Car Insurance News

Ever wonder why car insurances seem to be different from one another? We all want the same coverage and still, some just have higher premiums than the others. The following are the top 5 factors that affect car insurance premiums.

Age – younger drivers, particularly teenagers, receive higher premiums for nothing else but age. Inexperienced drivers also receive this because their not yet considered “mature” with their driving. There is really nothing that can be done about this: you get older, you get better at driving and your rates will eventually go down.

Auto Insurance Companies – now this is something you can control. Despite the determining factors, some companies just offer lower rates than others. It’s up to you to choose.

Gender – like age, there is really nothing you can do about this. Men are generally perceived to be the potential dangerous drivers and not the females. hence, females get lower rates.

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The concept is similar to pay as you drive and it takes into the account the distance you travel as one of the items on your policy. Through self-reported mileage reports you send in form time to time, the insurance firm establishes the relationship between your insurance premiums and the distance traveled making for affordable and adequate insurance coverage. Trending is established after a few months and with higher mileage comes a well oiled vehicle, meaning it is well maintained enough to get you lower premiums. Pay as you drive differs little, adding the factor of how much travel time and how well you use your car, based on your needs choosing public transport over the car for short trips and using well planned routes for long trips, all making for one lean machine and a mean insurance coverage to match.

In terms of rates that is, for many people have been unable to acquire the necessary funds to get affordable auto insurance. This is to answer calls of consumers and the government alike for businesses to do all they can to help them as the economy gets worse. More job cuts are predicted and the stock markets are not faring any better. The rate freeze is with select insurance providers only so don’t get too thrilled, just hope the place where you live in has one of these few firms.
The huge majority of insurance companies have already imposed hikes on rates along with protection for themselves in case their clients get in trouble with uninsured drivers. This has grown into a ballooning problem for them for even with their clients having enough coverage, the opposing party might not leaving them with nothing to gain from such incidents but loss of fulfilling their obligations with clients. There has been some outcry on the moves which have been implemented in silence without too much advertising of such.

Many countries around the globe have banned the use of cellular phones while a vehicle is in motion and for one very good reason, the amount of accidents related to cell use has grown considerably as more and more people use them on the roads. Being one of the most accident prone modes of transport, it has become more dangerous with the advent of the mobile phone. Car insurance also followed suit for being a violation of the law, coverage can be denied if an accident is found to be related to cellular use.
Increasing the accident rate to around 50% and likened to drunk driving due to the amount of distraction the driver gets from use, it is blamed for many deaths and the toll is rising day by day as people continue to irresponsibly use their mobile phones while driving. For safety’s sake, drive to a stop or get to the island if one has to use a mobile, the life you save can be yours. Make it a rule to avoid using it while driving or better yet, use the voice mailbox using a message stating that you are driving and that safety is the main priority, Keep safe, buckle-up and hands-off that mobile.

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A recent survey reveals that in general, people are driving less which normally means fewer car accidents and injuries. With skyrocketing prices of gasoline, people are continually finding ways to save on gas like the invention of hybrid cars. People are now using public transportation systems or combining trips and car pooling instead of driving. All of these mean lesser cars, lesser mileage, lesser accidents and lesser insurance premiums. When people drive less, they will be in a lesser number of accidents which means lesser injuries and lesser injury payments. This is one of the reasons why more insurance providers give lower premiums for less mileage. So drive less, for more insurance premium discounts!

There is a heated debate in Georgia today, as Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine said he is considering the addition of fees on car and other forms of insurance to support trauma care services for car accident victims and others. According to an article in ajc.com, this is because the state is desperately in need of more funding for trauma care services. And Oxendine says it makes sense since most trauma cases are a result of car crashes and work accidents.

Moreover, this fee would not be specific to car insurance, but may also apply to health insurance and worker’s compensation. There is opposition, of course, since insurance industry advocates argue that this would raise the costs and premiums of their products, as well as add new and unfair taxes to the industry. Since such fees are normally passed on to the consumers, it would be a double whammy for responsible citizens who religiously pay their taxes and buy insurance.

It is a fact that sports car insurance is more expensive than other auto insurances. Sports car insurance is determined by your car’s speed and resultant mobility on the road. Owning a sports car goes beyond customizing it and prepping it up to race. You have to be ready to actually pay for an insurance made for your kind of car.

How to reduce car premium
As insurance companies tend to charge higher premiums for sports car insurance, there are ways to lower it:
- Low mileages reduce significantly your premium. Thus, it is recommended to use your sports car only for short drives.
- Pay your insurance premiums in one installment as insurance companies charge more for monthly premiums.
- Don’t apply too much customization on your sports car because tweaking the stock features increases the premium.
- Don’t go beyond the speed limit. Speeding fines increase premium as insurance companies keep a record of this violation.

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Good news for motorists in Philadelphia: Government Employees Insurance Company, or GEICO, has introduced its Auto Repair Xpress program to address the needs of car owners. The ARX program aims to assist in the repair of vehicles which has been damaged because of collisions. This program allows the clients to drop their cars at an ARX shop, meet a GEICO auto damage adjuster who will evaluate the damage and the needed repairs and drive a rental car as long as the clients have adequate auto insurance. After that, the clients can return their rented cars and drive home in their repaired vehicle.

It is illegal to drive an uninsured car but studies from Sainsbury’s car insurance show that 1.15 million people drove a car during the past year even though their cars were not insured. 40% of these people where between 17 to 24 years old and 22% were between 25 to 34 years old. In London, 6% of people drove without car insurance and this is the highest number for Britain. 19% of the uninsured said they did not purchase car insurance because they couldn’t afford and didn’t think it was important. 13% of the uninsured said they didn’t have time to purchase one and another 13% said that they forgot to buy.

Two men from San Fernando Valley were arrested because of faking 2,600 car accidents in the span of 2 years. These two are Alexander Igor Gutman of Sherman Oaks and Lazlo Aldar Bango of Van Nuys. Gutman faces 29 felony charges while Bango faces 13. Also, they are accused of making terrorist threats and theft. They have gained the assistance of attorneys, doctors, chiropractors and bodyshop employees to make many millions of fraudulent claims. Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Gregory Alker said that they have hosted ‘paper accidents’ with no real collissions and which accounted for most claims to insurance companies.