When you buy a car you need automobile insurance.
Buying motor insurance is not only for your own benefit but it is required under the law.
You may think that you are a safe driver and you don't need the insurance or that paying insurance premiums are an unnecessary legally mandated drain on your budget.
When you get into an accident caused by a reckless driver your immediate step in aid is your insurance policy which will cover the expenditure that will creep upon you unexpectedly.
The bright side of paying insurance premiums is that there are many ways to make them affordable and customized according to your needs.
Every state in the U.
S.
makes it mandatory that an automobile owner has insurance.
If an automobile is driven without insurance, an American driver risks losing his or her license and the departments of motor vehicles of the state charges a hefty fine before the license is reinstated.
All states impose a mandatory minimum automobile insurance cover.
This basic coverage is for the bodily injury of the driver, the passenger, and for property damage.
Some states follow the traditional tort system where the driver at fault is liable to pay damages and others follow the no fault system where victims of automobile accidents can get a small compensation even before liability is ascertained.
The minimum coverage mandated by the State is never enough to cover actual costs when an accident occurs.
It is therefore important to ask for higher coverage because bodily injury and property damage will be the single largest expense if you are involved in an accident.
If you live in a state where no fault liability is the law, then a personal injury protection coverage is required.
Other coverage policies offered by the automobile insurance company will give you added protection when you are involved in a motor accident.
Collision insurance is for damages to your car after a collision and comprehensive insurance is for cases where the accident is caused by vandalism or natural forces like falling trees or floods.
You can skip buying collision and comprehensive insurance if your car is an old model.
The automobile insurance industry is a competitive business because there are so many insurance companies in the insurance market.
You can shop for the best deal through online quote engines where you can get quotes from reputed automobile insurance companies.
Quote engines are useful internet shopping tools because they give you quotes from automobile insurance companies that are highly rated by rating agencies like A.
M.
Best and Moodies.
This can help you lower the monthly premium to be paid for automobile insurance coverage.
There is no getting out of the state mandated minimum coverage that must be charged by all insurance companies.
However, on all other coverage policies you can shop around and get discounts.
There are many reasons for which insurance companies give discounts to their customers.
Insurance Companies base their discounts on past driving experiences.
While you will qualify for discounts for some Insurance companies, you may not qualify for discounts with others.
Insurance companies may give automobile premium discounts for your clean driving record, the location of where you live, your profession, and on the basis of how often you use your car.
You can also get discounts if you buy all of your other insurance policies like health insurance and life insurance with the same company.
Paying the premium for a whole year will also give you a discount because it helps the automobile insurance company cut down on administrative costs.
The make, model, and year of your car can lower your insurance premium.
The website of the Highway Loss Data Institute has details of the cheapest cars for insurance.
Automobile Insurance is the most important aspect of owning a car.
By using simple common sense when buying insurance and by paying premiums correctly you will get miles of happy driving.