Reduce your auto insurance premium costs.

What you should know about Auto Insurance Protection

• Liability Insurance
• Collision Insurance
• Comprehensive Insurance
• Medical Payments Coverage
• Personal Injury Protection Insurance
• Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist Protection

Driving is more expensive today than ever and costs are getting higher every day. With the price of your vehicle, auto insurance, fuel, maintenance and repairs straining your wallet as time goes by.

Another expense comes from the dealership and state you live in. Many dealerships and states require you to purchase not only insurance, but a specific amount of auto insurance. This coverage will usually be enough to protect you against the worst financial losses that may arise. Without this specific amount of insurance, you may not be covered for a major loss and any claim will come pocket directly.

After an accident, auto insurance will cover repairs to or loss of your vehicle. Auto insurance will also a financial safety net to help with the following costs:

• Personal and other person(s) bodily injuries
• Injury with lost wages
• With an accident that results in death; benefits paid to survivors
• As the result of an accident, any lawsuit brought against the you.
• Damage repairs made to your car due to an accident.

Basic auto insurance types and detailed information about each:

Liability Insurance

This type of insurance protects you and your financial assets in case you have an accident and/or injure another person(s). This insurance also protects damage caused to property of another person(s) with your automobile.

Bodily injury liability insurance protects you if another person is injured, disabled or killed due to an automobile accident.

Property damage liability insurance covers another person’s car, fence, or mailbox, due to damage from your vehicle.

You will only be responsible for property damage, if you are determined to be liable (responsible or at fault) for the accident. If you’re considered liable, certain costs may arise, such as, the injured person(s) medical and hospital bills, rehabilitation, loss of income and something they call, “pain and suffering”. “Pain and suffering” is paying someone for the physical and mental pain, inconvience or otherwise issue. Damages owed will be determined by fault and legal and insurance authorities. You will be held accountable for any costs that remain after you auto insurance coverage pays out. No matter what, make sure you get enough liability insurance coverage so you can protect yourself and your financial assets.

Liability comes in split amounts, such as $50,000-$100,000-$50,000. For example, the first number of $50k is the max your policy will pay each person per accident for bodily injuries. The $100k is the overall maximum your auto insurance will pay out. The last number, $50k is the amount your auto insurance pays out for property damage.

The minimum liability insurance amounts of $25,000-$50,000-$10,000 is required in most states. This means there’s $25k for injury coverage for one person, with $50k total for injuries to all persons, and $10k for all property damage.

Collision and Comprehensive Insurance

Collision insurance coverage – covers vehicle damage due to hitting a vehicle and/or object, and if your vehicle rollover. With collision coiverage your car repairs /replacement is insured no matter who’s at fault.

Comprehensive coverage – when your vehicle has damage that’s NOT due to to a collision, this insurance will cover and protect you and your financial assets. Examples of coverage are: theft, fire, vandelism, floods, hail and other natural disasters.

Both Collision and Comprehensive insurance coverages will only pay a portion of a lossand you’ll will more than likely have a large deductible, which means money you will be charged. Example: With a policy that has a $200 deductible, if you have a claim of $3,000, you will have to pay the deductble prior to recieving any payment from your insurance policy/company. You car will be covered only for the amount the insurance company thinks it’s worth due to value declines, and depreciation.

In most cases, the insurance policy will reimburse you at the time of the accident, (after deductible) for a cash value at that time. An example of this is, if you purchased your vehicle for $26,500, you will receive a lot less than the price you purchased it for, because of the vehicle’s depreciation in value over time. To find out today’s value of your vehicle by consulting the Kelly Blue Book, at www.kbb.com. This website offers a trusted value for your vehicle model, make, year, condition and options.

You will have to find out the Kelly Blue Book value for your vehicle to tell if it makes sense for you to purchase collision and comprehensive insurance on your vehicle. Because, usually the older the vehicle, the less it makes sense. Here’s why: the maximum payout on your vehicle will be based on the Kelly Blue Book cash value.

Here’s how to figure out if Collision coverage is right for you:

• Know your vehicle’s “book” value
• Know the total loss value of your car
• Add the cost of your insurance coverage
• Subtract your deductible from Kelly Blue Book value

The ending figure should give you an idea if it would be cheaper to repair or replace your car.

Medical and Personal Injury Protection Insurance

Insurance for Medical payments covers charges for hospitals, physicians, and funeral costs for you and/or any passenger(s) due to a vehicle accident, no matter who’s fault the accident is. Medical and PIP will also cover expenses when your driving another person’s car. The coverage will also cover you and/or your family, as pedestrians, are struck by a vehicle. This insurance is inexpensive with policy limits of $1,000 -$100,000. Funeral expenses are also covered, when necessary. Check for availability in your state.

PIP – Personal injury protection

This insurance is a no-fault policy that is required in most states. This insurance policy is a wider form of medical insurance. PIP will pay for health care, and lost income for persons injured. This coverage will also pay for replacement services, like paying for a baby sitter for a parent that has been hospitalized. This insurance pays no matter the fault, yours or theirs.Law suits for pain and suffering are usually limited in awards, however in disability or death the limits may not apply. The insurance varies by state and can be optional in states without no-fault laws. Remember when researching coverages, that Medical and PIP can also protect the passengersin your vehicle. If a claim is over the amount of your policy for coverage, a Bodily Injury policy may help you deferred costs out of pocket. If you already have establish sufficient disability and medical insurance, you can possibly pass on purchasing coverage over the state minimum limits.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Protection

When in an automobile accident with an uninsured driver, there’s hardly any chance of collecting payment for damages from the uninsured driver. This insurance pays will pay the cost of damages and injuries resulting from being in an accident with an uninsured driver. This coverage will also cover you if you were hit by a hit-and-run driver. With this type of insurance both you and your passengers are covered for medical expenses, any lost wages and other injury-related losses. With UM Protection, you may be able to collect for any pain and suffering cause by the accident.

Underinsured motorist (UIM) insurance will pay for the amount of damages that exceed the amount of insurance the Underinsured driver carrys. When you buy this protection, you will have to decide the amount of additional coverage you will want to purchase.

*Uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist insurances vary from state to state.