Friday, October 9, 2009

Why does your Car Insurance Quote Increase after an Accident?

By A Nutt

Car accidents usually result in an increase in insurance premiums. Even if you are not responsible, your insurance company will have to incur some costs. There is an increase in car premiums and policy quotes because the accident will be rated against your coverage. There are a number of types of insurance coverage that can include collision, personal injury protection, and medical coverage. If you are found at fault' for an accident, coverage such as personal liability and collision will cover you, your vehicle, and personal injury to the other driver. Often, if you have just one accident, you will see an increase in your car insurance quote.

Car insurance quotes will increase because you will be considered a high risk driver. The premium will reflect the nature of the accident and the costs associated with the accident. Insurance companies will usually charge 'points' to your policy. Depending on the insurance company, these points will be charged to your policy for a certain period of time that usually ranges from three to possibly seven years. If you are in an accident that was your fault, the insurance company will consider that you are a high risk of having accidents in the future and increase your rates. You will also receive higher insurance quotes. The length of time between an accident and your quote and premiums decreasing depends on a providers policies. As well, you may have to pay a higher deductible for the insurance.

Another reason why an accident can increase your premiums when you are 'at-fault' in an accident is that there are some companies who will not insure you. When there is less competition for your business, then there is less incentive to give you a good deal. As a result, your insurance quote will be higher. When you add the insurance 'points' into the mix, it is easy to see how an accident can become very expensive. If you have a faultless driving record, it is unlikely that your premiums will increase after an accident that was determined not to be your fault.

You can normally expect a rate increase of between 20-40%. This increase is based on the Insurance Services Office's (ISO) criteria of raising a premium after an accident. According to the ISO, for multi-car policies, the surcharge is 20 percent of the base rate, and for single-car policies it is 40 percent. It is important to remember that there are other factors taken into consideration after an accident such as your age, gender, and driving record. These factors will affect how high the percentage increase will be.

The increase in premiums is not done so that the insurance money can get their money back, but is based on the risk that you may be involved in another car accident. Each insurance company has different policies and standards, but they look at your chances of getting into another accident. The number of accidents that you are involved in also increases your insurance premiums.

Some companies will absolve past accidents after a set period of time has expired. This can be two years, or as much as five years, but the period will vary depending on the insurance provider. Basically, you have to show the insurance company that you are no longer a high risk driver.

The best way to avoid high car insurance quotes is to avoid an accident. You can do this by practicing safe driving. One car accident can seriously impact your car insurance quote and the premium that you will pay.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Green Cars Means Cheaper Insurance

By A Nutt

It seems that these days everyone wants to do their part to help protect the environment. Due to growing consumer demands, Business and Industry are now coming up with ways for people to benefit from living a green lifestyle. One way of encouraging eco-friendly living is for insurance companies to provide cheaper car insurance for people who buy green cars. Recent research shows that drivers are increasingly more likely to purchase a green car.

There are many reasons why people are gravitating toward green cars. Because green cars have lower emissions, they will save more on gas. As well, lower emissions will result in a decreased carbon footprint since there is less carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide being released into the atmosphere. This helps slow down global warming.

Because some green cars such as hybrids tend to be expensive, insurance companies are now providing discounts to people who buy more energy efficient vehicles. This can include not only hybrids, but cars that have high mileage. Research has shown that people who drive hybrids are a lower risk of getting involved in an accident and tend to be less reckless drivers. These drivers are considered more sensible and they care about the environment so there risk is lowered. A lower risk driver will receive lower premiums. As well, many of these companies that offer discounts for green drivers are involved in programs that work to make a more sustainable environment.

Green Car Insurance is basically a method of providing discounts for people who drive low emission vehicles. The insurance was designed and implemented on the concept of reduce, reuse, and recycle. They reward eco-friendly customers with discounted car insurance premiums. Most of these companies offer some type of carbon offsetting program. This means they take a percentage of the price of a policy and give it to carbon offsetting projects. Some of the programs involve planting trees, supporting recycling projects, or other eco-projects. They may even offer extra incentives such as using recycled car parts for repairs and recycling the car if it is irrecoverable. There are a number of green car insurance companies that will offset 100% of a vehicle's emissions.

There are also proposed pay-as-you-go car insurance programs. This is where your insurance rates are based on the actual number of miles you drive. This encourages drivers to reduce the number of miles they drive each year. Drivers would confirm mileage either by their repair records, odometer readings, or even a piece of equipment installed on the vehicle that tracks mileage.

Customers are now being rewarded for their green lifestyle with insurance discounts. For example, GMAC offers a program with their OnStar system allowing customers to send their mileage stats via OnStar, and if their yearly confirmed mileage is less than 15,000 miles, they can receive up to a 54% discount on their GMAC car insurance.

The number of insurance providers that are providing policies that include green options is increasing. Unfortunately, not that many people know about these eco-friendly insurance options because they receive less advertising than traditional insurance policies. If you are one of the millions of people who are concerned about the future of the planet and its resources, ask your insurance company if they offer a green insurance policy. As more people learn about these great insurance options, the green trend will continue to swell. Educating consumers about the importance of green cars will encourage more people to consider purchasing a green car.

Offering cheaper insurance for green car owners means more people will buy these vehicles and thus create a cleaner and greener environment with Auto Parts Stores

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Very Cheap Auto Insurance -- Four Time-Tested Recommendations

By Chimezirim Odimba

There are a lot of ways to pay less on your policy. But while many of them might reduce your cost, they could leave you with insufficient coverage. This is, however, not the case with the recommendations I'll share with you in this write-up as you'll realize considerable savings while still maintaining sufficient coverage. Here they are...

1. Folks who have more than one vehicle will make considerable savings if they insure them all with the same auto insurance provider. It makes sense to insure all your cars with the same insurance company unless got a better deal for some of your vehicles with another insurance carrier. You can ensure you are making the right choice by doing extensive comparison shopping. But however you look at it, a multi-vehicle discount is one way to get cheaper rates.

2. A multi-policy discount is a good option to cut down your overall insurance cost. That's, for example, if you purchase your auto insurance policy from the very insurer that underwrites your homeowners' insurance.

Nevertheless, I must point out that you might NOT be saving as much as you might by switching. Comparison shop with quotes sites and then have a chat with your insurance agent. This done, you'll be in a position to say for sure if this would make you save a lot more.

Online Auto Insurance Quotes

3. Staying without making claims will make you eligible a good discount. But remember that not all carriers present this discount.

If your agent tells you that they don't give this discount make it clear that you'll change over to another insurer. As a matter of fact, you should because you'll certainly find a better offer somewhere else if you've maintained a claims-free status for this number of years.

However, more often than not the threat of switching from you will be enough to make them shift grounds.

4. Make out some time to visit not less than 5 insurance quotes sites that offer quotes on auto insurance policies. Doing this should take you not more than 25 minutes.

As you visit each site, ensure you give the same information. Doing otherwise will give you misleading quotes. When you've received your auto insurance quotes, compare them to determine which serves your interest best both in price and value.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Business Auto Insurance

By Matt Hellstrom

Everywhere we turn, we see evidence of rough times.The recession continues to result in higher unemployment rates. The highest recipients of bail-out money from the federal government are insurance companies and banks. Everyone who wants to stay in business are looking at ways to cut costs. In times like this, business auto insurance becomes a vital area for grinding out the best deal possible.

If a business is of a type that requires a vehicle fleet, it has a business relationship with a car company and a vehicle insurance company. But this year those relationships are going to change for more companies than ever before.

This state of flux is only increased by the ease in getting insurance quotes for vehicles on line. Never before has competition between insurers been as tough as it is now.

With the collapse of large insurers like AIG, what will that mean for insurance rates? With insurers under ever-mounting pressure to show profits, will they be offering lower rates to keep customers, or raising them to squeeze even more out of what they've got?

The competitive advantage of using the Internet to do your due diligence doesn't just apply to companies with fleets of vehicles. If you take a deduction on your taxes for vehicle expenses for your job, and especially if you are going to be changing vehicles this season, you can use online quotes now like never before.

The changes being forced upon General Motors and Chrysler by the credit crisis will have the effect of dramatically lowering product loyalty. In consequence, truck and car buyers will, in many cases, be considering models they are unfamiliar with. While this type of action will be gut-wrenchingly disruptive for U.S. auto makers, it will similarly demand a change in process in the auto and truck buying and insurance decision process for business. The stability that product familiarity brings when it comes to business expenditures no longer exists in the area of vehicle replacement decisions.

Word from General Motors is that the company may go into Chapter 11 as of June 1st. Does this mean that you, as a small business owner, are going to have to reconsider your decades long attachment to General Motors automobiles and trucks? Will more expensive hybrid or fuel-saving features factor into the cost of insurance? Whichever decision you come to may boil down to ongoing insurance costs. The Internet is the only way to get the wide range of business auto insurance quotes that you are going to need as you do your due diligence.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Do Not Worry About Poor Credit And Car Insurance

By Steve Avarez

Everyone in the country is trying to save as much money as they can and bills are starting to fall behind. This can be the cause of poor credit, and most people tend to think that poor credit and car insurance simply do not mix.

If you are having a little bit of trouble getting car insurance because of your credit, then take a look at a few of these tips and see what they can do for you.

The law simply states that in order to drive around on public roads, you need to have the right amount of car insurance. But because of the state of the economy and the tight budgets, many people are driving around without it.

These two aspects may not seem like a pair, but they go together better than you think. There are great ways to investigate your credit and then learn about how it affects your car insurance.

Take another look at the major car insurance companies and see what your poor credit gets you. These companies are hurting for more customers to keep their heads above the water, so poor credit and car insurance will be no trouble at all. You can get free quotes and get back on the road again in no time!

Try not to get discouraged with your poor credit and auto insurance needs. There are companies and websites that will offer all sorts of insurance deals so that you can get back on the road. Most companies will report to credit agencies so that you can get out of the poor credit hole!

When you have poor credit and car insurance needs, you may feel trapped or helpless, but the truth is now you can get that affordable car insurance. All you need to do is get online and look around; from there you will be connected to hundreds of sites!

Just because you have bad credit doesn't mean you can't get car insurance. There are many options - but you'll have to shop around to get a reasonable rate.