We all know that there are minimum car insurance requirements that you must fulfill before you can legally drive on public roads. This is called minimal liability coverage and covers a legally acceptable amount of damages to another person in the eventuality of an accident. However, that is just the starting point. There are plenty of other features that one should consider when purchasing an auto insurance policy.
Although minimum liability will satisfy your state’s requirements, it is nowhere near the recommended amount of coverage. With minimum liability insurance, if you are in an at-fault accident that is serious enough to breach the level of coverage you purchased, you will be legally obligated to cover the remaining damage and medical costs out of your own personal savings. In addition, you will still have to pay for all repairs on your own car and medical bills out of your own pocket.
All drivers can benefit by being lot better protected than this. Full coverage auto insurance is always a level of coverage worth considering. It is a much more comprehensive insurance policy. If you were the cause of an accident, not only does it pay a designated amount of the other car’s damages and it’s passenger’s medical bills, it also covers a designated amount of damages to your car as well. It can also pay for lawsuit costs if they are the result of the accident. In addition, it can protect your vehicle in case it gets stolen, vandalized, damaged by a fallen tree branch or similar acts of nature. These types of coverage’s are known as collision and comprehensive and they are included in all full coverage policies, in addition to liability.
In order for you to get full coverage auto insurance, you simply need to ask your insurance provider. They will be more than happy to upgrade your current policy. However, you need to expect to pay more in monthly premiums since you are asking for more services. How much more you will have to pay will depend on your insurance provider. That is why you do not need to rush when it comes to getting full coverage auto insurance quotes. Other providers might have better offers for you so it is in your best interest to take some time and do a little research. Believe it or not, it is a very competitive market out there and companies are willing to make very attractive offers in order to entice customers away from the competition.
There is a fast and easy way to do this. Instead of calling up each insurance provider individually and asking them about their rates you could simply use an auto insurance quote comparison site. There are plenty of good ones out there and they are easy to use. All you need to do is to fill out some basic information, such as driving experience, gender, number of accidents etc. and quotes from multiple providers will be emailed to you to compare at your leisure.
It is also recommended to contact your local insurance agent to see if they can beat the price you found on the net. The more you shop around, the better chance you have to get the lowest insurance rate available.
Sara O’Connell is a freelance writer who enjoys writing about personal finance and how to save on common household budgets.