Between all the misconceptions about Auto Insurance and the helpful details people don’t know about it, there is much to learn before buying a car or choosing a provider. The type of car you have, the features of the car, the engine of the car are all going to affect your insurance rates but color does not matter. For some reason, people choose to believe that a red car is going to land you with more tickets and in fact raise your insurance rates, it’s not true – the color of your car will not play a role in your payments. People also tend to believe that auto insurance is going to pay for any automotive repairs they have, unfortunately this is not true either. So what is true?
- As long as you don’t have the base liability insurance, your insurance will cover your car even if you were the one that caused the accident. Collision insurance is usually optional but it will cover you if you’re at fault.
- Most people don’t know what ‘totaled’ means. Totaled means your car has been damaged in an accident and it is either beyond repair or the cost of repairing it is greater than what it’s actually worth. Your insurer will give you as much as the car was worth before the accident happened, not the post-crash value.
- Although auto insurance covers a large variety of unplanned costs, it will not cover anything that may have been stolen if your car was broken into. With that being said, if you have homeowners insurance, those items will typically be covered under that policy.
- Bundling your insurance packages and adding anyone in your household who is of driving age will usually lead to lower costs. Although it’s always smart to still shop around and get at least 3 other quotes before committing to one company. For some more useful information, go to http://www.dfs.ny.gov/insurance/cauto.htm
- While the lowest rates play a huge role in which company you end up picking, you should also research to see what their customer service is like. When you are dealing with your insurance after an accident, you will want to speak with someone who is going to handle it the most efficiently.
- If you’re looking to buy a new car, there are several factors that will affect your insurance. The price of the vehicle, how much it typically costs to have repaired, safety records, likelihood of it being stolen, high end cars come with high insurance costs, bigger motors mean more horsepower which will mean bigger rates, sports cars will have higher insurance prices, your age, your driving record and where you live will all affect your insurance quote.
- Where you live will greatly impact your insurance. Those who live in major cities with a significant amount of traffic like New York City or within a one hour radius of it, like Long Island, are going to pay much more for insurance than people who live in Upstate New York and drive through empty back roads.
- The closer you live to work, the lower your insurance costs are going to be. If you drive less than the average amount expected each year, you will qualify for cheaper rates.
- The cleaner your driving record is, the less you will have to pay on insurance. Taking a defensive driving course can decrease your rates up to 10%!
- Paying a higher deductible means more will be covered which will save you much more money in the long run if you end up getting in an accident.
- The better your credit score is, the lower your rates will be.
- The more safety features you add to your car, the better your insurance rates will be.
- Every ten years, the insurance rates should decrease on a vehicle so you’ll want to check to make sure this is happening if your car is over 10 years old.
- Paying in full will save you more money than paying month by month.
- There are a number of discounts that many insurance companies offer but many don’t know about. Here are just a few – teens with good grades, college-age drivers that attend school 100+ miles from home, being over the age of 50-55, being retired, business group members, alumni groups, professional associations, group plans offered through work.
The company that offers the largest discounts may not be the ones offering the best price. Sometimes it’s the companies that offer the least amount of discounts that have the lowest rates because they have it so low already they cannot afford to give away any more savings. It is also good practice to shop around at the end of each year, loyalty does not come with any kind of savings with insurance companies. Do your research, shop around and shop for take advantage of discounts.
