Vechicle Insurance

An auto insurance program based around usage could spell cost-savings across the board and change the face of future policies. The program, which began in August and was in its testing phase at press time, rewards drivers who log fewer miles and drive slower than other motorists.
Progressive announced it would offer the discount plan to the first 5,000 vehicles registered at tripsense.progressive.com. Also known as TripSense, the program includes a free matchbox-sized module, or TripSensor™, that plugs into the on-board diagnostic (OBDII) port, located near the steering column in vehicles made in 1996 or later. OBDII ports are also used to read other types of vehicle information, like emissions data.
“Drivers who reduce their risk of being involved in an accident by driving less, driving during lower risk hours or driving slower will be rewarded in this discount program,” says Jim Haas, Minnesota auto insurance product manager for Progressive.
The testing phase is mainly focused on residential customers as Progressive takes a “wait and see” approach to offering it to all drivers nationwide, commercial fleets included, says Progressive Spokesperson William Perry.
“We are optimistic it will be successful,” he says. “If everything falls into place, we’d like to make it more widespread in other states.”
Each vehicle that registers receives an automatic 5-percent discount for the six-month premium period. Those who choose to upload driving data to Progressive via computer hookup will receive a 5-percent discount in subsequent policy periods.
The more significant savings, up to 20 percent, will occur when the insurance company interprets the driver’s data. For example, a usage discount of up to 15 percent will be offered based on how much and when the vehicle was driven, and another 5 percent will be added to or subtracted from the usage discount depending on how much time the vehicle was above or below 75 mph.

“Anything you can do to arrive at a more accurate and fairly priced product is the driving force behind what we’re trying to do,” adds Perry.
Also collected, but not a part of the discount, will be information regarding rapid acceleration and braking. Progressive plans to use this data for future accident prevention.
The data also will allow drivers the chance to view a day-by-day travel log, as well as anonymously compare how their driving habits stack up against those of other drivers.
“If you wanted to compare (your driving) to all males in your age group, you can compare it to other demographic groups, with all the other participants,” says Perry.
The reading devices are a customized version of modules made by Hayward, Calif.-based Davis Instruments Corp. The company also manufactures chips for fleet management, as well as specialized fleet management software, which keeps track of driver performance, vehicle usage and accidents.
Progressive embarked on a similar program in Texas in which a retrofitted Global Position System (GPS) and cellular technology were installed into vehicles to calculate discounts much like the company’s current pilot program. Conducted from 1998 to 2001, the GPS program was discontinued because of high costs and “complex installation logistics,” according to the company.
Perry says the current program will be much more cost-effective and has a better chance of survival. “(The GPS program) was cutting edge-technology back then. It was a big-ticket item; certainly more than people wanted to pay,” he adds. “People loved the idea, but the cost of installation and logistics were too great.”

How to Get Cheap Auto Insurance via Internet?

Most states make it mandatory for you to have car insurance. The minimum the authorities accept is liability coverage on your car. A liability cover will protect the other person if ever you are involved in an accident. Nowadays Internet is becoming a major information center for those looking for auto cheap insurance.

Now car owners have lot of reasons to hunt online for their car insurance. This is because most of the major insurance companies now provide online car insurance quotes. Most of them also allow you to buy insurance online. This makes obtaining cheap online car insurance quote for your motor vehicle easier than ever before. Another important factor is that there are numerous insurers who provide a discount for buying online.

Saving money is one of the main reasons why people tend to find online car insurance quotes. There are several websites, which offer instant car insurance quote comparison services. This helps the drivers to compare the same service provided by different auto insurance companies before sticking into any insurer. This assures that the drivers can easily find out the low cost quotes. By choosing for online car insurance you can save time spent to see an insurance agent or being hassled over the phone.

The number of people looking for cheap online car insurance quote is growing by day. The number of financial companies who claim they are the cheapest car insurance company are many. With unparalleled growth in auto cheap insurance arena both companies and brokers are on the look out for business and this gives the customer in search of auto cheap insurance scores of options. Before deciding on the on the cheapest online car insurance quote you should do a thorough homework, as the prize range varies considerably. Try to get as many quotes as possible before coming to a decision.

But you should never be carried away by the thought of getting the cheapest car insurance company. By doing so most of the important aspects are ignored and in process you also stand to lose better deals, which you could have enjoyed if you had opted for an insurance for a slightly more pay. Drivers with a clean slate are given better deals and families with teen drivers are offered competitive quotes by certain insurance companies. Cheap online car insurance quote makes this an easy task.

It is good to opt for cheap online car insurance quote. But you must give utmost importance to the diverse aspects of each policy. With a little search and thought you might come up with a decision that benefits your valet and policy.

Auto Insurance Policy Simplified

Follow these tips to read and understand your policy faster

Have you ever sat down to read your auto insurance policy contract — not your Dec Page that lists the coverages you purchased, but the actual policy contract that looks like a very long legal agreement?

If not, you're not alone. Many people find this task daunting due to the contract's complexity, so they avoid tackling it.

While we recommend that you read your policy to fully understand specific coverage details, we also know that your policy is written as a legal contract, so it can seem intimidating or confusing.

To simplify the reading of your policy, we've put together a brief overview of the types of coverages in a typical policy contract and how they work.
Elements of an Auto Insurance Policy

Your auto insurance policy consists of sections that define every type of auto insurance coverage offered by your company.

Policies are distinguished by the state in which they're issued, and coverages available may vary among states. Your policy simply explains the types of coverage available and how or when they can be used. For your specific policy information, please refer to the terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions contained in your specific policy.

If you see these coverages in your Progressive policy, here's what they do:

* Liability – This coverage consists of Bodily Injury and Property Damage (BI/PD), which covers your legal liability, up to the limit you select, for damages caused in a covered vehicle accident. Under BI/PD, we pay for damages to an injured person and for property damage that you are legally obligated to pay as a result of an accident. If we cover an accident for which you are sued, we pay for a lawyer to defend you, too.
* Personal Injury Protection (PIP) – Available in certain states and commonly referred to as "nofault insurance," PIP covers your medical bills and often lost wages if you are disabled or unable to work as a result of an accident. PIP also usually covers the cost of personal services you must now pay someone else to do for you. PIP coverage is subject to a limit, which is specified in your policy.
* Medical Payments (MedPay) – This coverage applies no matter who is at fault and covers the cost of reasonable and necessary medical care provided to you as the result of a car accident. The coverage is often limited to a specified time period following the accident (usually three years) and the amount of coverage you chose when you purchased the policy.
* Uninsured/Under insured Motorist (UM/UIM) – UM/UIM coverage pays for damages that you are legally entitled to recover for your bodily injury. In general, this coverage provides what you would have received from the other person's insurance company had that person been insured. UM/UIM may also protect you if the person who caused the damage does not have enough insurance. Uninsured Motorist Property Damage coverage is available in some states and provides protection for damage to property caused by a person without insurance.
* Collision – If your vehicle overturns, or if it collides with another vehicle or object, Collision coverage pays for the damage to your vehicle. Collision involves a deductible amount you select when you purchase your policy. This amount, typically $250 or $500, is the amount you are required to pay in the event a claim exceeds the deductible amount.
* Comprehensive – This coverage pays for damage caused by an event other than a car collision, such as fire, theft, vandalism, hail or flood damage. Comprehensive also covers damage from an animal hit. Additionally, if your car is stolen, Comprehensive will cover the cost of a rental (subject to a daily limit). Like Collision coverage, a deductible usually applies.
* Custom Parts or Equipment (CPE) – Collision and Comprehensive coverage each provide up to $1,000 of coverage for custom parts or equipment, which are accessories and enhancements permanently installed in or on your vehicle. Parts and equipment offered by the manufacturer or installed by the dealer at the point of sale are not custom parts or equipment, but they are included under your standard Collision and Comprehensive coverage.
* Additional Custom Parts or Equipment (ACPE) – This coverage is available if you have more than $1,000 of custom parts or equipment on your vehicle. If you purchase ACPE, we will pay for custom parts or equipment damaged as a result of a covered incident, up to the amount shown on your Dec Page.
* Rental Reimbursement – If you buy Rental Reimbursement coverage, we will reimburse you for rental car charges incurred while our vehicle is being repaired after a covered accident. You can only buy Rental Reimbursement if you buy Collision and Comprehensive coverage. Rental Reimbursement is limited to 30 days and is subject to the maximum per day amount shown on your Dec Page.
* Loan/Lease Payoff – This coverage protects you when your covered vehicle has been deemed a total loss and you owe a lender more money than the vehicle is worth. If you buy Loan/Lease Payoff and your vehicle is declared a total loss, Loan/Lease Payoff will pay the difference between the vehicle's actual cash value and the amount you owe to the lender. However, the maximum we will pay under this coverage is 25 percent of the actual cash value.
* Roadside Assistance – If you incur labor costs at the place where your vehicle becomes disabled as a result of a mechanical/electrical breakdown, dead battery, flat tire and/or lockout, Roadside Assistance covers those costs. We also will help if you run out of gas or other fluid, or if you become stuck in snow or mud within 100 feet of a road or highway. And, if necessary, Roadside Assistance will cover towing to the nearest qualified repair facility.

States with Highest Car Insurance Prices

For most drivers, the all-time most resented vehicle expense is not gas, oil changes or even those triple-digit transmission repairs, but auto insurance.

Every six months to a year, drivers voluntarily or, in some states are required to, play Premium Poker: the high-stakes game in which you bet your driving fortunes against the car insurance companies, all of which have better hands than you do.

Even in these days of almost universal nationwide mandatory coverage, about 15 percent of motorists drive uninsured, according to Insurance Research Council estimates. "The problem of uninsured motorists persists," said Elizabeth A. Sprinkel, IRC senior vice resident. "Responsible drivers who purchase insurance end up paying for injuries caused by uninsured drivers."

Other unofficial estimates of uninsured drivers, which include illegal aliens, the underage, elderly, medically unfit and disqualified individuals who are driving, put the total at a much higher level than the quoted 15 percent. An even more frightening recent GMAC study found that one in six licensed drivers currently on the road are unfit to drive. It is estimated that 600,000 drivers in New Jersey alone are hitting the roads without car insurance. However, they (the car insurance agencies) know that sooner or later the odds catch up with nearly everyone, and your chances of making it through your driving years without a major automotive incident are outstandingly rare. Last year there were there were 5,930,182 police-reported motor vehicle traffic crashes, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, resulting in an average of one fatality every 12 minutes (every 31 minutes in alcohol-related crashes), an injury every 12 seconds, and 4,181,000 cases of property damage.

Even more sobering, is the U.S. Department of Transportation's estimate that an additional 10,000,000 crashes go unreported, many because the drivers have no car insurance and just as many because the drivers are trying to avoid a possible increase in their car insurance prices due to the accident.

So what makes up the cost of your car insurance prices? There are four basic standards:

•Who you are: age, occupation, marital status, geographic location, medical condition.
•What you drive: SUV, sports car, minivan, luxury sedan, high performance model, truck.
•How you drive: tickets, DUIs, accidents, high mileage.
•Where you drive: high crime and crowded urban areas, suburban town, rural and wide open spaces.

There are multiple other factors punched into the cost calculator: is your vehicle financed so the cost can be recovered if totaled; what safety equipment does it have (side impact airbags and curtain airbags are much better); driver education courses taken; history of illnesses which could affect driving safety and that occupational information which shows some drivers (like professors and engineers have) as a sub-culture with much better driving records than, let's say, young, blonde celebrities and aging movie stars.

There can also be a credit check and another verification to see if you are one of the 36 million licensed Americans who have been judged unfit to drive in a study by GMAC, the 2007 Insurance National Drivers Test. That probe found that one in six current drivers could not pass a written DMV exam if taken today. The worst odds of running into one, or perhaps one of them running into you, are on the East Coast, while your chances of fewer encounters would be among the best-educated drivers in Idaho and Oregon.

With all of those factors stacked against your chances of continuing to drive without incident or accident, there are things you can do to lower your car insurance prices, like not driving drunk and giving up street-model NASCARs. Then again, there are those you can't control, like where you drive.

Of course if you decide to move in order to lower auto insurance costs, here are some actual numbers to juggle:

The national average annual outlay for liability coverage alone was projected to be $847 for 2007, according to the Insurance Information Institute. The estimate was based on combined stats of the institute and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, an organization which assists state regulators. It does not include collision or comprehensive coverage.

Car insurance figures like those can be misleading. For example, consider the highway robbery for drivers in major urban areas. According to Insurance.com, drivers in Detroit, Philadelphia, Newark, New York and Los Angeles were paying, from $5,984 to $3,303 a year, in that order as of February 2006, for $100/300/50* liability, $500 deductible each for collision and comprehensive and $100/300* for uninsured. These multi-thousand-dollar car insurance prices are due, to higher density of traffic, increased likelihood of theft or vandalism and greater incidence of fraudulent claims, according to insurers.

The good news about auto insurance costs is that despite the increasing costs of medical care and vehicle repair plus cumulative weather-related damage such as the Katrina disaster, car insurance experts have anticipated a drop in rates. The Insurance Information Institute forecast a drop of 0.5 percent in 2007, once again, for liability coverage alone. That would be the first decrease since 1999.

Making state-by state comparisons is trickier, however, as the official Insurance Information Institute premium charts are only as recent as 2004; the highest car insurance price for that year was $1,221.08 in New Jersey, the lowest, $579.95 in Iowa.

Below are the most up-to-date state figures from the Mid-Year Auto Insurance Pricing Report by Insurance.com. It's based on car insurance quotes given to consumers by participating auto insurance companies in the 47 states where Insurance.com operates, plus the aggregate profile of consumers who shop using their Web site.

The cost of getting caught driving without auto insurance can vary from state to state, depending on the percentage of drivers who are uninsured in that state. In Massachusetts, residents can be charged anywhere from $500 to $5,000 in fines and receive a one-year jail sentence. In Florida, Louisiana, Connecticut and New Jersey, drivers operating a vehicle without the state required minimum will have their vehicles impounded, which can cost thousands depending on how long it takes to recover the vehicle.

Finally, even though there remain two states –New Hampshire and Wisconsin -- which do not require motorists to carry liability insurance, all 50 have some auto insurance requirement about. In many states, motorists can't register a car without showing proof of liability insurance. In others, they don't ask for proof of car insurance until drivers have accidents or tickets on their records.

Factors influencing auto insurance rates

Insurance companies and industry groups are saying the recall of more than 8 million Toyota cars and trucks shouldn't have an impact on insurance rates. The price of auto insurance is determined by many factors, and isn't limited to just the model you drive, the cost to fix it and its overall safety record.
The Insurance Information Institute, a trade group for the insurance industry, said the average driver pays about $850 a year in insurance. Your bill can be influenced by several factors:
DRIVING RECORD
The more accidents and serious traffic violations you have, the more you'll pay. You may also pay more if you haven't been insured for a number of years.
MILES DRIVEN
The more miles you drive, the more chance for accidents, the more you'll pay. If you drive less than 10,000 miles a year, you will pay less. Some companies will give discounts to policyholders who carpool.
WHERE YOU LIVE
Insurance companies look at local trends, such as the number of accidents, car thefts and lawsuits, as well as the cost of medical care and car repair.
DRIVER'S AGE
Mature drivers generally have fewer accidents than less experienced drivers, particularly teenagers. So insurers usually charge more if teenagers or young people below age 25 drive your car.
THE MODEL
Cars that cost more, have high theft rates, cost more to repair or have poor safety records cost more to insure.
DRIVER'S CREDIT
Some insurance companies use credit scores as a factor in insurance rates. Credit-based insurance scores are based on information like payment history, bankruptcies, collections, outstanding debt and length of credit history. Regular, on-time credit card and mortgage payments affect a score positively, while late payments affect a score negatively.