Auto Insurance Basics
District of Columbia Auto Insurance Basics PDF Print E-mail
Written by Nancy Lockerman   
Saturday, 09 August 2008 03:33
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If you want to drive a car, whether your own or somebody else’s, you should have two items according to the law. One is a valid driving license and the other is auto insurance. There are several types of auto insurance policy coverages available. Unless you understand the basics of auto insurance in District of Columbia, you would not be able to select the right type of coverage that would provide you adequate cover in case of an auto accident. Any auto insurance policy would have five major sections. However, the terminology used in these sections might vary from one insurance company to another in a slight manner.

Declarations

The first section is the declarations submitted by you in the application form for buying auto insurance. These declarations or proclamations are your personal details, along with the details of other members in your household, who are eligible to drive a vehicle. You are required to submit the names of all these persons including you, your home address, the type of vehicles in your house and their registration numbers, the validity period of the policy, and the policy number. You are also expected to specify the type of coverage you wish to purchase, the policy limit, and the deductible you are willing to pay for the insurance policy in the beginning. If the information provided by you is found to be incorrect in any manner at a later stage, the insurance company could legally refuse to accept any claims made by you after an accident.

Agreement on Insurance Coverage

The insurance policy is an agreement between you and the insurance company. This agreement would state the coverage limit of that particular policy and the options of coverage. The type of coverage is clearly mentioned in this agreement, such as liability, collision, comprehensive, medical, personal injury protection, underinsured and uninsured, etc. This agreement would stipulate the amount you would be paying every month under the policy and the commitment by the insurance company about the type of coverage and the limit up to which the insurance company would accept your claim. This agreement and all its clauses are legally binding on both parties.

Exclusions

The agreement would also state the items that had been excluded from the ambit of the insurance policy and the limitations of the policy. This exclusions section and the previous agreements section would decide what kind of claims you could make and what kind you could not make with the insurance company, when you are involved in an accident. Hence, you should comprehend this section carefully and decide which items you wish to have in the agreement and which items you wish to include. If you include more items, the insurer would demand more premium amounts every month. Hence, you should delicately balance the inclusions and exclusions to keep the monthly insurance premium at an optimum level.

Terms and Conditions

The terms and conditions specify your legal obligations under the insurance policy, as well as the legal responsibilities of the insurance company. These obligations and responsibilities would cover premium payments, the process of claim filing, and the procedures for resolving disagreement, if such disagreements arise during a claim.

Definitions

Auto insurance advisors had named this section as ‘fine print’, since the terms that had been used in the insurance policy are presented here. The terms would define your rights and the rights of the insurer. Many of the terms could be interpreted in different manners. Hence, it would be advisable to go through this section carefully and understand the terms. If you have any doubt, you should consult an auto insurance consultant to get clarifications.

As such, if you wish to buy auto insurance policy in District of Columbia, you should understand the mandatory coverage limits, the type of coverage that is statutorily required, and other coverages that you might need to purchase to cover any exigency. If you take adequate care in the beginning and obtain the right type of coverages, you would not regret your decision later, if you become involved in an auto accident.

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 06 October 2009 16:59 )
 
Ohio Auto Insurance Basics PDF Print E-mail
Written by Nancy Lockerman   
Monday, 04 August 2008 20:11
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Auto Insurance is made mandatory in almost all the states in the United States. The only exceptions are the states of New Hampshire and Wisconsin. Even in these states, financials responsibility is to be shown. Auto insurance is a safety measure. It is to ensure financial responsibility if a driver is in an accident. In case of an accident, the law has to find a person responsible and this person and his insurance company has to pay for the damages caused in the accident. Therefore, auto insurance is very important. The state of Ohio has what is known as FR or financial responsibility laws. Financial responsibility laws ensure that a person has enough finances to pay for the damages in case of an accident. The easiest way to do this would be buying an auto insurance policy.

The state of Ohio has fixed the minimum liability one should have in an auto insurance policy. This is the liability that is mandatory and has to be adhered to. The minimum liability of Ohio State is twelve thousand five hundred per person for bodily injury, a total of twenty five thousand for bodily injury for a maximum of two people. The other part of minimum liability would be property damage. Property damage coverage should be of the amount of seven thousand five hundred dollars.

This is the minimum liability that has to be adhered to. However, the minimum liability is just not enough to cover damages. This might put you in the dangerous position of being sued by the other person involved in the accident. Therefore, it is always a good idea to get insured for more than minimum liability. The industry experts agree that minimum liability is, more often than not, inadequate to cover damages.

There are many other kinds of coverage in Ohio that is not mandatory but are very useful. These include medical payments coverage, Underinsured or uninsured motorist’s coverage, personal injury protection, collision coverage and comprehensive coverage.

Medical payments coverage is mainly for people other than your self involved in the accident. This policy covers any medical expenses the other person might incur. Insurance companies advise you to use this coverage as soon as possible. It would prevent the other person involved in the accident from suing you. Some policies cover any lost wages as well.

Another policy would be the Uninsured or Underinsured motorist policy. This policy is pretty common. It covers your damages in case the other driver in the accident is responsible for the accident but does not have liability. Underinsured policies cover motorists whose policies do not cover all the damages caused in the accident. These are not mandatory policies in the State of Ohio. However, in a few states on or the other or even both are mandatory.

Personal Injury Protection or PIP covers any lost wages, childcare expenses pain and suffering or funeral expenses. These are charges not covered by medical payments coverage. Physical damage coverage includes collision and comprehensive. Collision covers any charge to repair or replace your car when it is in an accident. Comprehensive policy covers damages caused to your car other than during accidents including rain or hail or even theft.

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 06 October 2009 16:40 )
 
Nebraska Auto Insurance Basics PDF Print E-mail
Written by Nancy Lockerman   
Wednesday, 30 July 2008 15:27
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Nebraska is located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern States. It has a population of around one million eight hundred thousand people and the capital city is Lincoln. If you are planning to be driving around Nebraska, you will need to make yourself aware of the basic laws and requirements of the state. You need to ensure you are adhering and following the rules and regulations of the state you are living in.

One aspect of your life where, adherence to rules has to be strict is driving. There are a lot of rules and regulations in place with regard to driving. Care should be taken to follow each rule written with respect to driving. Insurance is very important when you are planning to take a drive. Insurance protects you from any damage in the unfortunate event of a mishap. In Nebraska, you must have insurance coverage. Every state has a minimum insurance cover, it deems as mandatory. Every driver on the road must be covered by insurance in these mandatory policies.

The state of Nebraska provides you a learner’s license at the age of fifteen, a restricted license at sixteen and a full driver’s license at seventeen. Nebraska has some very strict rules and guidelines about registration, insurance coverage and minimum liability.

In the State of Nebraska, you must have a current insurance policy with a recognised insurance company. There are many different kinds of insurance policies. Care must be taken to ensure the mandatory policies are included in your insurance policy. The quotes offered by the companies very. Shop around and get many quotes and find out which is the best for you. Many companies offer different services which are not mandatory. Ensure you select every policy which is necessary in your opinion.

One of the mandatory policies in the State of Nebraska is a policy for the third party liability insurance. This insurance policy is also called PLPD. It has accidental benefits coverage. It also has uninsured and unidentified driver’s coverage. This policy insures you, in case, you injure someone. It also insures in the unfortunate event of a death or even damage someone’s property. The mandatory policy also states that in the State of Nebraska, a motorist must have third party liability of twenty five thousand dollars for each person to a maximum of two people. If there is more than two people filing for damages, the persons filing first gets the money. You must also have an additional twenty five thousand dollars for any property damages. You must also ensure you carry you license and some proof of insurance. If in the event of found driving without a valid license or a proof of insurance, your vehicle can be towed away. This is the case even if your license has expired or your insurance is not current and has lapsed. Your license can also be taken away or suspended if you owe child support. Take care to ensure all the mandatory requirements are fulfilled. Make your payments regularly as missing even a single payment may result in your license being cancelled.

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 06 October 2009 16:48 )
 
Idaho Auto Insurance Basics PDF Print E-mail
Written by Nancy Lockerman   
Wednesday, 30 July 2008 09:06
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In the state of Idaho, every vehicle driver must have valid auto insurance. Failure to do so could result in the suspension of the driving license. You would be required to apply for reinstatement of the driving license from the Idaho Transportation Department, after paying the appropriate reinstatement fee. You should also provide proof of holding a liability insurance coverage from an insurance company at the time of reinstatement. Hence, it is important that you understand the auto insurance basics in the state of Idaho.

Auto insurance policies have five important sections or parts. The exact details could vary from one insurance company to another but the basics remain the same. Let us consider them briefly.

Declarations by the Applicant for Auto Insurance

The first process in purchasing auto insurance policy is the declarations submitted to the insurance company by the applicant. You are expected to provide true details of your full name, the names of other drivers in your household, the number of vehicles in your house and their makes, models, and identification numbers, and the period for which the auto insurance policy is desired. The applicant should also specify what type of auto insurance coverages are intended to be purchased, the maximum limit for each coverage, and the deductibles that the applicant is willing to commit. Any false information would result in the denial of the claim made by you when you get involved in an accident.

Coverage Agreement

The agreement section is one of the most important in auto insurance policy, since the type of coverages purchased by the applicant, the limit for each type of coverage, the monthly premium amounts to be paid, and the commitment by the insurance company to honor claims after auto accidents are explicitly stated in this agreement. The applicant could opt for a single coverage like bodily injury liability coverage, which is statutorily required in Idaho or could opt for multiple coverages by including other coverages like collision, comprehensive, medical, personal injury protection or PIP, etc. These would be mentioned clearly in this section.

Exclusions from Policy Agreement

The insurance company would fix the premium on the number of risks that are included in the policy agreement. Several risks could remain excluded from the policy due to the higher costs involved when a claim is made. The applicant should carefully analyze the risks that had been included and those that had been excluded. Certain items might be too costly and not really warranted. They could safely be excluded from the policy. A few other items not included by the insurance company might be included at a nominally higher cost. Hence, studying the exclusions is definitely important.

Agreement Terms and Conditions

The responsibilities and obligations of the policyholder and the insurance company mutually to each other would be laid down in this section. The payment schedule of premium amounts, the process of filing auto accident claims, procedures for resolving disagreements, and other such legal bindings would be included in this portion.

Definitions

The definitions, known as ‘fine print’ by insurance experts, are the explanations for the terms used in the auto insurance policy. Sometimes, the interpretations of the terms or definitions could be ambiguous. Hence, it would be advisable to take the guidance of an experienced auto insurance agent in understanding this section, as well as the implications of the other sections, before purchasing auto insurance policy in Idaho.

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 06 October 2009 16:46 )
 
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