G I Joe : How are the value of my car and the cost of repair determined for auto insurance purpose? Are there different rules for Teen auto insurance?

Response : There are several standard guidelines for determining the value of your car for insurance purposes, which are same for all car insurances even teen auto insurance.

You and your insurer can refer to one of the books that list the depreciated value of all new and used cars. One of these books is published by the National Association of Automobile Dealers another is published by Kelley Blue Book.

When you file your claim, your insurance company will refer you to a claims adjuster. The adjuster will verify the loss and determine what it will cost to repair the car. The adjuster’s estimate can serve as a benchmark to which to compare your own mechanic’s estimate.

No good adjuster or insurance company will expect you to sign an agreement accepting the insurer’s estimate as the total claim payment until you’ve established, to your own satisfaction, that it will cover the cost of repair. The insurer will expect you to get your own estimate from your mechanic, garage or car dealer. Don’t allow yourself to feel pressured into accepting the insurer’s estimate of repair costs without getting at least one estimate of your own.

Your insurance company can’t require you to have repairs done at a particular shop. But they can insist that you get more than one estimate for the work to be done on your car. Just as you want to make sure that your car is adequately repaired, the insurer wants to make sure it doesn’t pay a grossly inflated repair bill.

Don’t be surprised if your insurance company opts to pay for the lowest bid. You don’t have to accept that bid if you believe the low bid won’t adequately repair your car. Don’t hesitate to argue with the adjuster if you really believe his repair estimate is too low based on what your mechanic has told you.

Jennifer : How can I count my mileage and what is considered low mileage?
Response : Jennifer, this is a very good question. Low mileage is considred a positve ascpect by the auto insurance companies and these young drivers will qualify for cheap auto insurance. If a teenager is attending school and does not commute a long distance, they may also be eligible for the low commute or low mileage rates since their risk factor is reduced as vehicles are driven a lower distance. Generally, commuting less than 9,000 annually is considered low.
Use the following formula to get an estimate of your annual miles:
Distance in miles one way to work or school, times 500, plus 5,000.
Example: 4 miles distance X 500 = 2,000 + 5,000 = 7,000 annual mileage.
Each company uses a unique formula, but the above should be good enough to give you an estimated calculation. Be sure to also ask if you are eligible for any other types of discounts you can take advantage off. Remember that every dollar counts because in the long run they will add up quickly. After all, since it’s the law, you will most likely be insured for many years to come. With low mieage get cheap car insurance rate.

I hope this helps.
Kamlesh

Daniel: What are the reasons of restrictions of Graduated Driver License? How is this related to my car insurance?

Response: Daniel, Graduated Drivers License (GDL) has three main restrcitions : number of passangers you carry, night driving and speed. Now taking into consideration the restrictions, first the number of passengers. When teenage drivers transport passengers there is a greatly increased crash risk, according to a March 2008 NHTSA report. When there are multiple passengers, the crash risk is 3 to 5 times greater than when driving alone. In California, Massachusetts and Virginia, passenger restrictions have reduced crashes among 16-year-old drivers. Crash involvement per 1,000 16-year-old drivers fell from 1.07 to 0.85 in California after passenger restrictions were passed. The reduction was from 0.88 to 0.61 in Massachusetts and from 1.41 to 1.10 in Virginia. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm released a study in 2007 that found that children are safer when riding in a vehicle with a teen driver who is their sibling rather than a teen driver who is not related.The study showed that children’s risk of crash injury when the teen driver is a sibling is 40 percent lower. Some states allow teen drivers to have only family members as passengers.

Secondly fatality and injury crash rates for 16-year-old drivers were 20 percent lower in states with nighttime and passenger restrictions than in jurisdictions that lacked these provisions, according to a study released in 2006 by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Study conducted by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF), found that twice as many teens who had not been involved in a crash reported never having violated their state’s passenger restriction provision, as opposed to teens who had been involved in a crash.

Third, according to a 2005 study by National Institute of Health and Westat it was found that, when teens drive other teens, they tend to drive faster than other motorists and leave less distance between their vehicles and the vehicles in front of them. They speed more frequently when there are other teens in vehicles, especially males.

If restrictions are in place the accidents are prevented and thus the teen auto insurance rate is reduced. Obtain cheap auto insurance.