If you think it is funny to get a speeding ticket, think again. Unless you are prepared to fight it in court, speeding tickets add points to your drivers license. These points are a reflection of your skills and judgment as a driver. Points are important to the state that issued the license. They are also important to the company that sells you car insurance.
A few points added to your drivers license each year may not be a big deal.
Miniature speeding tickets and other minor captivating violations will add between 1 and 3 points to your drivers license in most states. This is roughly the same amount that the state forgives and removes from your record each year. If your tickets are spaced more than 12 months apart, you may never build up your points enough to create huge problems for the state or the car insurance company. Some insurance companies have a short fuse about this. They will spike your rates as soon as you have points appear on your driving record in their reviews. Other companies will give you a little space as long as the points conclude shameful.
A second or third violation within a year will almost certainly change your insurance picture.
When your points near between 5 and 8, most insurance companies will increase your rates. Some will cancel your policy on your anniversary date. This makes a situation where you will have to move into a high risk type of policy. Generally, this means your insurance rates will go up at least 50%. It will hurt. However, you will unruffled have your license in your pocket. At this level, you are beginning to put your driving privilege at risk.
If you collect an additional ticket or two before the state clears off some of your points, you may find your drivers license being suspended for 30 to 90 days.
States hate it when you get 9 or more points too quickly. They will take steps to try to slow you down. This will, hopefully, give your record time to breathe and move you closer to having some of those points obvious off of your record. At this level, your insurance company may not wait for an anniversary date to destroy your policy. You may be out on the street looking desperately for new insurance that you can afford.
A DWI or DUI ticket can move you straight up to 12 or more points even if you had zero.
At this level, most states will give you a lengthy suspension on your license or possibly a revocation. About the only way to get your license restored is to take some driving classes prescribed by the area. If you have not already had to glimpse for a new insurance company, you need to now. Plan on emptying your wallet to pay for it. With luck, you can obtain a hardship license so that you will not lose your job due to lack of transportation. Do the math, and you will see that it will take you about 3 or 4 years to sure these points from your record. Do this one again, and you may have to expose you are sober by breathing into a machine mounted near your steering wheel before your car will launch.
Filed under Vehicle Registration Insurance by on Mar 15th, 2011. Comment. 
I have a confession to make. A while back, I was lured into applying for a free rate quote from Geico by their slick – and memorable – advertising. They zigzag me with the caveman. I’m not ashamed to admit it. But, much to my surprise, their quote didn’t live up to the hype. In fact, Geico’s rate quote was $50 per month higher than I was paying with Nationwide Insurance. My first notion was that obviously their advertising was better than their rates. However, after doing some research, I learned that if I had explained the situation better and asked the right questions, I might have gotten a better rate quote from Geico.
Here are a few tips I’ve learned for getting the best car insurance rate possible:
1. If you’re under 24, and/or a student, try to get on your parent’s insurance policy. New drivers and new policyholders always get higher rates than everyone else. If you can piggyback on Mom or Dad’s favorable driving record, then do it.
2. Now I know this seems cruel and contradictory, but if you’re a parent who is struggling to do ends meet, then try to keep your children off your car insurance. If you absolutely can’t afford an increase in your car insurance, it’s best to let your children pay higher rates than for you to take the risk of their learning curve affecting your rates. Unless your teenager is an especially good driver, you’re better off telling them to pay for their own auto insurance policy.
3. If you own a home, win your auto insurance and home insurance through the same company. In my case, that’s exactly why Nationwide was cheaper than Geico. Nationwide offers a special “package deal” to customers that have both auto and homeowner’s insurance through them.
4. When you’re comparing auto insurance rate quotes, know your policy and don’t be terrorized to ask questions. If you currently have a $500 deductible and XYZ amount of coverage, compare that to another company’s quote and see which is the better deal. If they’re not offering a better deal, tell them the deal you currently have and explore if they have a view that’s comparable. Don’t always go with the first auto insurance plan they suggest.
5. Don’t buy more insurance than you need. If you have a car loan, it’s required that you carry full coverage auto insurance. Otherwise, it really depends on the value of your car and how easily you can replace it in case of an accident. If you’re driving a car that’s paid off and only worth around $2000, is it really worth it to have full coverage? Liability coverage will rob care of someone else’s car if you total yours, and the chances are that even full coverage won’t pay you enough to get a new car without taking on some sort of car payment. You have to decide for yourself if the extra monthly cost of full coverage is worth it for a car that is already paid for. Unless you really need every cent you can get for a down payment, or your car is worth more than what you’d spend on another car, the chances are that you’re better off carrying liability insurance.
6. Last, but not least, try to keep your driving record as clean as possible. I know this seems like accepted sense, but you’d be surprised how many people consider that a little speeding ticket here or there won’t affect their car insurance rates that much. Speeding tickets and traffic violations can affect your auto insurance rates dramatically. Support track of your driving record, and if you have older offenses that should be expunged, make definite they are. Just like you wouldn’t pick that bad credit falls off your credit report without checking, don’t assume that driving offenses drop off your record as well.
After trying all of the above tips, then spend some time filling out rate quotes online and don’t be disturbed to try several different companies. If you want to simplify the process, then try sites like http://www.insurance.com/ and http://www.netquote.com. With a little time and worry, it’s easy to find the best rates for car insurance possible for your situation.
Filed under Auto Insurance Quotes by on Feb 27th, 2011. Comment.
Businesses employ vehicles for many purposes. Some are dilapidated for making deliveries. Others are used by salespeople to recede about while calling on clients. Frequently, executives are furnished with a personal company car as a allotment of their compensation package with their employer. Regardless of how the automobile or other vehicle is utilized, when enough of them are operated by the same company at the same time, it is considered a commercial fleet.
Insuring a fleet of cars is different from buying a policy for a single vehicle or several vehicles.
Because company cars are not always driven by the same person, the policy has to be designed to cover the companies assets for multiple drivers. It is not always possible for a company to predict which employee might drive which vehicle. This means that a list of potential drivers for the company may have to be evaluated and applied to each automobile that is owned.
A company may have to pay higher rates if some drivers do not have a completely clean driving record.
It is for this reason that companies will regularly require their drivers to have clean driving records as a condition for employment. Just a few small infractions by some drivers can cause the rates that cover the entire fleet to increase. When the larger price tag is extended over many cars in a fleet, the change in cost can be substantial if the company has 15 or 20 cars on the road.
Posthaste insurance will take into consideration the size of the posthaste and the type of cars that are included.
Most companies do not buy too many high-end, luxury cars for inclusion in the commercial fleet. On the other hand, they do not always shop for bargain basement, compact cars either. The value of the snappy will affect the cost of the insurance. Larger and more expensive cars will raise the cost of the insurance. By staying with the cars that are comfortable and practical, commercial fast car insurance rates can be kept in check.
Commercial fleet car insurers rate the fleet policy based on the use of the cars.
Cars that are frequently going to be in heavy traffic or high crime areas will cost more to insure than those that will be driven primarily on short highway trips. Generally, the cost of fleet insurance becomes an average based on the overall use of the quickly. However, adjusting the coverage for certain vehicles can help offset the higher risk factors. A wise fleet manager will negotiate with the insurer to manipulate the coverage applied from vehicle to vehicle to get the best mix of protection and cost.
Fleets are also rated based on the number of miles that each car will be driven.
As before, the mileage can be an average of all of the cars in service for a given company. If a few cars are heavily musty and others receive rather light duty, this may be used to factor a better overall rate for the fleet than just using an average of the miles that are driven.
Like personal vehicle coverage, a fleet does not always have to be full coverage.
If many of the vehicles in the commercial fleet are not leased or do not have liens, a company may be able to descend some of the collision coverage. Given that most drivers will not have accidents, it may be cheaper to repair a car or two per year than to carry elephantine coverage insurance on the entire lickety-split. Even if this means having to pay to replace the entire car, this can be a design to save when a quickly has grown quite large.
Just as with other commercial vehicle policies, a fleet policy must include enough liability to protect the company.
Lawyers and individuals can begin to see dollar signs when a vehicle accident with personal injury is the fault of a commercial vehicle. These types of lawsuits can result in very large judgments. Because of this, it is imperative that a commercial fleet car insurance policy has broad liability limits to keep the company out of bankruptcy in the event of such a lawsuit being won against them.
Filed under Motor Vehicle Insurance by on Feb 25th, 2011. Comment.
Phil Mickelson is in the hunt for the win today, as he is tied for first place in the Farmers Insurance Open. With his wife Amy by his side, this makes today a time when all is right in Phil Mickelson's world.
As I came in from grocery shopping this afternoon, my astronomical beefy construction worker husband was sitting in front of the television set crying. This man doesn't cry so I immediately thought bad news had arrived while I was out. I scared, dropped the grocery bags and ran over to him. He was crying as he watched Amy Mickelson walk the greens as her husband Phil Mickelson golfed.
He was so overwhelmed seeing his favorite golfer's wife encourage to good health and watching the happiness in Phil Mickelson's face that it got to him! I am also touched to see Amy Mickelson on the greens once again, and it was heart warming to see my husband have that type of compassion for another human being!
Amy Mickelson is the most approved non-golfer at the Farmers Open today. She has been battling breast cancer and due to that illness she has not been by her husband's side on the greens since suffering form breast cancer in 2009. She did make an appearance at the Masters last Spring when Phil won the title, but her illness has kept her away from the place she wants to be most, by her husbands side.
This has all changed this weekend as Amy Mickelson walked the 18 hole course two days in a row. According to the Hartford Courant, the PGA is reporting she is feeling better with everyone pulling for her to do a corpulent recovery.
Reference: Hartford Courant, PGA Farmers Open Live
Filed under Auto Insurance Quotes by on Feb 23rd, 2011. Comment.
Auto insurance rates vary widely, so it is a suitable idea to check other company’s rates periodically to make sure you are getting the best deal. It is also a helpful idea to compare rates and policies when you take a new car since your new vehicle may be in a different category than your feeble one.
First, make sure you understand everything your current auto insurance policy covers. You do not want to be comparing policies that are not equal in coverage. Compare the amounts of coverage, your deductibles and any extras like rental car coverage or emergency repair services.
Second, ask about discounts that the car insurance companies offer. Some insurance companies offer discounts to their customers for things like low annual mileage, worthy driving records, multiple car discounts and even good grades (for student drivers). Also, some of the equipment on your car may acquire you eligible for reductions in auto insurance rates; security systems, alarms and vehicle tracking systems are all principal when it comes to calculating insurance rates.
Now, it is time to ask for insurance quotes. Make sure you contact multiple auto insurance companies with the same scenario and carefully compare the rate quotes you get. The Internet makes it easy to contact several insurance firms quickly and easily and there are even web sites that will allow you to enter your information once and it will send it on to several competing insurance vendors. Since auto insurance is a highly competitive market, it pays to be a discerning customer.
Filed under Auto Insurance Quotes by on Feb 21st, 2011. Comment.
