Georgia Underinsured Uninsured Auto Insurance Tips

 

October 29, 2007 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist 

When you get into an accident with an uninsured driver, then your minimum liability automobile insurance policy will not help you in the least towards your damages. In order to be covered in such an incident, you need to have uninsured motorist coverage.

As I’ve mentioned, the requirements for bodily injury liability under Georgia auto insurance law are pretty low, so in a bad accident it wouldn’t be too hard for the actual medical costs to go way over the amount of insurance that this person has. This is why under insured motorist coverage is also very necessary.

If a person only has twenty five thousand in bodily injury liability, and the damages are thirty thousand, then their car insurance company will pay for the first amount, and your own will pay for the remaining five thousand dollars. Depending on where you are at, the way this is handled could be different. For example, if  insurance law requires that under insured motorist coverage be added on, then it will happen much like this:

If your under insured motorist coverage is for, say sixty thousand dollars, and their bodily injury liability is twenty five thousand dollars, then the two amounts will be put together to make eighty five thousand dollars, and that will be your coverage.

However, in other areas they deduct. If this is the case with you, the with the above coverages, you would only have the sixty thousand dollars of coverage.

As for uninsured motorist coverage, it covers bodily injury as well, although there is no additional coverage to be added to it. If you want your damages to be fixed, then you should have collision coverage.

If there is more than one car on your insurance policy, then you can add more to your coverage by stacking your policies. So, instead of having sixty thousand dollars of coverage, you would have a hundred and twenty thousand.

Atlanta Auto Insurance – What You Should Ask Your Agent

 

October 29, 2007 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Insurance Agents 

When you call an Atlanta auto insurance agent, you need to hand over some information to help you get your insurance policy initiated–much the opposite of Vin Diesel with this unwitting car insurance company agent. The Youtube video is funny, but the disconnect of understanding isn’t too far from what happens between a lot of first time Atlanta auto insurance buyers and their agents. If you don’t want to sound ignorant, go into the conversation prepared.

The first tier of information beyond basics such as your name and age are:

  • Mileage–this concerns how many miles you drive every year with some companies, while other insurance companies consider the daily mileage driven on your car.
  • Make & Model–not only will the make and model of your vehicle impact your liability rating, but if you have a car that is considered unsafe or in danger of car theft, then you should expect a high insurance rate.
  • Coverage–that you will need the minimum  insurance coverage for liability is a certainty, but before you call think about what kind of coverage you will require beyond that.
  • Location–this is a big factor in your insurance rating, and is why most forms for car insurance quotes online require your zip code.
  • Drivers–you will need to give the names and driver’s license numbers of all of those who will be insured on your new automobile insurance policy.

The second tier of information that you should be asked will shape your rating, tailoring it to your specific attributes.

  • VIN (Vehicle Identification Number)–this number follows your car around throughout its existence, and it allows the automobile insurance company to see what other claims have been made on it, whether it has been totaled before, and so on.
  • Features–things such as anti theft devices and safety features will determine your collision and comprehensive insurance ratings. Some companies won’t even sell you comprehensive insurance if you don’t have an acceptable anti theft device.
  • Discounts–you might be asked about this and you might not, but if you aren’t you should absolutely bring it up yourself.  Automobile insurance discounts can cut your premium by half or more.

If you have a bad memory, you might consider writing these details down so that you don’t find yourself digging around looking for your VIN number and other details while you’re on the phone with your automobile insurance agent. Whatever you do, make sure you understand these details ahead of time to make the process simpler.