July 3, 2010

Three Auto Insurance Promises Not To Take At Face Value

Shopping for car insurance can be one of the more tricky things to do in your life. These companies are desperate for your business and are willing to do whatever they have to do to obtain your business. So, when obtaining auto insurance quotes, you may be left with lots of fancy insurance promises that it may be hard for you to tell whether or not these promises are worth the paper they are printed on. Here are three promises from insurance companies that might be best for you not to take at face value.

The first thing to be wary of is the auto insurance quotes themselves. No quote lies to you but often times a quote lacks all the information necessary to give the most accurate costs. They often don't have the vehicle identification number for the car or even the driver's license number. These things really matter. If you do not have your drivers license number, they cannot fully and accurately check your driving record and therefore don't know exactly how much to charge you. Not to mention the coverage that you check may not be accurate with what the bank who is holding your car loan may want. A bank may want full coverage and you may have selected something a little bit less to save money.

A lot of insurance promises will tell you that they reimburse for towing. Once again, this is not a lie. If your car breaks down and you need to have it towed, the insurance company will reimburse you for the expense. However, you must keep in mind that you may not be reimbursed every cent. Often times you are reimbursed up to a certain dollar amount. So if your towing was 100 dollars but your insurance only reimburses up to 50 dollars, you are definitively on the hook for the other half. It isn't a lie but it's just not always what it seems.

Another promise auto insurance quotes may give you that isn't entirely accurate is accident leniency. This is where they will not raise your rates for an accident. This is, of course, not always true. Many times, if the first accident is something that resulted in minor damages then it may be forgiven, but understand that if the accident is big enough they could go as far as to drop you from your policy altogether. Insurance companies make this promise because they assume most accidents won't result in major damage or injuries.

Just know that these companies make these promises to entice you but that not everything is exactly what it seems to be.