Buy Enough Auto Insurance to Protect Your Family
If you want to save money on your premium, you may decide to buy a policy that just meets your state’s minimum requirements. While you may lower your insurance bill, you may be putting your family at greater financial risk. If you are in an accident and your insurance coverage limits are exceeded, you may be liable to pay for damages and medicals costs out of your own pocket. If you have a well-paying job, a nice home and other investments, you may want to consider increasing your bodily injury liability and your property damage liability on your car insurance policy as well as buying an umbrella policy. Determine your financial needs, before you apply for auto insurance quotes.
Bodily injury liability
Most states require you to have bodily injury liability. In case of an accident, it will cover the driver and passengers of the other car as well as passengers in your car who you have injured. It will also cover you and your family members on your policy, if they are involved in a crash while driving someone else’s car — with his permission, of course. Most states set bodily injury liability limits for how much each person will be compensated for his injuries and total payments for each accident. For example, in New York, the minimum coverage is $25,000 for bodily injury to each person and $50,000 for all injuries in an accident. The Insurance Information Institute recommends you consider buying more coverage, if you have a home and other assets. If you are responsible for a serious accident, you may be sued. Make sure you ask for enough coverage, when you obtain auto insurance quotes.
Property damage liability
Most states also require that you buy property damage liability. This pays for the repair and replacement of the other driver’s car or property, in the event of an accident. State-required minimums are usually set fairly low. In New York, for example, the minimum is $10,000. While this may sound adequate for a fender bender, if you are responsible for totaling an expensive SUV or sports car, you may have to pay for the rest with your own money. Buy a minimum of $50,000 for each vehicle you own. If you want more protection, increase your coverage to $100,000 or more. Ensure you ask for enough protection, when you apply for auto insurance quotes.
Umbrella policy
If you have substantial assets, you may want to consider buying an umbrella policy. An umbrella policy is effective, after you reach the limit on the liability coverage in your homeowners, renters, condo or auto policy. Before you can buy a $1 million umbrella policy, most insurers will want you to have about $250,000 of liability insurance on your auto policy and $300,000 of liability insurance on your homeowners policy. Some personal finance experts recommend you have at least a $1 million umbrella policy, even if you have less than $1 million in assets. If you are sued, you may be ordered to pay a legal judgment based on your current assets and future earnings. According to the Insurance Information Institute, you can buy a $1 million personal umbrella liability policy for about $150 to $300 a year you.
Once you have done your research, you are ready to shop around for lower auto insurance rates. You can call agents in your local area, contact insurance companies directly or use InsuranceQuotes.com to instantly get competitive auto insurance quotes from the nation’s leading insurance providers. Simply fill out an online form on InsuranceQuotes.com to find the right insurance coverage at the best possible price. Take the time to protect you and your family today.
