Quotenoodle Blog

A friend of mine hadn’t bought a car in about 12 years. He was the kind of guy that buys a car and drives it until the doors, wheels, and engine falls off. He get’s every last bit of juice out of his cars. So, about once a decade, he’ll go shopping for cars.

Just last year, he bought his third car ever. His old insurance was about $50 a month, which he just assumed would be the same rate for whatever car he decided to buy. He forgot what car insurance was all about. He forgot that car insurance providers differ in many ways.

Luckily, he listened to some advice I had for him. I told him to make sure to check with his insurance company before he buys a car. I told him, to make sure to compare quotes on his car to find the best rates.

Now, this is nothing new. It is common sense to compare rates with all the insurance companies before you put down money on a car. But, like my friend, he didn’t want the hassle that comes from checking with every insurance company around. Who does?

That’s why online car insurance quotes is the way to go. It saves time and money. You just log on and compare different insurance companies, like companies in Texas, in one easy spot.

Just today, I heard on the radio something interesting about hybrid car insurance. Apparently, hybrid cars are costing many insurance companies more money, and some of them might be raising the rates for hybrid cars.

What?

Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.

You’d think that insurance companies would try to help those people who are protecting the environment. You’d think that insurance companies would give discounts to people who bought eco-friendly cars. You’d think that buying a hybrid car would ensure that you would save money on gas, insurance, etc., because you are “saving the planet.”

Well, it turns out that in the short period of time these new cars have been popular, hybrid car owners drive more, get more tickets and get in more car accidents. This may raise rates for all hybrid owners.

That’s just one example of why it’s important to do your homework before you choose an insurance company. Every New York insurance company is different and will provide diverse services and rates for various cars. Search online car insurance quotes for the simplest way to research insurance companies.

Although my husband would never admit it I think that one of the reasons he asked me to marry him was so that he could save money on his auto insurance.  It seemed all too coincidental that shortly after he started to research his Car Insurance Quotes Online he asked me to marry him.   I still accuse him of finding out that married males got a sizable reduction in their premiums.  Of course he denies this and accuses me of jumping to conclusions.

I also noticed that when he got the first results of his search for Car Insurance Quotes Online that he gave up his thoughts for buying a sports car or muscle car.  The rates were so much higher. He also suggested that when we got married that we might want to move closer to the city but in a good neighborhood.   He had found out that we would save money by driving less and that our insurance would be less if we parked the car in a better neighborhood.  I had to point out to him that the best way to save money over the long haul would be to improve his driving record.  Insurance companies do not like to insure people that get tickets or have accidents.

When my teenage son wanted to buy his first car I gave him homework to do.  I wanted him to get Car Insurance Quotes Online so that he would have a feel for what went in to owning and operating a car.  He found that as a young male that he was going to have to pay a lot more for his insurance than his older sister had had to pay.  The reason was simple.  It was not that he was going to be a worse driver but that girls on the average did not drive as much as boys.  Since boys drive more they have a greater opportunity for accidents.

The most important thing he found from getting his Car Insurance Quotes Online was that since he was a new driver he had no record and they were going to charge him more until he showed an accident free record.  He was also thankful that we had insisted on him taking the driver’s education training. Because he had taken the additional training he was granted a discount.  We were glad to see him discover that his grades make a difference.  He was able to get a further discount because he was in school and maintaining a good grade point average.

When I bought my first car I  did not realize the expenses that were going to be involved in being able to drive.  My first step was to go to the DMV and transfer the title.  I was able to do that but they they told me that to register and drive the car I would need to have insurance.  I had to go home then and then go onto my computer to find Car Insurance Quotes Online.  The cost of operating my car were adding up faster than I had ever thought possible.  After all,  all I had wanted to do was to be able to drive from point A to point B.

When I found the websites that would give me the Car Insurance Quotes Online I had to look at them carefully.  I knew that I had to have insurance that would protect me from any liability claims that might come out of an accident that was my fault.  I also knew that if something happened to my new car that I had worked so hard to buy that I would want to have some way to repair the damage.  This meant that I needed both liability and full coverage insurance.

No matter where you live some sort of auto insurance is going to be required.  You may only be required to have insurance to cover the damage that you do to someone else’s property or you may choose to have insurance to cover the replacement of your car in case it is damaged in an accident.  You will find that in most cases when you finance your car that the organization that has provided the financing will require you to show proof of insurance so that they will be guaranteed getting paid if you somehow destroy your car.  The fastest way to find this insurance today is by getting Car Insurance Quotes Online.

You will find several places today that will offer you Car Insurance Quotes Online.  You will need to be prepared to tell them the make and model of the car you want to insure.  They will also need to have some personnel data about you and where you live.  Your age and gender will have an impact of what your insurance rates are.  Also where you will be driving the car and where it will be parked at night will play a role in your final insurance quote.

DWI- Driving While Intoxicated or Driving while Impaired is a criminal offence.  A DWI offence occurs when the driver is stopped by a police officer and found to have a blood alcohol level at or above the legal limit. Any driver pulled over for suspected drinking can be asked to take a breath or blood test.  Refusal to take this test is the same as an admission of guilt.  Though state laws regarding DWI offences vary, it is against the law in every state to operate a motor vehicle while intoxicated.  Laws regarding the operation of aircraft and watercraft also vary state to state. In the United States the penalties that can be give included suspension or loss of driver’s license, fines, and possibly jail time.  Repeat DWI offenders usually loose their license and may become uninsurable by most insurance companies.

If you are driving while intoxicated your coordination, vision and judgment will be impaired. The amount this is affected depends on the amount of alcohol you have consumed, the amount of time you have been drinking, whether you have eaten before or during drinking, and your sex and weight. There is also no quick way to sober up after drinking. It is best to wait until the alcohol has been absorbed by your body, the average person will absorb about one drink per hour.

Most people don’t know what information they need to get to help process their claim after they are involved in a car accident. Here are a few helpful tips to make  your claim a lot easier.

A lot of accidents end up being a “he-said- she-said” situation with a battle for the insurance companies and police to determine who was at fault. A good way to avoid that is to purchase and keep a disposable camera in the glove box of your car. Immediately after the accident, before either party moves their cars, take multiple pictures of both cars from various different angles. If the other motorist is claiming something different than what you recall, you will be able to provide the insurance company with pictures to prove your statements.

Check immediately for an injuries to yourself and passengers and make sure that you seek medical treatment right away if anyone is hurt. Some insurance regulations put a time limit on how long you have to claim for personal injuries, so it is best to get medical attention, if needed, as soon as possible.  Even if you are not sure if you are injured it may be best to see a doctor for a quick check-up.

Try to get the names and information of any drivers that may have witnessed the accident. Also try to take pictures of the plates of any cars that may have witnessed the accident and try to get any witnesses to stay to give a report to the police.

Always make sure you call the police immediately to take an accident report and do not move your car or the other motorist’s car until the police have arrived. It will take about 7 business days for you to get the report from the police station, but if you want to get the information to your insurance company faster you can get some of the information yourself. You will need:

• The other cars owners name, address, and phone number
• The license plate and VIN number of the other car
• The driver’s (if different from the owner) name, address, phone number and drivers license number
• The insurance company, policy number and the insurance agent’s name (if possible) of the other driver
• The names and phone numbers of any witnesses; and finally the badge number and name of the police officer that is taking your accident report.

 Never admit that you are at fault to anyone at the accident scene or give your opinion of the accident while you are at the accident site.

Some insurance companies will provide you with an “accident report guide”. It will walk you through everything you should do after an accident to help them process your claim quickly. Ask your insurance company for a copy and keep it in the glove box of your car, it should walk you through all the steps above.

Any motor vehicle registered in New York State must have liability insurance coverage.  The minimum requirements are $25,000/$50,000 for injury, 50,000/100,000 for death, and $10,000 for property damage caused by any one accident.  No fault coverage, required in New York, means that your auto policy must pay medical bills for injuries suffered in an auto accident regardless of who was at fault. The coverage must be in effect as long as the vehicle is registered whether it is being driven or not.

It is important to make sure your coverage is New York State Insurance coverage and your insurance company is licensed in New York and able to write business in New York.  Also the liability coverage must be issued to the name of the registered owner of the car.  If the insurance is changed to a name other than the registered driver it will cause a lapse in the insurance coverage and the driver’s license of the registered driver as well as the registration will be suspended.

In order to apply for vehicle registration, you must show valid a New York State identification card.  The company that is issuing you the insurance policy will provide you with two New York identification cards.  You must check that the Insurance Identification card is issued in the same name as the person on the registration. The insurance company will then file a notice to the DMV to verify that you have liability coverage.  You must have both your insurance identification card and your notice of insurance to verify that you have liability coverage; the card alone will not prove your liability coverage.  Make sure you request a copy of the electronic notice that was sent to the DMV for your records.

Within 45 days of the effective date of you insurance you must present your insurance identification card to the DMV.  When you go to the DMV to apply for registration give them one copy of the card and keep the other one on you at all times.  In the case of an accident you will be required to give this to the police officer as proof of insurance.

According to Insurance.com’s 2007 Auto Insurance Pricing the average auto insurance premium in Arizona in 2007 was $1902 which was down from $1,929 in 2006. The report indicates that where you live has a very big impact on your auto insurance premium.In Maricopa County specifically, residents saw a 0.05% decrease with their average auto insurance premiums decreasing from $2053 in 2006 to $2042 in 2007.

Changing your deductible or adding more coverage can significantly impact how much you pay for auto insurance.

The minimum auto insurance requirements in Arizona are:
Bodily Injury Liability = $15,000 per person, $30,000 per accident
Property Damage Liability = $10,000