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Looking into auto insurance and car sharing services

Posted by in Uncategorized on May 16, 2012

In the past, people living together in the community were expected to act as good neighbors. If someone had a problem, you were expected to help out. But times change and trust issues have arisen. Today, the majority of people have their own problems and prefer to deal with them without outside interference. This reflects a shift away from old-fashioned Christian values to a Libertarian attack on the scrounger. There is a widespread discouragement of people who either depend on others to do what they should be doing themselves or feel that they are entitled to assistance.

Thats what makes the car-sharing services so interesting. Rather than opting for a rental or asking your neighbour to borrow their car there is now an alternative. This is a service that enables you to use another vehicle for short periods of time. It helps out the people who only need access to a vehicle occasionally. Some of the services are run as cooperatives. Local people club together to produce a pool of vehicles and members of the group can book them by the hour. Others run as commercial organizations, renting out on a for-profit basis. The common denominators are that, unlike many rental agencies, you can get access to shared vehicles at any time of the day. Its all self-service. But, as you will understand, every member has to be approved before any vehicle is made available.

Now le us look at the problem of auto insurance ,in terms of sharing a vehicle. When working on an informal basis, some owners have found their policies cancelled by their insurers. There are terms limiting ownership to non-commercial use. As long as you allow someone use your car on a regular basis for money it becomes a commercial use vehicle. Now states like California, Oregon and Washington are passing laws to control the emerging market. This allows you to share your vehicle and make a little extra income without risking to loose your auto insurance protection. This is good for the environment with fewer vehicles needed. It also meets a growing social need because more people find vehicle ownership too expensive. The laws require the sharing organization to hold a fleet policy. When you hand over your vehicle, its then covered by the common policy. There are also new rules about safety to ensure the vehicles are in a roadworthy condition when others are allowed to drive them. Everyone benefits!

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Auto insurance cost reduction tips

Posted by in Uncategorized on May 16, 2012

It’s difficult to find anyone who would pay more for something they can actually get at a lower price. This is true when it comes to auto insurance. The only problem in this case is the lack of knowledge about saving methods that can effectively reduce one’s insurance rates. Knowing even the basic saving strategies will help you save your money and avoid situations when you are to pay for something you don’t really need with your insurance policy. So the next time you will shop for auto insurance use the following tips:

  1. Buy only what you really need
    The prevailing mistake customers make when buying a policy is getting all the coverage, they can get assuming that it’s better that way. Having different insurance options with your policy is very nice since you never know when you will need them, but this increases the cost of your policy. Consequently, you end up with higher premiums and lots of coverage options that you do not need to buy. So, firstly you should analyze your current auto insurance needs and outline the types of coverage that are really necessary. See if you need any other coverage options besides the mandatory third party liability and consider buying them only if they are really necessary. Otherwise it will have to overpay for insurance.
  2. Never choose to buy the first policy you come across
    For a lot of drivers, auto insurance is an obligation they want to get done with as soon as possible. So there’s not surprise about the fact that a lot of people choose to take the first policy offered without even spending some time on rate comparison, assuming that all the policies have the same price. This often results in additional costs you could easily avoid by getting a cheaper policy after some comparison shopping. The truth is that all insurers have different pricing methods, and you can actually get a policy that carries the same amount of coverage cheaper by comparing insurance quotes. With so many sites giving you the opportunity to do it online there’s no excuse for avoiding comparison shopping, which can result in substantial savings.
  3. Get discounts if you can
    If you don’t know about any discounts offered by your auto insurance provider this doesn’t mean that there aren’t any. Some insurers do not want to advertise it widely but still give you a discount if you comply with their requirements. Discounts are usually offered to low risk drivers who maintain a clean driving record and don’t file any claims, good students who have an average of B or higher, owners of multiple vehicles, senior citizens and drivers who have a low yearly mileage. It never hurts to ask the insurer if they can give you a discount while the result can cut your insurance costs.
  4. If you need change your insurance factors
    Some of the factors that influence your auto insurance costs are difficult to change such as your sex, age or place of residence. However, you can improve other factors such as your driving record, your credit score or even change the current vehicle with something that is cheaper to insure.

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