Q: I was charged for failing to yield making right turn on red after I made complete stop and check did see not car approach. Believe driver made illegal u turn. She had witness in car or following her. Once police arrived he was called to side they talked privately. He refused to listen to me and was very rude. I did report him later. Anyway this happen 2014 now 2016 Dec my rates went from 140 to 262. monthly after reporting Kroger employee pushing cart tore off my review mirror. Even though Kroger was responsible. I live on fixed income. According to them they forgave my first and only accident .

A: Unfortunately, it feels like there is something else going on here.  I am not saying that your accidents aren’t playing a part in the increase in your rate, but a $1,464 annual increase is not something that I have ever seen for a side-view mirror claim. There are two other things that come to mind right now. First, almost every insurance company increased their rates in 2016. I fielded these calls everyday for the insurance company I work for and also had feedback from agents that we weren’t the only ones doing so.  I would definitely talk to your car insurance agent or car insurance company and see if they did have a rate increase in their car insurance product in your state.

Second, you mentioned “fixed income”. I may be wrong, but that usually indicates that you are of retirement age. After a certain age, car insurance premiums go up and the older you get the higher they increase.  I know this doesn’t work well because that’s when you are usually on a fixed income, but car insurance companies do it because older drivers, while they do have more experience, start becoming more of a risk because of slower reaction times and a decrease in eyesight.

All in all, contact your insurance agent to have them go over your policy to explain what is going on with your rates. If you don’t like what you hear, start shopping around for a company that can give you a better car insurance premium.

You never have to settle for the car insurance premium you are offered

No one wants to pay any more than they have to for car insurance, but most people don’t know that they have control over what they end up paying. Here are a couple easy ways to keep that car insurance premium down.

Educate Yourself About Car Insurance

Your best ammunition in fighting car insurance premiums is to arm yourself with knowledge. Know what the coverages are, what they do, if you really need them, and if you are required to have them. By knowing what you are buying, you are less likely to end up with something on your policy that you don’t really need or with a coverage that is at a level that is way too high for what you own.

Check Out What Others Are Saying

Never go with a car insurance agency or company without first reading the reviews on the internet about them. Know what you are getting into with a company BEFORE you give them money. Pay special attention to reviews of how claims are paid out and customer service.  However, don’t just go with the reviews from one source, take a look at a number of sources to get a balanced view of the company.

Never Go For the First Car Insurance Policy Offer

Never, ever purchase the first car insurance policy you get a quote on. Print out the quote you received and then shop those same coverages around to other insurance companies. When you make a big electronics, vehicle or home purchase you shop those around, so do the same for your car insurance.

Cancellation for non-payment of your car insurance may not be the end of your coverage.

Always ask for a reinstatement if your car insurance cancels

Things happen and we get busy with our lives to the point that we just sometimes forget to pay a bill. If you do find that you forgot to pay your car insurance and have been canceled you can ask your car insurance company for a reinstatement.

A reinstatement is when they begin your car insurance policy over again, but with a lapse in your coverage from your cancelation date to the date that you pay to reinstate your policy. A reinstatement is a much easier way to get your car insurance coverage back than having to start all over again with a different company. Car insurance companies also prefer that you reinstate with them rather than taking your business to a different company, but even car insurance companies have their limitations when it comes to reinstatements and may not agree to one.

Reasons your car insurance company may not reinstate your policy:

• You have had too many returned payments.
• You have been canceled for too long.
• You have had too many cancellations for non-payment.
• Underwriting has blocked your policy from being reinstated because you are not a risk that they want to insure any longer, but they are not able to legally invoke a company cancellation.
• Underwriting has a valid cancellation reason and has set your policy to “do not renew” already. Your policy was going to be canceled at your next renewal anyways, so just best to find new insurance now that you canceled a little earlier than expected.

If you do find yourself with a canceled policy, it’s best to take care of the situation as soon as possible especially if you are in a state that will suspend your license or vehicle registration for not having active car insurance.

The new craze lately is to let your car insurance company use a tracking device on your vehicle, but should you?

We are all looking for ways to save money on our car insurance premium and one of the new ways that insurance companies have come up with to help us do that is by offering to track our driving habits. They offer a device that you plug into your car and records how fast you drive, accelerate, stop, swerve and all other manner of driving habits. It takes all of this information and reports it back to your car insurance company.

In most cases, your car insurance company will use that information to provide a customized discount on your policy.  In other cases, your car insurance company uses the information to determine how much premium you should be paying based on your driving habits.

Downsides

• You can’t use the device in older cars, therefore you can’t participate in these programs if all you have is older cars
• Some companies determine the premium from the device and not just give a discount, so you may be better off without the device if you aren’t a safe driver.
• There is no disputing the outcome, the device calculates the end result and there is usually nothing even an employee can do to change the end result.

Upsides

• This is a great way to save some more money on your car insurance if you are a safe driver.
• Discounts can be pretty significant.  At least one company offers up to a 30% discount.
• The device is easy to use, just plug it in and forget about it until it is time to return it.

For more information about your insurance companies vehicle tracking program, contact your car insurance agent or your insurance company directly.

If you drive for Uber or Lyft, you may not have car insurance coverage on your vehicle at all.

Car insurance companies that write personal insurance policies do not like it when the cars that they are covering are used for business purposes. They especially don’t like it when you are using your vehicle to transport people for money, like if you drive for Uber or Lyft. In fact, they dislike this so much that there is a clause in your car insurance contract that states that you will not have coverage if you are transporting people for money. This clause is why Uber and Lyft drivers sometimes have no insurance coverage when they are driving.

Confused? Here is how it works……

Before a driver turns on the app that they are available for passengers their personal car insurance policy covers their vehicle. After they pick up a passenger their coverage through Uber or Lyft then covers them. However, from the time they turn on the app to the time they actually pick up a passenger, there is no car insurance coverage on their vehicle. There is a gap in the coverage.

Insurance companies know about this and some are now introducing coverage that will cover your vehicle under your personal car insurance all the way up to the time that you actually pick up a passenger. This is a special endorsement that has to be added to your policy and not all insurance companies are offering it. To find out if your company is offering this new coverage, contact your car insurance agent.