Did you know that your credit history can greatly affect your car insurance premium? In this article, we will talk about how your credit score can affect your insurance rates and how you can avoid paying too much with your car insurance premium.

Why Insurance Companies Use Credit Check

The reason why car insurance companies check credit standing of the policy holder is because according to studies, there is a relation between a person’s credit history and the ability and habit of that person when making a car insurance claims. So insurance companies feel that those who have better credit score will highly unlikely to make a lot of insurance claims.

• How does Insurance companies check your credit score?
• Through public records such as bankruptcy, collections, foreclosures, etc
• By your past payment history
• by how long your credit history is
• the number of times you have applied for new credit such as credit card accounts.
• the number of credit cards
• Type of credit in use

How to Avoid this?

Now that you know how a credit score can affect your car insurance premium, immediately start working to improve it.  If you think there is incorrect information in your credit report, contact the credit rating agencies and report these discrepancies. Be sure to inform your auto insurance agent about these errors. If these errors will make a significant difference with your auto insurance premium, you may have to reapply once you achieve these corrections.

Develop good payment habits will go a long way toward lessening your auto premiums.

Reader’s Question:

I had a DUI here in Florida and so I am now getting ready to reinstate my driver’s license. I was told I should get SR22 insurance and make sure I have minimum liability insurance, but what is SR22?

Charles

St. Petersburg, FL

SR22 is a form that is used by car insurance providers to confirm the fulfillment of drivers required to keep at least liability insurance. Car insurance providers submit the SR22 form to Florida’s Bureau of Financial Responsibility for their customers who are required to have proof of insurance. Drivers are usually required to have SR22 insurance if they have been convicted for Driving Under the Influence or DUI.

For drivers in the state of Florida, the minimum liability insurance every driver should have is $10,000 for Personal Injury Protection and $10,000 for Property Damage Liability. As specified on Florida SR22, aside from the No Fault law requisites, Bodily Injury Liability is needed for drivers who meet specific measures. Aside from DUI or drunk driving, other drivers who are required to have SR22 insurance are those who brought about injuries in an accident or those who have committed particular traffic infractions or suspension of driving privileges because of too many points in their driver’s license.

The lowest amounts of insurance coverage required for Bodily Injury with SR22 in Florida are $10,000/individual and $20,000/accident. There should also be $30,000 combined single limit for liability.

The car insurance premium for Bodily Injury Liability is no different from your car insurance provider in spite of a requirement for filing SR22. The extra charge for Florida SR22 would just be $15 for the filing fee. But drivers who are mandated to have Florida SR22 insurance normally pay higher car insurance premiums than others because of the reason for having SR22 like DUI.

When the car insurance provider has filed the SR22, falling short from your car insurance policy might end up having your driver’s license suspended. It would only be reinstated following the certification of mandated liability insurance by means of filing SR22 with the Bureau of Financial Responsibility.

A deductible is the amount that you pay before the insurance provider pays on a claim. The higher the deductible the lower the premium, meaning you help share the risk with the car insurance company. Insurance companies believe that if a driver is sharing part of the risk with the insurance companies, it is likely that they will be a safer driver and will reduce the likelihood of accidents resulting in lessor auto insurance claims.

Choosing a Deductible Amount

When choosing a deductible amount, it is very important that you choose the highest amount that you can afford. This means that your choice of deductible amount will depend on your willingness and your ability to pay that amount in case of an accident. If you are unsure of what deductible amount to choose, you can always ask for assistance from your auto insurance agent to help you decide.

The Physical Damage

The most common type of coverage that can be used with deductible is the physical Damage Coverage, better known as comprehensive and collision coverage. This type of coverage protects your vehicle from any damage whether you are found at fault or not. Usually, if you are financing your car, you will be required by the lien holder to purchase collision and comprehensive coverage to protect their collateral. The usual deductible amount available are $250 – $1000, meaning you have to pay the deductible amount that you opted. So it is very important to predetermine what you can afford to pay in case you have to file a claim

The Benefits

If you are a good driver, with clean driving record, getting a deductible is a good idea. Basically, if you get high deductible, it will drastically lower your car insurance rate. This is a fact that not all policyholders know. The rule is, the higher the deductible, the lower your car insurance premium will be. So choose wisely.

In most instances, SR22 car insurance is just needed for drivers who are convicted of a drunk driving or DUI. It is regarded as high risk car insurance coverage.

For Florida drivers, even if they have the worst rating as a high risk driver because of their DUI, they still have alternatives in terms of their SR22 car insurance. They have to keep in mind that there are a lot of car insurance providers that concentrate on these kinds of car insurance coverage and more particularly, DUI car insurance coverage. They recognize that there is indeed a huge demand for car insurance for drivers convicted of a DUI Florida and they aim their venture around it.

As a result, when going to shop for SR22 car insurance, the means to obtain the most affordable coverage is to ask for car insurance quotes from a lot of various sources such as company Websites. Car insurance providers offer free quotes and the driver will not be obliged to make a deal with a car insurance provider by obtaining a free quote from them. Therefore, the technique to find the best SR22 car insurance policy for DUI Florida is to look for quotes from different car insurers or car insurance brokers/agents or online representatives. After that, you could easily choose the best bargain for SR22 car insurance.

Even if for instance, your car insurance coverage is terminated or refused by a huge car insurance provider, just remember that there are a lot of alternatives for SR22 car insurance. The most painless way you can be able to secure yourself SR22 car insurance is to shop for different car insurance quotes online. you should be able to compare several car insurance plans and pick the best one that is appropriate for your needs.

A simple Internet search will lead you to some valuable sources and you will quickly find a reputable car insurance company or a knowledgeable, experienced, and independent car insurance agent online who is able to find the best deals for you. This shouldn’t be too difficult since most have found this to be an excellent manner of exposure and you will discover each insurance companies will quote you different rates for the same types of car insurance. Be sure to evaluate what is being offered apples to apples in regard to the deductibles and coverage amounts of each policy. For your convenience, Google has placed several references on this site, simply click on one or more and you’ll get some immediate results.

To make things even easier, there are what we call car insurance comparison websites. Such types of car insurance websites compare quotes from the top five car insurance companies in your area or from the whole state of Florida. This is a guaranteed way to find quotes since the process is fast and safe. To reduce your car insurance rates even more, don’t forget to check your car’s basics. Do you have a car theft alarm? How about car safety devices like a seat belts? Also, be sure to check if any of the organization or company you are affiliated with have discounts with the car insurance company you have chosen.

You may think that because you have a small business with few employees who drive their own vehicles for business purposes, that it might be your assumption that you do not need business car insurance. Your employees may not have adequate auto insurance therefore you may not always have proper coverage if they should be involved in an accident.

In case an employee gets into an accident while driving on a company business, you could be in for a big battle on who must pay the damages. Even if in theory, the car insurance of your employee should cover them, if an attorney gets involved your company could be held liable and end up paying. When you consider all of the risk, it will not be worth the small amount of you might save to go without business car insurance in Florida.

It would be more complicated if you outsource the delivery for your small business with subcontractors. They may have their own insurance but they still can be considered working for your company. Even though they may work for a number of other companies if they were carrying goods for you during the accident you may be deemed liable. If you get sued you want to be able to turn litigation over to an auto insurance company and spend your time managing, developing, and a making money for your company in lieu of fighting and worrying with the battle between lawyers.

You don’t want to get caught holding the bag. Bear in mind that business car insurance is a bit different from your personal car insurance policy. Business car insurance gives you a bit more suppleness on the vehicles and who is specifically driving them. It provides coverage for employee vehicles during work hours and company vehicles with different employees listed under the business car insurance policy. You want to take every precaution that your company would not be held liable in the event of an accident.

Arranging for rental car insurance before your vacation or business trip would be in your favor. For one thing, it takes away the risk to your financial security. If asked by a representative from the rental car company if you want to purchase the additional coverage, you can answer ‘yes’ or a simple ‘no thanks’ as you may already been covered.

To find out if you already have insurance coverage for your auto rental, you can check with your car insurance provider in Florida. It is possible that your rental car is covered by your car insurance policy. This is quite a good offer from your insurer as you can have considerable savings with the rental car company. However, you could still obtain comprehensive coverage depending on the conditions stipulated in your car insurance policy.

Your credit card provider is also a good source of insurance for a rental car if you use your credit card to pay for the rental. You can read the fine print regarding your coverage for auto rental so you would not have to be in doubt in front of the rental car counter.

Then if you are on a business trip, your employer should be the one to pay for your rental car insurance. Usually, employers have car insurance coverage for their personnel traveling on official business. You can ask your finance department or human resources team to know whether or not to take the rental car insurance from the rental company or turn it down. In general, your company already has a regulation prepared on how this issue must be handled.

If you do not have rental car insurance coverage from any of these viewpoints, then you must pay for the rental car insurance.

Who says that getting older is a disadvantage when getting senior car insurance? In the state of Florida, senior drivers are in fact getting a lot of advantages because of their age. How? Read on:

Florida Statute 627.0652 requires car insurance companies to provide mandatory reduction in car insurance rates for a period of three years for drivers who are between 55 to 70 years old provided that these senior drivers are able to complete accident prevention course. The discount will be applied on the person’s liability insurance (bodily injury and property damage), personal injury protection (PIP), and collision coverage. This will considerably lower a senior driver’s current insurance premiums by 70%-85%

In addition, there are senior car insurance discounts that can also help lower a mature driver’s insurance premiums. For example, if a mature driver has a driving miles of less than 7500 annually, have agreed to use his or her vehicle during daylight hours only, or has retired or is working near his or her home, he or she must inform his or her insurance provider as soon as possible to check if he or she can get lower insurance premiums.

Moreover, working for the same company for several years may also mean getting lower insurance rates for your senior car insurance because this clearly shows your stability in your employment.

Additionally, if your child turned 18, left your home and does not drive his or her vehicle regularly, make sure to notify your insurance provider about it for your insurance rates might also decrease.

Lastly, if your vehicle is old, you might want to consider dropping collision coverage on that vehicle because the cost for paying for collision coverage might exceed the actual value of your old car. This is advisable to senior drivers who are using vehicles that are four years older.

Car insurance for young drivers or for fist time drivers is expensive. Insurance company underwriters rate first time drivers at a higher risk as opposed to other drivers. In fact, according to studies, 20% of new drivers that are under the age of 25 are found to be involved in more car accidents during the first year of their driving. With this alone, one would assume how risky it is to insure first time drivers.

If you are a young driver in Florida and you’re having a hard time finding cheap car insurance for fist time drivers, here are several ways to find lower car insurance rates for you:

• If you are still a student and you’re below 25 years of age, you can save a lot of money if you are listed under your parent’s car insurance policy.
• Aiming for good grades like a B average or being among the top 20% of your class may help you get good students discount which will help you a lot in getting lower car insurance rates.
• If you live near your school, make sure to avoid using your car that often for lower driving miles will also help you lower your insurance rates.
• Woman generally get lower insurance rates as compared to men.
• Make sure to have a good credit score because insurance providers also take into consideration a person’s credit score in setting insurance rates. The better your credit score, the better your insurance rates will be.
• Make sure to drive safely at all times. Keeping a clean driving record is an effective way of getting cheap car insurance rates.
• Do not purchase a high performance cars but instead settle for low performance one and this will keep you insurance rates significantly lower.

Those are just some ways on how you can possibly get cheap car insurance for fist time drivers in Florida. Ask your insurance agent now to help you find the best car insurance deal for you.

Florida residents are required to purchase:

• $10,000 for Personal Injury Protection (PIP)
• $10,000 for Property Damage Liability (PDL)

You may ask, what is PIP, (Personal Injury Protection), also known as Florida No Fault Insurance, PIP covers you, regardless of whether you are at fault or not. Aside from the main policyholder, PIP also covers all of your family or passengers who may not have PIP insurance coverage, given that they do not own vehicles. If your passengers have PIP they will be covered by their carrier. If your child suffers from bodily injury when riding the school bus, PIP will cover them. Additionally, even if you are using another person’s vehicle or you suffer from an accident as a pedestrian or while biking, your PIP will still cover you.

Aside from the required car insurance coverage, you may also opt to get additional insurance coverage to give you added help. Bodily Injury Liability Insurance which covers the expenses incurred by the party that you have damaged and also for legal representation if you are sued by them.

Lastly, there’s also the Medical Payments Insurance which will cover the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident whether it’s his or her fault or not. This coverage will pay for the medical and dental treatment of the driver including paying for hospital bills, nursing services, prostheses and even funeral expenses.