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What are the driving laws in my state?
Most auto policies are for six months to a year. Your insurance company should notify you by mail when it's time to renew the policy and pay your premium.
This coverage applies to injuries you, the designated driver or policyholder cause to someone else. You and family members listed on the policy are also covered when driving someone else's car with their permission.It's very important to have enough liability insurance because if you are involved in a serious accident, you may be sued for a large sum of money. Consider buying more than the state-required minimum to protect assets such as your home and savings.
This coverage pays for damage to your car resulting from a collision with another car, object or as a result of flipping over. Collision coverage is generally sold with a deductible of $250 to $1,000-the higher your deductible, the lower your premium. Even if you are at fault for the accident, your collision coverage will reimburse you for the costs of repairing your car, minus the deductible. If you're not at fault, your insurance company may try to recover the amount they paid you from the other driver's insurance company. If they are successful, you'll also be reimbursed for the deductible.
Comprehensive insurance is usually sold with a $250 to $500 deductible, though you may want to opt for a higher deductible as a way of lowering your premium.
NO! Almost every state requires you to have auto liability insurance. All states also have financial responsibility laws. This means that even in a state that does not require liability insurance, you need to have sufficient assets to pay claims if you cause an accident. If you don't have enough assets, you must purchase at least the state minimum amount of insurance. But insurance exists to protect your assets. Trying to see how little you can get by with can be very shortsighted and dangerous. If you've financed your car, your lender may require comprehensive and collision insurance as part of the loan agreement.
If you lease a car, you still need to buy your own auto insurance policy. The auto dealer or bank that is financing the car will require you to buy collision and comprehensive coverage. You'll need to buy these coverages in addition to the others that may be mandatory in your state, such as auto liability insurance. Collision covers the damage to the car from an accident with another automobile or object. Comprehensive covers a loss that is caused by something other than a collision with another car or object, such as a fire or theft or collision with a deer.
On a leased car, the cost of gap insurance is generally rolled into the lease payments. You don't actually buy a gap policy. Generally, the auto dealer buys a master policy from an insurance company to cover all the cars it leases and charges you for a "gap waiver." This means that if your leased car is totaled, you won't have to pay the dealer the gap amount. Check with the auto dealer when leasing your car. If you have an auto loan rather than a lease, you may want to buy gap insurance to protect yourself from having to come up with the gap amount if your car is totaled before you've finished paying for it. Ask your insurance agent about gap insurance or search the Internet. Gap insurance may not be available in some states.
Contact your insurance agent. Find out how much coverage you have on your own car. In most cases, the coverage and deductibles you have on your personal auto policy would apply to a rental car, providing it's used for pleasure and not business. If you don't have comprehensive and collision coverage on your own car, you will not be covered if your rental car is stolen or if it is damaged in an accident.
Call your credit card company. Find out what insurance your card provides. Levels of coverage vary.
This provides excess liability coverage of up to $1 million for the time you rent a car. Rental companies are required by law to provide the minimum level of liability insurance required by your state. Generally, this does not offer enough protection in a serious accident. If you have adequate liability coverage on your car or an umbrella policy on your home/auto, you may consider forgoing this additional insurance. It generally costs about $7 to $9 a day. If you don't own a car, and rent cars often, consider purchasing a non-owner liability policy. Frequent car renters sometimes find this more cost-effective than constantly paying for the extra liability coverage.
This provides coverage to you and your passengers for medical/ambulance bills. This type of insurance usually costs about $3 per day, but may be unnecessary if you are covered by health insurance or have adequate medical coverage under your auto policy.
Some rental car companies combine personal accident and personal effects coverage together as one type of insurance, while others sell it individually. The cost of insurance at the rental car counter will vary depending on the rental car company, state, and location of the dealer and the type of car you rent. Some rental car companies may check your credit and driving history and may deny coverage. Check with the rental car company to find out its policy.
Note: If you're renting a car abroad, you may need an international driver's license.
Most states require car owners to buy a minimum amount of bodily injury and property damage liability insurance before they can legally drive their cars. In Kansas and Missouri, the limit is a minimum of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. All states have financial responsibility laws. This means that people involved in an automobile accident will be required to furnish proof of financial responsibility up to certain minimum dollar limits. To comply with financial responsibility laws, most drivers purchase automobile liability insurance. Our insurance agency recommends a minimum of $300,000 per person / per accident, since accidents may cost far more than the minimum limits mandated by most states.