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.
Should You Carry Comprehensive Auto Insurance In Georgia?
Reader question:
Should I add comprehensive and collision coverage to my Georgia auto insurance policy? What is it anyway?
Gloria
Thank you for your question, Gloria.
Whether or not you add comprehensive and collision coverage to your Georgia auto insurance policy should depend on several factors. Before we cover those, though, let’s first look at what comprehensive and collision coverage are.
- Comprehensive coverage is…
Comprehensive coverage is the kind of coverage that takes care of damages that result from things that aren’t automobile accidents. For example, if you were living in New Orleans at the time of Hurricane Katrina, then any flood damage caused to your car would fall under your comprehensive coverage. This is because comprehensive coverage takes care of damage resulting from natural disasters.
It also takes care of damage that results from criminal activity. For example, if your car is stolen, then it will be replaced if you have comprehensive coverage. If your car is vandalized, then it will be repaired under your comprehensive coverage portion of your insurance policy.
- Collision coverage is…
Collision coverage is like property damage liability, except that instead of being for the person on the other end of your auto insurance accident, collision coverage takes care of damage caused to your own vehicle. This includes repairs if your vehicle is simply damaged, and the actual cash value if your vehicle is totaled.
Collision coverage also applies when you get into an accident that involves your own property. If you’re parked backwards in your driveway, say, and you put your car in reverse instead of drive by accident, and as a result back into your garage, then the damage to your garage and your car will be covered by your collision coverage.
- Why you need them (or don’t)…
Collision and comprehensive coverage can be very useful when you get into an accident or have your car stolen, but not every vehicle needs it. One of the quickest ways to cut the costs on your insurance premium is to drop your extra coverage, after all.
If you have a car that is old and not worth more than a thousand dollars, then you do not need comprehensive and collision auto insurance coverage. You will end up paying more for the coverage than your car is actually worth, and there’s no point in that.
If you are still buying a car, then you are probably required to have comprehensive and collision coverage. If you don’t, then you could end up paying for a vehicle that you no longer have if your car ends up totaled.
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.
What Is The Minimum Car Insurance Coverage in Georgia?
Reader’s Question:
What is the Georgia law minimum car insurance requirements?
Melanie
Thank you for asking.
It is requires for all motorist in the state of Georgia to carry accident liability insurance for each of the cars they own. This mandatory liability insurance will help cover any damages or medical payments for those injured in the accidents. The minimum amounts that you may be covered in order to satisfy the law are:
$25000 per person for bodily injury
$50000 per accident for bodily injury to two or more people
$25000 per accident for the property damage
It is possible for the state now to verify your insurance status online. It is required that all insurance companies should submit policy information to a state wide database electronically when an individual purchases an insurance. You may also be able to check with the Department of Revenue website your status online and verify if your insurance coverage is properly documented to save you time and expense in the future.
The processing time is 30 days to transmit the data by the insurance companies.
Goodluck!
MariCAR
What Is The Minimum Liability Car Insurance In Georgia?
Reader’s Question:
What is the minimum liability coverage in Georgia? Thank you.
Fred
Thank you for asking Fred.
Georgia law requires all motorist to purchase the minimum liability coverage of some or all of the following types of the liability coverage. the liability coverage includes :
Bodily injury liability
This would protect your assets if in the even of auto accident you are held liable for the people injured or killed
Property damage liability:
This covers the repairs and the replacement of the car and properties of other people
Uninsured/underinsured coverage:
This covers and insures you of your losses caused by other drivers with little insurance or no insurance at all.
You may also want to purchase more than the minimum amount of coverage required for Georgia to fully protects you. Although this is optional in most states, it makes sense to purchase them unless you can afford to pay for the damages in case of accident.
Collision:
this pays the repair or replacement of your car if its damaged due to accident
comprehensive:
covers all the damages to your car against theft ,flood or vandalism..etc
medical payments or personal injury protection
covers medical expenses that is not covered by your health insurance or your passengers
The best coverage to choose are those which will gets you fully covered and saves you an amount of money. You may call your insurance company to discuss which coverage suits your needs.
Goodluck!
MariCAR
What Happens In Unisured Motorist Accident in Georgia?
Reader’s Question:
What happens if the person does not have any insurance and he is at fault in an accident in the state of Georgia?
Redford
Thank you for asking.
If the Department of Revenue in Georgia sees that you are uninsured, they will send you a Notice of Lapse Mandatory Liability Insurance Coverage notice through the mail. You will be requested to pay $25 lapse fee and you will be required to show proof within 30 days of the valid insurance coverage.
Your vehicle registration may be suspended if you fail to pay the lapse fee within 30 days of the letter’s date. The owner of the vehicle will need to pay the lapse fee of $25 plus $60 reinstatement fees and show proof of auto insurance if you want to cancel the suspension.
You will not be allowed to drive without insurance and suspended vehicle registration once you receive the notice from the Department of Revenue. If you drive a vehicle without insurance or with suspended registration, you may be subject for additional fees and the vehicle may be impounded if you get caught.
If you get involve in an accident and you do not have an insurance, you will be held personally responsible for the damages that you caused to another driver or car.
You may contact the Department of Revenue in Georgia to give you more information on the penalties given to a person driving without insurance if he/she gets involve in an accident.
Goodluck!
MariCAR
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