More St. Paul Car Insurance = Better Winter Protection

Basic St. Paul Car Insurance isn’t enough to come out the winner in the winter driving battle.

The snow is beautiful until it causes you to have to use your St. Paul car insurance.

All of us have the potential to be safe drivers; some of us just chose not to be. But, when winter weather hits the St. Paul area it increases everyone’s chance of getting in a car accident whether they are normally cautious drivers or not.

Winter brings with it the snow, ice, slippery roads and lower visibility that sometimes just make it impossible to avoid an accident. And if you have opted to only purchase the minimum amount of insurance as required by Minnesota, you don’t have enough insurance coverage to make it out of the winter without putting your finances at risk.

First, What is Basic St. Paul Car Insurance?

The State of Minnesota creates what the minimum insurance requirements are for the entire based on what they feel best protects the drivers there. The current minimums for Minnesota include:

• Personal Injury Protection ($40,000 minimum coverage)
• Bodily Injury Liability Coverage ($30,000 minimum coverage per person injured/ $60,000 limit per accident minimum coverage)
• Property Damage Liability Coverage ($10,000 minimum coverage)
• Uninsured Motorist ($25,000 minimum coverage per person injured/ $50,000 limit per accident minimum coverage)
• Underinsured Motorist ($25,000 minimum coverage per person injured/ $50,000 limit per accident minimum coverage)

Second, Why do You Need More St. Paul Car Insurance?

If you take a close look at the coverages required for St. Paul car insurance, you will notice that they are all coverages that protect the other person you hit or only pay for your medical expenses if you are injured. There are no required coverages to pay for any damages that your own vehicle may have.

So if you are driving around with just the minimum required St. Paul car insurance and you get into a car accident that is your fault, any damages to your vehicle will have to be paid for out of your own pocket.

And considering that there are 3 ½ times more weather related car accidents involving a single car compared to multiple cars, if you do get in to an accident in the winter due to the weather there most likely won’t be another person to blame anyway. (Minnesota Department of Public Safety – 2011 Crash Facts).

Third, Ask Your Agent about Other St. Paul Car Insurance

Contact you insurance agent to go over your policy to make sure you have enough coverage on your vehicle for winter driving. Your agent can advise you as to what would be the best coverages to have this time of year, as well as adjusting the coverage amounts on your policy so that it fits your budget.

Don’t wait too long to contact them about the coverages on your St. Paul car insurance policy though, because every time you drive during the winter you increase your chance that you will be in a car accident.