Teen auto insurance

bob sanders : Friends are great but when they are driving your car and crash, it becomes a big deal. What should you do?

Punching someone in the pocketbook can cause more pain than spreading nasty rumors or posting a mean Facebook message. A bad “friend” who crashes your car can affect your finances for years: Auto insurance follows the car, not the driver. And if your so-called friend is uninsured and you have low auto insurance liability limits, you’re both in hot water.

“If you lend someone your keys, you’re lending your insurance, too,” explained Robert Passmore, senior director of personal lines at the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, an industry trade group.

Here’s how a friend can wreck car insurance havoc.

Scenario No. 1: Your friend crashes your car, and you both have low liability limits.

Let’s say you loan your car to a friend and he crashes it, causing an accident with another vehicle. Both you and your friend have auto insurance with low liability limits. The accident exhausts the liability limits on both policies.

Once this happens, the person who was hit can sue you for medical or property-damage bills that weren’t covered by insurance.

For repairs to your own car, you’ll have to use your collision insurance (if you have it). But you’ll have to pay your deductible on a collision claim, which can be costly.

Your friend may be found to have partial liability for the accident damages, but “states and insurers have different rules for deciding partial liability,” said Passmore. “You’re lending your friend a major asset. You should be cautious.”

Scenario No. 2: Your uninsured friend crashes your car, and you have low liability limits.

This is the worst-case scenario. Your own auto insurance limits will be exhausted, and then the liability shifts to your friend — but you can both be sued.

“Attorneys are looking for liable parties,” warned Michael Barry, a spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute. He adds that when there’s bodily injury to someone else, your exposure for having loaned your car dramatically increases. “It can be open-ended,” said Barry.

And to top it off, your car insurance rates could go up as a result of the claim, depending on your recent claims history.

Scenario No. 3: Your friend crashes your car, and you both have high insurance limits.

This is the best scenario because all damages are likely to be covered, but your insurance limits are still exhausted before your friend’s policy is tapped. As in the first scenario, you’ll have to pay your deductible for any collision claim for repairs to your own car.

In the final analysis, the best strategy is to guard your car like you’d guard your money: Loan it sparingly, and don’t always expect to get it back.

 

You need to make sure that you must have the optimum car insurance coverage and limits so that you would not have any issues with being underinsured if an accident happens. Check out our post on limits of liability at  the blog teenautoinsquote and we will fill you in up with lots of more information on getting teen auto insurance and information on insurance. For sure, managing risk is equally important and is money in your pocket- since it prevents money going out!! Save on teen auto insurance or car insurance.

 

 

Teen auto insurance

Teen auto insurance

Andy Jenkins : How would speeding influence car insurance rates?

Speeding and Car Insurance Rates
Response : Speeding, especially for young drivers or teens is very common. Most drivers drive faster than posted speed limits, at least now and then, and many speed every time they get behind the wheel. It doesn’t seem to matter that average speed limits across the country are higher now than they were a decade ago.

Most drivers push beyond the posted speed limits, whether they are running late, not paying attention to their speed. Of course when you have a new sports car just for the thrill of riding fast. Clearly, there are not enough highway patrol officers to give speeding tickets to all those who speed. This means the odds of not getting caught and ticketed always favor the speeder.

Until they do get a speeding ticket, most drivers give little thought as to how this may affect their car insurance rate quote. They may be in for an unpleasant surprise! They will have to pay an expensive increase in their auto insurance rates, in addition to the ticketed fine, once they get their speeding ticket. In cases of extreme speeding, a driver’s cost of car insurance could actually double, even on a first offense.
Why do insurers often raise your car insurance rates after only one speeding ticket? It’s simple. Numerous studies by highway safety experts show that “the faster you go, the more deadly it is,” says Jeanne Salvatore, spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute (III), an industry trade group. “There’s a higher possibility you’re going to cause a lot of damage to people or property,” Salvatore says.

If you’re cited for speeding, your insurer may attach a temporary surcharge to your policy for three years. One large auto insurer may raise your rate by up to 26 percent the first year, then gradually lower that surcharge and drop it completely after three years, as long as you have no more moving violations.
The size and duration of the increase varies depending on several factors, including:
• Your driving record and your relationship with the insurance company. Some insurers waive the surcharge if the customer has had a long relationship with the company and previously had a clean driving history.
• Where you live. Insurance is regulated by the states, and different states have different laws regarding the cost of car insurance. Some states don’t allow insurers to impose a surcharge for first-time speeding tickets, while others require insurers to raise rates for some speeding violations. For example, a single male driver who lives in Phoenix and receives one speeding ticket will experience an average rate increase of 16 percent, but the same driver will pay no more if he lives in Philadelphia.
• How much you were exceeding the speed limit. An analysis by USA TODAY found that 10 percent of ticketed drivers in 2002 were “extreme speeders”—drivers who exceeded 90 mph, or 15 mph above any speed limit. Extreme speeding is considered reckless driving, a major violation. Even a first-time citation can more than double the cost of car insurance and inflate your car insurance rate quote.
Speeding may also affect insurance rates other than just your auto insurance.General auto insurance companies may look at your driving record when deciding whether you’re a high-risk customer and could charge you higher rates for life, health, disability or long term care insurance.

Once upon a time in the ancient past—at least 30 years ago, anyway—there were a series of public service ads on television and radio with the overall message, “Speed kills.” One displayed a clock and then showed a car speedometer pushing 65. “Don’t try to catch this hand [the clock] with this one [the speedometer],” the announcer advised.

In other words, it might be better to be late than dead or seriously injured. It’s been a long time since there was a public campaign aimed at getting America’s drivers to slow down and save lives. But that doesn’t mean speeding is any safer. Speeders are still more likely to have accidents, injuring themselves and/or others, than drivers who obey speed limits.
An increase in car insurance rates caused by speeding is troublesome, but the increased risk of death or serious injury is even worse.

Parents of teenagers and young drivers should always explain to them the dangers of speeding. Speed less on the road but speed up to get cheap auto insurance quotes.

Happy Motoring.
Thanks.
Kamlesh.

Teen auto insurance