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.
Simple Ways To Lower Auto Insurance Rates In Georgia
Reader question:
I get so mixed up with my auto insurance. I have so many bills to pay each month and I just don’t have time to figure out how to lower my premium. What can I do?
Jack in Atlanta Georgia
Thank you for asking, Jack.
You know, there is actually a way that you can kill two bird with one stone, and lower the stress of multiple bills while also lowering your auto insurance premium. This is pretty simple to do, and might take a few minutes of your time, but it will be extremely valuable in your future.
The key to a cheap, stress less, Atlanta Georgia auto insurance rate is to
- Combine, combine, combine!
The first thing you need to do, Jack, if look at each of the insurance companies that you are with, not just your auto insurance company. What kind of insurance do they offer? Many companies will offer life, home owner’s, and auto insurance, while some will only offer one kind of insurance. If you have the latter type holding your policies, then you need to ditch them and find a company that offers more.
Once you have decided on a good auto insurance company that also offers other types of insurance, you should buy all of your insurance policies through them. Not only will you essentially consolidate your insurance bills, making them easier to keep track of, but you will also lower your premium through the multiple policy discount that most companies offer.
- Join, join, join!
You don’t have to go it alone on your insurance premium if you have another choice. If you have a fiancée, why not combine your policies into one insurance policy? Same with a wife, or a roommate, or even a good friend. By adding someone else to your policy, you can save a lot of money on your auto insurance premium, especially if that person is lower risk than you are.
Raise your deductible amount to $1,000. If you are a safe driver and have not had any accidents or claims in the last 5 years raising your deductible could be a super easy way to lower your annual premium. Remember, you only pay the deductible amount when you file a claim with your insurance company and they pay that claim.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
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.
Does My Credit Score Affect My Auto Insurance Rate In Georgia?
Reader question:
Does my credit score affect my auto insurance premium?
Max
Atlanta Georgia
Thank you for your question, Max.
Georgia auto insurance companies have been looking at the credit reports of prospective customers for years, but it is only recently in the past twenty years or so that, with the advent of computers and the internet, they have been able to gather that information into a final number, called an insurance score, which is used in the calculation of your auto insurance premium. This insurance score, based on information in your credit report, can be the difference between a person with a good driving record but a high insurance premium, and another person with the same record and a much lower premium.
- Is it legal?
In some states, the question has come up as to whether or not credit scoring with car insurance premiums is discriminatory against low income and minority groups. While it does affect people who fall into these categories more than most, it doesn’t anymore than credit scoring affects people when buying a car or doing anything else that requires credit.
As great as it would be for auto insurance companies to give out premiums that are low cost regardless of risk, that is simply how business works. In order to make money, they need to charge the people who will cost them more money higher premiums, so that the people who are less likely to file a claim don’t have to pay enormous premiums. Insurance companies make a lot of money, but the profit margins aren’t as consistent or large as with other types of companies, so it is a kind of tightrope walk.
- Why do they do it?
Now that we’ve covered the fact that insurance companies need to charge more to people with higher risk, how are people with bad credit histories higher risk? After all, your credit score doesn’t affect your driving, does it?
Technically, it doesn’t, but there are a lot of factors that don’t necessarily affect your ability to drive, such as your grade point average, which auto insurance companies consider when figuring out what your premium will be.
What companies have figured out is that people with bad credit history tend to file more claims than people with good credit history. One of the reasons is, for example, that people who live in dangerous areas are more likely to have bad credit, and thus are more likely to have their car stolen, which would raise comprehensive insurance rates.
Some people claim that this credit report shouldn’t be used by Georgia auto insurance companies, because correlation is not the same as causation. That means that just because people who have bad credit scores file more claims, it doesn’t mean that the credit score had anything to do with it.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
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.
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.
Atlanta Georgia SR22 and Assigned Risk Auto Insurance
Reader question:
I have tried everything, and I can’t find any Atlanta auto insurance company to insure me with an SR22 form. I really need to drive to get to work, but I don’t have a license! I can only beg rides off of people for so long. Help!
Graciela
Atlanta Georgia
You’ll have to look a little harder, Graciela.
SR22 insurance is a type of form that you are required to file through your Atlanta insurance company, for those who are new to the game, and it is only required after you have had your license suspended for some reason–such as drunk driving, speeding, or multiple traffic offenses. Having to file an SR22 form immediately pushes you into a higher risk group, which makes insurance companies more reluctant to insure you. Some people with great records and a long history driving and insured with a certain company can weather the blow of an SR22 filing requirement, but for the rest of us being required to get an insurance policy with the SR22 attachment can be a struggle.
However, Atlanta is a big city and there are certainly options, so the fact that you haven’t found something means that you are either too picky, or you aren’t looking in the right places.
- There are companies that will serve you.
Most people think that insurance companies are only interested in people with impeccable driving records, but that is not true. While some companies prefer this sort of driver, there are many of high risk specific companies who are happy to insure even the worst of the worst. Some of the bigger companies that operate nationwide, such as Progressive Insurance, are among these companies. If you can’t get an SR22 policy with a regular insurance company, then you need to start looking for high risk companies.
- Even if there aren’t…
Most of the time you will be able to find a insurance company that will be happy to insure you for the price of a mansion’s down payment, even with SR22 filing. However, in some cases nothing can be found, and in such cases it is necessary to turn to the state to be your guide.
If you can’t find a policy on the open market, then you will have to join the company high risk pool. This is a pool which high risk drivers join, and are then assigned by the state to participating companies. All companies that are licensed to sell insurance are required to participate, so you might find yourself with the very insurance company that denied your policy request in the first place.
The catch about assigned risk insurance, though, is that it is even more expensive than SR22 insurance from a high risk company. This should be a last resort.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
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