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.
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