What Is Car Insurance?
Car insurance helps you to pay for another driver’s repairs or medical bills after you cause an accident. Some types of car insurance will help you to pay for repairs to your own vehicle.
Car insurance also covers you in the event of a fire, hail, vandalism or theft to your vehicle.
In order to make use of your car insurance policy, you need to file a claim. When you’ve filed a claim, your insurance provider will evaluate the claim and they will pay out up to your policy’s limit.
The coverage level that you choose will determine how much your policy will pay out to you. If your costs go above your policy limit then you will be expected to pay the difference yourself.
Do I need Car Insurance?
Most US states require car owners to carry a minimum level of liability insurance. In fact, the only states which don’t require car owners to carry insurance are New Hampshire and Virginia.
If you finance your car then you will most likely need to carry more than the legal minimum insurance for you state.
Besides minimum car insurance, you may want to increase your coverage level by opting for other policy types, such as collision car insurance.
How can I lower my car insurance rate?
The best way to lower your car insurance rate is to shop around and compare quotes from different insurance providers. Different providers weight the various factors that calculate your overall rate uniquely, so you’re almost guaranteed to get different prices for the same level of coverage.
You should also look out for discounts. Most providers will offer you discounted prices for doing things like:
- Paying online
- Paying for your entire policy upfront
- Agreeing to automated payments.
You can also take an advanced driving course, which makes you less of a risk to insure. This can lead to lower car insurance premiums with certain providers.
Another way to reduce the cost of your insurance is to evaluate your coverage levels. Make sure that you aren’t overpaying for your car insurance with unnecessary costs. Consider lowering your policy limits or dropping certain types of coverage.
However, when reducing the rate of your insurance by dropping coverage, make sure that you don’t underinsure yourself. You will still need to comply with state law requirements.