Tips to Buying Auto Insurance

When it comes to auto insurance, you want to be adequately covered if you get in an accident, but you don't want to pay more than you have to. Unfortunately many people are doing just that, simply because they don't want to spend time shopping for car insurance. It's not inherently enjoyable, after all, despite how it looks in commercials featuring disgruntled cavemen and joke-cracking spokespeople.

But by doing some comparison shopping, you could save hundreds of dollars a year. When one of our editors used a rate-comparison service, he got basic coverage quotes for his two old cars that ranged from $1,006 to $1,807 — a difference of $801 a year. If you're paying thousands to your current insurance company because you have a couple tickets, an accident or an out-of-date and unfavorable credit rating, shopping your policy against others might be well worth the effort. Look at it this way: You can convert the money you save into buying something you've wanted or needed for a long time.

Step 1: Decide How Much Coverage You Need
To find the right auto insurance, start by figuring out the amount of coverage you need. This varies from state to state, so take a moment to find out what coverage is required where you live. You will find a list of each state's requirements and an explanation of the various types of insurance in "How Much Car Insurance Do You Need?" Also, check out "Little-Known but Important Car Insurance Issues," which has a glossary of basic insurance terminology. If you're a first-time driver and need a comprehensive overview of car insurance before you go on, review this guide from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Now you're ready to make a list of the different types of coverage you are considering.

Once you know what's required, you can decide what you need. Some people are quite cautious. They base their lives on worst-case scenarios and insurance companies love that. Insurance companies are in the risk business, and they know a policyholder's likelihood of being in an accident, as well as how likely it is for a car to be damaged or stolen. The insurance company crunches the information it has collected over decades into actuarial tables that give adjustors a quick look at the probability of just about any occurrence. You don't have those tools at your disposal, so your decision will depend on your own degree of comfort in assuming a certain level of risk.

Experts recommend that if you have a lot of assets, you should get enough liability coverage to protect them. Let's say you have $50,000 of bodily injury liability coverage but $100,000 in personal assets. If you're at fault in an accident, attorneys for the other party could go after you for the $50,000 in medical bills that aren't covered by your policy.

General recommendations for liability limits are $50,000 bodily injury liability for one person injured in an accident, $100,000 for all people injured in an accident and $25,000 property damage liability (usually expressed in insurance shorthand as 50/100/25). Here again, let your financial situation be your guide. If you have no assets that an attorney can seek, don't buy coverage unnecessarily.

Your driving habits might also be a consideration in determining the coverage you need. If your past is filled with crumpled fenders, or if you have a lead foot, or if you make a long commute on a treacherous winding road every day, then you should get more complete coverage. Collision coverage pays for damage that your car experiences in an accident or damage from hitting an inanimate object (a tree, light post or fence, for example). Comprehensive coverage addresses damage that didn't occur in a collision — such as from fire, theft or flood. It also covers damaged windshields.

Keep in mind that you don't have to buy collision and comprehensive coverage. Let's say your vehicle is older, you have a good driving record and there is little likelihood that your car would be totaled in an accident, but a high likelihood of it being stolen. Then you could buy comprehensive coverage and skip the collision insurance.

Step 2: Review Your Current Insurance Policy
Read through your current policy or contact your auto insurance company to get the information you need. Jot down the amount of coverage you have now and how much you are paying for it. Take note of the yearly and monthly cost of your insurance, since many of your quotes will be given both ways. Now you have a figure to beat.

Step 3: Check Your Driving Record
You should know how many tickets you have had recently. If you can't remember how long that speeding ticket has been on your record, check with your state's department of motor vehicles. If a ticket or points you earned are about to disappear, thus improving your driving record, wait until that happens before you get quotes. Nothing drives up the price of insurance like a bad driving record.

Step 4: Solicit Competitive Quotes
Now it's time to start shopping. Set aside at least an hour for this task. Have at hand your current insurance policy, your driver license number and your vehicle registration. You can begin with online services. If you go to an online site to get a quote for an insurance rate, you can type in your information and begin to build a list of companies for comparative quotes. Keep in mind that not all insurance companies participate in these one-stop-shopping sites, however. If a recommendation from friends and family or other research points to a company that you think might be a winner, you can go directly to its Web site or call its toll-free number to get a quote.

Each quote form takes about 15 minutes each to complete. It might be well worth your time, since if the entire shopping process takes you two hours and you save $800, you're effectively earning $400 an hour.
When you use these sites, you might not get instant quotes. Some companies may contact you later by e-mail. Some that are not "direct providers" might put you in touch with a local agent, who will then calculate a quote for you. (A direct provider like Geico sells insurance policies directly to consumers. Other companies, such as State Farm, sell insurance through local agents.) You can learn more about the various kinds of agents here.

Step 5: Gather Quotes and Company Information
While you're researching companies, take careful notes so you can easily make price and coverage comparisons. Keep a list of:

• Annual and monthly rates for the different types of coverage. Make sure to keep the coverage limits the same so you can make apples-to-apples comparisons for cost and coverage.
• The insurance company's 800 telephone number, so you can get answers to questions you couldn't find online.
• The insurance company's payment policy. When is the payment due? What kinds of payment plans are available? What happens if you're late in making a payment?

Step 6: Work the Phones
Once you have gathered information online, it's time to work the phones. Contact those companies from which you haven't been able to get an online quote. Doing the research by phone can actually be easier and faster than on the Internet, provided you have your driver license and vehicle registration close at hand. When you get a quote over the phone, be sure to confirm the price by asking the representative to e-mail the quote to you.

Step 7: Look for Discounts
When you're making these calls and shopping online, make sure you explore all your options relating to discounts. Insurance companies give discounts for such things as a good driving record, your car's safety or security equipment and certain occupations or professional affiliations. Some companies are now offering lower rates if you enroll in "pay as you drive" plans. Some will give substantial discounts for young drivers in the family who have high grade-point averages. (You can use this as an incentive to your teen drivers and offer to share the savings with them.) Also consider using the same insurance company for home and auto policies. That will usually get you a better price. For more guidance on discounts, check out "How to Save Money on Car Insurance" and "Top 10 Ways To Lower Your Car Insurance Bill."

Step 8: Assess the Insurance Company's Track Record
You now have most of the price and coverage information that you need to make a decision. You can see which company's coverage is least expensive, but it's important to keep in mind that cheap isn't the only basis for choosing an insurer. How do you know which company is financially sound? How do you find out if an insurance company is going to treat you right — particularly in the event of a claim?
Here are some places to check to develop a clearer picture of an insurance company's track record for fairness, financial stability and customer service.
1. Use the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Consumer Information Source to access information about insurance companies, including closed insurance complaints, licensing information and key financial data. You also can visit your state's department of insurance to check consumer complaint ratios and basic rate comparison surveys.
2. Consider contacting an independent insurance agent for additional information about a company.
3. Check out the financial strength ratings for an insurance company by referring to the ratings from A.M. Best and Standard & Poor's (registration may be required).
4. Review consumer satisfaction surveys from J.D. Power and Consumer Reports (subscription required).
5. Ask friends and family about their insurers and whether they're satisfied with them. In particular, ask them how their insurance companies treated them if they had a claim. Did they get fair, straightforward service? Or was it a hassle to get the matter resolved?

Step 9: Review the Policy Before You Sign
When you're done your research and zeroed in on a company, read over the main points of the policy. In addition to verifying that it contains the coverage you've requested and priced, it's a good idea to find out if the policy states that "new factory," "like kind and quality" or "aftermarket parts" may be used for body shop repairs, says Dennis Howard, director of the Insurance Consumer Advocate Network. If the policy has such a requirement, think hard about whether this is the company for you, particularly if you own a relatively new car that you plan to keep for a while. In this case, it's best to know at the outset that the insurer will pay for original manufacturer parts, rather than try to fight later, when you have a claim.

Step 10: Cancel Your Old Policy; Carry Your Proof
After you have secured the auto insurance policy you want, cancel coverage with your existing insurance company. If your state requires you to carry proof of insurance, make sure you put the card in your wallet or the glove compartment of your car.
Finally, here's a quick checklist to keep you on track:

• Determine your state's minimum insurance requirements.
• Consider your own financial situation in relation to the required insurance and consider whether you need to increase your limits to protect your assets.
• Review the status of your driving record — do you have any outstanding tickets or points on your driver license?
• Check your current coverage to find out how much you are paying.
• Get competing quotes from Internet insurance Web sites and individual companies of interest to you.
• Make follow-up phone calls to insurance companies to get additional information about coverage.
• Inquire about discounts.
• Evaluate the reliability of the insurance companies you're considering by visiting your state's insurance department Web site, reviewing consumer surveys and talking to family and friends.
• Review the policy before finalizing it. Remember to cancel your old policy.

That's all tips to buying auto insurance, good luck!

Reference : http://www.edmunds.com/auto-insurance/10-steps-to-buying-auto-insurance.html

10 Items You Need When You Make A Claim of Auto Insurance

Do you have problem when make auto insurance claim, or your claim was rejected? What do you need when you make auto insurance claims ? Here are top 10 items to make auto insurance claim

1. Take pictures of the accident right after it occurred.
Take a photo of your vehicle and the other vehicle(s) involved including all 4 corners. Also, if you can get the other party in the photo, that will help in the event that either insurance company needs help identifying the other party involved.

2. Write down all the information.
Record all the information that you have gathered and keep it in a safe place. This is to assist you if there is a problem with the claim. When you report it, be sure to write down who you spoke with, your claim #, and what if any promises were made. This will make your life easier if someone says something and then it doesn’t happen.


3. Were the police called?
If the police called or showed up, make sure to get the name and badge # of the officer and a report number. It may take your insurance company up to 3 months to get a police report, so be sure you take the information but don’t rely on the insurance company getting the information.

4. What kind of vehicle or vehicles were involved in this accident?
You want to make sure that you get the vehicle year, make and model, the license plate #, and VIN number for each vehicle involved.

5. Where did this happen?
Get the intersection or street that the accident happened on. Also, you want to make sure that you know how many lanes are on each side of the street, if the street or streets are 1 way or 2 way, the type of striping on the pavement within 100 feet each direction of the loss, i.e. is it a solid, double yellow line, a white line, etc. Also, you want to know where each vehicle impacted, what lane you and the other car were driving in just before the accident, the direction of travel for each vehicle, and if there were any signs posted that control traffic flow.

6. How many passengers were in each vehicle?
Take note of how many people were in each of the vehicles involved. Once you know, make a brief note of their description or name including: ethnicity, gender, weight, height, etc. This will help if you are the victim of a staged accident or other type of insurance fraud since people sometimes mysteriously are reported as an occupant of the vehicle when they were not present. This is not common, but if it ever does happen, this will help you avoid being a victim.

7. What type of condition was the car in right after the accident?
Was the vehicle drivable? Where is the damage? Is there any additional damage on the vehicle not related to the accident? If there is additional damage on the vehicle not related to this accident, be sure to tell your insurance company.

8. Where do I want to get my vehicle repaired?
 If you have a shop in mind, have that information with you. If you don’t, ask around, your friends might have a good recommendation. Otherwise, you can ask your insurance company if they have a repair program. If they do have one, be sure to ask about the program’s warranty, cost, and if there is a benefit to using it.


9. Were there any witnesses?
Was there anyone who saw the accident happen? You want to make sure that you get information from anyone who saw the accident. This will assist the insurance companies to determine who is liable for the accident.

10. Who did I have an accident with?
Be sure to get complete information from the other party(ies) involved. This means copying down their address, driver’s license #, date of birth, and ask for their phone number.  In addition, obtain their insurance information including, the company, policy #, agent if there is one, the policy begin and expiration date and their phone #. You need to make sure that you have as much info as possible to give your insurance company; this will help get your claim resolved as fast as possible.

If you have a claim that needs to be filed, the above items are good to gather since it will make the process easier and assist your insurance adjuster to resolve your claim at a faster pace. The insurance adjuster(s) you will deal with each have a job, it is to resolve as many claims as they can in the least amount of time possible. As a result, the more information you can give him or her, the smoother the process will be.

If there is less or more important than the above items, please comment !

Reference : http://www.autoinsurancetips.com/auto-insurance-claims-top-10-items-you-need-when-you-make-claim

10 Step By Step to Get Lowest Price Car Insurance

According to consumer watchdogs and insurance experts. To find the lowest possible rates from an insurer that'll be there when you need it, learn what type of coverage you must carry, research the reputations of insurance companies and take advantage of every possible discount for which you're eligible, experts say. They also recommend checking out pay-as-you-drive policies that peg premiums to how many miles you put on your car each year.

Finally, if you're eligible, look into low-cost auto insurance programs that such states as California, Hawaii and New Jersey offer to people with very low incomes.

When it comes to buying affordable car insurance, you're your own best advocate. At the same time, it's not always easy to take on that role, says J. Robert Hunter, a former Texas insurance commissioner and insurance director at the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America in Washington. Don't settle for the first insurance company or agent you find, Hunter says. Shop around. "That's how big buyers of insurance do it," he says. "They put it out for competitive bids. That's what you should do, too."

Here's a How to Get Affordable Auto Insurance

1. Start with the car.
What you pay for comprehensive and collision coverage depends on the year, make and model of the car you drive. Generally speaking, the newer, more expensive the vehicle, the higher the premium. Rates for comprehensive and collision coverage don't vary much, so if you can't afford to pay a lot for insurance and you're in the market for a car, buy one that's inexpensive.

2. Know your limits.
  Most states have set minimums for liability insurance coverage, both for bodily injury and property damage. Look up coverage minimums here or on your state insurance commission's Web site. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners lists insurance commissions in all 50 states and U.S. territories. If you're taking out a loan to purchase a new or used car, the lender will likely require you to carry a certain level of comprehensive and collision coverage, according to the NAIC.

3. Take the highest possible deductible.
Want an easy way to lower your premium? Take a high deductible. By opting for an annual deductible of $1,000 instead of $250, you'll pay less up front, but should you be responsible for an accident, you'll foot more of the bill before insurance payments kick in.

4. Check your credit score.
Some states allow insurers to take your credit history into account when compiling what's called an insurance credit score, which they use to calculate your premium. Bad credit because of overdue bills or a personal bankruptcy means you could end up paying more for auto coverage. To improve your insurance credit score, pay your bills on time, monitor your credit report and do anything you can to fix problems that could be lowering your score.

5. Narrow the field.
Use the process of elimination to come up with three or four reputable insurance companies or agents to approach for quotes. Start at your state insurance commission's Web site, which usually lists several dozen of the area's top insurers. Choose the half dozen or so companies with the lowest prices for coverage that's closest to what you need. Next, check the reputations of insurers by going to the NAIC's Consumer Information Source Web site to find the "complaint ratios" for each. Complaint ratios show the number of complaints that consumers filed against a company in a given year and then compare this to the company's share of all premiums for a specific type of auto policy during that period. The national median is 1.0, and highly rated companies can score well below that.

Here's exactly how to see where your candidate companies stand. In the search box on the right side of the Consumer Information Source page, type in the name of the insurance company you want to research, your state and "Property/Casualty" for the statement type. From the results page, click on "Closed Complaints." To see complaint ratios for the company's auto insurance policies, choose "Closed Complaint Ratio Report" and "Private Passenger."

If a company's ratio is substantially higher than the median, go back to your state insurance commission's Web site to see if regulators have taken action against them. With that information, whittle your list down to the three or four insurers with the lowest complaints. Then contact them directly. Consumers who are really financially strapped — to the extent of not having Web access at home for this research — can ask a friend or relative with Internet access for help, or use free Internet service at a public library.

6. Find an agent.
If the insurance companies you've identified as possibilities sell directly to customers, you can plug information into a form on their Web sites, get a quote and have someone contact you. If the companies sell through an agent network, ask friends or family who they use, or go back to your state insurance commissioner's Web site to look up agents in your area. Give anyone you contact specific details about the coverage you want and let them know you're comparison shopping. "Say, 'I've talked to this company and got a quote for $480. Can you beat it?'" says Hunter, with the Consumer Federation of America. "Then you've put them to the test."

7. Grab those discounts.
 Insurers offer a multitude of discounts, including lower rates for drivers with short commutes, retirees, students with good grades or vehicles with safety devices such as car alarms or motorized seatbelts. If you're over 55, you could lower your premium by 10 percent by passing a defensive driving course, according to the Insurance Information Institute. When you're talking to agents, don't forget to inquire about the group discounts that some insurers offer to members of professional organizations or other groups. Companies including State Farm, Auto Club of Southern California and Progressive have begun offering pay-as-you drive discounts, with premiums tied to your annual mileage, with a cap at approximately 19,000 miles. In many of these programs, you report your mileage online or to your agent when your policy's up for renewal.

8. Consider opting out of some — but not all — coverage.
 If you drive an older car and own it outright, consider dropping comprehensive and collision coverage. If the vehicle is really old, you could be paying more in insurance than what it's worth. But hold onto that liability insurance. It's illegal in most states to drive without it, and insurers in some states charge significantly higher premiums if you let coverage lapse, even if you haven't been driving.

9. Investigate state-run low-cost insurance programs.
 If you live in California, Hawaii or New Jersey, and if your household income is close to or less than the poverty level, you may qualify for state-run low-cost or no-cost insurance programs. Policies under the California Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program, for example, cost less than $400 a year and cover about 12,000 low-income drivers at any given time, according to Doug Heller, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group in Santa Monica, California. He expects more people to sign up as a new state law takes effect that lets agents sell the program online for the first time. "That's important not just for people who can get online from their homes, but for agencies that provide resources for low-income families," Heller says. Lawmakers in Nevada and Michigan recently proposed or approved pilots for similar programs.

10. Assess insurance needs and premium costs annually.
Life isn't static, and your auto insurance premiums shouldn't be either. Review your policy once a year, especially if you've moved or switched to a job that has you driving more or less. A review is also a good time to check on whether you're eligible for additional discounts.

Finally, We hope this article can help you to get the cheap car insurance! Thanks

Source: http://www.edmunds.com/auto-insurance/how-to-get-affordable-car-insurance.html