Automobile Insurance


Insurance, a common word heard being among people these days. There a various types of insurance. Health insurance, life insurance, pet insurance, travel insurance, automobile insurance, home insurance are some of them to name a few. Now, all the insurance policies are not the same. Some give coverage for your lifetime and others cover you for a specific number of years. Now, the question is, how do you define Insurance? The term INSURANCE means a form of risk management which is primarily used to avoid the risk of potential financial loss. It is the equitable transfer of the risk of a potential loss, in exchange for a premium and duty of care.

Losses from property damage, medical and legal costs, and lost income add up to billions of dollars annually for automobile mishaps. automobile insurance plays an important role in protecting consumers from serious financial losses that can result from such accidents. Automobile insurance is also popularly known as auto insurance. automobile insurance is the type of insurance consumers can purchase for cars, trucks, and other vehicles. The main objective of purchasing this type of insurance i.e. Auto Insurance is, to provide protection against losses incurred as a result of traffic accidents to your vehicles. An insurance company may declare a vehicle totally destroyed or in the accounting term which we call write-off, If it appears that replacement would be cheaper than the repair of the damaged vehicle or automobile. Not all states require an individual to have automobile insurance, but all states do require a person to prove that he or she can pay specified amounts if any bodily injury or property damage is caused while driving. In such a case the proof of that individual would be his automobile insurance documents or large amounts of cash or some other security. Without one of these one may be liable to lose his or her driver's license and registration.

The basic types of automobile insurance coverage include:

1. Bodily Injury Liability. Pays your legal defense costs and claims against you if your car injures or kills someone. Covers family members living with you and others driving with your permission.

2. Property Damage Liability. Pays your legal defense costs and claims against you if your car damages another's property. Does not cover your property, including your auto.

3. Medical Payments or Personal Injury Protection. Pays medical expenses resulting from an accident for you and others riding in your car. Also pays for you or your family members injured while riding in another's car or while walking.

4. Collision. Pays for repairs of damage to your car caused by a collision with another vehicle or any other
object, regardless of who was responsible.

5. Comprehensive Physical Damage. Pays for damages to your car resulting from theft, fire, hail, vandalism, or a variety of other causes.

6. Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist. Pays for costs related to injuries or property damage to you or your family members and guests in your car caused by an uninsured, underinsured, or hit-and-run driver.

In case of automobile insurance, there are some basic rules which need to be followed. Automobile accidents can occur anywhere anytime. Now, in case of an accident, the vehicle and the person involved in the mishap need to take the following steps:

• The accident site should not be left in panic.

• Medical assistance should be called upon if there are injuries. The basic first-aid should be provided at an earliest.

• A law enforcement officer should be called upon if needed. Get the officer's name and police station address. Ask when the accident report will be filed, its case number and how to get a copy.

• A careful note of the following needs to be taken:

1. Date and time of the accident.

2. Street and city.

3. Weather and road conditions.

4. Direction and speed you and other drivers were going.

5. Brief description of how the accident occurred.

6. Record the license plate, drivers license and insurance information numbers of each driver involved.

The companies offering automobile insurance often a variety of discounts, in order to attract customers that include:

• Multiple Vehicle

• Multiple Line

• New Vehicle Safety

• Accident Free

• Anti-Theft Device

• Defensive Driving

• New Business

• Good Student

• Driver Training

These sorts of offers and schemes vary from state to state. The necessity of having automobile insurance can be made clear from the following example:

Jan Green was running late for an appointment. Even the traffic lights were going against her. She was getting increasingly frustrated as every light turned red before her. Finally, as the last light on her route was turning from yellow to red, Jan decided to floor it and tried to squeeze by. Unfortunately her luck ran out and instead, Jan ran into a car traveling in the other direction. Both cars were damaged. Worse than that was, both the drivers sustained several injuries and had to be taken to the hospital. Jan suffered cuts, bruises and a broken leg. The other driver sustained a severe back injury.

Since the police officer at the scene was determined that Jan was at her fault, her insurance had to pay both Jan's and the other drivers expenses. That included:

1. All costs to repair the other vehicle

2. The cost to return Jan's car to working condition, minus her Collision deductible

3. Hospital bills incurred at the emergency room for services like giving Jan stitches and setting her broken leg

4. Fees associated with paying for the other drivers lawsuit against Jan.

Thus, Auto Insurance is designed to help financially cover potential auto-related damages, loss or injuries. It helps protect you, your passengers, your fellow drivers, pedestrians, other people's property and your car. It can also help protect you in the event of an automobile-related lawsuit. So always be wise enough to insure your automobile as well as yourself against these type of accidents, mishaps and hazards.