Germain Insurance Agency Inc 612-822-7983 http://www.yellowbook.com/profile/germain-insurance-agency-inc_1845643186.html

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Auto insurance protects you against financial loss if you have an accident. It is a contract between you and the insurance company. You agree to pay the premium and the insurance company agrees to pay your losses as defined in your policy.

Auto insurance provides property, liability and medical coverage:

* Property coverage pays for damage to or theft of your car.

* Liability coverage pays for your legal responsibility to others for bodily injury or property damage.
* Medical coverage pays for the cost of treating injuries, rehabilitation and sometimes lost wages and funeral expenses.

How is your auto insurance policy price determined?

The average auto insurance policy price is derived from a variety of factors.

Many of these variables are common knowledge and make sense for the most part.

it’s always a good idea to refresh yourself with what insurance companies are looking for when determining how much your coverage will cost.

*Driving Record
*Coverage Amount
*Age
*Vehicle Model and Driving Mileage
*Your Residence

What auto insurance coverage?

What types of auto insurance coverage to choose from?

*Liability: coverage is the primary – and usually mandatory – part of the auto insurance equation. Liability means what the word implies: it saves your bank balance when you’re liable for destroying someone else’s car or body parts.
*collision: which is not to be confused with liability. Liability pays the bills for damage you cause to the other party; collision covers damage done to your own car. If someone else totals it, his liability pays for repairs (assuming he doesn’t hit and run), so if you can follow the aforementioned tip of not crashing, you generally shouldn’t need collision. In simplified terms, buying collision insurance can be thought of paying someone to save you from yourself. The safer you drive, the less necessary it becomes.
*Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, required by most states, is always a good idea knowing that 17% of drivers out there don’t have any insurance, and a lot of the rest probably skimp by on the sometimes-inadequate state minimums. This usually varies in tandem with the body injury part of liability. Don’t sweat it too much, as the premium is a mere fraction of liability.
*Personal Injury Protection (PIP) or Medical Payments (MedPay) provides reimbursement for medical bills of you and your passengers regardless of who’s at fault, and for resulting lost wages. This is an option – one that those with good health insurance plans might not want to exercise.
*Rental reimbursement simply pays for the cost of renting a car. Even if it costs $30 a year, why bother? $30 basically buys a one-day car rental, so it’s hardly worth it unless you get stranded a lot. (In which case, you might want to switch cars.) If you own a second car, this is completely unnecessary. The same reasoning applies to towing insurance and the like.
*GAP insurance, which covers the difference between what the car is actually worth and what you owe. This might be an attractive proposition for a car that with heavy depreciation, which is a symptom suffered by young cars in general. A $20,000 car might drop to $12,000 in market value after a year. If you total the car at that point, $12,000 is all you’ll get from your insurance company, yet you’re still obligated to the $16,000 in payments that still remains. Obviously, $4,000 is one gap you’ll want closed.

Can you raise or lower your auto insurance rate?

There are 10 factors that can raise or lower auto insurance rates

*Your Age
Generally younger drivers are considered to be high risk and so the insurance rates are higher.
*The make of your car
Most insurance companies tabulate auto insurance rates based on the make of the vehicle. Compact cars and sedans have lower rates while sports models, exotic cars, and SUVs are assigned high rates of premium.
*Gender is a factor too
Females get lower rates of auto insurance while males pay higher auto insurance premiums.
*Financial stability
Auto owners with great credit scores and credit reports generally pay lower premiums than those with bad credit scores and reports.
*Driving records have a say in premiums payable
If a driver has a clean driving record for three consecutive years then auto insurance providers will happily extend policies with lower premiums.
*Where you stay
Those who live in the city pay more than individuals who live in the country or suburbs. Areas with lower crime rates and less congestion attract lower auto insurance premium rates.
*How many insurance policies you hold
If you approach for auto insurance the same insurance company that has you covered for life, health, hone and so on then you would automatically be eligible for great discounts on premiums payable for an auto insurance policy.
*The condition of the car will be considered before offering a policy
The make, how old the vehicle is, its maintenance, and so on. A car in prime condition will get better premium rates than a rattletrap.
*The distance traveled per year
If you restrict the number of miles traveled then you will be able to get auto insurance at lower rates. To do this you need to walk, use public transport, and car pool.
*Whether or not you are eco-friendly
If you care for the environment and drive a non polluting vehicle then the auto insurance premiums will be lower.

Why do you need international vehicle insurance?

If you live in a foreign country for an extended period it is important to ensure that your vehicle is properly insured at all times. International vehicle insurance is specially designed to meet the needs of:

* Diplomats.
* Expatriates.
* Humanitarian organizations.
* International businesses.
* International charities.
* International schools.
* Religious orders.
* United Nations agencies.

International Vehicle Insurance should include cover for:

* Accidental damage, fire and theft risks.
* Protection against windscreen breakage and for fitted accessories such as audio equipment.
* Additional protection against riot, civil commotion, hijacking and armed robbery.
* Hurricanes, earthquakes and flooding.
* Payment of the purchase price for a seriously damaged or stolen car that is less than 12 months old (on Non-commercial Policies only).
* Immediate cover anywhere in the world (except the USA and Canada).
* Multiple vehicle and fleet discounts.

Can your age be a problem in auto insurance?

In auto insurance know as the age factor.
Your age can be a big problem in auto insurance. It could also be a great advantage. Whichever group you fall into, there’s a way for you to make the most remarkable savings in your auto insurance premium.

*If you’re above fifty-five thank your stars. You’ve entered the hallowed zone in auto insurance. If you don’t get pampered by an auto insurance provider now, you never will. This is because you belong to an age group that has a high reputation of road safety.
*If you’re under-25, you’re considered a very high risk as far as auto insurance is concerned. Yes, if you’re in your early twenties you’ll be better off than a teenager. However, you still are a high risk group.There are several options open to you.
-You can get married if you are old enough and it makes sense in your circumstance. I’m not kidding here. Marriage does reduce the perception of risk auto insurance providers have of you.
-Another thing you can do as an under-25 is to be on your parent’s auto insurance policy.

Why is Women’s auto Insurance So Much Cheaper Than Men’s?

Statistically, women drivers are the safest on roads, and therefore are rewarded with cheaper premiums for car insurance. Women on Wheels combines these discounts with supreme cover, that automatically includes a free replacement car (on comprehensive), free abroad travel, and free legal cover!

Liza Harmon, a high school student in Belmont, Mass., got her license as soon as she reached the legal age of 16. In high school, having your parents drive you around isn’t all that cool anymore, she explains.

USA.gov has information for teen drivers

http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Teens.shtml#vgn-driving-vgn

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has safety resources for teens and their parents

http://www.stopimpaireddriving.org/TeenDriver/YouthSplashPage.htm

The Novice Drivers Road Map has detailed information for parents who are serving as driving coaches for their teens, including eight progressive practice sessions. The printed booklet costs $15, from the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety

http://www.trafficsafety.org/worklife/novice.asp

Go to Brainbox for these resrouces:
Are you road ready for school? is a pre-drive checklist for teens to make driving safer and more comfortable

Q&A on graduated driver licensing for teens, from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

http://brainlink.org/stories/teen-risks/teen-drivers/

But are her classmates good drivers? When theyre with their parents, obviously they drive very carefully, as if theyre taking a drivers test, Ms. Harmon says. But its different with friends in the car. She notes that many of her peers, especially the boys, are a little aggressive, taking sharp turns and going faster. Its fun to go fast, and they show off for their friends.

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), motor vehicle traffic crashes are the biggest killers of U.S. children and teens. In many states, drivers under 18 face extra penalties for breaking the rules. In Massachusetts, for example, speeding teens get a 90-day license suspension and a $500 fine. So, why arent young drivers more careful?
Teen perceptions of risk

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The greatest risk while driving is the sheer unpredictability of events on the road. Smart Black Boxs original high resolution color camera (640×480, 30 FPS), Digital Video Recorder, GPS, and 3-axis G shock sensor, the Smart Black Box is as technologically sophisticated as it is practical. Smart Black Box offers to both commercial and private vehicle operators an effective risk reducing means to aid in the investigation process, decrease collateral damages associated with car accidents, encourage safe driving, monitor driving behaviors, and enhance the overall safety on the road.

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Forty percent of the fatal collisions of people 70 and older compared with 23 percent of fatal crashes of 35-54 year-olds, occur at intersections and involve other vehicles, according to a recently released study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

IIHS is a nonprofit scientific and educational organization dedicated to reducing deaths, injuries and property damage on the nation’s highways. It is wholly supported by auto insurers like Unitrin Specialty.

The IIHS wanted to know what mistakes were leading a disproportionate number of older motorists to get into intersection crashes. To find out, the Institute studied intersection crashes on Connecticut roads involving more than 200 drivers in three age groups: — two groups of older drivers (70-79 years old and 80-plus) and a comparison group of 35-54 year-olds.

Among the drivers in Connecticut, rear-end crashes accounted for a lower proportion of 80-plus drivers’ intersection crashes. Both groups of older drivers had lower proportions of run-off-the road crashes than 35-54 year-olds. In contrast, failure to yield the right of way to other vehicles led to more than half of the intersection crashes for which the oldest drivers were responsible. This compares with about one-third of the intersection crashes of 70-79 year-olds and about one fourth of those involving 35-54 year-olds.

At InsureAll Inc., we have insurance solutions for all Texas drivers young or old.  Contact us at http://www.insureallinc.com/contact.aspx or call us at 806-894-5552 for a no obligation quote today

Why they crashed

Reasons for the intersection crashes varied by driver age.  People 70-79 made more evaluation errors than drivers of other ages. That is, they saw potentially conflicting vehicles but misjudged whether there was time to proceed.

Drivers in the other age groups (35-54 and 80-plus) more often failed to see potentially conflicting vehicles. The 35-54 year-olds said it was because they became distracted, while most of the drivers 80-plus said they were looking but simply didn’t see the conflict.

The IIHS said failure to see other vehicles “may be due to increases in vision impairments, which escalate rapidly after about age 75. Another factor could involve the complexity of urban intersections, with vehicles traveling in multiple directions. Older drivers may experience decreasing ability to process the multiple sources of information at once and maneuver safely.”

Range of head movement might also be a factor in older drivers’ crashes. These ranges have been found to decrease with age, which could hinder a driver’s ability to see potentially conflicting vehicles.

Whatever the reasons for the intersection crashes, those involving failure to yield occurred more often where traffic is controlled by stop signs than at intersections with signal lights  (more rear-end crashes occurred at the signals). Fifty-nine percent of the

failure-to-yield crashes occurred at stop signs, and 50 percent of these crashes occurred

while motorists were turning left. The proportions didn’t vary much across the three age groups.

Reducing the risks of older drivers

Crashes per capita are lower among older drivers than people in any other age group, mostly because fewer older people have licenses and those who do drive fewer miles.

But when older people get behind the wheel, their risk of crashing and dying is high.

A challenge is to identify problem drivers before they crash — and even if the hazardous ones can be identified, then what?

A number of approaches are being tried. For example, provisions in some states require people older than specified ages to renew their licenses more often, thus creating more frequent screening opportunities.  Such provisions apply in addition to the usual ones designed to identify drivers of all ages who no longer meet licensing standards because of physical or mental infirmities.  Officials in a few states are trying vision tests or road tests. Where these approaches have been evaluated, results are mixed.

Rhonda Norris
http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/more-older-drivers-involved-in-intersection-fatalities-744492.html

If statistics show that males are a high risk group and should be charged more for auto insurance, why aren’t their studies done on certain racial groups to determine which ones are riskier drivers?

There are certain stereotypes that tend to ring true such as Asians being bad drivers. I’m half-asian and have seen this countless times. Why aren’t Asians charged more for insurance? Is it because insurance companies are scared to show a racial bias? And yet for decades, it’s normal and acceptable to show a sexual bias?
"let’s face it, here in the USA, most people have mixed origins."

That is very true, however, most people identify themselves as one particular race. When the government comes out with consensus data, they don’t have categories for 10% white, 20% white, 30% white, etc. You’re either white or you’re not.

So yes, race is quantifiable based on a person’s identity and a general consensus.
I have no problem with a guy that has 5 DUI’s getting charged higher rates. What I do have a problem with is being a male driver that has had no accidents but was forced to pay higher rates with the ASSUMPTION that I would get into accidents.

Obviously if you do the crime, you do the time. But insurance companies shouldn’t punish innocent young men just because there’s a possibility of something happening in the future.

And good driver discounts don’t matter. I had that discount plus driver training discounts and it still was nowhere near the cost of insurance was for female drivers.

Sex discrimination isn’t allowed in ALL states, with auto insurance (or life insurance, even though women live longer). So that’s on a state by state basis.

Regarding discrimination in auto insurance rates, insurance companies decide how to discriminate, based on the claims data. So, the guy with 5 DUI’s gets lumped in with all the other guys with 5 DUI’s, and they look at the claims, compared to the guys with NO duis, and as long as there’s a difference in claims, that discrimination is LEGAL.

However, federal law currently prohibits ANY discrimination by ANYONE based on race, national origin, religion, etc. Additionally, insurance companies haven’t compiled any data showing, as a group, that once race has on average more accidents than another race. Plus, race is very, very nebulous – after all, what you’re talking about, is the color of someone’s skin. You’d have to get a color card, and match up their skin tone, and then put them in a group that way? Because let’s face it, here in the USA, most people have mixed origins.

"Asians are bad drivers" – does that mean immigrants, or if your great great grandfather immigrated here from China, and you have no "asian" features, because of him you get those rates? It’s pretty impossible to say.

Don’t forget – not all discrimination is wrong, or illegal. Yes, teenage boys have more accidents than anyone else. That’s a FACT, proven by data – it’s not ILLEGAL discrmination. And when you go out to a restaurant, and order a bacon cheeseburger, instead of liver and onions, well, YOU are practicing discrimination, too! That doesn’t mean it’s wrong, or illegal.

These days, people "feel" more than think. The word "discrimination" has a lot of negative connotations – but most people lose sight of what it really means – picking one thing, instead of another thing, for ANY reason.

The greatest risk while driving is the sheer unpredictability of events on the road. Smart Black Boxs original high resolution color camera (640×480, 30 FPS), Digital Video Recorder, GPS, and 3-axis G shock sensor, the Smart Black Box is as technologically sophisticated as it is practical. Smart Black Box offers to both commercial and private vehicle operators an effective risk reducing means to aid in the investigation process, decrease collateral damages associated with car accidents, encourage safe driving, monitor driving behaviors, and enhance the overall safety on the road.

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Buying a car means taking a well thought out decision. However, sometimes taking a well-thought, wise decision gets difficult. This is even more so, when it involves a big investment decision like buying car and insuring it. One wrong decision and you might end up in a financial soup. Once you have already bought a car or you have owned a car for sometime now, it is time for getting it insured.

Factors

Now, when we come to think of car or for that matter any auto insurance there are quite a few factors that have to be considered before settling for a particular market offer. Analyzing these factors would determine which auto insurance policy suits your needs the best. Or else you might end up paying too high premium or not taking enough coverage for your automobile. First of all one has to consider what is the purpose of owning it. Whether it is for personal use, used as public transport such as private taxi, or used in transportation of heavy duty or light duty industrial goods or is it put to some other use. Age is also a major consideration. Old vehicles have to pay higher premium as compared to the new one. Type and model of the vehicle also play a major role. Like wise there are N number of factors that need to be checked out.

Getting The Right Insurance

When you buy auto insurance online there are large numbers of sites that offer auto insurance on each site there are quite a few number of market offers. This makes online shopping for the right kind of auto insurance a tedious task. However, there are some sites that provide automated tools that assist you in determining what kind of auto insurance would work the best for you and how much coverage do you need. These tools or auto coverage analyzer can go a long way in helping you save a whole lot of money on auto insurance.

Wrong auto insurance would leave you paying amounts that are too high and paying extra for coverage you may not need. On the other hand, if you choose amounts that are too low, you risk being uncovered in case of an accident. Thus, whether you’re shopping for new auto insurance or renewing your existing policy, Auto Coverage Analyzer can help you make the right coverage choices. All you have to do is answer a few question about your financial standings and your automobile conditions, price tag, coverage needs etc and the auto coverage analyzer would automatically generate coverage category wise auto policy value recommendations and explanation as to why is it needed.

Joseph Kenny
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/auto-coverage-analyzer-10626.html

The greatest risk while driving is the sheer unpredictability of events on the road. Smart Black Boxs original high resolution color camera (640×480, 30 FPS), Digital Video Recorder, GPS, and 3-axis G shock sensor, the Smart Black Box is as technologically sophisticated as it is practical. Smart Black Box offers to both commercial and private vehicle operators an effective risk reducing means to aid in the investigation process, decrease collateral damages associated with car accidents, encourage safe driving, monitor driving behaviors, and enhance the overall safety on the road.

Duration : 0:0:22