how to lower cost of car insurance Archives

Are you travelling during the festive period? If you are, this article might come in handy if you ever find yourself stuck in a hit-and-run car accident.

When a driver flees the scene of an accident, it’s important to gather as much information as you can and talk to the police.

Texas drivers flee accident scenes for a number of reasons, such as:

Not having a valid driver’s license
Not having insurance (14.1% of Texans are uninsured)
Having warrants

Being impaired by drugs or alcohol

When one of the drivers leaves the scene, it can complicate the insurance claims process.

Call 911

Your health is the most important thing. Call 911 if you were in the vehicle when it was hit, or if someone was injured in the accident.

Seek medical attention even if you have no apparent injuries. It’s not uncommon for car accidents to cause delayed injuries, where symptoms don’t present until days after the incident. If you wait too long to see a doctor, you hurt your chances of filing a personal injury claim.

Gather Information

While you’re waiting at the scene, gather and write down as much information as you can to report to the police, including:

The other driver’s license plate number

The make, model and colour of the vehicle
Approximate year of the car
Time and location of the accident

Direction the driver was heading
Contact information of witnesses

Jot down every detail – no matter how minor. This information may help the police locate the driver.

Make sure that you speak with any witnesses at the scene and gather their contact information. Your insurance company may want to speak to these witnesses to get an account of what happened.

Take Photos

If it’s safe to do so, take photos of the accident scene and your vehicle, especially if there is damage. Take some close-up photos of the damage to show the police and the insurance company. If any paint has transferred to your vehicle, take photos of that as well.

File a Police Report

Report the hit-and-run to the police within 24 hours of the incident. Fleeing the scene of an accident is a crime and should be reported to the police.

Make sure that you get the name, badge number, and phone number of the officer so that your insurance company can follow-up.

If you don’t report the hit-and-run, you may be considered “at fault” by your insurer and it could impact your premiums. Filing a report may also mean that the police locate the fleeing driver who will then be held accountable for their actions.

Call Your Insurance Company

After reporting the incident to the police, call your insurance company to inform them of the accident and discuss your options.

Depending on your coverage, your insurer may be able to help with towing and getting you a rental car if needed.

If you were able to identify the fleeing driver, you may be able to get his or her insurance information from your insurance company. With this information, you can file a claim with the other driver’s insurer.

If you have an uninsured motorist policy, this should cover the cost of injuries and damages caused by the accident.

The cost of running a car can get pretty high but it’s a necessary expense. The good news is, there are ways that you can cut down on the amount of money that you spend on your car. By driving more sensibly and shopping around for cheaper fuel, you’ll save a bit. But if you really want to make a saving, you’ve got to deal with the cost of car insurance. Luckily for you, there are some handy tricks you can use to cut the cost of that insurance policy.

Don’t Renew Automatically

The first mistake people make is renewing their policy automatically without checking it. In some cases, your company might give you a good deal for your loyalty but that’s not always the case. Some companies will try to take advantage because they know that it’s easier for you to just renew it, so they’ll bump up the price without you noticing. Every time your policy is coming to an end, you need to make sure that you’re shopping around and finding the best deal.

Look For Perks

If you’ve looked at your current policy and you think you can get a cheaper deal elsewhere, it’s time to start shopping around. Obviously, the price is the first thing to look at but you should consider the perks as well. Some companies, like Safe Auto, will give you a discount when you switch and further reductions if you’re a homeowner. Those extra perks can be the difference between a bad deal and a great deal so always make sure that you take them into account.

When you’re looking at the perks, make sure that they’re actually perks. A lot of insurers are going to add a load of extras for which they’ll tell you are perks, but they aren’t. They’re things that you don’t really need. Stuff like windscreen cover or breakdown cover are handy but if you don’t need them, you can save some money by avoiding them.

Watch Out For Monthly Payments

Insurers have all sorts of tricks to try to make you pay more money for your policy and one of the most common ones is monthly payments. They’ll tell you that they’re just trying to make things more manageable for you by letting you pay in monthly instalments instead of paying it all in one lump sum but that’s not the case. If you added up the total cost of the monthly payments, you’d find that you’re actually paying way more money than you would if you just paid it off in one. That isn’t always the case and sometimes, it is a good deal but more often than not, it’s a sneaky trick to increase the price of your insurance policy.

Get A Black Box

A lot of insurers are offering policies that are based on your driving ability by putting a black box in the car. If you think you’re a sensible driver, you should consider getting one of these policies, it’ll be a lot cheaper than getting a normal policy as long as you aren’t speeding or anything like that.

Cut the price of your car insurance and you could save yourself a lot more money than you’d expect.