Do Car Insurance Companies Give Discounts For Defensive Driving Class?

As most car insurance policy holders are aware of, the drivers around here are crazy. Aggressive and swerving little devils, it takes effort to not ram into them, on accident or on purpose (road rage). What many people who have been in accidents realize is that being able to compensate for the stupid driving habits of your fellows on the road can prevent a lot of pain, and not the least a insurance claim.

The way to find out how to avoid these crazy people is to sign up for a defensive driving course. Not only will you learn in one of these courses how to protect yourself on the road, but you will also avoid filing a car insurance claim, as well as being eligible for a insurance discount. Most  car insurance companies do give discounts, both for defensive driving courses as well as regular introductory driver’s education courses.

Why take one?

• The National Insurance Safety Council says that almost eighty percent of car insurance accidents happen because the driver messed up in some way. If you learn how to drive defensively and responsibly, you can avoid being part of this statistic.
• If you have a speeding ticket, then you can go to defensive driving class and get it taken off of your driving record. That’s two drops in your Norwalk CA car insurance rates right there.
• The discounts on your Norwalk CA car insurance rates can be pretty high, ranging from five to ten percent. Normally, though, in order to get a discount, you have to take the class voluntarily.

Where do you take one?

• Classes for defensive driving are all over the place, but your Norwalk CA car insurance company will not recognize all of them. To find out which defensive driving school will get you a discount, ask your Norwalk CA car insurance agent or company representative.
• Make sure that the school you go to is authorized by the National Safety Council. You can check their website to make sure that your course is included.

Taking a defensive driving class can even be fun, and if you get your whole family involved, you should see how fast your Norwalk CA car insurance rates will dwindle.

Should You File an Insurance Claim In California?

The California car insurance claims process is a difficult one to wade through, at least when you’re the at fault driver. Unlike the more easy filing for when you are not at fault, you are required to do more and deal with the same problems. It’s a good idea to read your car insurance policy ahead of time so that you know what the steps recommended by your CA car insurance company are, and here are a few steps that you can follow as well.

• Should you, or shouldn’t you?

The first thing to do is determine whether or not to file a car insurance claim at all. Anytime you decide to file a claim on your insurance policy, it will become part of your CLUE report. In the future, other companies who you buy insurance with will see this report, and you will have to pay more for your insurance with them, so you have to be careful.

If the damages are fewer than your deductible and no one else is involved, then there’s obviously no point in calling the  insurance company. If you only get into a fender bender and feel you can take care of it alone, then there is no need.

• Follow the steps.

Make sure you take the correct steps after your car insurance accident to make sure that you have the events properly documented. This way, should there be any controversy down the line as to who is at fault for the collision, you will be able to show real proof supporting your position.

• Get it done.

If you’re going to file a insurance claim, then you need to file it now. While claims are open and you are able to file it a couple of weeks down the line, the longer you wait, the more likely you are of having your claim denied. It is also possible that if you the at fault driver and there is another person involved, they will call the car insurance company first, and you will be in trouble.

• Be prepared.

It’s possible that if another driver is involved in the accident, their own insurance company will give you a call. They will do this to get your side of the story. When they call, be sure to keep track of what goes on in the conversation and to write down the name of the person you’re speaking to.

• Repairs.

Once your claim has been given the go ahead, you will be able to have an adjuster look at your car and the damages. Then you will be able to have your car repaired, and the end of your insurance claim is in sight.

Help – I Can’t Get Car Insurance In California

Reader question:

No California car insurance company wants me. What do I do?

Jackie

Great question, Jackie.

There are plenty of factors that can contribute to you being unable to find a California car insurance company to insure you. Perhaps you have a drunk driving conviction, or you own a high performance vehicle, or maybe you have a lot of speeding tickets on your driving record. If you have a DUI or speeding tickets, then you might be able to get them off of your record by taking a defensive driving class. Ask to see if this option is available for you.

However, if you are not able to get a car insurance company to sell you a policy in the meanwhile, then you need to get into action and find one that will. First of all, leave the regular  car insurance companies alone and try looking for one that specializes in selling policies to high risk drivers. One well known company that does this is Progressive. Remember that your premiums will be more expensive.

If that doesn’t work out for you, then you might have to consider joining the California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan. Also called the assigned risk pool, it is essentially a pool of drivers that drivers who have trouble getting insured will join, and then the state will assign a company to them which will sell them a policy.

Every insurance company participates in this program, because they have no choice. A car insurance company gets more assigned risk policies the more regular policies that it sells. Normally, you will be on CAARP for around three years. After that, you will be able to get insured through a regular CA car insurance company.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Affordable Car Insurance For Senior Citizens?

Getting older, especially if you don’t have a big retirement fund, can be a strain on the budget. This is why you see many American seniors taking their social security checks and moving to Mexico, which is one of the few places where they can live on such small amounts of money. Needless to say, the senior population of the United States needs a break when it comes to car insurance premiums. By retiring age, they will just barely be passing out of the least risky group and heading into an age group that confers high risk.

This is why joining the Hartford AARP might be a good idea for seniors who need a cut on their San Jose CA car insurance. In fact, if you join Hartford AARP, you’ll get a pretty big cut–the organization for retired people claims that they can knock the price of your car insurance premium down by almost fifty percent. Can you pass that up? I wouldn’t be able to.

If you have more than one car insured with Hartford AARP, then you get up to a twenty five percent discount. And if you have more than one kind of insurance with them, then you can add on another ten percent to your total discount. Should you be a policy holder with the Hartford AARP company for five years or more, you will also get a five percent discount.

When you get your insurance with Hartford AARP, you can also know that you are secure. Many times you can have your insurance canceled by another company if you get into an accident, or if you get a speeding ticket. However, with Hartford AARP there are only three things you can do to get your policy canceled, and those things are:

• get a DUI conviction.
• lose your license.
• fail to pay.

This company has a long history helping retired people, in more ways than just in getting cheaper car insurance premiums, so I suggest that any senior who wants to save money give them a good think.

Why Does My Car Insurance Company Make Payment to the Lienholder Not Me?

As I’ve mentioned several times, I’ve got a 2007 PT Cruiser that I’m making payments on. It’s a six year loan (side note: never get a loan over four years), and I’ve only knocked off a couple of months so far, so I still have a few more years to go. However, if I were to wreck that car in some way, then I would have to deal with the dealership and the bank that I’m getting my car loan for when I make my Anaheim CA car insurance claim, even if the vehicle isn’t totaled.

This will throw a cork in your problems, because if you are still buying a car, then when you wreck it (when it’s your fault), the  insurance company is going to mail you your claim check with both your name and that of your lienholder. You can’t cash it with just your signature, so you have two options.

• Mail it to the lienholder, or
• go to them.

Whatever you choose, it might be a little longer than you thought to get your vehicle back, which is why it’s a good idea to get rental car reimbursement coverage on your  car insurance policy.

The first thing that you need to do is take your car up to the dealership. They will then have someone from the bank inspect your vehicle. Occasionally they will come straight to where you have your car, but this is rare and unlikely. After that, you will have to send the bank a statement from the repair shop with the bill, as will as photographs of your fixed vehicle and the insurance claim check. They sign the check, and send it back.

So your car might be all fixed and ready in a day, but until that check is signed by the lienholder, you’ll be without.

California Teenage Driver Car Insurance Rate Quotes

• 11,177: teen drivers killed in car accidents between 1995 and 2004
• 3/4: portion of those accidents involving teen drivers in which the fatalities were suffered by the passengers of the teen’s car
• 5.6%: decline in the number of teen traffic deaths after the introduction of graduated licensing laws in 46 states

Some of the statistics sound frightening, but in the end things seem to be getting better, thanks to new laws on the books in most states that refrain from giving young drivers full licenses until certain benchmarks have been met. While this is, indeed, much of the reason for the decline in fatalities, other factors should not be left out.

Looking at the numbers, even after the decline, can make any parent shake at the thought of sending their teen out on the road, and it’s no wonder with these numbers that the average CA car insurance rate is so high. However, if you take the proper precautions, such as working with your child on their driving skills even after the license has obtained, and buying the best car for your teen, you can ensure to an extent that they have a safe driving experience, and you can save a lot of money on car insurance.

So what should the perfect teen car look like, the one that will garner the very best CA car insurance rate? Here are some rules to go by.

• Size matters.

The impact of a car’s size on its CA car insurance rate is often distorted in the public’s mind. Some notions that might seem to be common sense at first, really aren’t. For example, we all know that the insurance provider will give you a cheap CA car insurance rate if you have a safe car, and vehicles such as SUVs are very safe, right?

Yes and no.

SUVs can be safe for the driver, but car insurance companies have to take more than just you into mind when they are deciding on your CA car insurance rate. SUVs are very safe for the people inside them, but they cause quite a bit of damage. Part of this is because of their size, but some comes from the fact that their bumpers are on a different level than the bumpers of other vehicles, so instead of hitting the other car’s bumper and absorbing some of the impact, the bumper of an SUV will rip through the other vehicle’s body, causing more damage to the vehicle and more fatalities within.

Another common misconception is that a small car will get you a good car insurance rate. Also not true, for just the opposite reason. Small cars don’t cause a lot of damage, so your car insurance rate for your liability coverage will be cheap, but they do take a lot of damage. If you’re going to buy comprehensive or collision on your new car, then the car insurance rate is going to hit you hard there.

So…what kind of car should you get for your teen, to ensure the maximum amount of safety and the best car insurance rate? Well, we can take a little lesson from Goldilocks in this field.

• Just right.

The best car that you can choose for your teenager, in order to stay safe and get a cheap  car insurance rate, is a mid-sized car. It’s also a good idea to choose a car that is a couple of years old, rather than a new one. New cars are expensive to insure, especially if the name attached to them is under 18. Picking a car that’s still around 2000 up will ensure that you get both the modern technology and safety features, while avoiding the high  car insurance rate.

It should also be a given that you need to avoid getting a sports car, a convertible, or any other type of high performance car for your teen. It’s proven through various studies that these sorts of cars encourage reckless behavior, especially among young people.

Tips For Getting Teen Driver Car Insurance Discounts

Maybe it’s because they’re young, and maybe it’s because they are new drivers. I would suggest that it is for both reasons. However, whatever the cause is, 16 year olds have been found to get into ten times as many car insurance accidents as do middle aged drivers, which is why kids their age cost so much to insure. As a parent trying to get a decent price on your car insurance premium, here are five of my ten steps that you need to take with your teen to insure that your premium gets low and stays there.

• Know the law.

Make sure that your kid learns the rules of the road and doesn’t forget them. Being unaware of different traffic laws is one of the big things that is involved in teen accidents, causing more claims on your insurance policy. Teens might remember important laws about right of way and using blinkers when they take their test, but later on they easily forget. If you keep learning, even after your teen gets their license, your risk will go down.

• Be a role model.

Let me use my mother as an example. She’s a terrible role model for young drivers. She drinks (not alcohol, but any drink is a distraction), eats, reads, and writes while driving. My brothers and sisters watching her might be inclined to take after her. However, if you set a good example for your new driver by following the traffic laws and being careful on the road, then you’ll save your self some Lancaster CA car insurance claim headaches in the future.

• Keep them close.

The best way to make sure your teen is insured is to put their name on your insurance policy. Everybody who is driving is required to be insured, so you can’t be too scared about the prices. They have to go on your policy.

• Reward and punish.

One great things that many car insurance companies offer can also be used as a tool for parenting, and that is the good grade discount. It’s simple: if your kid gets good grades in school, enough to get the discount, then they can use the car. If not…well, less time driving is more time spent studying, right?

• Don’t skip driver’s ed.

I didn’t take driver’s ed as a teen, and I’m okay for it, but many people aren’t. Don’t let your teen avoid getting his or her license, and don’t let them avoid driver’s ed if they get their license after eighteen. Make sure they are enrolled in a comprehensive driver’s education course so that they get some first and second hand knowledge of the roads.

How Do I Get Cheaper California Auto Insurance Rates?

Reader question:

I’ve heard that you could get a cheaper California auto insurance rate based on what kind of job you have. Is this true?

Mark

It can be.

California auto insurance rate discounts based on occupation are some of the more rare kinds of discounts, because not all CA car insurance companies have them, but there are several that do. If you find that you are in an occupation that regularly gets a California auto insurance rate discount, then it would do well for you to ask while you are shopping around for a new car insurance company. As it is, there are two kinds of occupations that are going to get you the best discounts on your California auto insurance rate, and those are:

• Teaching.
• Engineering.

Some car insurance companies will offer discounts on the California auto insurance rate for teachers by themselves, but most teachers get their discounts by joining a teacher union. However, if you choose to join a teacher’s union for the California auto insurance rate discount, then you ought to make sure you want to join them for other reasons as well. Normally, the discount you get on your California auto insurance rate only just covers the membership dues you will be paying for being part of the union. However, these unions offer lots of services to teachers apart from discount California auto insurance rates, so it’s a good idea to join anyway.

As for engineering, car insurance companies have done research which shows that these people are less likely to get into accidents, which is their reason for giving engineers discounts on California auto insurance rates. Why do they get into fewer accidents? Who knows? Car insurance companies claim that their professions require more attention to detail, which they say is something that permeates their day to day life. As such, engineers are the sorts who will pay more attention to the road, and thus file fewer at fault claims.

You don’t even have to have the job yet to get the discount, in some cases. Several companies are offering a cheaper California auto insurance rate to people who simply have degrees in the field of engineering, as well as in other math and science related fields. If you think you might be qualified, ask your car insurance company before you sign up for a policy.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

What Kind of Auto Parts Is Your Insurance Company Going To Put On Your Car?

Car accidents bring a lot of headache. Whenever you get into a serious collision, there will most likely be the necessity for doctor visits, numerous calls with your car insurance company, and many people don’t have CA car insurance coverage for rental cars, so of course you’ll have to be doing all of this in someone else’s back seat. Think your done? You’re not. There’s one more thing to worry about, and you probably thought it was all taken care of.

You have to figure out whether you want OEM (original equipment manufacturer) parts to be used to repair your car, or aftermarket parts.

Is there any difference?

Car insurance companies and others who use the aftermarket parts claim that there isn’t much of one. It’s no wonder that they do such a job of promoting the good of aftermarket parts, considering that non-OEM parts are a lot cheaper than the OEM parts. As a matter of fact, they’re about half the price. Car insurance companies can play dirty about this, and often do. Normally, if you want to get OEM parts on your car, you have to pay the additional price. So if the aftermarket part costs $400, and the OEM part costs $800, you have to pay $400 of that OEM price. It can come out to a considerable chunk of change.

If you’re with a car insurance company that is considered to be on the expensive side, then you might not have any problem, nay, be encouraged to get OEM parts. However, most car insurance companies will give you trouble.

One of the big reasons to avoid aftermarket parts when you make a car insurance repair claim is that they make your vehicle’s value go down because you are putting parts that are not made for that exact vehicle into it. When you repair a BMW with a part that isn’t from BMW, it cheapens it. Therefore, if you want to sell it or trade it in, you’ll get less money, since dealers and even buyers often look into the background of the vehicle they are purchasing to see what parts it was repaired with.

The big problem is if you have a rental car. If you get a rental car repaired with aftermarket parts, you might lose most or even all of your security deposit. The reason for this is that with aftermarket parts it is considered to not be in the same condition as the one it went out in.

Some also claim that aftermarket parts aren’t safe. They say that these parts have not gone through the same safety crash tests as the OEM parts have, and thus cannot be trusted. However, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), one of the big crash testers, debunks this myth, saying that there’s no reason to believe that aftermarket parts would perform any different in crashes than OEM parts.

At the end of the day, you choose what parts are used on your car. If you are worried about saling or trading in your car for a good price, you might want to go with OEM parts. However, if that doesn’t bother you so much and you’re a little strapped for cash, it isn’t such a bad thing to go with aftermarket parts. But if you do choose aftermarket, you should the Certified Automotive Parts Association to make sure that it is up to standard. And remember, most of all, that the repair shops will ask you what kind of part you want. You have to tell them, or you have no right to complain.

Understanding California Car Insurance Rules and Terminology

When you’re buying your California car insurance online, you will usually come across a lot more car insurance terms than you would if you were buying them in an office or with an agent over the phone. The good thing about having an agent is that they will be there to explain rules and terms to you. However, more and more people are realizing that they don’t need an agent, and can in fact get all of their car insurance online. As a result, more confusion can happen because the only person there to explain car insurance terms to you is you yourself. I’ve made a list of common terms that you will encounter while buying your car insurance online. Hopefully it will make the process much easier.

• Actual cash value: This is the amount that your car is worth, after depreciation, and is what you receive after your vehicle is totaled in a car accident.
• Benefit: this is what you get when you file a claim, paid by the car insurance online company.
• Bodily injury liability: this is for if you get into an accident that you cause, to take care of the medical coverage for the injured people in the other vehicle.
• Claim: when you get into a car accident and you ask to get money for your coverage based on damages.
• Collision: This is coverage for whenever you get into an at fault accident to cover the damages on your own property.
• Comprehensive: coverage for things such as vandalism, theft, and damages due to natural disaster.
• Deductible: the part of the expenses that you have to pay before your car insurance coverage kicks in.
• Exclusion: something that is not covered by the CA car insurance online policy.
• Full coverage: liability plus comprehensive and collision.
• Indemnity: a predetermined sum paid for loss.
• Limits: the highest the car insurance online company will pay for losses.
• No fault insurance: car insurance claims dealt with in each person’s own company. No blame involved or required.
• Personal injury protection: covers medical expenses for the at fault driver, including long term and wage loss for serious injuries.
• SR22 form that must be filed for three years or more as proof of insurance after DUI.
• Tort: when you sue someone for damages after a car insurance accident.
• Uninsured motorist coverage: when you get into an accident with an uninsured or underinsured motorist and they are at fault, then you will need this coverage for your own damages.

Next Page »