Car Insurance – 2 Things To Be Aware Of When Getting Insurance
If you’re like me, you’d love to reduce your auto insurance premiums yet not reduce your coverage. But do you have insurance agents as friends? I do. Two of them. While doing online research, I came acorss some intreting points. I thought I’d get a better understanding from my insurance friends, so I asked them what they thought.
This is what I talked with my insurance friends about:
a. retain the right to sue
b. don’t sign contracts that include the words ‘aftermarket parts’ or similar ones.
Let me go into a bit of detail on these two, as they have important consequences for you, the auto insurance buyer.
Retain the right to sue
The mighty Internet says it’s a good idea to retain the right to sue because without it it’s easier for your insurer to victimize you.
This is what happens. If you give up the right to sue and there’s a disagreement, you and your insurer go to arbitration. If you don’t give up the right to sue, you can, of course, get a lawyer and sue.
Lawyers are a lot more expensive than arbitration. So insureres have additional incentives to follow the contract the two of you signed, to settle.
One of my insurance agent friend’s idea about retaining the right to sue? “It’s true, but it doesn’t really work that way. People get favorable results from arbitration.”
I’m not saying arbitration doesn’t ever work. Just that it’s better if you retain the right to sue.
Aftermarket parts
If your car is damaged and you have the right insurance, the insurance company pays for repairs, including parts. Car parts made by companies other than the car maker are called “aftermarket parts.”
It seems that originally, aftermarket parts were not as extensively tested amd were inferior in condition. Now, some are as good as or better than the parts made by car makers. But, But perception has not changed, people still think them inferior. So, if your car has aftermarket parts, its value would be lower, you’d have to sell it for less than if it had original car maker parts.
I brought up aftermarket parts with one of my insurance agent friends. He said it’s not true. He said most insurance companies use aftermarket parts for cars older than two years. Which proves my point, not his. And my point is that there are auto insurance companies that do not use aftermarket parts.
My insurance agent friends tell me that insurance companies don’t like people to cross out anything in their contracts. That they will not give you coverage if you do. Me, I think a contract is a mutual agreement so, if they don’t agree with me, I’m fine. I move on. It’s always best to find someone who wants what you want.
It’s easier to shop around for car insurance if you work with an independent insurance agent, they have access to a lot more plans then regular insurance agents. auto insurance (Chicago area) seekers have one such agent at http://swias.com.
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