Tips for First Time Driver Insurance in Ohio
Reader’s Question:
Hello there! It’s my first time to buy car insurance, and I’m really lost. Any tips for a first time driver here in Ohio?
Kate
Columbus, OH
Hi, Kate. Here are some tips to make your first-time auto insurance purchase hassle-free.
First of all, make sure you brush up on your auto insurance lingo to make sure you understand all the terms the agents throw at you. Try to learn about the different types of auto insurance such as liability insurance, collision insurance, comprehensive insurance, etc. You will also want to know the minimum insurance requirements required in Ohio to ensure you get the right amount of coverage.
Next, decide what kind and how much coverage you think you need. This will depend on your lifestyle and your financial standing. When you’re definite about what you need, you will need to look for the auto insurance company that best fits your requirements. You may want to visit websites that offer free auto insurance quotes from different insurers which will allow you to compare their prices.
Aside from the price, you may want to do research on each company with regard to their financial standing, their ability to provide great customer service, the discounts they offer and their processes. You will also need to know what your auto insurance company’s process is for filing claims: the paperwork, the time it takes, the people you will need to talk to just in case something happens.
Ask for discounts, you never know what you might be able to get and how much you can save by asking. Some popular discounts can be given for:
1. Military personnel
2. Good grade students
3. Union membership and bank member affiliations
4. Safe drivers with no claims in last 7 years
5. Defensive driving school attendance
6. Clean credit history – used by many carriers to determine payment risk
Hope all my tips help you find the right auto insurance – happy hunting!
Should I Have GAP Auto Insurance in Ohio
Reader’s Question:
I have a comprehensive insurance in Cleveland Ohio, and I’m telling you it’s not cheap! I’m about to renew it and my agent is asking if I’d like to upgrade it and include gap insurance? What’s that? Is he trying to pull one on me?
Jimmy
Cleveland OH
Hold it there, Jimmy, no one’s trying to get smart on you. Comprehensive insurance are really more costly than other insurance because it offers far more coverage for the policy holder. It offers coverage not only when you are in the road (which is the usual case for liability and collision coverage) but also when you are innocently parked somewhere. If some naughty kid decides to leave a “Jimmy was here” spray paint on your car, your comprehensive auto coverage in Cleveland will pay for the costs of having your car restored.
Gap insurance, on the other hand, offers a very special kind of protection which is very useful for new cars on auto loan or leased cars. If you have purchased your car through an auto loan in Ohio , you naturally have to pay it over a period of years. If before you were able to fully pay your loan you got into a nasty accident and your car was beyond repair, your comprehensive auto insurance will “pay” you the fair market value of your car prior to the accident. This will most of the time be less than the value you owe on your loan because of devaluation. Gap insurance, if you have one, will “pay” the remaining balance of your loan which was not shouldered by your comprehensive insurance. So you see, there is no redundancy between comprehensive auto insurance and gap insurance.
To make doubly sure that your insurer is not getting smart on you, you may want to get free quotes online for gap insurance. On this page you will see a space where you can enter your zip code and it will give you quotes on how much auto insurance costs. It can serve as a guide when you get back to your insurer.
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