Female Car Insurance

One morning a friend of mine was running late for class at school. His wife was throwing together some kind of breakfast while he gathered his laptop and gathered the books he was going to need for school that day. He zipped up his pack and ran outside to warm the car up… Except, there was no car. It had been stolen.

My friend ran into one disappointment after another that week as he first found that the insurance company wouldn’t pay for a rental, then that the damage the thief did to the car would only be covered up to the deductible and that somehow he was going to have to come up with the $500 before the car could be fixed.

He supposedly had done his due diligence by going to one of those car insurance quotes sites and finding the lowest priced. He had thought by getting cheap car insurance that he had beat the system somehow. In reality, his cheap car insurance turned out to be crappy car insurance. His problem stemmed from lack of carefully reading the insurance policy and checking if the insurance company had a good reputation.

Before you buy your next auto insurance policy be sure you know all the facts about the company’s service policies. Cheap car insurance is only cheap if the product is as good as the more expensive car insurance. A good place to start is with a free car insurance quote, however obtaining an auto insurance quote is not going to be enough unless you know what kind of service you expect and whether or not the company providing the quote will provide the service when the time comes. The two A’s will keep you straight… They are, Assets and Assistance.

Assets

You want to make certain that your car insurance quote includes every asset you could want or need in an emergency. When you are high and dry without a car, will your insurance cover your transportation needs? Check to make certain that the company you are buying car insurance from will provide you with an auto rental if something goes wrong. If your car is stolen – as in my friend’s case – or un-drivable, or in the car repair shop for a few days you want to make certain that a car will be available to you.

If not, you will be forced to call your in-laws and give them one more reason why you aren’t good enough for their daughter. Check that you have road-side assistance, some variation on lock-out service, and towing service provided by same insurance company. Remember, the car insurance quote is only low if the insurance coverage is good.

Assistance

Find out what the auto insurance company’s customer service is like before you buy from them. How do you find out? First, there is no way to know for certain what type of people you will end up dealing with, but there are ways to know the probability of having a good experience. First, there is the low tech way of asking your family and friends what their experiences have been.

The lemon auto insurance companies will immediately pop up in a network search of that kind, but let’s say that you are a hermit and have no family or friends, or like one friend of mine, your family is all from the catskill mountains without cars or running water. If that is the case then you will need to try the high tech method: use the internet. One way is to make use of the Better Business Bureau. You can find if any complaints have been registered against the auto insurance company in question and whether or not the company has resolved those complaints. I have checked the auto insurance companies that have treated my family poorly and they all seem to have complaints against them.

Another way to check the customer service of a company is to find a claims telephone number on their website and call it up. If their claims people are nice to you, the likelihood of the customer service being a positive team has just raised. After you have assessed the courtesy level of the auto insurance company’s service department, then politely thank them for their time and hang up.

No explanation is necessary, they will just move on to their next call without giving you another thought. This technique is based on the theory that there are two kinds of companies: the ones who stock their sales teams with friendly people and put all the low-paid mean folks in their claims departments and the ones who stock both with friendly professionals. Usually, this simple test will tell you the type of company with which you are dealing.

If the quoted auto insurance policy has both the assets you desire and a high quality of customer service, then the quote is a true quote. Remember if you think you might end up actually using the car insurance – which we should all assume we will – then check these two things before running after the apparently low premiums.

By: Tony Alves
contact@tony-alves.com
Car Pictures
Performance Auto Parts Store

Automobile insurance is one of those things in your budget that is always going to be there. There are very few places in America that permit you to drive vehicles without insurance coverage and so it behooves each and every one of us to get a better handle on our own auto insurance coverage. The industry is changing a bit because the competition is strong. There are new and creative auto policies on the market today.

The trend that has gained the most momentum is the self-insuring concept. Higher deductibles is the weapon that the customer can use to lower rates significantly. Higher deductibles means that the policyholder has decided to take on more of the risk for the automobiles insured. The days of low collision deductibles are all but gone. Lower deductibles no longer warrant the high premiums. There is too much money to be saved with higher deductibles.

Young drivers on newer vehicles that have a lien holder’s interest will raise the auto rate significantly. The collision and comprehensive rates for drivers under 21 years of age are very high. A young driver on an older vehicle without the collision and comprehensive coverage will lower the rate significantly. There are discounts for young drivers who have completed a qualified drivers training course. Some companies offer good student discounts for students with high grades. When the young driver reaches 21, some companies start lowering their rates.

Senior Citizen Discounts – Most companies have discounts for people age 55 and older who are retired or work less than 20 hours a week. There are mature driving courses that can also give the senior citizen a discount.

Multi-Policy Discount – This discount is available when you insure both your auto and home with the same insurance company.

Tort Options – Some companies offer discounts for a limited tort option. Tort is your ability to sue for pain and suffering. Limited tort rates in some states reduce the overall premium of the policy up to 30%. Ask your insurance company about the tort options in your state.

By: Tony Alves
contact@tony-alves.com
Car Pictures
Performance Auto Parts Store