Sandy Springs Car Insurance
From Peachtree to Roswell Road into the thick of Sandy Springs, you will find lots of cars.
Sometimes you are among them on 285, or along the local roads, fighting to make your way around town or into work. No doubt about it, you need your beloved SUV or crossover to get where you need to go every day.
If you are like many drivers in Sandy Springs, you have a family to care for, and you care about their safety, as well as your own.
Honestly, the more you drive, the more at risk you are for an accident. While you cannot prevent every accident, there are smart ways to reduce the damages, injuries, and overall disruptions and disturbances accidents can pose to your family and life.
Preventing and minimizing damages and injuries provides another benefit. It keeps your insurance rates and payments for deductibles, and repairs and time spent in rehabilitation therapy and at the doctor's office to a minimum. That all saves the insurers and you money on your insurance policies.
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Shiny New SUVs
SUVs are not the safest of vehicles in general for their rollover tendency, but most of the U.S. has made the switch away from the now dated sedan into crossover or SUV land. There are always new safety features that make today's vehicles still the safest of all time.
If you are in the market for your next vehicle and have an eye on safety, check out the National Insurance Institute's Highway Safety annual picks for safest cars.
Vehicles these days have crash avoidance systems, auto-brake mechanisms that take over where human judgment might fail, side airbags, backup cameras, and all kinds of safety features.
As a driver, what you can do to keep your family safe is the following:
- Always buckle up. Any passenger or driver not wearing a belt becomes a projectile hurtling like a missile through the car in case of an accident. Your insurer will offer a discount for using safety belts, and it increases your chances of living through an accident by 50 percent.
- Ban drivers from cellphone use in your vehicle. Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that any phone use constitutes increased accident risk, even if you are using a hands-free device.
- Always aim to leave three seconds between you and the car in front of you. You should be able to see the tires on the pavement in front of you when you are stopped.
- If you drink, do not drive. In all likelihood, you cannot judge how drunk you are with accuracy. That's what studies show. Even one drink can throw off your judgment and the coordination it takes to maneuver your 2-ton vehicle safely.
What about aggressive drivers?
You may find that other drivers are impatient and attempt to force you off the road through tailgating.
If this happens to you, do not speed up. Maintain the speed limit. If necessary, pull over and allow them to pass you. It is much safer than speeding up, getting a speeding ticket, or having them rear-end you at a higher speed.
Rewarded for Safety
Whether you have an extra few hundred dollars to plop down on insurance premiums or not, you probably would rather put that money toward more enjoyable uses. That said, make an attempt to save every time you renew with some simple savings tips.
- Claims-free periods of more than three years
- Absolutely no accidents or moving violations
- Online or in-person defensive driving classes
Insurance Agents are Not Your Friends
Even if you went to the same high school, you do not need to tell your insurance agent everything about you and your happenings with your car. If you run over a bike, person, or do damage to other people and property, yes, you do need to come clean and make good to the person you harmed.
But, did you know that calling up your insurance and telling them about a minor ding to your vehicle that occurred while you were inside the supermarket could raise your rates?
When you tip off your agents that there is damage, they adjust your policy. Furthermore, if you call to deliberate whether or not to file a claim for the minor dent you put into your own car at the mall parking deck today, your rates may climb, even though you decide not to file a claim.
On the other hand, neglecting repairs that keep your car running safely is not a good idea either. it may help if you get estimates so that you may compare how much it costs to fix, and whether it is worth paying the deductible and increased insurance premiums in the future.
Deciding How Much Insurance to Buy
If you are ever-perplexed about how much car insurance to actually purchase, the biggest hint is more than the legal minimum.
The insurance industry as a whole suggests that the minimum coverage you purchase is $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident for bodily injury liability with $50,000 property damage liability.
If you have assets to protect you probably want to buy sufficient insurance to cover them. Otherwise, you could find yourself unwittingly targeted for lawsuits.
Instead, by purchasing the right amount of insurance you let the insurance company attorneys handle claims from other parties that cite you as the cause of an accident where they were injured and their car damaged. In addition, this helps pay out appropriately to other parties, lowering the chance of a lawsuit.
Uninsured or underinsured motorists are a widely occurring phenomenon between the economic downturn and people who only buy the minimum legal required insurance.
If you are injured or your property damaged by them, you would not be able to collect any money for your medical costs or repairs for several reasons. They may have fled the accident scene and you cannot locate them. Or, they may genuinely not have money to give you.
This line of insurance covers you against their mistakes. It works like this: you may buy only as much uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance as you buy liability coverage. The deductibles are relatively low, but this portion of coverage does carry one, despite you already having to pay for others' negligence.
Comparing Quotes to Save
When you get online the best way to shop around for rates is by getting free quotes. Start by eliminating any carriers who are not the tops in paying valid claims in a timely manner. Check to see if they are also fiscally solvent, by looking at A.M. Best ratings. Look for anything in the A-range.
From there, make sure that the limits you would like are correct on each of the quotes, then compare each policy by price. Go with the highest quality carrier for the lowest premium.
A note on the deductibles. You will be required to come up with them every single time you need to file a claim. While having the deductible set to sky-high seems like a good idea, it might be better to keep them lower for practical purposes.
Stay safe and make sure your passengers buckle up every time you drive. Shop around for the best rates for your next insurance policy.
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