Buy Lease or Loan Gap Coverage
The dramatic plummet of your car's value as soon as you drive it off the dealer's lot can put surprising and undue strain on your wallet if your car is totaled. The amount your insurance company calculates as your car's actual cash value can be sta cks of bills away from what you still owe on your car lease or loan. Since you're responsible for paying the remainder of your lease or loan even when your car is totaled, you might have to come up with hundreds ¡ª maybe even thousands ¡ª in cash. Unless you have gap insurance.
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Automobile Claim Filing Tips
When filing a claim on your automobile insurance, you should take the following steps:
- Always report an incident to the police, regardless of how minor it seems. What looks like a small dent or scratch could actually cost you several hundred dollars to repair.
- Make sure the police officer gives you a copy of the drivers' information-exchange form.
- Write down names, addresses and phone numbers of any witnesses in case you need them later.
- Call your insurance agent and company immediately for further instructions. The insurer may deny payment of your claim if you do not report the accident.
- Make sure that you include all information on your insurance application. If you withheld information which would have caused the insurance company to deny coverage originally, they may void your policy from its effective date and refuse to pay a claim.
- Make sure that your insurance company agrees to pay before you start any repairs.
- Check all repairs afterwards. Check them at the shop and then again at home.
- Get a copy of the itemized repairs on a form printed with the repair shop's name and address.
- Your insurance company may send an adjuster to inspect your automobile before you obtain any necessary repairs, or it may instruct you to obtain a specified number of estimates for the work. Find out from your insurance company what to do about supplemental damage in case the repair shop finds something caused by the accident but not on the original estimate.
- You may choose which repair shop you want to fix your vehicle after an accident, unless otherwise stated in the policy. Some companies require policyholders to use auto-repair shops approved by the company. These companies usually offer a premium discount in exchange for your agreement to this provision.
The price of long auto loans
Despite the dangers, more Americans are signing on for super-long auto loans.
Why settle for a four-year financing term when a five-year or a six-year term would push that monthly payment a little lower?
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What Are My Options?
Deductibles
The deductible is the portion of a covered loss that is your responsibility. The deductible, when applicable, applies to each covered loss. Although deductibles vary by state, they are typically available in amounts such as $100, $250, $500, or $1000.
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The Basics of Auto Insurance
An auto insurance policy is actually a package of different coverages. Most states require you to purchase a minimum amount of certain kinds of coverage. But if you're interested in protecting yourself from a lawsuit or from wicked repair bills, then it makes sense to buy more than what's required.
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Drive the Right Deal
Auto insurance will never qualify as "easy to understand" and that increases the chances you could make a costly mistake. I hope you know that your auto insurance actually provides four different types of coverage: two are mandatory and two are optional. Everybody is required to have Bodily Injury Liability, which provides coverage if you or anyone else is injured, and Property Liability Coverage, in case you damage another car or piece of property. Collision Insurance is an important option for more expensive cars, since it provides coverage no matter who is at fault, as is Comprehensive Coverage, which covers repairs - and replacement - if your car gets damaged in a non-car related mishap. Stuff like a tree limb falling on the hood, or a run-in with a deer.
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Best moves to make now: Auto loans
Even with the Fed holding steady on interest rates, car shoppers will like what they see when it comes to auto loans. But they had better move fast.
Thanks to the cut in the Fed funds rate in June of last year and the lack of movement since, you'll keep more money in your pocket if you're in the market for a new-vehicle loan, and you might find a better deal if you're shopping for a used car.
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The price of long auto loans
New-car payments are dropping for all the wrong reasons.
The average monthly new-car payment decreased to $447 in October from $466 a year earlier, according to Edmunds.com.
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