Auto
Auto or car insurance coverage has two parts. The first is the liability section of the policy. It covers your financial responsibility for injuring others. Some liability coverage is required by most states.
The second part of auto insurance covers the car itself: comprehensive coverage reimburses losses from fire, theft or other perils; collision coverage pays to repair losses caused by an accident. Often this coverage is mandated by leasing companies or banks. There are also ancillary medical, car rental and other coverages which vary by state.
Utilizing high deductibles on the physical damage coverages can help reduce premiums. If you carry umbrella insurance, you must be sure that you carry the required amount of basic liability insurance to avoid a gap in coverage for a serious accident.
DutyTran Insurance Agency offers free, comparative quotes on auto insurance from multiple insurance carriers so you can get the best possible rate.
Want to see how much we can save you? Just request a quote to find out.
Important Auto Insurance Coverages
When you browse through your policy, you may see certain coverages and wonder exactly what they are, and why they’re on your policy.
Let us clarify a few of the more important ones for you:
Collision Coverage
This is the part of your policy that covers your car in the event you damage the car itself somehow, as a result of an accident with a fixed or moving object like another car, a curb, a house, a guard rail, etc..
Comprehensive Coverage
This coverage also protects your car, but in the event that something else damages your car, that is not a fixed, or moving object. For example, theft, a rock that cracks your windshield while you’re driving on the highway, an animal you might hit, and so on.
Property Damage
Suppose you damage someones car in an accident, or a guard rail, house, or some other property that belongs to someone else. This is the part of your policy that compensates the other person for that damage
Bodily Injury Liability
This coverage protects your financial interest in the event you injure another party in an accident. This is the part of your policy that pays that other party for their medical bills and related expenses. Due to the high cost of medical care, it’s dangerous to carry liability limits that are too low. This is something we can help you decide on.
Un-insured & Under-insured Liability
This coverage pays you, in the event that you are injured by another party, and that other party was either unidentified, or they weren’t carrying a high enough limit of Bodily Injury Liability to cover your expenses. This is also a very important part of your auto policy because you have zero control over how much insurance other people are driving around with.
Auto Insurance Rating Variables
Age — insurance companies use your age in their overall rating algorithms. Drivers who are under 25, and over 65 typically don’t get preferred rates because statistics show that those two age demographics have the most loss frequency and are therefore more at risk for financial loss due to an auto accident
Credit — credit is a metric that has been used in insurance scoring for many years. The better your credit, the more favorable your rates will usually be
Car — the type of car, engine size, safety features, etc.. are all part of determining the rate
Driving History — your driving record and loss history plays a substantial role in the price. If you have a spotty driving history, or multiple moving violations or accidents, chances are, you won’t get a preferred rate until those things are at least 3 years old
Household — insurance companies underwrite at the household level, meaning they try to judge based on the entire household, what the probability of loss will be. If there are multiple drivers in the house who are under the age of 25, that will impact everyone’s pricing in the household