Insurance Information Centre – Insurance Info – Car Insurance – Home Insurance – Liability Insurance – Health Insurance

Comprehensive Cover

Comprehensive cover Has Equal level of protection as Third party fire and theft but with the plus side of including protection for your car against accidental damage.

Accidental damage is that done to an insured vehicle including malicious damage, and windscreen damage. Our policies also include additional cover such as personal accident cover, European driving cover and courtesy cars.

In Extension to Some Policy’s you get to drive other cars. It is misunderstood that this type of cover is only accessible on comprehensive cover. Quite often third party policies also cover the policyholder allowing them to drive other cars on a third party basis.

The ‘driving other cars extension’ has eligibility criteria that differ from insurer to insurer but typically age and occupation are used to assess whether a driver qualifies.

Please understand clearly the restrictions that apply to this cover. You should refer to the documents of your policy for these.

Third Party Fire and Theft Cover

Basically this protection offers the fire and theft cover in addition to the legal requirement of third party insurance.

The fire and theft cover will include an excess (Most Probably £100) and is payable whilst making a claim. Take into account that claims can also affect your no claims bonus and therefore meaning then next time you come to insure your car the cost of your insurance could increase.

In the possibility of your car is stolen or damaged due to theft or attempted theft you are able to make a claim. However, this event of attempted theft or actual theft will have to be reported to the police

Fire claims often occur directly as a result of theft but sometimes from vandalism or mechanical breakdown.

Third Party Cover

Third party car insurance is the absolute minimum level of car insurance required in the UK.

This cover basically protects third parties (pedestrians or drivers) so they do not lose out financially in the possibility of you injuring them, or causing damage to the other person(s) vehicle (not your own car).

Some car insurance companies are no longer willing to offer this level of insurance. But you may find some insurers still offer Third Party Only cover. There is no protection for fire or theft with this cover and therefore it is normally purchased by drivers on a strict budget or with a low value car.

This is more suited to Younger Drivers. Consider that your car costs just £500 and is stolen, In effect there might be no compensation to the younger driver for the loss of a car, but their no claims bonus will be retained. A whole single year of no claims bonus could possibly be more valuable than the combined excess and premium costs of buying third party fire and theft cover initially.

Essentially third party protection covers you for:

• Liability for injuring other people (including passengers)
• Liability for damage to property (not your own)
• Liability arising from using a caravan / trailer, while attached to your car
• Liability of passengers for accidents caused by them

There is a very good chance that you are — this very moment — paying too much for your car insurance. There is an even better chance that you could get a better rate, from another insurance company, than you could from your existing insurer.

So why not take an hour or so and review your policy for potential savings? Or, if you’re fed up with the high insurance rates from your current insurer, shop around for a new company.

The Internet has created increasing competition between car insurance companies. It is easier than ever for consumers to shop for low insurance rates, to analyze coverage and compare premiums. Still, studies have shown that people don’t shop around for insurance in the same way they might shop for a new car. Also, people tend to stay with the same car insurance company for years. Why not prove these studies wrong? Put the power of the Net to work for you and save money in the process.

You can save on auto insurance in five ways:

1. Make sure you get all discounts you qualify for
2. Keep your driver’s record clean and up-to-date
3. Adjust your coverage to assume more risk
4. Drive a “low profile” car equipped with certain money-saving safety features
5. Shop around for a good, low cost insurance provider

First, let’s look at the discounts you might qualify for. Discounts fall into a number of categories:

* Low-risk occupations
* Professional organizations
* Combined coverage
* Discounts for safety features
* More risk assumed by driver
* Discounts for senior citizens

Low-Risk Occupations
Insurance is a numbers game. Adjustors collect information about what types of people get into accidents. Over the years they see a trend. Drivers that work as engineers tend to get into fewer accidents. Why? It would be fun to speculate about the reasons (pocket protectors — need we say more?) but the insurance companies don’t really care about that. All they know is that, in fact, engineers are a low risk. Since there is less chance that they will wrap their cars around the trunk of a horse chestnut tree, they charge engineers less for insurance. Simple.

But you say you are a teacher instead of an engineer? You might still be in luck. There may be discounts for teachers. You never know unless you ask — and unless you shop around. Not all insurance companies are the same.

Professional Organizations and Auto Clubs
Have you ever been about to pay $100 for a hotel room, only to discover that a AAA discount saves you 15 percent? Now you’re paying $85 and feeling proud of yourself. It’s similar in the insurance business. Affiliation with AAA — and certain other professional organizations — will lower your rates. You should check with your employer to see if there are any group insurance rates. At the same time try checking directly with the insurance company representative when you inquire about the cost of policies.

Combined and Renewal Discounts
A big source of savings is to insure your cars with the same company that insures your house. Make sure you ask if combined coverage is available. This will lower your payments on your car insurance and make your homeowner’s policy cheaper too.

It’s also important to make sure you are getting a “renewal” discount that many car insurance companies offer. This is a discount given to people who have been with the same insurance company for an extended period of time. If you have carried insurance with a company for several years, and not had an accident, your insurance company likes you. Think about it. You paid them a lot of money and they didn’t have to do anything except send you bills and cash your checks. True, they were ready to do something if you got in an accident. But you didn’t get into an accident so they’re happy and want to continue their relationship with you. A renewal discount is a good incentive to urge you to return. And it’s a good reason for you to stay with them.

Discounts for Auto Safety Features
Auto safety features will also lower your payments. Heading the list of money saving safety features is antilock brakes. Certain states — such as Florida, New Jersey and New York — encourage drivers to buy cars with antilock brakes by requiring insurers to give discounts. Check to see if you live in such a state, or if the insurance company you are considering gives a discount for this feature. Automatic seatbelts and airbags are also frequently rewarded with insurance discounts.

Assume More Risk
Two powerful ways to bring your coverage down is to assume a higher risk. This is done in two ways. The most dramatic reduction can be realized by dropping your collision insurance on an older car. If the car is worth less than $2,000, you’ll probably spend more insuring it than it is worth. The whole idea of driving an older car is to save money, so why not get what is coming to you?

Another way to redesign your policy — and save money in the process — is to ask for a higher deductible. The deductible is the amount of money you have to pay before your insurance company begins paying the rest. In other words, you pay for the little dings and bumps and let your insurance company pay for the heavy hits.

For example, a common deductible amount is $500. This means if an accident you’re in causes $1,500 worth of damage, you pay $500 and the insurance company pays $1,000. You could, however, set your deductible to $1,000. This still covers you against heavy losses, but it may decrease your monthly premium by as much as 30 percent.

As a final note, if you are being strangled by high insurance costs, keep this in mind when you go car shopping next time. The more expensive and higher-performance the car is, the higher the premium will be. This is particularly true of cars that are frequently stolen, or are expensive to repair. The insurance company keeps this in mind when setting its insurance rates for this vehicle. Shop for a low-profile car and get your kicks in other ways. You’ll love the savings you’ll see on your auto insurance.

if you need any more help saving money or managing personal finance head over to http://www.jinij.com/managing-personal-finance-tips/