Bad credit risk, bad driver?

Author: Davidmayer
This is a good year for drivers in California. Way back when in 1988, Proposition 103 received more than enough support from voters to pass. Basically, voters wanted car insurers to set rates based on the driver's record and the number of miles driven. Three years ago, the Commissioner for Insurance introduced new rules prohibiting the use of ZIP codes as the primary factor for determining car insurance rates. These rules came into force July 14. This is one battle won for consumers' rights. The war goes on. Zip codes remain a dominant factor in other states. Similarly, insurers also check out your credit score. Almost every company seems to think that people with low credit score make bad drivers.

So what's going on? Well, it's all about how to define risk. All the factors go into the melting pot. How old you are, where you work, where you live, whether you own or rent your home, whether you own the car outright or have a car loan, what make and model of car, and so on. This personal information is included in your credit history. It gives the companies a snapshot of who you are. Is it fair to look at this information? Unfortunately, yes. Just as a loan company wants to know more about you before making the offer of a loan, car insurance companies want a better idea of whether you take care of your financial affairs before agreeing to pay out if you get in a traffic accident.

The first step in setting the auto insurance rate is whether you qualify for any discounts. For example, most companies offer discounts if you can pay an annual premium rather than by monthly or half-yearly installments. Then comes the math work. There are statistical methods to determine the risk of you getting in an accident. If you're a late payer who gets into trouble with liens and mortgages on your property, if you rent rather than own, you may not take as much care of your property as others. Add in lack of consistency in employment and multiple lines of credit getting close their the maximums, and you're considered a higher risk driver. It may not feel fair. It probably isn't completely fair. But that's the way insurance credit scoring works.

So, before you go online for your next car insurance quotes, check out your credit score and, if necessary, repair the score. The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to get free copies of your credit reports. Use that right and get your credit score into shape before getting quotes.

About Author

David Mayer is always ready to share his professional point of view on a topic. To see what David Mayer has written about other things visit http://www.allstatescarinsurance.com/bad-credit-risk-bad-driver.html.

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Hybrid vehicles save you money on car insurance

Author: Davidmayer
With the current financial situation and gas prices that leave many consumers unpleasantly surprised, more and more Americans start thinking serious when buying a new car. And the part of people who are considering alternatives keeps growing. People start using bikes, buses, biofuels and hybrid cars. And if the first three options are pretty clear, the latter could raise questions in some. What is a hybrid anyway?

Simply put a hybrid car is a vehicle that uses two (or even more) power sources to make it move. It could be any combination of fuels and energy cells possible to put into one vehicle, but there are certain production types of hybrids. Hybrid cars provide a set of advantages if compared to ordinary gas engines and here's a brief overview:

Gas Mileage. One of the main reasons people consider hybrids it's the greater gas mileage if compared to standard cars. This is due to the better fuel efficiency that is obtained using an electric motor. Batteries in hybrids that use electric motors store energy that is obtain when braking and give it back to the motor, reducing the amount of gas consumed by the primary engine. For example, 2008 Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid have an EPA about 46 MPG and 42 MPG respectively.

Types of Hybrids. Not all hybrids are designed to economize fuel. You have to know exactly what type of hybrid you are dealing with. There are many hybrids that are designed to achieve better performance and power rather than save gas. Many sports cars use an additional electric engine to improve the efficiency of the standard gas engine. This type of hybrid can give you an advantage over a car with the same horse powers but with a bigger engine, however if compared to a vehicle with an identical engine the gas use can actually be greater. So be careful when selecting a hybrid and make sure you know what type you are dealing with. Some hybrids will actually have a lower mileage than big SUVs.

Discounts. When buying a hybrid you can take advantage of many discounts, though their number is decreasing. Some models of hybrids still qualify for federal tax incentives, as well as parking incentives, tax incentives, driving incentives and other advantages. When you sum up these saving with the amounts of gas you'll be able to economize you'll see that buying a hybrid is not such an expensive move after all.

Car Insurance. Buying a hybrid will also save you some amount of money on auto insurance premiums. Hybrid cars are entering the market with interesting discounts and possibilities, one of them being discounts on insurance for hybrid vehicles offered by the majority of insurance companies. Many insurance companies provide up to 10% discounts on hybrids depending on the type of the hybrid. It is recommended to shop around between different insurers — sometimes the savings can be even bigger. Try comparing car insurance quotes online selecting the exact type of hybrid you want to buy. Your rates can pleasantly surprise you!

About Author

To see what David Mayer has written on different topics visit http://www.carinsurancequotes-online.net/save-with-hybrid-cars.html and find him there. David Mayer has dedicated his work to helping people understand better the subject he writes about.

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Fast tips on avoiding traffic accidents

Author: Davidmayer
Following some basic tips on safety saves thousands of lives on American roads and it can be your life we're talking about. You'll be amazed how many accidents and fatalities can be avoided if all drivers use seatbelts, stick to defensive style of driving, stay cautious and simply follow the traffic rules.

One of the main accident causes on the roads is distraction. Researchers stress out the importance of being fully focused on the road while you're at the wheel. About 4,300 car accidents take place each day on American roads all because of distraction. Despite of the common belief that drunken driving leads to the majority of car accidents and deaths on the road, statistics show that only one third of the accidents happen due to alcohol consumption. Two thirds of traffic accidents occur when the driver gets distracted.

Traffic specialists advise drivers to avoid doing the following activities while being behind the wheel:

* Using cell phones
* Looking for things on floormats
* Changing radio stations or CDs
* Reading newspapers or checking maps
* Grooming or eating

It is much wiser to pull over at a safe section of the road if you need to perform one of these things. If you think that by doing so you're loosing time, think of losing your life because you got distracted by a phone conversation.

Aggressive driving is another aspect that should be avoided if you don't want your life to end on the road. Even if someone cuts you off don't get the situation escalating by forcing yourself in or arguing with other drivers. Stay calm and respect other traffic participants. Don't forget about courtesy while driving. If someone is driving rude and aggressively it's a matter of their manners not yours, just let them pass and don't get caught in conflicts on the road. Many accidents happen because drivers didn't consider other people on the same road with them.

Drivers should also consider having some safe distance between their cars and other vehicles in front or behind them. A general rule here is having one car length for every 10 Mph. The distance should be increased if the weather conditions are not favorable. This will raise your chances of avoiding an accident if the vehicle before you acts not as you have predicted.

Here are 10 basic tips for avoiding traffic accidents

1. Avoid drunken driving.
2. Avoid being distracted while driving. Don't talk on the phone, eat or read papers.
3. Keep your car in a good condition. Stick to the maintenance schedule and check the tires frequently.
4. Don't stick to aggressive driving even if someone cuts you off. Let them pass you or call the police if someone is driving too aggressively. Stay calm and avoid any conflicts on the road.
5. Respect the distance between your car and other vehicles. Remember that the distance should be one car length per 10 Mph. Increase the distance in unfavorable conditions.
6. Keep driving at a constant speed. Avoid speeding up and slowing down.
7. Make sure your mirrors are adjusted correctly and check them every 15 seconds.
8. Follow traffic rules and take a course of defensive driving to make your driving safer.
9. Be very cautious at intersections because it is the place where most accidents happen. Make sure to check the situation twice in both directions.
10. Take road conditions into account and try to be visible on the road.

About Author

David Mayer has shared his vision on numerous subjects throughout the years working with http://www.get-auto-insurance-quotes.net/avoiding-traffic-accidents.html on a frequent basis. You can see most of his professional contributions there.

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Insuring teenage drivers

Author: Davidmayer
As you may already know, getting a car insurance policy for a teenage driver can be quite costly. Drivers younger than 25 years old are considered to be more risky for insurers because according to statistics this group of drivers is most often involved in at-fault accidents. Car insurance companies tend to limit their expenditures applying higher fees for younger drivers of age 16-24 if compared to other age groups. Is it age discrimination or there are concrete causes of such a policy?

One of the options to reduce car insurance expenditures for young drivers is adding your teenager to your insurance policy when he or she gets a driver's license. This still can be a costly move but the teenage driver can use certain advantages of being included in your policy (especially if your insurer provides multiple-driver discounts).

Including your teen to your auto insurance policy when you have an expensive car will be even more costly. In this case you can consider buying a less costly auto for your teen and purchasing a separate policy for that vehicle rather than including him or her to your policy. Some types of car insurance coverage including collision and comprehensive coverage, older and less-costly cars are regarded less risky by insurance companies, because the costs of repairing such vehicles are considerably lower if compared to newer and more expensive cars. The lower the risk your car poses to the insurance company the lower are your insurance rates.

The best way to find out which is the best insurance offer is comparing the options at different insurance companies. You can do it by contacting insurance companies directly or using one of numerous websites providing auto insurance quotes. When discussing auto insurance you'll have to provide the exact make, model, production year and certain technical characteristics to get the most precise quotes. Having exact quotes will help you decide on whether you need a separate policy or can add your teens to an already existing one. You will also be able to determine what car to by according to insurance expenditures. Try getting auto insurance quotes for both possible situations from the same insurers: a separate policy and addition to an existing policy.

Make sure that the young driver has the necessary skills to drive a car safely. After finishing the Teen Driver Education consider enrolling your teen in a Driver Improvement Course. By doing so you can take advantage of auto insurance discounts offered by insurers. But what is really important with this course is that you make your teen a better and more responsible driver who knows how to act on the road and avoid accidents. Take your time to teach your son or daughter some lessons by your own example, and make some test routes together to make sure he can drive well.

And don't forget to shop around with different insurance companies. Try getting as many auto insurance quotes as possible. You'll be surprised to find out that the rates will vary significantly, sometimes by hundreds of dollars for the same amount of coverage. And who wants to spend this extra money for nothing?

About Author

For other highly informative insights on numerous topics from David Mayer visit http://www.get-auto-insurance-quotes.net/insuring-teenage-drivers.html. David Mayer is a professional journalist with 15 years of experience delivering news to the public.

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Problems when renting a car

Author: Davidmayer
At one time or another, we have all walked into a car rental office and met with one of the counter staff on a mission to hard sell insurance. It's like a knee-jerk reaction. See customer, sell additional insurance. The most common add-on is called loss damage waiver (LDW) and that can seriously boost your daily rate. So what is this mystery product and should we think about buying it? Well, let's start off with a few of the basics. LDW is a kind of get-out-of-jail-free card, covering you if you put a dent in the body work or run the car off a cliff. No matter what happens, you're off the financial hook. Most people own a vehicle of their own, have an insurance policy, and work on the basis this will cover them when driving a rental. But the $64,000 question is what cover you carry over. Let's start with the deductibles.

To get the lowest possible premium on the regular policy, most people opt for the highest deductible. They reckon they are careful drivers and can afford to self-insure the first $1,000 of any damage. Except this does not quite square with the pricing policies of rental companies. Most seem to have in-house body shops paying top rate for repair personnel or use the most expensive independents. Although you might buy the cheapest possible replacement parts, your bill from the rental company will come in at the top end of expectations and add on the much-feared "loss of use" charge. This is their estimate of the daily loss of profit caused by not having the car available for rent. And, guess what. The rental company does not feel under any pressure to get the car back on the road. Suddenly, your deductible has gone and you find your own policy does not cover the loss of use charge.

But you're still not panicking because you remember your credit card company offers some kind of back-up insurance. Now's the time to read all that small print, i.e. before you rent the car. The terms often fall into the so-called secondary insurance market. In theory, this covers you for those heads of claim not covered by your own car insurance. Except the world never seems to work out quite the way you expect. What works on the Gold and Platinum cards may not work on others.

Auto insurance is never an exact science but there are one or two simple rules. If you are only renting for one or two days, it's probably better to buy the LDW because any claim you make does not show up on your own policy and you avoid any premium hike. But there comes a point when the daily rate is too big a hit. Now you are gambling you will not have an accident that takes the rental car off the road for a long time. The reality is the daily rate for loss of use probably will not fall under your own auto insurance and may not fall under the credit card secondary cover. So just make sure you only have minor accidents.

About Author

David Mayer has shared his vision and professional opinion on a vast array of topics and http://www.findyourautoinsurance.com/problems-when-renting-a-car.html is one of the sites where you can read more of David Mayer's contributions.

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Do you need professional liability insurance?

Author: Editor123
Professional liability insurance is one of the many different kinds of insurance policies available today. But before we take a closer look at professional liability insurance, or try to understand if it is really required, it would be worth one’s while to spend some time in understanding what liability insurance is all about. Fundamentally, liability insurance is a subset of the general insurance process for risk financing.

Liability insurance is available in different flavors to cater to different kinds of people and their varying requirements. Their basic essence, however, remains the same, i.e. to offer varying degrees of protection against third party claims. Professional liability insurance, just like personal life insurance or household insurance plans, is more of a necessity than just a fancy frill for your profession. With professional indemnity insurance, individuals in various professions can easily insure themselves against sudden financial losses or other unforeseen pecuniary liabilities arising out of claims made by clients who are somehow dissatisfied. When a client expects a certain degree of professional service and is not satisfied with what he is provided with, he is at his discretion to file a suit and claim compensation for the losses he has suffered.

The scope and nature of indemnity insurance makes it suitable, and highly recommended, for a large number of professionals such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, architects and other reputed professions. The need for professional indemnity insurance is most critically felt for lawyers, accountants or those professionals whose work typically involves maintaining finances and accounts and other monetary issues.

Professional liability insurance comes with many terms and conditions, and before selecting a policy, one is strongly advised to carefully read through them all to get a clear understanding of the scope of the policy and how claims can be made if they become necessary. It also helps to look around a bit and do a bit of homework on the internet before selecting a professional liability insurance policy.

About Author

For further information on Professional liability insurance, pi insurance please contact Coulson Pritchard Associates directly on 01480 470220 or visit at www.professionalindemnityinsurance.co.uk

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