How to Avoid Car Insurance Mistakes

With as often as vehicular accidents occur, car insurance is a must. When you buy insurance for your vehicle, there are several aspects to review. These include liability (injuring others), comprehensive (damage to yourself and your vehicle) and the costs for each. Here are some things to keep in mind to avoid car insurance mistakes.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Find the better agent. Many people call up a bunch of agents asking for quotes over the phone. Don't do this. Just because someone is charging less doesn't mean they're helping more. Ask around. Ask your friends and family. Ask your co-workers. Find out which insurance company and agent is trusted most by the people you trust.
2. Learn to understand split coverage. Many insurance companies insure you based on a number split three ways. This number may look like this; $100,000/$300,000/$50,000. The first number is coverage per person, the second is per accident, the third is for property damage. This can be a little misleading. You would think that with this number, if you hit a car with two people, and person #1's medical bills are $100,000 and person #2's is $200,000, that your $100,000/$300,000 should cover it. This is wrong. You're covered for $100,000 per person. This leaves you stuck with the extra $100,000 on person #2.
3. Get higher liability. Since hospital visits cost so much money, you'll want to have more liability insurance. $30,000 is not a great deal. $100,000 isn't even that much. Many experts suggest that you have $500,000 worth of liability.
4. Set a high deductible. Many people look at setting a low deductible, because that can be appealing when you're in an accident. But this raises your premiums greatly and you likely won't even use your insurance.
5. Pay your bills. A lot of people seem to think it's no big deal if they miss a payment or two. It is a big deal. If you don't pay for the insurance, you'll lose it. That could mean bad news for you if you get pulled over, and even worse if you get in an accident.