•Downsizing: Switching to a smaller car can increase your insurance bill
Americans are looking to smaller cars for savings on spiraling gas prices and for lower emissions, but will car insurance savings follow, too?
According to Autodata Corp., from June 2007 to June 2008, total light truck sales dropped 28.4 percent. Even the vehicles that have long reigned as top-sellers the Ford F-series pickups have taken a 40.5 percent sales hit from June 2007 to June 2008, according to Ford. Meanwhile, sales of the Toyota Corolla and Camry and Honda Civic and Accord...
•State Farm car insurance claims lead to better vehicle design
Imagine that the company you work for started getting 17 calls per minute from customers with problems, and that the phone rang off the hook 24 hours a day, every day. You'd think something had gone terribly wrong.
For State Farm, that's a typical day, as policyholders call to report claims at the rate of over 17 a minute. The nation's largest auto insurer handles about 9 million claims a year, from stolen cars to fender-benders to total losses.
What's an insurer to do with all those claims?...
•How High Gas Prices Can Lead to Lower Auto Insurance Rates
If all of our neighbors would just drive even less, we'd get lower auto insurance rates.
And that could be in the process of happening. When Americans spend less time on the road, the frequency of auto accidents declines. And when auto accidents go down, so do claims on auto insurance. That gets the ball rolling: When auto insurance companies see their costs on claims declining steadily, they typically respond to market conditions by lowering their auto insurance quotes and, ultimately auto...
•"Return of premium" term life insurance comes of age
If you'd like to have term life insurance in place to provide for beneficiaries yet you're confident you'll outlive the life insurance policy, you now have many options for "return of premium" (ROP) term life insurance. Under this type of life insurance policy, if no death benefit has been paid by the end of your life insurance term, you receive all your premiums back.
With a traditional term insurance policy, you buy a coverage term, such as 15, 20 or 30 years, and pay a fixed annual price....
•Car Insurance Coverage for Pets in Car Accidents
Pets ride in cars all the time, but what if they're injured in a car accident? Whose car insurance company pays to treat their injuries? The answer depends on the cause of the accident.
Riding in cars can be dangerous for pets (as well as distracting to the driver), especially because they ride without the benefit of seat belts. If someone crashes into you and causes injuries to your pet, you're entitled to make a "third-party claim" with their car insurance company for your pet's medical...
•Car Insurance FAQs: How to Buy Car Insurance
From lowering your insurance premiums to adding a teen driver to your policy, buying car insurance can be a confusing, overwhelming, and expensive process. However, it is a necessary part of life, and can save you a lot of stress and money in the future. It may seem like a daunting task, but there is an easier way to shop for car insurance quotes and rates. Before shopping for car insurance, read these frequently asked questions to ensure you get the best possible car insurance rate.
Q: Am I...
•Auto Insurance FAQs: Accidents Happen
With over 6 million auto accidents per year in the United States alone, there's a good chance that you or someone close to you will be involved in an auto accident at some point. Having auto insurance is a great way to be prepared for an auto accident. When shopping for auto insurance, it's important to look at auto insurance rates and quotes and do some comparing. Knowing how to proceed in the event of an auto accident can save you time, money, and headaches, especially if your car is...
•How to Buy Life Insurance You'll Want to Keep
Not everything in life works out, including, sometimes, life insurance policies. If you stop paying premiums, your life insurance policy lapses meaning coverage ends. If you stop paying for a term life insurance policy and exceed the insurer's grace period (possibly 30 days), your policy lapses. Make sure that's a consequence you intend: You're not insured after the grace period and can't "reactivate" the same life insurance policy.
If you stop paying on a whole life insurance policy, you...
•The Lowdown on Life Insurance Medical Exams
There are three main ways a new life insurance policy is priced: Underwritten policies are those where you answer questions on your personal and family medical history and undergo a medical exam arranged by the insurance company; a simplified issue life insurance policy application asks you some medical questions but does not require a medical exam; and a guaranteed issue life insurance policy requires no questions and no medical exam. If you're healthy, or even if you have a few medical...
•Umbrella Insurance Extends Your Coverage
Perhaps you've loaded up on insurance: high limits on car insurance, home and flood insurance, and ample life insurance. But even these coverages can't account for every disaster in life. To further protect your assets, there's umbrella insurance. Personal umbrella insurance kicks in when the limits of your auto or home insurance have been exhausted and there are still damages to pay. How could that happen? Say, for example, someone falls on your sidewalk and sues you for an ungodly amount. Or...
•Twelve Ways to Save on Your Auto Insurance Policy
Want to save money on your car insurance? Here are suggestions from the Insurance Information Institute (III).
1. Comparison shop. Use consumer guides online from your state's insurance department. These guides tell you what coverages you need and show you sample auto insurance rates, usually from the biggest companies. Get auto insurance quotes from at least three insurers.
2. Ask for higher deductibles. When you file a claim, a deductible is the amount of money you pay before your auto...
•How a DUI Conviction Affects Your Car Insurance
If there's anything that could drive your car insurance cost sky-high it's a drunk-driving (DUI) conviction.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, there is an alcohol-related traffic fatality in the United States every 29 minutes. Aside from the risk of killing yourself and others, drunk driving carries with it serious penalties from your car insurance company.
Car insurance companies may check your motor vehicle record only once every three years or when you're applying for a...
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