Auto Insurance Tips

You may have heard commercials that deride cut rate car insurance. You may have concerns about purchasing coverage from a company that isn’t a household name.

The truth is that most car insurance contracts are the virtually same. Most will have the same options and will be able to cover you, your family and your vehicles the same way.

Although some companies may have better customer service departments or cuter commercials, their product is, at its core, the same. This means that you should not be afraid to purchase the cheapest car insurance you can find.

Of course, you may want to make sure that they are in good standing with your state’s insurance department and have a reasonable number of complaints against them. (No big company is likely to have zero complaints. What you want to look for is a number of complaints that is a small percentage of the number of policy holders they have.)

Unless you feel obligated to compensate one of the name brand insurance companies for the great entertainment they give is with their clever commercials, feel free to purchase cheap insurance for your car. Assuming you choose the same options and coverage limits, your family will likely be covered just as well and you will have more money to spend on them.

One of the bigger discounts that you can request is the multi-car discount. This discount is typically qualified for by placing your car insurance with the same carrier that insures your home.

If you do not own your home, you should be able to get the discount by placing your car insurance with the same insurance company that carries your condominium insurance or your apartment renters insurance.

This discount can be substantial. You may receive a 20% discount on your auto insurance. Sometimes this discount is enough to pay for a renters insurance policy! This means that you might be able to get – in effect – free renters insurance.

When you check with your agent to see what discounts are available, be sure to investigate the multi-policy discount. This can put some real folding money in your pocket.

A Personal Automobile Policy (PAP) can cover bodily injury to a pedestrian if a pedestrian is hit by a car. These payments can come from one of three parts of the policy.

If the car owner is insured the pedestrian would first receive payment from the liability section of the owner’s policy. This will be subject to the bodily injury liability limitations of the in the policy.

If the car is not insured, but the pedestrian is covered by a PAP the pedestrian may receive payments from his or her policy. The pedestrian need not be a named insured on the policy. He or she can be a “resident family member” who doesn’t drive.

This allows the policy to cover children. Adults can also be covered simply because they are resident family members in a household were one member has an automobile insurance policy.

The no fault or medical payments section of the policy may provide benefits in this situation. The uninsured motorist section may provide coverage as well.

If neither party as a valid automobile policy, the pedestrian’s medical insurance policy may pay for the medical expenses. The pedestrian’s health insurance policy may come into play if the other policies do not fully cover medical expenses caused by the injuries.

Your automobile insurance policy can cover injuries to a pedestrian in several ways. The policy of the driver is the most likely to pay for the injuries. However, the policy of the pedestrian can provide coverage if the driver is not insured.

No fault insurance coverage is t is also referred to as “medical payments coverage.” The purpose of no fault insurance coverage is to pay an injured party’s medical bills – up to a specified dollar limit – without determining who is at fault in an accident.

If the medical expenses exceed the dollar limit, they can be covered by the liability portion of the policy or by the uninsured motorist portion of the policy. However, fault must be determined for these portions of the policy to come into play.

No fault coverage only applies to medical payments and funeral services. Each driver involved in an accident involving both minor injuries and minor physical damage may file a claim with their own insurance company under the no fault provision.

However, the driver who is not at fault may also file a claim for the damage to his or her car under the other party’s liability coverage. (The at fault driver may file a claim with his or her insurer for damage to his car if the policy includes collision coverage.)

No fault coverage is an optional part of the Personal Auto Policy. It cannot be purchased separately.

This no fault coverage is an optional part of the Personal Auto Policy. It cannot be purchased separately.

Your no fault insurance covers yourself, your family and your passengers. It can cover you while in someone else’s car if they are uninsured.

It can also pay when only one car is involved. A person injured in a single car accident can have their medical expenses paid by this provision of their car insurance policy.

A person who is injured while sitting in a car or while exiting a car may be eligible for payments under this provision.

No fault insurance does not affect who the police charge with the accident. No fault insurance coverage has no impact on this issue.

No fault coverage a.k.a. medical payments coverage is a small but important part of an automobile policy. It allows injured parties to have certain medical bills paid for without having the added expense, delay and hassle associated with a law suit.