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Full Coverage Auto Insurance. Keys to the Best Coverage.
Full Coverage Auto Insurance. Keys to the Best Coverage.
You depend on your car for many things: getting to work, the grocery store, soccer practice, vacation. In order for most aspects of your life to function easily and efficiently, you need your car to operate just as efficiently. A car insurance policy that covers it against virtually any kind of mishap ensures you'll be able to get where you need to be. And you don't have to pay a lot for that kind of coverage--if you do your homework.
Defining Full Coverage Auto Insurance
A company advertising full coverage auto insurance is being slightly disingenuous; there's actually no policy that can be defined as "full," since the upper limits on, say, liability coverage, can differ from company to company. Full coverage auto insurance usually means your car is protected from physical damage and from liability. For physical damage, you need two types of coverage: collision insurance will protect you from damages caused by direct impact, like an accident; comprehensive insurance includes damage such as broken glass, or caused by theft and vandalism. The liability aspect protects you from damages you cause to other cars and/or drivers. This can include bodily injury liability, property damage liability, and other coverage.The liability part of your policy under full coverage auto insurance is determined largely by the state. In order to be "fully" covered, you have to purchase a minimum amount of liability insurance as defined by state law. This differs state to state. In Alabama, every driver must buy bodily injury liability of at least $25,000 per person and $50,000 total per accident, as well as $25,000 in property damage liability. Other states also require coverage for uninsured/underinsured drivers; Oregon, for example, requires a minimum bodily injury policy of $25,000/$50,000 for uninsured/underinsured drivers. Some state laws call for proof of "financial responsibility," but a car insurance policy is usually the easiest and most affordable way to show such proof.
Aside from state laws, the amount of coverage you need is a personal choice. For a brand-new car, you'll probably want a policy with extensive collision and comprehensive coverage. You expect to drive this car for a while, so you want it fully protected. And if you are going to re-sell someday, it's important the little details --paint job, bumpers --are in good shape for the buyer. A comprehensive policy will cover, for example, a crack in your windshield caused when a flatbed truck driving on the interstate in front of you kicks up a rock. For a used car, you may have gotten a great deal on a car, and want to cover physical damage to maintain its condition. For a car with a few scratches and dings, you'll probably want less collision coverage, and may want to skip comprehensive altogether. Or, you may want to purchase these coverages for a couple years, at which point you decide your car's value has fallen too low to warrant the premium you're paying, so you might decide to lower or eliminate collision/comprehensive coverage and begin shopping for a new policy.
If you want full coverage auto insurance, think about ways to save on your policy before you start searching. High school and college students may be eligible for good student discounts. Placing multiple drivers on a single policy often saves hundreds of dollars per driver. Or you might choose a higher deductible, which will lower your annual premium. Someone with an older car, for example, may raise his deductible by $250, knowing that he won't file a claim for something like a scratch in the hood (and thus, will encounter fewer times he has to pay that deductible). To save money, all you have to do is try. This means, in part, asking about potential discounts. It also means that, once you decide how much coverage you want, you compare as many quotes as you can find. Through an easy service like NetQuote.com, you can see what premiums companies are willing to offer for full coverage auto insurance and then take your pick. You'll get more, for less.
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See how much you could save today on your car insurance. Get your free auto insurance quotes today!
13 Reasons Faculties Diminish as Drivers Age
13 Reasons Faculties Diminish as Drivers Age
An aging population of baby boomers means more and more older drivers will be on the road in coming years, and that brings special safety concerns.
People over age 50 made up a record 44 percent of all drivers in 2013, according to the Federal Highway Administration. The number of drivers over age 65 is projected to rise by 77 percent by 2045.
The number of fatal and non-fatal crashes per mile driven starts rising around age 70, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports, although it notes that this statistic may be somewhat inflated because older drivers do a higher share of their driving in cities, where more crashes occur.
Older people often have deterioration in many faculties that relate to safe driving, according to a newly published study in the Journal Public Health Nursing.
“Driving is arguably one of the most complex procedures humans engage in on a routine basis,” the study says.
Seniors also tend to be more frail than other drivers, making any accident more likely to result in injury or death.
As drivers age, it’s important for them to understand potential impairments and what they can do about them. Major driving-related functions that can deteriorate with age, according to the new paper, fall into the categories of executive functioning, visual mechanisms, memory and insight.
Here are details on each:
Executive function
- Selective attention, the ability to distinguish and focus on areas of importance, and block out distractions;
- Divided attention, the ability to focus on two or more stimuli, such as driving forward, and checking beside and behind you while changing lanes; and
- Sustained attention, staying alert for a long period.
Memory
Insight
Driving safely as we age
- Vision: Have your vision checked every year or two, avoid driving at night if you have trouble seeing in the dark, keep your windshield, mirrors and lights clean, and turn up the brightness of your instrument panel.
- Hearing: Have your hearing checked every three years, keep in the inside of the car as quiet as possible and watch for flashing lights of emergency vehicles, since you might not hear them.
- Attention and reaction time: Leave ample space between you and the car in front of you (a good measure is to ensure you can count slowly to four between when that car passes an object along the road and you pass the same object), start braking early when you need to stop, avoid high-traffic areas and times, stay to the right on highways and avoid left turns.
- Physical changes: Ask your doctor about pain or stiffness gets in the way of driving, and exercise -- it can improve flexibility, coordination and speed, and reduce driving errors.
- Medications: Read medication labels for warnings related to driving and talk to your doctor or pharmacist about any potential problems, and don’t drive if you feel lightheaded or drowsy, or mixed drinking with medications.
1. Attention refers to three things here:
Studies cited in the Public Health Nursing report found older drivers often have trouble focusing on important stimuli and ignoring irrelevant information.
2. Cognitive flexibility is the ability to quickly respond to new input, such as changing strategies while driving.
3. Hazard perception is the ability to anticipate potentially dangerous situations.
4. Visual acuity can decline with age due to eye disease, cloudiness and yellowing, alterations in macular pigment and neural integrity, and decreased pupil size.
5. Useful field of view refers to visual function and attention, determining whether a driver can detect peripheral threats while simultaneously seeing what is directly in front of them. Older drivers with poor useful field of view have been shown to be much more likely to make blind-spot errors.
6. Visual processing speed can slow due to age-related changes to the eyes, meaning older drivers may not be able to react quickly enough to avoid a crash.
7. Visual perception refers to accurate interpretation of visual information, allowing drivers to read traffic signs, orient themselves to traffic and maintain their course.
8. Visuospatial skills involve perception of depth and lane alignment, and passing ability.
9. Visuomotor skills rely on hand-eye coordination.
Studies visuospatial and visuomotor skills correlate most strongly with poor driving by older adults.
10. Procedural memory is the ability to use a learned skill -- like starting the car, changing gears and pressing the correct pedal -- without thinking about it;
11. Episodic memory includes remembering your destination and how to get there, what the speed limit is and whether you entered a school zone; and
12. Semantic memory allows us to interpret the meaning of things like recently passed road signs and what colors mean on traffic lights.
13. Many people overrate their driving skills, but this can be a particular problem for older people whose abilities are declining. Studies have shown that seniors remain confident in their abilities to handle potentially hazardous driving situations regardless of their cognitive decline. Those with bigger differences between their perceived and actual abilities are less less likely to self-regulate their driving, according to the new paper.
The good news is that the number of people 70 and over who died in car crashes fell by 29 percent from a peak in 1997 to 2014, despite a 27 percent increase in the older population during this period, according to the IIHS.
Fatal and non-fatal crash rates have been declining faster among older drivers than those aged 35 to 54.
Some of this is thanks to safer cars, with features like automatic braking to avoid collisions, and road improvements that can be particularly helpful to older drivers, such making highway signs and lane markings brighter, adding left-turn arrows at intersections, so drivers don’t have to judge when it’s safe to turn, and replacing intersections with roundabouts.
As for older drivers themselves, many do self-regulate, says Russ Rader, senior vice president for communication at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. “We see that older drivers who have declining vision, for example, may drive less at night.”
Here are some other ways older drivers can help stay safe while driving, according to the National Institutes of Health.
The NIH also recommends taking a defensive driving class. This may provide a financial benefit, as many insurance companies provide a discount to seniors to take such a class.
One policy that can help seniors stop driving is requiring them to come into a state office to renew their licenses, Rader adds.
“We think it’s because older drivers who recognize their own impairments and are worried about failing the test simply give up their licenses.”
Common Insurance Types & Terms
Common Insurance Types & Terms
What is Insurance?
Insurance is a means of providing protection against financial loss in a number of situations. It is a contract in which one party agrees to pay for another party's financial loss resulting from a specified event. Insurance works on the principal of sharing losses. If you wish to be insured against any type of loss, you purchase a policy from an insurance company and make regular payments, called premiums. In return, the company promises to pay a specific dollar amount for the type of loss determined in the policy.
Insurance has deep roots, tracing all the way back to The Code of Hammurabi, a collection of Babylonian laws of 1700 BC, which were believed to have provided the first kind of credit insurance. Under the code, a borrower did not have to repay a loan if personal misfortune made it impossible to do so. Modern insurance can be traced to the Great Fire of London in 1666, which consumed 13,200 houses and brought property owners in the city to near financial ruin. In the aftermath of this disaster, Nicholas Barbon opened an office to insure buildings, and the modern insurance industry was born.
Types of Insurance
- Term Life Insurance - A term life insurance policy typically has constant payments over a fixed period of time (the "term"). If at any time during the term the insured person dies, except in some exceptional circumstances such as suicide, a fixed sum of money is paid out. If the insured person survives through the whole term there is no benefit and the policy has no cash value.
- Permanent Life Insurance - Unlike a term life policy, a permanent life policy (forms of policy that fall under this category include universal life, whole life, and endowment policies) do have a cash value and remain in force so long as the insured person is alive and the premium continues to be paid. Some policies (such as whole life) provide for a constant premium and a constant payout, while others (such as universal life) may allow for variable premiums and variable payouts.
- Home Insurance: This provides protection against losses from damages to an owner's home and its contents.
- Auto Insurance: This is one of the most widely purchased and most important kinds of insurance. Drivers are legally responsible for any costs arising from accidents they cause and must typically either carry a minimum amount of auto insurance (defined by the state) or post a minimum bond to cover their liability in the event of an accident. Auto insurance may simply cover the damage to other's property (collision coverage) or may cover damage to one's own car and the risk of theft and fire (comprehensive coverage)
Other Terms You May Hear
All insurance policies require the owner of the policy to make regular payments ("premiums") and pay the owner a sum of money ("the benefit") when an insured event occurs. There are three major types of insurance policies sold:
1. Life Insurance: A life insurance policy provides that the insurance company will pay a certain amount when the insured person dies. The benefit may be paid in a lump sum or in installments to the beneficiary. There are various forms of life insurance, most of which can be categorized into one of two main types:
2. Health Insurance: Health insurance pays all or part of the cost of hospitalization, surgery, laboratory tests, medicines, and other medical care. The rising cost of medical care has increased the need for adequate health insurance. You could suffer a major financial hardship without such coverage, especially in case of a serious illness or accident. Health insurance comes in a wide variety of forms, both private and public (i.e. Medicare). Policies may be taken out by an individual, by their employer, or by a combination of both.
3. Property Insurance: Individuals buy property and liability insurance to protect their assets against financial loss. Property insurance provides direct compensation if a policyholder's possessions are damaged, destroyed, or lost as a result of peril or unforeseen events. Liability insurance protects individuals and businesses against possible financial losses if their actions result in bodily injury to others or in harm to property owned by others. The main types of individual property insurance are:
The financial stability and strength of the insurance company should be a major consideration when purchasing an insurance contract. An insurance premium paid currently provides coverage for losses that might arise many years in the future. For that reason, the viability of the insurance carrier is very important. In recent years, a number of insurance companies have become insolvent (AIG is the most prominent example), which in many cases may leave their policyholders with no coverage (or coverage only from a government-backed insurance pool with less attractive payouts for losses).
Annuities: These are savings plans sold by insurance companies to provide a fixed and regular retirement income. If the annuitant (owner of the annuity) dies before receiving the guaranteed number of payments, the insurance company must continue the payments to the beneficiary.
Dividends: Some insurance policies refund part of the premiums in the form of dividends. Such policies are called participating policies. An insurance company pays dividends if the money it collected in premiums exceeds the amount needed to pay benefits and administrative costs. Dividends may also include a share of the profits the company earned on investments made with premium funds. Dividends are most commonly paid on life insurance.
Switching Car Insurance After Moving
Switching Car Insurance After Moving
When you move to a new state, there are time limits on how long you can wait before you switch your registration to the new state. Each state has different laws. For example, in Virginia, you have 60 days to change over a personal driver’s license. In Massachusetts, the opposite is true. There is no grace period and you are expected to change your registration and license as soon as you move.Even though some states like Virginia allow you sixty days, it’s unlikely your insurance company will keep covering you after you move. When you change your vehicle’s garage location, (the place where it is parked at night) you must report it to your insurance company. This will trigger a cancellation of the policy with varying amounts of time for you to get a new registration. If you have an insurance company that writes nationally, you might get a discount for staying with the same company. Be sure to ask.It’s really best not to wait until after your move to get your insurance switch started. Some states do not accept another state’s insurance card as proof of insurance. Massachusetts drivers often run into problems while driving in other states because they are not required to carry insurance cards at all. Just the fact the car is registered proves the car is insured because the Registry of Motor Vehicles and insurance companies keep each other informed. You cannot register a car until you have insurance. If you cancel your registration, your insurance automatically is cancelled too. But good luck getting the police officer in New York to believe that.The State of New York (and Arizona too) will not accept out-of-state insurance documents as proof of insurance. Insurance coverage from another state is never valid for a New York or Arizona resident.So when have you actually moved? At what point are you considered a resident in your new state? Most states consider you a resident if you become employed, buy a home, open a bank account or pay a utility bill in your new state.Rather than risk problems with your old insurance in a new state, it’s best to get started on the switch before you move. Inform your insurance company in advance of the move date. Get quotes and a binder on a new policy before you move. That way, you only need to run to the Department of Motor Vehicles to change your registration and call your agent to activate the new policy. Be sure to send in a written cancellation request to your old insurance company. Many insurance companies are prohibited by law from cancelling a policy mid-term without your written consent.You can get quotes on car insurance in your new state right now just by entering your new zip code in the box at the top of this page. You’ll be directed to insurance companies that are licensed in your state where you can get several quotes and choose the best one ahead of time.
Take 5 Minutes and Save on Car Insurance
Take 5 Minutes and Save on Car Insurance
Getting discounts and price cuts when it comes to car insurance may be very difficult for some people. Yet if you really know how to utilize our website that offers comparison services for car insurance quotes, you can easily save $500 on your insurance cost. Most of these sources would enable you to effectively reduce insurance costs without compromising the coverage of the insurance policies.The claim that 5 minutes can save you over $500 on car insurance is made possible by browsing for car insurance companies on the Internet. These online auto insurance services allow you to get information that would greatly help you find excellent and affordable deals when it comes to getting the appropriate insurance coverage for your car. If you think that saving $500 on car insurance in a short time is next to impossible, think again. With the availability of getting insurance quotes online, you may easily get the insurance deals you need in no time.The best way to cut cost on car insurance deals is to get into multiple car insurance quotes. These packages often contain great deals which are comparably lower than that of individual insurance quotes. The secret in spending just 5 minutes can save you over $500 on car insurance is to get a single reliable source and comparing it with other major insurance providers. By doing this, you have the highest chance of getting into the most affordable insurance deals. Looking through online car insurance deals for just 5 minutes can save you over $500 on car insurance.This can be efficiently done by filtering out unwanted websites that are obviously fraudulent. These type of comparison sites claim to provide affordable car insurance policies yet if you try to read the small prints on the agreements, you may be surprised that some of the deals they offer may even lead you into a more costly deal. You should always be aware that there are some websites that do not provide enough information for you to determine which car insurance deals you should choose. Still, the best way is to ask other satisfied clients on which car companies provide reputable and excellent services when it comes to car insurance.
Auto Repair Basics
Repair Information
How to Choose a Repair Shop
What should I look for when choosing a repair shop?
- Ask for recommendations from friends, family, and other people you trust. Look for a repair shop before you need one to avoid being rushed into a last-minute decision.
- Shop around by phone and online for the best deal, and compare warranty policies on repairs.
- Ask to see current licenses if state or local law requires repair shops to be licensed or registered. Also, your state Attorney General's office or local consumer protection agency may know whether there's a record of complaints about a particular repair shop.
- Make sure the shop will honor your vehicle's warranty.
How to Choose a Technician
Is one technician better than another?
- Look for shops that display various certifications — like an Automotive Service Excellence seal. Certification indicates that some or all of the technicians meet basic standards of knowledge and competence in specific technical areas. Make sure the certifications are current, but remember that certification alone is no guarantee of good or honest work.
- Ask if the technician or shop has experience working on the same make or model vehicle as yours.
Repair Charges: Unlocking the Mystery
Before you arrange to have any work performed, ask how the shop prices its work. Some shops charge a flat rate for labor on auto repairs. This published rate is based on an independent or manufacturer's estimate of the time required to complete repairs. Others charge on the basis of the actual time the technician worked on the repair.
If you need expensive or complicated repairs, or if you have questions about recommended work, consider getting a second opinion.
Find out if there will be a diagnostic charge if you decide to have the work performed elsewhere. Many repair shops charge for diagnostic time.
Shops that do only diagnostic work and do not sell parts or repairs may be able to give you an objective opinion about which repairs are necessary.
If you decide to get the work done, ask for a written estimate.
What should a written estimate include?
- It should identify the condition to be repaired, the parts needed, and the anticipated labor charge. Make sure you get a signed copy.
- It should state that the shop will contact you for approval before they do any work exceeding a specified amount of time or money. State law may require this.
What should I know about the parts to be repaired or replaced?
Parts are classified as:
- New — These parts generally are made to original manufacturer's specifications, either by the vehicle manufacturer or an independent company. Your state may require repair shops to tell you if non-original equipment will be used in the repair. Prices and quality of these parts vary.
- Remanufactured, rebuilt and reconditioned — These terms generally mean the same thing: parts have been restored to a sound working condition. Many manufacturers offer a warranty covering replacement parts, but not the labor to install them.
- Salvage — These are used parts taken from another vehicle without alteration. Salvage parts may be the only source for certain items, though their reliability is seldom guaranteed.
What do I need after the work is done?
Get a completed repair order describing the work done. It should list each repair, parts supplied, the cost of each part, labor charges, and the vehicle's odometer reading when you brought the vehicle in as well as when the repair order was completed. Ask for all replaced parts. State law may require this.
How Much Auto Insurance Do You Need?
How Much Auto Insurance Do You Need?
Cutting insurance coverage is becoming a popular way to save. In this tight economy, people are looking everywhere to save money. This begs the question, “How much insurance do I really need?” This question does not have a simple answer. While there are mandated minimums in many states, scraping coverage down to the bone could leave you exposed to losing a lot of money from an accident. In the end, you may save more money by paying for full coverage.
New Hampshire and Wisconsin are the only states that do not require liability insurance. How much liability coverage you need varies by state. Some states also require you buy coverage for the potential medical expenses of passengers in the form of Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage.
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