When you start shopping around for auto insurance it is very important to understand what each state’s minimum requirements. If you don’t have the minimums it is just as good as not having auto insurance. Let’s take a quick look at what the minimums are for auto insurance in Washington.
The minimums are $25,000 for injury to another person. Then there is the $50,000 for all other people that have injuries in an accident. You have to have $10,000 for any damage that is caused to another person’s property. Sometimes it is easy to question why certain minimums are in place, but it is important to follow the laws. The minimums have been set in place from statistics over the years. Statistics speak for themselves.
Having insurance in place isn’t the only thing you need to do to make sure you are protected.
You need to make sure you have proof of auto insurance in Washington in your vehicle. It can’t be just a receipt that you have paid. You will want to make sure you have put the actual card that your insurance company has given you. On that insurance card it will include the name of the insurance company, the policy number and the policy’s effective and expiration dates. It will also include a description of the vehicle and the insured drivers name.
You might not feel that is critical since you could call your insurance company and get the information if something happened, but if you are stopped by an officer you will receive a $450 fine and it could go on your record.
It is very important to start with meeting the minimums and having your insurance card in your car when having auto insurance in Washington.
An auto insurance claim adjuster works for the insurance company with whom you purchase a policy. Some insurance companies use independent adjusters so that they get an unbiased report. When you have an accident and make a claim on your insurance, the company will send out an adjuster to access the damages and come up with an amount of money that will be needed to complete the repairs. The auto insurance claim adjuster has to contact the garages to get an estimate of what the parts and labor will cost.
When you report a claim for an accident to your auto insurance, they will contact the appropriate adjuster. The auto insurance adjuster assigned to your case will contact you to get the details on where he/she can assess the vehicle. Then you will receive a report from the insurance company regarding the assessment the auto insurance claim adjuster submits. If the damages exceed the value of the vehicle, it will be “written off”.
The amount you get on your auto insurance policy depends on the policy itself. If the auto insurance claim adjuster determines that the vehicle is written off, the insurance will pay you the book value of the vehicle. This could be more or less than what the car is worth. With some auto insurance policies, you can pay extra to have a clause included stating that if the vehicle is written off within the first two years, you get the full amount that you paid for the automobile.
There is a certain process that an auto insurance claim adjuster has to use to come up with the amount the insurance company will pay. You will usually get two quotes – one that will see the car getting repaired at a top of the line garage and another if you take a cash settlement on the claim and get the work done yourself. The auto insurance adjuster knows that many people have friends who can do the work cheaper and often take the money.
Once you decide how you want to proceed, the insurance company will issue a check. If you are paying on the vehicle, the check will be made out jointly to you and the lender. Otherwise the check comes directly to you. The job of the auto insurance adjuster is only to access the damages, Any dispute you have regarding the report made by the auto insurance claim adjuster has to be done through the insurance company. Keep this in mind because the adjuster is only an ordinary person like yourself trying to make a living.
An auto insurance claim adjuster doesn’t have an easy job.
Law requires that every car insurance applicant is treated with equality as it is a must to have cars covered under insurance before you bring it on the road. Universally, car owners and drivers are protected against discrimination and here are the details you will need to guard yourself from. A car insurance company cannot deny, refuse to renew, limit, or charge you extra based on reasons like race, color, religion, or nationality.
Also a car insurance company cannot deny, refuse to renew, limit, or charge you more because of your age, gender, marital status, geographic location, disability, either partial or complete, unless such a refusal, limitation, or higher charge is “based on measured undertakings or realistic principles.” If the insurance company were to discriminate against you, they would have to show cognizable evidence that you are a greater risk in comparison to others. This also includes that an insurer cannot refuse to renew your policy when some family member attains driving age.
This is not all. It is unlawful for a company to distinguish between individuals posing the same rate of risk or discriminate class in its rates, terms of policy, benefits, or claim settlements unless such refusals or discrimination is “based on sound and actuarial principles.”
However, these are fundamental in nature but deep down, the law has stretched its arms very far with a view to make sure the car insurance is available to everyone in all fairness. This includes points like past driving history, lack of driving experience or business.
What are your rights?
The law provides for suing an insurance company for failing to follow anti discrimination which also includes refusal of insurance. To make the procedure for filing a suit, the law allows you to file a suit in your district court. On your part, make sure that your litigation is in good faith, and is based on solid grounds. In case the court finds that the suit is baseless and filed for harassing the car insurance company, you will probably be ordered to pay the legal expenses to the company.
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. Unless you’ve taken time to research and study this subject, you will certainly pick one or two tips that will help you reduce 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. Just think of it — Would you expect a man with a college age kid to go making reckless turns on the road? He has way too much at stake to joke behind wheels. Furthermore, unlike his much more older compatriots (those above 65), the effects of old age on driving hasn’t yet caught up with him. However, a poor driving history wipes out all such benefits that should have accrued to you. So keeping a clean slate still counts despite your age group.
How about those who find themselves at the other end of the spectrum — The highest risk age 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.
Let me get a little deeper into this. 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. But once you get married, a lot of auto insurance providers begin to see you in a whole new light. They consider you less reckless and more responsible. This reflects on your auto insurance premium.
Come to think of it yourself. It certainly takes a lot for a guy to settle down when he could be playing around. That shows a lot of stability. Such stability affects your driving. This makes you less likely to have an accident and thus reduces the likelihood of a claim. And you know that the lower the chances that you’ll make a claim, the lower your auto insurance premium.
Another thing you can do as an under-25 is to be on your parent’s auto insurance policy.
This isn’t certainly going to go down well with many young folks. They’ll have to give up a lot of their independence as they have to be resident with their parents and have their car registered in their names to take advantage of this option.
Age is just one of many factors used in calculating your auto insurance rate. And, add to that the fact that different insurance companies albeit using the same factors, score them differently. This means that given the same profile, you’ll get different quotes from different auto insurance companies (I’ve seen a difference of over $2000). So how do you use this to your advantage? Go to as many auto insurance quotes sites as you can. For just five minutes of your time, you’ll get quotes from around five A rated auto insurance providers.
There’s much debate around the healthcare system reform proposed by President Barack Obama. And while there are many people who protest against it, and those who support it, it is important to know what it is all about in the first place. Here is a short overview of the reform, which is comprised of three essential parts:
1. Assure all American citizens with access to comprehensive and affordable health coverage
The main features of this part are:
- New Public National Health Plan, which will be very close to the current health coverage provided to federal employees. The main difference is that the new plans will be available to all US citizens for a reasonable price no matter of their financial situation. Deductibles and co-payments will be reduced to minimum, while low-income persons will have the possibility to use additional subsidies.
- National Health Insurance Exchange, which will allow US citizens to look for private health plans. It will set regulations on private insurance providers in order to make sure that private plans are not too different form public ones.
- New business mandate requiring national enterprises to pay for the Public National Health Plan.
- Individual mandate aimed specifically at children.
- More support provided to existing programs like Medicaid and SCHIP.
2. Improve the quality of healthcare services and lower their costs
This initiative presumes federal financial assistance for improving the quality of the services and lowering the costs, with additional assistance to enterprises that cover high-risk employees.
To President’s belief the following actions may also contribute to lowering cost and improving services:
- Special disease management programs for improving chronic care.
- Improving transparency in what concerns quality and costs of healthcare offered by providers.
- Lowering the rates of medical errors.
- Introducing financial incentives to stimulate substantial improvements.
- Providing support for researching new and alternative healthcare technologies.
- Eliminating ethnic disparities in access and quality of healthcare services.
- Popularizing health IT.
- Stronger regulation of insurance and drug markets in order to lower medication costs and allow cheap health insurance.
- Preventing Medicare private plan participants from overpaying.
3. Wellness and healthy lifestyle promotion
This initiative is to be supported through the following actions:
- Special wellness programs at working places.
- Eliminating child obesity with school activities.
- Better education for present and future healthcare workers.
- Promotion of healthy lifestyle in communities.
Saving possibilities with the new initiatives
President Obama estimates that in average a typical American family will be able to save about $2,500 on an early basis after the plan will be implemented. These are the possible sources for such savings:
- Health IT introduction and implementation.
- Improved quality of services.
- Limitations on health insurance provider profits.
- Federal funding of catastrophic coverage that will lead to cheap health insurance.
- Universal coverage availability.
As you can see the Plan requires significant federal funding and that is one of the major points of those who are against it. Other arguments include direct implication to health insurance market, which of course is not quite welcome by the insurance companies. But is the idea of cheap health insurance for everyone that bad?
