Why You Really Need To Read The Fine Print On Your Auto Insurance Policy
By Anthony Peck
Do you remember when you were in high school and your English teacher used to assign you hundreds of pages of reading in books that you really couldn”t have cared less about? What you probably never realized was that slogging through all of those classics was teaching you some great life skills! How else would you ever be able to handle reading page after page of reports and auto insurance information when you get to be an adult?
Nobody really enjoys reading all of the details in their auto insurance policy. If they do they”re in the wrong business-they ought to be wheeling and dealing in the insurance market! (No, it doesn”t count if they already are.) For most drivers their insurance polices are little more than page after page after page of minutiae and teeny, tiny little details that they really couldn”t care less about as long as their carrier is still going to pick up the bill after they have an accident.
The problem is, how do you know they”re going to pick up the bill if you never bother reading to find out?
There have been hundreds of drivers who have run into this particular obstacle over the years. Auto insurance companies have their own set of very strict rules when it comes to getting insurance claims paid for. If it’’s not stated in your policy, you”re not going to be able to file a claim for it!
This tends to trip drivers up. Why? First and foremost, there are mnay drivers who don”t know (or don”t understand) the difference between comprehensive, collision and liability insurance. Drivers with liability are often surprised to find themselves holding the bill for the repairs to their own vehicle after an accident, mistakenly believing that their liability will take care of the auto insurance claim. It’’s always a rude awakening to find yourself paying hundreds of dollars out of pocket after the fact.
The second problem many drivers have is understanding exactly what’’s going to be covered underneath the auto insurance policy they do have. For example, on occasion hail damage will be covered where wind damage will not, and theft is included unless they can”t prove that it was breaking and entering. This is all stuff you”re going to have to know if you”re going to take care of your auto insurance claims, but you”re never going to know what you need to do if you don”t take the time to wade through the fine print on your insurance policy.
Today’’s consumers deal in information, but the last thing you want to do is have to depend on someone else to provide that information for you. That means it’’s not enough to ask your auto insurance agents questions. You have to do the digging yourself-and the only way you”re going to do that is to dig out those dusty reading skills and put them to good use.
About The Author
Anthony M. Peck is the Senior Developer for QuoteScout.com. To find the inside scoop on your auto insurance, check them out at http://www.QuoteScout.com.