Hey, let’s talk about car insurance.
what is car insurance?
Well, I’ll tell you car insurance protects you from a huge financial loss. You pay a premium monthly, usually to your insurance company. And in exchange, if you get into a wreck, the insurance company will help you cover your losses.
Types of Insurance
Car insurance includes three different types of coverage.
Number one – a property that will pay if your car is stolen or damaged.
Number two – liability which pays for legal obligations to others for bodily injury or property damage
And number three – medical which pays for hospital bills, rehabilitation and sometimes lost wages or funeral expenses
Coverage
Money matters so how much coverage should you get well that depends on different things such as your car’s value. Whether you own the car outright and how much in damages you could afford to cover out-of-pocket on your own. Naturally, your monthly premium will vary depending on your amount of coverage. Like for instance, it costs more to insure the ecto mobile than it does to say cover Mr. Bean’s little mustard yellow car. That’s the way of the world kid.
Deductible
very important note, Just because you pay premiums that doesn’t mean you’ll pay nothing when you get into a wreck. Most likely you’ll have something called a deductible. The deductible is the amount of money that you have to pay before your insurance starts kicking in.
So let’s say you total your $5,000 car in a wreck and your deductible is $1,000. That means that you are going to pay the first thousand dollars to get your car replaced. And your insurance will pay the remaining four thousand.
In the good old USA, nearly all states require that you have car insurance if you’re going to own or drive a car. So it’s super important to get it. Also, the remaining states still require that you prove that you could afford to cover all damages if you get into a wreck. So basically for the privilege of not paying a monthly premium on insurance. You’re gambling potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars if not more so.
how to get insured?
This is simple you can get quotes online or over the phone very quickly from dozens of competitors. The insurance company will need a bit of information about you and your car. They also likely run a credit report and look up your accident history. Once you get a quote you’ll start paying premiums. They will send you your insurance card which you should keep in your car at all times.
So You Got In Accident…
Step 1) post-accident if you can get your car and yourself off of the road and into someplace safe. If you cannot move your car leave it there but make sure you get out of the dangerous situation. Your insurance company will pay to get a tow truck to take your car away.
Step 1.5) this might be slightly uncomfortable but do not offer any apologies or explanations for what caused the wreck. They could be used against you in future legal proceedings.
Step 2) should you call the police? We recommend that you do. Admittedly it is not illegal to not call the police but to quote us news and world reports. Even if no one is hurt, if there are real damage and insurance companies will soon do battle.
Call 911
It’s a good idea to call 911 action from the federal government’s website (911.Gov) which recommends calling after a car crash, especially if someone is injured. If you call 911 precincts and bring in a neutral third party to document the accident, you’ll be doing yourself a favor. It might indeed take a little while for the police to get there. If you live in a big city or they’re just like super busy that day. But still, we recommend earing on the side of caution and calling them. Either way, you’re going to have to file an accident report to the police more info in the
Step 3) gather the other driver’s information and volunteer your own. You should write down(driver name, driver car number, driver license number or take a photo of it). If you’ve called the police you should get their phone number, their badge number, their name, number of the police report and request a copy of the police report. Having all of this info will save you a lot of headaches.
Step 4) file a claim after the scene is cleared call your insurance company immediately to start the claims process. Your insurance card should have a 24-hour phone number on the back of it. And your insurance agent should call you within one business day to help you with the claim.
Your insurance agent should also be able to help you. Every step of the way throughout the process after an accident that you are deemed responsible for. Your premiums may be going to go up. That’s because the insurance company sees you as a riskier investment. However, this is not for certain because a lot of different companies have different policies on rate increases.
A mature Tip
a lot of people driving is a big part of adulthood and it is a huge responsibility. you’re piloting a two-ton missile. so drive sober, put down your phone and maintain legal speed limits. that way you’ll be avoiding the three most common causes of accidents.
