John Hartley asked:


You might think that whatever make or model of car you have, auto insurance claims will be similar – and therefore, so will premiums. We all expect to pay more to insure a $200,000 Lamborghini than an ordinary Chevy or Ford sedan because parts are expensive, the car is likely to get stolen, and you are more likely to have an accident driving it fast. But surely the cost on insuring one 4.0 liter four-door sedan is the same as another? Not so. Even among ordinary cars and suvs, all autos are not equal when it comes to auto insurance claims.

The cost of insurance depends on many things such as:

- The likelihood of you having an accident – suvs that do not handle well will generally get a poor rating compared with modern sedans

- The level of injury you are likely to get in an accident – some cars are much better than others

- The cost of repairing the vehicles

The liability cost varies from model to model

These factors are taken into account along with auto insurance claims when the premiujms are set by insurers. So which are the autos to avoid, and which are good? You might expect imports to cost more to insure than cars made in the USA. Not necessarily. For example, Audi and BMW are generally low on the risk of liability in an accident, but the Audi S4 and TT and all BMWs are expensive to repair. Not too many surprises here. Generally, Chryslers are no so good on liability costs, and the Chevy Cobalt, Colorado and Silverado 3500 are pretty bad. The Ford Mustang is also bad, and the Focus and F350 are not good either.

Among the Japanese, Mazda does not rate highly, and Honda generally rates well, but its Ridgeline truck is not so hot. Toyota ranks highly, although the Prius, Tacoma and Tunda are expensive to repair. So you can see that it is not safe to rely on a certain maker, and assume that all its models rate highly.

Check how auto insurance claims affect the cost of insurance

Therefore, before you buy an auto, check out its ranking for crash and repair damage. Actually, the easiest way to do that is get some quotes from leading insurers, as auto insurance claims are taken into account in deciding the premiums they charge. This way you will be able to find what you need to buy a good price.

What you want here is to get all the quotes for the autos you are thinking of buying at one place. I have found that that best place to do this is at a site where you just key in the details, and up come quotes from many insurers. This solves two problems – you find which is the best auto, and which company offers the best price.

gregchapman asked:


You get in a wreck and find your car insurance won’t cover you. What happened? If you were conducting business and you were not carrying a commercial policy, you could be in danger.

So, if you are a business owner, following up with the type of auto insurance you have is critical as you and your business could end up being liable.     To start, you need the same kinds of insurance coverage for the car you use in your business as you do for a car used for personal travel — liability, collision and comprehensive, medical payments (known as personal injury protection in some states) and coverage for uninsured motorists. In fact, many business people use the same vehicle for both business and pleasure. If the vehicle is owned by the business, make sure the name of the business appears on the policy as the “principal insured” rather than your name. This will avoid possible confusion in the event that you need to file a claim or a claim is filed against you.

Whether or not you need to buy a business auto insurance policy will depend on the kind of driving you do. A good insurance agent will ask you many questions about how you use vehicles in your business, who will be driving them and whether employees, if you have them, are likely to be driving their own cars for your business.

While major auto coverage is the same, a business auto policy differs in many technical respects. For instance, if you have a personal umbrella liability policy, there’s generally an exclusion for business-related liability. So are you safe?

Here are some examples of ways you may get into trouble without a commercial policy:

•    Pizza and newspaper delivery;

•    Catering;

•    Door-to-door consulting services;

•    Landscaping or snowplowing services

•    Day care/church van services.

•    Real Estate Agents

If your business uses a vehicle, or many vehicles, you will want to ask your insurance professional some important questions such as:

• What are my liability limits? In general, a commercial auto policy can offer higher liability limits. Larger vehicles, such as delivery vans, can cause more damage than passenger cars.

• Does my personal policy cover me for issues specific to my business? For example, if you have a trailer that damages another vehicle while on a job, a personal liability policy may not cover the repairs. A commercial policy will.

• Do I have employees who drive my vehicles? In general, if other people drive your vehicles for work, you need a commercial auto policy.

You also need a commercial auto policy if your vehicle hauls tools or equipment weighing more than 500 pounds, makes deliveries or requires filings for interstate for for-hire trucking businesses.

Once you have taken all of the above into account, you can rest better at night knowing you are fully protected and no assumptions have been made.

C.L. Hendricks asked:


For several years I have had discount auto insurance through one of the most recognized auto insurance companies advertised on television. It wasn’t the caveman or the lizard that enticed me into going with that insurance provider. No, it was actually the fact that I had been with another insurance company who kept raising my rates a little bit each year.

Finally I got fed up and decided to search around for cheaper auto insurance. Surprise! Because I did not have perfect credit at the time, this discount auto insurance company was the only one that didn’t penalize me with higher rates.

Okay, so I got cheap auto insurance. The problem is that after being with this auto insurance company for over three years, in the last few months I’ve begun to think that I’m being charged too much.  After all, I’m not in a risky age category, I’ve never had an accident, and my car is three years old and not one of those most likely to be stolen. So, why is my insurance so high?

This time I decided to do my research about shopping for auto insurance, by asking for some advice first.  Here’s what I learned:

1. Several of the cheaper insurance companies are great when you have your first car and just want bare-bones coverage, but to get full coverage they tend to charge more than the premium auto insurance providers.

2. Often the actual coverage available thru the discount auto insurance companies is actually discount coverage…not as good as that offered by full-service insurance companies. unfortunately, you often only discover this after an accident.

3. Having more than one type of insurance policy with the same company,

can mean an automatic discount. Called “bundling”, combining auto insurance with homeowners or renter’s insurance will often result in lower premium payments.

4. Since insurance companies tend to raise the rates during subsequent policy renewals, keep an eye on your rates. Don’t hesitate to shop around for another insurance provider, especially if the savings will be at least $100 per year.

5. There is an advantage to having a long-term relationship with a local insurance agent when it comes to filing a claim. Continually changing insurance companies does not build a relationship.

I listened to all of the advice and since I was buying a new home, called my current insurance provider to see if I could save money by having both auto and homeowner’s coverage thru them. They gave me a quote for the homeowner’s and told me that there would not be any discount for having more than one type of policy with them.

Disappointed, but determined to find a lower rate, I called the insurance company I had been with before changing to the discount auto insurance.  The quote I received for the homeowner’s coverage was considerably lower than I’d received from my current provider. Plus the car insurance premium will be much lower than what I’m currently being paying each month.

Needless to say, I’m switching insurance companies the minute the sale closes on the house.  Another plus…the new insurance provider has a local office with an agent that already knows me personally; a definite win-win.

Discount auto insurance may not always provide the best rates or the best coverage.  If you are not happy with your current provider go ahead and look for the type of coverage and premium payment that suits you.  Remember: It’s not a crime to shop around…in fact, it’s your right.

Tuan Nguyen asked:


Auto Insurance is something that all drivers must obtain 24/7 when driving on the road. Nowaday, everybody is required to have auto insurance most in every U.S State. Here are 5 good reasons not to think like “oh, it’s ok, i never hit anyone in my life”

1. If you don’t have your proof of having auto insurance coverage when the police officer request, be prepared to pay for a big fine! It absolutely will be at least $500 or more. Even if you have your proof of auto insurance, you should always keep it in your car 24/7 when you’re on the road. Because if you don’t, be prepared to have your citation signed off by a police officer, then bring it to your local court and pay $10. But remember to make sure you get it done anytime before your court date that is written on your ticket. I’ll tell you a good reason why! If you miss your first court date, the $10 will be $370 in fine. And if you miss your second court date, the $370 will be close to $1000 in fine. Believe me or not, it did happen to me.

2. When you get into a car accident with you at fault and without auto insurance, you are going to be in deep trouble with the DMV and your fianance when the police come to do the accident report. First, you might get your car towed and license suspended if you tell the police officer that you don’t have auto insurance coverage. On the second, you will also have to pay for cost of all damages caused in the accident, which are the fixing cost for the car of the person you hit and the cost of compensation for his or her injury if caused by the accident. And trust me on this, 95 percent of the time you will, even if that person is not really hurting or suffering from the accident. He or she could still go to the doctor to have check up or treatment, and the longer the treatment last, the more money you’re going to pay. Based on what i estimated as the average, one minor accident without anyone getting hurt will at least cost you $10,000. But in major accident when somone is seriously hurt or injuried that he or she has to be hospitalized, i’d say it’s in the scale of $30,000 – $100,000 that you will have to pay. And you will go to jail if you don’t pay for it.

3. It’s always safe to know that you are insured not only for yourself but also for other people around you. You could always feel safe and not worried knowing that you have auto insurance coverage. Auto Insurance Coverage doesn’t really cost that much if you’re a good driver with no tickets or any at fault accidents. Espeically for young teenage drivers, it could cost just as low as your phone bill if you know the right auto insurance companies.

John Hartley asked:


When you get a new auto, or your auto insurance runs out, you want the best auto insurance price you can get. The fact is that if you are not careful, you could end up paying 20-50 per cent more to insure your auto than you need to. Nevertheless, the auto insurance business is very competitive, and you can get very low rates.

To get a good auto insurance price, you need to shop around, and get at least three quotes, and preferably more. But the question is: How? Sure, you could get on the phone, as most insurers have freephone numbers, or you could just leave it to a broker to get the best price. Or you can use the internet. These are the choices.

You won’t get the latest information on the phone

There are some disadvantages with either using a broker or shopping around by phone. First, you are not likely to get to all the best auto insurance prices. The Yellow Pages are never completely up-to-date, so if you rely on that source for insurers you may not reach a new, competitive company. If you leave it to a broker, you will only get quotes from companies the broker deals with – not every insurer. In fact, some insurance companies deal only directly with the public and do not use brokers at all. Because they do not pay the broker a fee, you usually get a better price, and these companies are hungry for your business, which is good news for you.

Googling not the best answer for this one

The most up-to-date place to find auto insurance prices is clearly the Internet. But this is one case where you may not get the best answer by Googling for auto insurance quotes one by one. The reason for this is that many of the websites listed are not actually insurers nor brokers but directories of insurance companies – and these sites are not always updated regularly. Also, you will be surprised to see quite a few sites that are out of date. Yes, that happens even on the Internet!

You really want to get to a quicker way, where you can be sure that the source of auto insurance prices has can access a large number of insurers. There are a number of sites that do this. You just key in your details and you will get a great comparison of quotes, giving you the best auto insurance prices.