Georgia Underinsured Uninsured Auto Insurance Tips
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.
Are Your Georgia Auto Insurance Rates Rising?
Reader question:
What’s the point of a stupid renewal discount if my Georgia auto insurance rate stays the same or is higher every time I renew?!
Beth
Great question, Beth.
It’s frustrating, isn’t it? I’ve been getting my auto insurance coverage with the same company here in Georgia for a couple of years, and while I have been tracking what effect other discounts have on my auto insurance premium, the so called renewal discount has been pretty elusive. My auto insurance rate goes up every time, never down unless I apply a new discount to it or get a safer car; all things staying the same, my insurance quote will rise.
There are several reasons for this that neither we nor the car insurance company can control, such as:
- Cost of vehicles. As each year passes, it costs more to buy a car. A more expensive car will have a higher auto insurance rates.
- Cost of repairs. As vehicles become more expensive, so do their parts. The higher the cost to repair a car is, the higher the quote will be.
- Cost of health care. I went to the emergency room once and was given some aspirin and told to go home. A month later, I got a bill in the mail for five hundred dollars. I think you can see for yourself how that would affect your rate.
- Lawsuits. The number of lawsuits has stayed the same even as crashes with injuries have decreased, and the amount of money awarded is phenomenal.
On the bright side, while your auto insurance rate has a good chance of increasing each time you renew it, premiums as a whole are increasing less and less every year. The last year that the estimates were on record for, 2004, nationwide premiums only went up 3.4%, part of a trend of lower and lower increases that should be even better this year and in 2008, if the trend follows through.
People aren’t filing as many claims as they used to, and this is part of the factors that temper the rise of your insurance rate. Another thing that helps out is that cars are made more safely with features that both prevent accidents and make them less damaging when they do happen.
However, since even with the lower number of claims, car insurance companies are spending more on each individual claim, you will likely only see your rate rise for years to come, although we could have an actual decrease in our future.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
How Can I Lower My Georgia Auto Insurance Rate?
Usually there is some kind of catch to lowering your Georgia auto insurance rate, and you don’t simply get a discount or a better rate for free. If you want to pay less on car insurance, then you have to drive less, or make better grades, or do some other thing that might not be hard but is ore than nothing, and lowers your risk.
High deductible auto insurance is one of the prime examples of these catches, and many people avoid it because, they say, they are buying auto insurance to cover them. Why do they have insurance at all if they have to cover themselves?
Let me rewind. The deductible, first of all, is what you pay towards injuries and repairs and the like whenever you make a claim before your car insurance coverage kicks in. So, if I were to get into an accident and the damages to my car amounted to three thousand dollars, and I had a thousand dollar deductible (which I do), then I would pay that amount and the car insurance company would pay the other two thousand in repairs. The amount of the deductible never changes, even if the damages are only about five hundred dollars or fifty thousand. Deductibles are only paid when you are found to be at fault for the accident.
Raising your deductible from the bottom $250 can lower your auto insurance rate significantly, because it allows the car insurance company to pay less. Instead of avoiding this, raise it and start saving money for whenever you do get into an accident and have to pay a deductible. Most people only file a car insurance claim once every five years, so it’s likely that you won’t need your deductible much and you’ll probably save up way more than that amount by the time you have to pay it out if you just save the difference between your auto insurance rate with a low deductible and your auto insurance rate with a high deductible.
You can save a lot of money this way, and not just on your auto insurance rate. A couple of years ago, when I first raised my deductible, I started putting the money I was saving on my auto insurance rate into a high interest savings account, and now let’s just say that it’s a lot bigger. So why wait? If you’re a safe driver and the likelihood of you getting into an at fault accident any time soon is pretty low, start saving money as soon as possible.
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.
What Happens If You Are Late Paying Your Car Insurance Payment?
Reader question:
What happens to my car insurance policy when I make a late payment?
Oswald
Atlanta
Thanks for your question, Oswald!
Many people, at some moment in their lives, come to a point where they have to choose between paying their Atlanta car insurance premium, or paying something else much more important. Most, though, skip payments out of forgetfulness and poor money management, and realizing what the consequences of your actions could be might make you a little more cautious about paying your car insurance payment on time. If you think about it, failing to pay your premium can actually be more expensive than paying it on time at the expense of something else.
Responsibility and timing are necessary when dealing with your car insurance premium, especially if you think of the consequences in one of the most dire, but very common, cases. Consider if you pay your car insurance premium through the mail, and you send it in a couple of days before it is actually due. It might arrive on time, and then it might not. If it doesn’t arrive on time, in many cases you might not even realize it. You could be driving around without proper car insurance coverage and be hopelessly unaware of this fact.
Even when they eventually get the check in the mail, they won’t for certain turn your coverage back on. Some might return the check to its sender, and others might use the check to pay off any other money that you owe on your car insurance premium. You will get a message in the mail eventually, but there will be a window of a few days in which anything can happen and you have no idea that you aren’t covered.
Even if the car insurance company does not cancel your payment outright, it is possible that once you have made one or more late payments, they decide that you are an unreliable payer and choose not to renew your car insurance policy. This gives you some more time to think, as you’ll have until the end of your current policy period to find a new company, but neither option is desirable.
- What happens if you crash?
One of the worst consequences of your car insurance policy being canceled thanks to a late payment is that you will get in a crash. If the crash is not your fault, then you won’t have to pay for damages, but you will lose your driver’s license. If it is your fault, not only will you have your own damages and injuries to pay for, but the other driver’s as well, and with no insurance coverage to fall back on, you’ll be taken to court and sued for a lot of money.
- What happens with the next company?
If you get your premium canceled with one company, then the next insurance company that you go to will consider you higher risk. Not only does that mean that you have a chance of getting your policy denied altogether, but if it is approved then your car insurance rates will be higher.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
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.
Atlanta Auto Insurance – What You Should Ask Your Agent
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.
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