Getting car insurance can be confusing. It’s hard to know exactly how much coverage you need or how your insurance company might handle a claim. There’s also a lot of misinformation out there about your policy.
These misconceptions could leave you underinsured, turn you into a bad driver, and even cost you more money in the long run!
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I don’t need insurance if I never drive my car
You do need insurance if you want to drive your car. While it’s true that some drivers choose not to drive their cars as much, even those who don’t use their cars as often should still have insurance provided by the state or province where they live.
If a driver doesn’t have insurance, then they aren’t considered to be insured and can be charged with driving uninsured—a crime in most jurisdictions.
If you’re looking for ways to lower the cost of insuring your vehicle while still being able to drive it, think about getting a policy that covers fewer miles per year than what is required by law.
This will mean that you won’t pay as much money for coverage each month when compared with other policies offered by insurance companies with higher limits on how many miles per year are covered under their plans.
However, this will also mean paying more when making claims against something like theft or vandalism since those costs tend not to change regardless of how many miles were driven during any given year (but may affect premiums more heavily if there are fewer years left before renewals).
Another thing to keep in mind when you’re looking to lower the overall costs is to ensure not to buy insurance from an unreliable company.
There are many renowned insurance companies out there. Remember, the power would ultimately be in your hands ultimately, so always make sure you read about the terms of the insurance before you purchase.
For example, you can read this and see how Lemonade car insurance work—you can always go and check several insurance company pages before you finalize your choice.
2. When a friend borrows my car, his or her insurance company will cover any accident or damage
If you lend your car to a friend (or even a stranger), do not expect his or her insurance company to cover any damage that may occur while they’re driving it.
A common misconception is that if the other driver is insured, his or her insurer will cover any damage done to your vehicle. This is simply not true.
If the person driving your car is uninsured and causes an accident, your car insurance company will compensate you for any losses resulting from the incident.
That said if this person has comprehensive coverage on their own policy and decides not to make a claim with their own insurer—meaning they never notify them of the accident.
You could be responsible for paying out-of-pocket costs associated with repairing or replacing their damaged vehicle before getting yours fixed.
3. Expensive cars mean expensive insurance
In the same way that a car’s color or the type of stereo it has installed does not affect its cost to insure, neither does the model. Instead, insurance costs are based on how much money you want to spend and whether your driving record shows any patterns of riskier driving behaviors that would increase your rates.
So if you’ve been eyeing a new Porsche but think it will be too expensive to insure, keep in mind: if your current vehicle is more than 10 years old and you have no accidents or tickets in recent memory, then yes—you may be right!
But if you have an excellent driving record and only want to upgrade because “it’s time?” Then keep the old Honda Accord Coupe parked in front of your house for another year or two (or forever!).
4. You should buy the least amount of coverage possible
You might think that the less coverage you buy, the lower your premium will be. This isn’t always true.
For example, if you have a car worth $5,000 and don’t have collision coverage but do have comprehensive coverage, your insurance could end up costing more than if you had purchased collision and comprehensive together.
Why? Because if there’s no damage to your vehicle in an accident, then there’s no need for repairs—and therefore, no cost for those repairs would come out of your pocket.
It’s hard to know what you might need unless you ask questions and get advice from a professional
Many people are under the impression that car insurance is simple and straightforward. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
When you’re buying a policy, it’s hard to know what you might need unless you ask questions and get advice from a professional.
You need to understand what kind of coverage you need before you buy insurance—otherwise, your policy might not be as comprehensive as it could be or leave out important details like maintenance costs or depreciation.
You also need to know what kind of coverage you have before making changes so that nothing slips through the cracks or becomes more expensive than necessary because of an oversight on your part!
Conclusion
With the world of car insurance being so confusing, it’s no wonder that many people are afraid of making a decision about their coverage.
The good news is that with this information you now know everything you need in order to make an informed choice about your coverage.
Remember, there is nothing wrong with calling up a few different companies and asking questions if you are still unsure.
