Beware Of Budget Car Insurance
May 27, 2010 by Susan Reynolds
Filed under Car Insurance
There are several car insurance companies offering budget car insurance policies. They use tactics like low monthly payments and low deductibles to lure us in. We all want to save money on car insurance but at what cost to our protection? The coverage that is offered with these policies is usually insufficient and will leave you holding most of the responsibility if not all for the cost involved in the accident.
The majority of budget car insurance companies are offering only liability insurance that meets the legal requirements of your state. This leaves a huge gap in coverage that could cost you thousands.
Liability insurance offers little protection to you in the event of an accident. If you are at fault you will be responsible for any damages that your vehicle suffered as well as your own medical costs if any. Your coverage may not be enough to cover repairs to the other vehicle or to cover the medical costs from their injuries. This means that you will be financially responsible for any of this excess and risk losing your home, savings or any assets you might own.
You will be left holding the bill for any damages that occur to your vehicle that are not your fault such as hail, wind storms, or vandalism. The liability insurance will not pay for any portion of damage to your vehicle for any reason. This means that traveling down that icy road in the winter could be very costly to you if you swerve and hit a tree or guard rail.
There are too many drivers on the road who have budget insurance and this means if you are insured with the same type of insurance coverage and are hit by them that any repairs or medical costs their insurance will not pay for you will be liable for on your own. You will have no protection for underinsured motorists or uninsured motorists with these lower priced policies. Any type of accident, your fault or someone elses could end up costing you thousands of dollars and put all your assets at risk.
If you vehicle is stolen you will receive no coverage for your loss. In most cases you will never recover the vehicle and replacing it will be your responsibility. If you are able to recover the vehicle you will be responsible for the repairs from any damage it may have suffered.
The low deductibles that are offered to you are useless since you would never even have a claim that would require you to pay a deductible. The entire amount of repair is yours and therefore there is no need to pay a deductible at all. This is a tactic used by the car insurance companies offering budget policies to make you think you are getting a great deal when in actuality you are getting nothing.
You have to have insurance to drive legally in any state and this is what the budget insurance companies are using to their advantage. They offer the minimum requirement to keep you legal but they do not offer anything to keep you safe.
Susan Reynolds is the content coordinator for a leading South African Insurance Provider who specialises in Car Insurance.