What Is The Minimum Required Auto Insurance in Georgia?
If you want to get auto insurance in Georgia, then you are required to follow the law and get the proper amount of coverage. If you don’t want to get auto insurance, then you’re out of luck, because you have to. End of story. Most car insurance companies will sale you the simple minimum liability of auto insurance if you go in and request nothing more than to be insured, but you still ought to understand what is required and why, and why you should take a step beyond that.
To meet the minimum requirements for auto insurance in Georgia, you are required to have liability coverage. This type of coverage will take care of medical costs and property damage for the person to whom you cause damage in an accident which is your fault. You have to have:
- $25,000 of bodily injury coverage for each individual
- $50,000 cap for each accident if there is more than one person
- $25,000 for damage to property, such as a vehicle or a fence
These are the required amounts, but most companies that sell auto insurance in Georgia suggest that you stack on a little more than this amount of insurance, and the most commonly suggested amount is 100/300/100. You should remember when buying liability coverage for bodily injury that the two amounts do not combine. If you have fifty thousand of coverage for more than one person, then that is all that you get for a single accident, even if four people are injured. If only one person is injure, all they get is twenty five thousand. Considering the cost of medical bills in bad accidents, it makes sense to get more than that amount.
You need to have auto insurance, because the Georgia department of insurance can tell when you don’t. As a matter of fact, they have an online insurance verification system that keeps track of the insured and uninsured in the state. You can check your own status online to make sure that there aren’t any mistakes, although if you have only recently gotten a policy you should let a month pass before checking because it takes time.
If you go without auto insurance for 10 days or more, then your registration could be suspended. You would then have to pay $85 to restore. And although your auto insurance can be verified online, you should still carry an insurance card in your vehicle for when you get pulled over.
If you want to lower your annual premiums, try raising your deductible amount to something like $1,000 or more. You only pay when you file a claim with your insurance carrier and the savings over the long term could be substantial.
Tips To Find a Great Georgia Insurance Agent
As much of a proponent as I am of doing your own work and finding out about the best GA car insurance quote online, many people still prefer to go through agents. This is understandable, because there are a lot of us who do not have enough time on our hands to be able to go through the process of researching, gathering a selection of GA car insurance quote, and picking the right company, even if it only takes a few hours. In these cases, an agent comes in hand. If you think you might need an agent to get a GA car insurance quote and policy, think about who they are and what they do before you make the decision not to go it alone.
- Who does a car insurance agent represent?
- The company. Car insurance agents work with several different companies in some cases to get you the best GA car insurance quote. For these companies, they attempt to get more customers with heavy coverage.
- You. The car insurance agent also works for you, picking from his or her folder of companies to come to the one that will provide you with the cheapest GA car insurance quote.
- What kind of car insurance agents are there?
- Captive car insurance agents. These agents work for only one company, so it is a lot like going through the company itself. They can only give you a GA car insurance quote from that one company.
- Independent car insurance agents. These agents work for several companies, usually five or six, and can offer you a car insurance quote from each. This is better when you want help deciding which car insurance company to go with.
Before you start doing business with your agent, you need to find out what the fee for services will be. Some don’t charge any at all, because they get commission. However, if you don’t ask beforehand, that car insurance quote might be bigger than you expected.
Like car insurance companies, car insurance agents need to be licensed with the state. To determine if your agent is, you should check the Georgia Department of Insurance website. If they aren’t licensed, then they don’t have the right to provide you with an authoritative GA car insurance quote from the company they claim to be representing.
Georgia Student Car Insurance Discounts
Reader question:
What kind of deal can a busy college student get on her Georgia car insurance premium?
Maggie
Great question, Maggie.
I guess it all depends on why you’re busy! Georgia car insurance companies are both very punitive towards students because of their age, and at the same time pretty kind to them. Although your initial car insurance rates might be twice as much as those of someone twenty years older than you, companies offer you a variety of breaks that allow you to purchase your car insurance premium at a more reasonable price.
A favorite break of mine is the good student discount, which is offered by most companies and allows students to get a certain amount off of their insurance premium if they make certain grades. The requirements differ depending on the state and the car insurance company, so to be certain of how you will benefit, call your agent first.
Here’s a list of companies and how they treat the good student discount.
- GEICO offers a car insurance discount to students between the ages of sixteen and twenty five. In some states, you have to be unmarried and under the age of twenty one to benefit, but they don’t offer state specific details. In order to get the discount, you have to get a B average or above. The amount of the discount can be as much as fifteen percent off of your car insurance premium. GEICO has a lot of discounts, as a matter of fact, and if you think you might be eligible for more than just the good student discount, you should consider checking out their website and/or calling an agent to see where you stand and how that would affect your rates.
- Farmer’s Insurance is a little more strict in its requirements. In order to qualify, you must be unmarried; under the age of twenty five; you must be a full time student in either high school or college; you should be in the top twenty percent of your class; you need to have a B average or higher; and, if your school has a Dean’s List or Honor Roll, you need to be on it. Tougher, but if you’re as a busy a student as you say, you’ll probably be able to make it.
- Esurance also has a deal for good students who are enrolled full time in either high school or college. For these dedicated young people, qualification for the car insurance discount requires you to be under twenty five and have a grade point average of at least 3.0. Some states have additional requirements.
I hope this information was helpful to you, Maggie. Of course, these aren’t the only three companies that offer the good student discount, but looking at their requirements does give you a good idea of what to expect even if you’re going to go with a different car insurance company.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
How To Lower Atlanta Car Insurance Rates
I found this video on YouTube earlier today. The man in here is talking about discounts for driving less, and this is definitely a good example of a Atlanta car insurance discounts. Most companies, and I could probably say all companies without risk, offer the low mileage discount, although not all companies consider ‘low’ to be the same thing. While some Atlanta car insurance companies will require five thousand miles a year or less for you to be able to qualify for the discount, others only require that you drive fewer than forty miles each day. I know that second sort wouldn’t be hard for me to live up to, but I suppose it depends on what part of Atlanta you live in, whether you’re closer in or further out.
Still, for many people those thresholds are extremely low, and they couldn’t imagine driving so little each year, especially when they work every day. If you try hard enough, however, most people can do it, and even if you can’t get low enough for the Atlanta car insurance discount for low mileage, driving fewer miles will still lower your rates.
- Car pooling.
Probably the cheapest way to cut your driving is to carpool to work instead of driving your own car every day. If you take turns with different friends and co workers, then you can also avoid chipping in on gas, so long as everybody is contributing the same amount in regards to driving.
- MARTA.
Okay, nobody likes it, but MARTA, Atlanta’s bus system, is also an option. Even if you have to drive to a park and ride to go into town, you’ll still save a lot of gas and thus some money on your Atlanta car insurance premium. The downside is that it takes a long time, and doesn’t go everywhere you need it to go. You could end up doing a lot of walking, but hey, that’s good for your health.
- Riding your bike.
This isn’t an option for all jobs, but it is for many. If you have to wear a suit to work, for example, then you might feel a little silly pedaling down the road. It also only works if your job is close enough. If you’re a little out of shape, then this is both a good way to lose weight and save a little on your Atlanta GA car insurance.
- Become a hermit.
The absolute best way to save money on your Atlanta car insurance premium through the low mileage discount is to stop driving. Not period when necessary, but whenever you don’t need to. Limit your outings, walk more. If you need to do errands, do them all on one trip and plan out your schedule so that you spend the fewest miles.
RAISE Your deductible amount, that is the easiest way for you to save a considerable amount of money in the long term on insurance premiums.
Where Do You Find Georgia Car Insurance Company Ratings?
Reader question:
How do I know that my Georgia car insurance company will be able to settle my claim?
Megan
Thanks for asking, Megan!
That is actually a very good question, and I think the best way to address it would be to go back to square one. When you are figuring out whether or not an car insurance company will be able to settle your claim if filed, you should not be to the point where you are calling it your own company yet. This is a step that you should take while you are still in the process of shopping around for an insurance policy.
- Georgia car insurance companies have ratings, too!
That’s right, they can’t just rate you–other companies rate them as well. There are several companies which rate car insurance providers on standards ranging from customer service to financial stability. An insurance company might quote you some fantastic low ball quote, but that’s a perfect incentive to check its financial rating and make sure there isn’t some tricky reason behind that low quote. Unless you’re getting involved with a national car insurance company that obviously has enough money to cover you, then you should check.
There are two main companies that provide you with the information you need on insurance companies:
- Standard & Poor’s: this is the most popular financial rating company and the most helpful. Not only does it rate Georgia car insurance companies, but it also provides profiles for more than four thousand of them.
- Fitch Ratings: also a good source, this company provides only ratings.
One thing that these companies use to rate the insurance companies is the length of time that they have been in business. If the company just started up last week, then there won’t be any information, and that right there is a good reason to avoid it.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
What Determines Your Auto Insurance Rate in Georgia?
Reader question:
How do car insurance companies determine my auto insurance rate here in Georgia?
Paul
Thank you for your question, Paul.
There are so many factors that go into a single Georgia auto insurance quote, that I can’t even begin to address them all in a single post. A few decades ago, the factors could be counted on the fingers of one hand, but each year the process grows more complex. What I can do, though, is tell you about one thing that auto insurance companies look at to determine your insurance rates.
- Your CLUE report.
The majority of policy holders don’t have anything on their CLUE report, and this is mostly because the information only remains there for ten years. Unlike credit, which most of society uses constantly, the average insurance claim is filed only every half a decade or so.
The CLUE report is not connected to you yourself, but, much like your auto insurance policy, is connected to your vehicle. The CLUE report will have information on any past claims and repairs, and when you get a new car you can purchase a copy of your CLUE report from ChoicePoint. Since it does affect your insurance premium, it is probably a good idea to buy a CLUE report before you finalize the purchase of your car.
Like a credit report, sometimes CLUE reports contain mistakes. If you see one, you should contact ChoicePoint to have the offending note removed. This takes less than a month in the majority of cases. Unlike a credit report, though, if you have some information that would make your CLUE report look better, such as the installment of an anti theft device, then you can have that added to the report, making your auto insurance rates go down.
- Your CLUE report and your GA auto insurance company.
Once you are already with a company, they will almost never check your CLUE report again. Normally, these reports are looked at when you are getting a policy with a new insurance company.
The CLUE report will not be used the same across the board by every insurance company, but the number of claims you have on it will certainly determine whether your rate goes up or down.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
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