Having a car is one of the biggest privilege and responsibility at the same time. You can go anywhere, anytime with the freedom to do the things you want, and most importantly it frees you from the hassle of a daily commute to work. However, accidents on the road are unavoidable, and this is the reason why on top of your monthly dues over you car mortgage, you are charged something for a car insurance.
If you are thinking of ditching your car insurance because you don’t think you’re going to be in an accident ever (or you want to get jailed and lose your license), these few reasons might make you think again and change your mind. Despite the hefty amount of monthly due you have to pay, your car insurance is worth every penny.
Here are a few of the reasons why your car insurance just might save your life:
- You don’t know when you are going to get in an accident. As much as you try your best to be a responsible driver, you are still vulnerable to outside forces and instances that can put you into an unfortunate situation. Accidents are just unavoidable and inevitable. People who own vehicles, report to have been involved in a car accident maybe once or twice in their life, and the reasons are from bizarre to none. A vehicular accident can be caused by some stray animals suddenly crossing the road, the snow or ice suddenly blocking your view, another human, weather or just any situation. You can leave yourself vulnerable to the damages that the accident can cause. If it was deemed to be your fault, you are going to pay the medical bills of injured people, their lost income, their damaged property and on top of that, you will be filed cases with criminal charges. There is just so many things that can happen after an accident and you don’t want to be caught off guard.
- It is an obligation to the government. Every country or city, allowing their residents to own a car, obliges them to have a car insurance and violation to such can mean their license to drive and or worse get them jailed. It is the responsibility of the government to put the welfare of their constituents first, that is why letting you drive your car without any license or insurance is considered a crime. As mentioned, your car insurance is going to take care of third party bills- medical, property damages and many other you can ever think of. If the car owner who was deemed to be at fault doesn’t have a car insurance, there is no immediate guarantee for the payment of the hospital bills in case they injure other people in an accident. This can hinder a speedy arrangement of medical help, surgeries, etc. and can lead to the fatality of the injured party. Thus having a car insurance is being a responsible citizen of the country.
- Medical Bills hurts your wallet more than you expect. Medical bills are going to hurt your wallet more than you know. You can never tell how far an injured party can go after you or even if you are the one who got hurt, you don’t know how bad it is going to cost you. Hospital bills can be extremely harming to your savings and can even be a reason for you to be in debt for a long time. If you are in a more unfortunate event, you will lose income and probably be unfit for work for a long time. If ever you die in the event of an accident, your funeral expenses will not be covered and will be shouldered by either your survived family or your death insurance (if you have one).
- The weather can be very unforgiving. The weather in the west can be very unforgiving; the snow causes a lot of car accidents, desert fire burn homes and cars and floods are no different. Your car insurance is going to cover accidents that are caused by bad weather or unfortunate weather events. Hurricanes and twisters may happen rarely, but they are still inevitable forces of nature. In situations like this, you may be able to protect your family but not your house and your belongings, like your car.
- Thieves are everywhere. Your car insurance also protects you from the thieves that are strolling in your neighborhood. Being a victim of car theft can be very stressful because your car can be filled with more valuable things, and on top of that your car itself may not be free from mortgage already when it was stolen. You may be thinking this only happens on the movie scenes where lead roles steal cars to pursue some criminals and whatnot, but yes, car theft happens to real people in real situations. Remember, an ounce of prevention is always better than a pound of cure, better safe than sorry.
Before you assume that you got yourselves covered in all five factors, you might want to consider looking at what kind of car insurance you are paying. Here are the three types of car insurances that you can refer to:
- Third-party, fire, and theft. This covers the abovementioned car insurance type and two other factors- fire and theft. It applies when you are the one deemed at fault, and it will cover the costs of medical bills, property damages caused by either fire or theft. So if in case you lose your car because of theft, you have to contact the police to make a report and then your insurance company or agent to make a claim. You and your insurance agent will have to come up with your stolen car’s current value (at the time it was stolen), and that will be the basis of your car theft insurance coverage. Do note however that if in case your car is recovered or found, you will no longer own it but your insurance company, depending on its policy. Even though you have a car insurance to cover any theft or loss, you need to make sure you have a working security device on your car. If found out to be faulty at the time of the theft, this might be a ground for them not to cover the loss since it can be a case of negligence from your end.
- Third Party Only (TPO). This type of insurance is the minimum requirement of the law, and it covers the damage costs to third party property or their physical injury itself. Simply put, this insurance applies when you are the one deemed to be at fault. And this covers the medical bills, property damages, lost income, car damages of the person your accident have injured. This covers the third party only and not you, so if in case your car catches fire during the accident, it won’t cover it. It won’t also include your medical bills, and when your car gets stolen. You will still be spending something out of your pocket if this happens.
- Fully Comprehensive Car insurance. This type of insurance covers both of the insurance types mentioned above and most importantly, the cost of damages on your end. If you get in an accident deemed to be your fault, your car damages, medical bills and hospitalization will be covered. Do note that it may not be the same for all insurance companies, so be sure to check the value of the insurance that you are getting, there might be a catch somewhere that you’d regret you didn’t notice. It is not automatically true that since this insurance type has better coverage over all it is more expensive. Some insurance companies have a more expensive TPO because most of the accidents involve third party damages, but unless you investigate well and know more, you might be losing an opportunity. As a policyholder, you should also be entitled to the coverage of whatever costs and damages if ever an accident happens, do not settle for a lesser coverage thinking that cheaper is better. You might end up spending more in the long run.
Please note that the above-mentioned car insurance types are on a general basis and it might not be the same for all insurance companies. If you plan to get a new car with insurance, always check the coverage, never assume. But if you are going to rent a car at car rentals like Darwin4wdhire, then you won’t have much of a problem. Always ask what their insurance categories cover and ask for worst case scenarios or simple scenarios and how they deal with it.
If you already have are already a policyholder, always be notified of the insurance policy changes. Do not assume you are getting the best of both worlds always. Lastly, don’t drink and drive. Be a responsible driver. As they always say, driving is not a right, it is a privilege.