan Sentra. The top 10 locations in the U.S. with the highest auto theft rate are all in the west. 4 are in California, 2 in Arizona, and one each in Texas, Washington, Nevada, and New Mexico. Look for higher insurance rates than you would otherwise expect to pay in these locations.
You’ll notice all of the vehicles on the list of the most frequently stolen are over 10 years old. Part of that is because older vehicles do not have modern anti theft systems, such as smart key systems. Another reason is that most vehicles are taken for their parts, not the car itself. That means the demand for parts drives some of the thefts, not the vehicle’s overall desirability.
Locations that are highly frequented by natural disaster are also more expensive to insure, because comprehensive policies must cover damage caused by storms, floods, and wild fires. If your region has frequent hail storms, wild fires, floods, tornadoes or hurricanes, you’ll see that reflected in your insurance rates.
You need comprehensive car insurance because most lenders will not give you a car loan unless their collateral (your car) is protected against damage or loss. If you buy your vehicle outright, you don’t technically need comprehensive insurance at all. However, if your vehicle is fairly expensive (and which vehicles aren’t these days?), protecting your investment is usually important enough to justify a comprehensive policy.
As with most types of auto insurance, a deductible applies before the policy begins paying. The higher the deductible is, the lower the rates in most cases. For example, if you have a $500 deductible, your insurance would pay the damage less $500. So, if your car is damaged in the parking lot and it costs $1,200 to repair the damage, you’ll pay $500, and the insurance company would pay the other $700. Typically you would not want to file a claim on the $1,200 though. If your car was damaged and the repair was $4,000, that would probably justify filing a claim.
Keeping a high deductible is a great strategy to keep your insurance rates low, because most people will see a rise in rates after a certain amount of claims are filed against the company anyway. As was touched on above, that means there is no reason to file relatively small claims, so it is best to structure the policy so it doesn’t cover small losses.
So, in a nutshell, comprehensive car insurance covers your vehicle for loss and damages not caused by driving it. It is required by lenders to protect the security on their loan, and that is why you need it.
Cheap Car Insurance for a Young Driver – How to Get It
Posted by Steve in young drivers on March 27th, 2009
If Feels Great to Get Cheap Car Insurance
When you first start behind the wheel, you have many expenses, your car, gas, and insurance. How to get cheap car insurance for a young driver becomes a pretty important question, as insurance companies are usually not too friendly to younger drivers. This comes down to one thing; actuarial tables.
Actuarial tables quantify the risk an insurance company faces for a given set of variables. When examining the accident statistics for teenagers, one thing becomes frighteningly clear; they crash far more than the average person. That means the insurance company will pay out more, on average for drivers under 18 years of age. In fact the risk of serious injury or death for drivers in their first year behind the wheel are much higher than for the general population.
According to a U.S. Center for Disease Control report on driver safety and accident prevention, “Young people ages 15-24 represent only 14% of the U.S. population. However, they account for 30% ($19 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among males and 28% ($7 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries among females.” This is in addition to the crashes caused by those in this age group that cause motor vehicle damage, but require no medical treatment.
Now you know what the insurance industry is so biased against young drivers. Here is what you can do about it if you’re in this group or paying the insurance bill for one of them.
Get the correct kind of car.
The make, model and year of vehicle plays a big part in the rates the company will ask you to pay. Performance oriented vehicles are more expensive to insure because of their higher accident rates and cost to repair.
According to the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) some great, inexpensive to insure cars for teen drivers include:
Jeep Wrangler LWB
Dodge Dakota Quad Cab
Honda Civic
Subaru Outback
Get Good Grades.
Accurately or not, the insurance companies view the person’s GPA as an indicator of their general responsibility, and otherwise good sense. Statistics also point to the insurance companies being spot on with this one. That’s why car insurance companies offer good student discounts. SO, if you’re in high school or college, keep those grades up and your insurance rates down.
Keep your Credit Score High.
If you’re only 16 you may not have to worry about this too much yet, but for those in their late teens or early 20’s the importance of your credit score can not be understated. Not only will your insurance company use this as one of their primary factors when setting your rates, but a high credit score will let you pay less for your loan when you buy your car too. You’ll also save money on everything else credit related as well.
Keep your driving record clean.
This is a biggie, especially for younger drivers. Many young drivers have a huge problem being responsible behind the wheel. This is yet another reason why getting a comparatively boring car will keep your rates down. You’ll pay less initially, but you’ll also stand a lower chance of doing dumb things that will get you cited by the local gendarmes. After all, it’s much harder to squeal the tires in 4 cylinder, all wheel drive Subaru than it is in a 1995 Camaro with a 5.7 liter V8.
Get a multi-Policy Discount.
Most companies will give you a discount for buying two or more lines of insurance from them. So, if you also have a motorcycle or boat, insure it with the same company that handles your car insurance. If you have renter’s insurance, look at them for this too. If you’re married, the insurance on your wedding rings may qualify you for this discount as well.
Keep your deductibles as low as possible.
This can really lower your rates. Your deductible is the amount that you’ll have to pay out of pocket before your insurance coverage kicks in. More practically it is the amount of damage that you can sustain before you report the accident to your insurance company. Since you want to report as few accidents as possible, you’ll usually be much better off to keep your deductibles high and just pay out of your own pocket unless the damage is so high that there’s no way you can afford to pay them yourself. When you report an accident to the insurance company rest assured your rates will rise.
Compare rates between different insurance companies.
Companies charge different rates and they price different risks differently. So because of your individual situation, you may get a much lower rate form one company than another. There are hundreds of good companies in the U.S. alone. Comparing them yourself is a very difficult and time consuming proposition. You can do it online quickly and easily, with a few mouse clicks – click here.
Insurance is never completely inexpensive, but following these simple guidelines will help you get cheap car insurance for a young driver if you are, or have to insure one.
The Top Rated Auto Insurance Companies in the United States – What You Need to Know
Posted by Steve in Top Rated Car Insurance on March 26th, 2009
It's a great day when you get a good value on car insurance
If you’re looking for the top rated auto insurance companies in the United States there is one name you need to know; Best. The industry standard for rating insurance companies is the firm A.M. Best. Any analysis of the auto insurance industry would not be complete without looking at the firm’s ratings of the top auto insurance companies.
Over 100 years old, they use many criteria when ranking insurance providers, including comprehensive financial data to determine the soundness of the company and their ability to meet their ongoing obligations to policyholders. A complete description of their property insurance company rating criteria comprises 19 pages and is outside the scope of this article. Their ratings use a letter system similar to the ratings used in schools for years. A++ is the highest.
Another highly regarded insurance ranking firm is customer satisfaction reporting company J.D Power, who also ranks the cars themselves for customer satisfaction. Both Moody’s and Standard and Poors also rank insurance companies for credit worthiness and financial strength. This is obviously important, because you want your insurance company to be able to support you when you file a claim.
By examining information from these and other sources we’ve compiled a list of the top auto insurance companies in the U.S. Here the are (in no particular order):
Progressive Insurance (AM Best rating of A+)
Familiar to many consumers from their aggressive advertising campaigns, Progressive is one of the fastest growing insurance firms in the U.S. They were founded in 1937 and wrote premiums totaling $14 billion in 2006. Progessive’s JD power ratings are 3/5 across the board. The JD Power categories include overall experience, rates, billing and payment, and communication.
State Farm Insurance Group (AM Best rating of A++)
State Farm is the larges auto insurer in the United States, measured by the total number of vehicles insured. Started as an auto insurance company in 1922 by a retired farmer, it has grown into a full services financial firm that delivers all types of insurance, investments, and banking. State Farm has approximately 68,000 employees and 17,000 agents. JD power reports people like State Farm even better than Progressive. They received 5 out of 5 stars for communication, and 4s on everything else except for their rates, which nabbed 3 stars.
Nationwide Group (AM Best Rating of A+)
The Nationwide Group is one of the largest insurance companies in the U.S., but they too are a full service financial services firm extending their reach to investments and banking. They also sponsor NASCAR. Nationwide is actually a group of about 100 insurance and financial services companies. Like State Farm, they also started as an auto insurance company for farmers in the 1920’s. As an auto insurance company they started in Ohio, and expanded rapidly. In 1955 they changed their name to Nationwide. They have over $160 billion in assets. Like Progressive, Nationwide scored all 3s from JD Power.
GEICO (AM Best rating of A++)
Known as the only auto insurance company with a lizard as a mascot. GEICO is an acronym for Government Employees Insurance Company. True to their name GEICO was originally open only to government employees and their families. They have grown substantially, and are now the 3rd largest auto insurer in the U.S., with 9 million auto policies covering 15 million vehicles. In part due to their innovative lizard commercials they are the fastest growing auto insurance firm in the U.S. Since 1996 they have been a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett’s investment company. Gieco got overall high customer satisfaction scores from JD Power, but trailed the top scorers in overall experience and communication, getting 3/5.
USAA Group (AM Best rating of A++)
USAA shares a common theme among insurance companies. It also was founded in the 1920’s, in this case 1925. USAA was founded by Army officers and has stayed true to its origins. To this day, although USAA has 6.4 million customers, they are only open to current and former military service members and their families and ROTC members. They are a full integrated financial services company and include banking and investments in their services portfolio. Unlike most other insurance companies, they are privately held. USAA was one of only two companies to get perfect 5/5 from JD Power in all customer satisfaction categories.
Selective Insurance Group (AM Best rating of A+)
Selective is the 47th largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S., with 2,000 employees. Formed in New Jersey in 1926, Selective originally served auto and fire customers only. Currently they do business in 22 states throughout the Midwest and east coast. They have consistently been awarded the Ward Group’s Ward 50 award, bestowed on the top 50 insurance companies (out of over 3,000) by the Ward Group, a premier management consulting firm. In 2007 they were named one of Forbes 400 Best Big Companies in the U.S. for the 5th consecutive year.
Chubb Group of Insurance Companies (AM Best Rating of A++)
Seemingly one of the few insurance companies amount the top group that didn’t start in the 1920’s to insure automobiles, Chubb was started by a father and son team in 1882 as a marine insurance company. The firm was incorporated in 1967, and currently has over 12,000 employees in 28 countries throughout the world. They also have over 8,000 independent agents. They have over $50 billion in assets, and are the 176th largest US company.
Amica Insurance (AM Best rating of A++)
Amica is the oldest mutual auto insurer in the United States. Formed in Rhode Island at the dawn of the automobile in 1907, they have been consistently ranked at the top for customer satisfaction among national auto insurance companies by the prestigious J.D. Power organization. In fact, they have garnered the top rating in this category for 9 consecutive years, which is no mean feat. Amica was the only other company to get perfect 5s across the board from JDP. They also have been named to the Wards Top 50 on many occasions. Business week named Amica “Customer Service Champ” in 2008 as a recognition of their consistently high level of customer service.
What? No AIG? Maybe not, but the above companies have consistently proven themselves to be the top rated auto insurance companies in the United States. That requires great customer service, a reputation for customer satisfaction, and solid financial strength, so they are there when you need them.
One great way to save money on car insurance is to compare rates from different companies and see who gives you the best value. Compare rates very quickly and easily - click here now.