Teen Auto Insurance — Keeping Them Safe; Getting Cheaper Rates

Statistics for teen drivers is far from impressive. Their crash rate is so high that many parents will prefer they don’t drive until they get older. For families who really do have such a hold on their kids, it may work. But you’d have to understand that peer pressure is really a very big issue at this age. So what can you do to both keep your teen safer and lower the usually high auto insurance premium associated with teen drivers? This article will help you…

Teenagers usually get adult privileges but prefer kindergarten responsibilities. If you want to help your teenager really grow up, let them know that with every privilege comes some responsibilities. If it makes sense in your circumstance, let them pay for their auto insurance or at least bear a part of their auto insurance premium. It’s my discovery that once young persons pay for something with their hard-earned cash, they end up being more careful with it.

Here are a few rules that will keep your teenager safer…

1) Let them never drive in company of fellow teens or kids unless there is a responsible adult in the car. I used the word “responsible adult” because some adults may not be enough positive influence on these teenagers.

2) Let there be an agreement between you and your teenager that they won’t drive in the night. And, where it becomes inevitable, go over things they must bear in mind. Most accidents happen between 9.00pm and 2.00am.

3) They must never touch the steering wheel once they’ve taken any form of alcoholic beverage. Take note that to be on the safe side they should know that they are not allowed to drive if they take so much as a sip of alcoholic beverage.

4) Let it be ingrained in your teenager that they are not on a race track even when they are on the highway. They should obey speed limits and traffic laws.

5) They must tell you where they intend to drive to with their cars. And, please, be firm if you think they’re better off with a cab or even if you think they should not go there.

These all presume that you already have great communication with your teenager. Whether you do or don’t, here’s something that will surely help you get cheap auto insurance for your teen…

Visit at least three auto insurance quotes sites and obtain quotes from them. Obtaining your auto insurance quotes from this many or more sites ensures you do not miss great offers that aren’t available on the other sites.

Benefits of Auto Insurance in Case of Accidents

Nobody in this world in his fair senses would wish an accident upon himself. However hard we may try or how much ever careful we may drive, we all still end up being involved in an accident at some point of time in our life. They can be really stressful and with the resulting physical and vehicular harm, the overall situation can get very stressful. Having auto insurance in place can take out a significant amount of stress from the whole situation. At least you won’t have to worry about the hefty auto repair bills.

Whenever you meet with an accident, the primary matter to focus upon must be the well being of the passengers. Once the passengers are taken care of, you must report the incident to the police, to get further assistance in the matter of claiming the damages.

Thereafter, get in touch with the auto insurance people, who’ll send their executive to assess the whole situation and help you to file a claim. There’ll be a great number of forms that’ll need to be filled, however, if you submit your claim immediately after the accident, the whole procedure can be expedited considerably.

Prior to approaching the auto insurance people, you must do a self-assessment of the true worth of your vehicle, considering its age, model and efficiency. This will help you well in discussing the matter with them and filing an appropriate amount of claim with the auto insurance executive.

In the event that your vehicle has been damaged beyond point of repair, you can claim the true value of the vehicle and not the amount you have got financed on it. Hence, if the vehicle is over financed, you may owe far more than the true worth of the vehicle.

On the contrary, if you’d like to retain the damaged vehicle and prefer to get it repaired, you can do that as well. But, in that case, you might not be able to claim the complete covered amount on the vehicle. This is plainly due to the reason that it holds no value in its present condition other than it’s actual salvage value.

It is recommended that you don’t admit any fault while filing any auto insurance claims since you may not be at fault in the eyes of the law, in spite of your thinking otherwise. The most feasible way is to put your case in front of the concerned authorities and let them come to an independent professional decision. In all likelihood, the auto insurance company will deploy a specialized claims representative to carry out a comprehensive investigation into your claim. You must also approach the other party to obtain more information, regardless of who was at fault.

Please note that you must have your auto insurance policy number handy while filing your claim. In case the other party too is insured, their name, phone numbers and residential addresses may also be required. Also mention their vehicles make, year and license plate number. Adding the names of any witnesses with their signature will make your case even stronger.

Affordable Health Insurance Plan – What Everyone Needs To Know About Individual Health Insurance

The discussion about health insurance will rarely cross your mind as long as you are employed. The group health insurance benefits that you have while you are employed are so easily taken for granted. There may come a time when a change or loss of employment may send you scrambling into the health insurance market place. You will have a lot of new decisions to make. You will have to educate yourself very quickly because there is only a 60-day window after separation from your employer to purchase a new plan.

There are an increasing numbers of baby boomers reaching their mid-fifties that are leaving their employers and starting businesses. This requires health insurance planning. An affordable health insurance plan is only possible when you begin to understand the basics of health insurance. Read more…

Do You Need Commercial Auto Insurance

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.

Isn’t This Covered on Auto Insurance?

It is a common misconception that everything that is inside your vehicle is covered under your auto insurance policy in case of theft. The truth is that only the vehicle itself and attached equipment is covered under an auto insurance policy in Ontario Canada. While auto theft claims are an on-going event, there are certain things you should know before you load up your car with valuable merchandise and leave the car parked on the street overnight.

For example, if a person is taking a TV in for repairs and the car is stolen with the TV still inside it, the TV is not covered. So too, if you have been visiting relatives during the holidays, and have not emptied the trunk filled with gifts and your car is stolen, while the car is covered on your auto policy, those gifts are not covered on your auto policy.

If a person is away on holiday and has luggage and clothing in the car and the car is stolen, the luggage and clothing are not covered under the auto policy.

So how do you insure the contents in your car? Quite simply – items such as a TV, luggage, clothing, cell phones, laptop computers, and CD’s are covered under property insurance.

Therefore, if you have both property insurance and auto insurance, any auto theft claims will not cover the contents inside the vehicle, but your property insurance will cover the loss of these items. However, note that you need to pay the deductible on both policies in order to seek compensation for your losses.

There is one caveat, however. Let’s assume that the CD’s stolen along with your car fall under the deductible. You would have to decide whether or not it is worth it to pay the difference. This holds true for clothing, cell phones, and other items which may not exceed the deductible.

Unfortunately, if a thief wants to steal your car, they can take it in seconds because today’s car thiefs are sophisticated and aware of every new auto theft prevention item on the market today.

According to one Canadian source, here are the most stolen vehicles for 2007:

*1999 Honda Civic SiR 2-door

*2000 Honda

2004 Subaru Impreza STi 4-door. This model also had the highest theft claim costs.

Acura

Dodge

Audi

These sources also state that “none of the most frequently stolen cars are equipped with electronic immobilizers that meet the National Standard of Canada. According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, regulations requiring all new cars, vans, light trucks and SUVs to come equipped with electronic immobilizers did not come into effect until September 1, 2007. The Honda Civic is a good example. Newer year models in which Honda did install immobilizers meeting the National Standard of Canada appear much lower on the list.

The next time you visit relatives, or go grocery shopping; check your car and trunk to ensure there are no valuables in the trunk or back seat. Prevention is the first line of defense against auto theft claims.