Car Insurance Shopping Tips
As a savvy consumer, you know that it pays to do your homework and shop around for car insurance. Below are some tips that could relieve you save money and make the right insurance choice.
Do your research
Did you know that the cost for an identical car insurance policy can vary by hundreds of dollars every six months? Review your coverage. Shop around. You could visit car insurance company Web sites, or sites that give you rates for a number of companies. Withhold your policy on hand while you’re visiting car insurance Web sites, so you can earn a fair comparison. Most sites will save your insurance quotes, but you can also print them if you want to review them offline.
Stay with a leader
Visit A.M. Best, and Standard & Poor’s for information on the financial strength of various car insurance companies. See what benefits and features they offer? At progressive.com, you can learn about vehicle safety, view crash test videos, or use our calculators to determine repair costs.
Five Ways to Save Money on Your Car Insurance
1. Shop Around
This is the single most important thing you can do to get the best possible rate. A study by Progressive shows that the cost of a six-month auto insurance policy for the same driver with the same coverages varies from company to company by more than $500. It’s smart to review your coverage and shop around occasionally.
2. Don’t Carry Excess Coverage
Insurance companies only pay claims equal to a car’s actual cash value or market value, so comprehensive and collision coverage may not be worth keeping on an older car that has depreciated. It is generally recommended that you consider dropping collision coverage after four years, or when the collision premium equals ten percent of the car’s market value. Understand that by doing so, you will not be covered for damages to your car if it overturns or collides with another object.
3. Raise Your Deductible
According to the Insurance Information Institute, raising your deductible from $200 to $500 could reduce your collision and comprehensive cost by 15 to 30 percent.
4. Drop Rental Reimbursement Coverage
Rental reimbursement insurance is coverage that will pay for some or all of your car rental expenses while your car is being repaired or until you engage a new car. Policies and costs vary for this type of insurance, but there are always strict limits on the extent of the coverage. If you can find other transportation for a few days while your car is being repaired, you might not need this coverage.
5. Make Sure Your Novel Policy Accurately Reflects You
It is important to update the information your insurance company has about you, your car and your driving record. You may be eligible for a rate reduction if you have gotten married, moved to the suburbs, no longer insure a younger driver, installed an anti-theft contrivance, or if it has been at least three years since your last violation.
Why Insurance Rates Vary
You might think that your auto insurance rate would be pretty much the same no matter which company you choose. But did you know that your auto insurance rates can vary widely? even by hundreds of dollars? from company to company? Prices for the same coverages vary primarily because of:
Varying claims experience. Auto insurance is priced to cover the costs of accidents that may happen in the future. Of course, companies cannot see into the future, so to do this, they use information about their past claims experience. Since each company has had different claims experiences with the groups of people they insure, the rates charged customers by different companies vary.
Varying costs of doing business. Each company’s cost of doing business (how much they pay to sell and service policies), along with their financial goals, is different, resulting in different prices being charged to consumers.
In simple terms, auto insurance companies price policies to cover the amount they’ll need to cover:
# Accidents that have occurred;
# Claims salaries, building leases, and other claims-related costs; and
# Non-claims expenses such as customer service salaries, advertising and the designate of selling policies.
Remember, it pays to shop around for auto insurance, because you could achieve hundreds each year. Research your coverages — and your company — to gain sure you are getting the best value for your money.
Filed under Farmers Car Insurance by on Mar 15th, 2011. Comment. 
Trying to out-Republican the Republicans is a losing strategy, and Democrat gubernatorial nominee Roy Barnes should know better than to go down that road.
In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Barnes blasted both political parties and President Barack Obama for failing to win bipartisan support for a law more Americans could get tedious.
Greatest political failure of leadership–Obama? Many measures in the health care law came from Republicans even though they didn’t vote for it.
In March, Obama said the following about the ‘centrist’ health care law.
“I think that the Republican Party made a calculated decision, a political decision, that they would not wait on whatever we did,” he said on NBC’s “Today” display, referencing Sen. Jim DeMint’s (R-S.C.) claim that it would be his Waterloo. “I consider that’s unfortunate, because when you glimpse at the actual bill itself, it incorporates all sorts of Republican ideas.”
The health care law isn’t perfect, and can be made better. However, Barnes giving proverbial comfort to the Tea Party Republicans or right-wing conservatives is not a winning strategy and further confuses the debate on health care.
Barnes’ attempt to be this independent populist needs to close right now. You are a Democrat and need to begin acting like one.
Sometimes, Mr. Barnes you have to take a stand and do what’s proper for Georgia, and giving any credit to Sonny Perdue is not a step in the right direction.
In the 1940′s when Truman enacted Executive Order 9981 to integrate the military, was there a ‘consensus’ or when Lyndon Johnson pushed through the Civil Rights Act and other equal protection laws?
Georgia and the nation are at a crossroads, and appears Barnes is campaigning ‘scared’, and it shouldn’t be that plan.
When Barnes decided not to attend an early August fundraiser and speech of President Obama in Atlanta, I was a little disappointed. However, I just brush it aside at the time.
Barnes wanted to visit rural areas of south Georgia such as Berrien County, and that’s fine. However, what is his message as a Democrat?
It is good that he is traveling to rural south Georgia and visited places like Ocilla in Irwin County. Ocilla is Irwin County’s largest city and has a 60% African-American population.
Rural Georgia isn’t exclusively white conservatives. There are white rural progressives along with a large percentage of African-Americans and a growing number of Latinos, but it seems Barnes is trying to veer right instead of sustaining a progressive message and fascinating his Democratic outrageous.
Now I am becoming a little more skeptical and worried with his latest comments about Obama.
Barnes is receiving some poor advice from some of his advisors and from some political scientists.
Obama is viewed incorrectly as a Muslim by 1 of 5 Americans, but Obama received more votes in 2008 than any other presidential candidate along with receiving more votes from whites than Bill Clinton did.
However, it appears in a mid-term (non-presidential year) Barnes is succumbing to advice like this.
Obama is not the problem… it’s Barnes political and media strategy.
And if Barnes feels more comfortable with Sonny Perdue than Barack Obama, Democrats are in trouble.
It would be nice to recognize Barnes talk to Morehouse and Fort Valley State students instead of steering clear of them.
Younger voters–white and black ages 18-29– and minority voters across the board were instrumental in Obama and Bill Clinton’s victories. And simply build, Barnes is ignoring them. This may hinder Barnes from breaching the 50.1% threshold on November 2nd.
Barnes should know better.
Bill Clinton received criticism for passing a budget reconciliation bill in 1993 without a single Republican vote and raised taxes for millionaires along with targeted tax cuts, and by the time he left office, the country had a budget surplus.
Obama and the Democrats passed a health care law and have been able to stabilize the American economy with 2009 stimulus.
Barack Obama did lose Georgia in 2008, but only by five percentage points, and if Obama would have visited the Peach State more, Obama would have won the state.
Obama’s presence on the ballot helped former U.S. Senate candidate force a run-off with Republican Saxby Chambliss.
So why is Barnes trying to ‘diss’ Obama in 2010?
Obama received 1,844,123 Georgia votes in 2008 with his “Yes we can” progressive message.
Barnes received less than a million in both of his gubernatorial wins in a landslide win over Guy Millner in 1998 and his disappointing loss to Sonny Perdue in 2002.
Sonny Perdue has proved to be one of the worst governor’s in Georgia history, and has taken the Georgia economy to new depths that include continuous budget cuts to education and health care benefits and now furloughing teachers have become ‘normal’.
Governing is hard and Barnes should know that first hand, and making tough decisions is part of the job.
Everybody – especially among the working and middle class—is struggling right now on some level, but Barnes must do a better job of explaining himself and the Democratic Party’s accomplishments in order to win in November.
Barnes needs to be an advocate for the health care law, and provide solutions to accomplish it better instead of joining the Sonny Perdue-Nathan Deal band of skeptics who side with the insurance companies.
Take your own advice Mr. Barnes, and embrace your ‘base’ along with presenting your own plan for Georgia’s future– and actually accept Obama’s assist for once.
Filed under Car Insurance Companies by on Feb 27th, 2011. Comment.
Patrick Joseph Kennedy, the U.S. representative for Rhode Island’s First District, is, in many respects, exactly what one would expect of a young Kennedy: committed to progressive policies, haunted by an often-scandalous personal life, and full of the swagger that comes with membership in the country’s longest-lasting political dynasty—he is the son of Ted Kennedy and the nephew of John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy.
“I don’t need Bush’s tax cut,” he told a group of Young Democrats in 2003. “I have never worked a fucking day in my life.”[1] (According to CBS News, Kennedy’s office later called the comment “a self-deprecating joke that fell flat.”[2])
In fact, Kennedy has had a long career of government service, propelled in part (as Kennedy will admit[3]) by his family name. He was elected to the Rhode Island station house in 1988 when he was honest 21 years feeble and still a student at Providence College.[4] He rose to prominence in Providence where he chaired the House Rules Committee and sponsored a bill that required a seven-day wait to purchase firearms. He was re-elected twice.[5]
In 1994, at the age of 27, Kennedy was one of only six Democrats elected to Congress as Newt Gingrich’s Contract With America gave Republicans a strong advantage. At the time of his election, he was Congress’s youngest member.[6] The pace of Kennedy’s successes in Washington was as meteoric as it was in Providence. In 1999, he was selected by House leadership to serve as the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the main fundraising body for Democratic House members, and (buoyed by support for Democrats after the Republicans’ unpopular impeachment proceedings) Kennedy raised about $100 million for the 2000 election cycle—more than twice as much as the DCCC raised in 1998.[7] He was rewarded for this achievement with a seat on the influential Appropriations Committee, the committee responsible for budget allocations.
But Kennedy’s achievements—like those of his father, Ted—were tempered by his personal foibles. While attending the prestigious private high school Phillips Andover, Kennedy became addicted to cocaine and enrolled in a rehab facility.[9] In 2006, Kennedy was involved in two car accidents and, after allegations of drunk driving, he admitted to an Oxy Contin addiction and to problems with depression, alcoholism, and substance abuse. He has also shared how he has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.[10] Kennedy paid a settlement of $25,000 to a Los Angeles airport security guard who accused him of assault.[11] Kennedy also received public scrutiny after “The Providence Journal” reported that the Coast Guard had to escort a female companion of Kennedy’s off his yacht after a fight.[12] Kennedy was also accused of causing tens of thousands of dollars to a rented yacht and refusing to pay for the damages.[13] While Kennedy remains popular in his district and routinely wins more than 60 percent of the vote[14], these personal shortcomings may have led to his decision not to run for Senate or another higher office.
However, within his district, Kennedy remains popular and he has been able to exhaust his drug and alcohol problems to his advantage electorally. “The additional press I have gotten from this has obviously given me a bigger platform,” he told The Boston Globe in 2006.[15] The Globe further reported, “when voters in the First Congressional District are asked how they feel about their congressman being on one year’s probation, they praise him for being in recovery.”[16]
This willingness to forgive and see their congressman in a positive light is not complete altruism on behalf of Kennedy’s constituents. Kennedy has brought home many barrels of pork to his district—his seat on the Appropriations Committee helped him win $80 million of federal money for his district in 2006 and more than $650 million between 2001 and 2006[17]—and his political ideology is well aligned with his affluent, liberal district.
The First is the denser of Rhode Island’s two districts and traces the state’s coast and the border with Massachusetts. It includes the small-sized cities (pop. 40,000 to 75,000 each) of Pawtucket, Woonsocket, and (fragment of) the capital, Providence. It is historically an state of heavy manufacturing and the industry is still is a mountainous employer in the southern part of the district. In Providence, Brown University and Providence College (Kennedy’s alma mater) are large employers. Raytheon, a maritime defense contractor, and a Naval station in Newport are also large employers. The principal industry, however, is health care. Of the First’s top 13 employers, five are hospitals and one is CVS Pharmacy, Inc.[18]
While the shrimp, rich coastal hamlets tend to vote Republican, the “students and government workers push the First’s political lean to the left.”[19] Sixty percent of voters in the district are registered Democrats and 35 percent are registered Republicans. But the district has gone for Republican governors and senators in the recent past—Republican Senator Lincoln Chaffee won the district’s vote in 2000. Racially, the First is rather homogenous—80 percent of the district was white in 2000. Like Kennedy, the majority of the district is Roman Catholic.[20]
With his emphasis on health care, civil rights, and economic equality issues, Kennedy is squarely in agreement with his mainstream Original England district. He is a pragmatic liberal and, in 2002, he voted—at odds with his father, Ted, and the liberal sail of the Democratic Party—to authorize the Iraq war.[21] (The importance of defense contracting in his district may have played a roll in this; in 2006, Raytheon was his fourth largest donor.[22]) But, for the vast majority of votes and issues, Kennedy has sided with the party orthodoxy. Kennedy voted with the Democrats on civil liberties issues; he has voted to ban torture, to block FBI access to library records, and to disallow warrantless wiretaps. From 2003 to 2006, the nonpartisan Congressional Quarterly reported that Kennedy voted with his party 96 percent of the time.[23]
On foreign policy, Kennedy has migrated away from his initial support for the Iraq war. In 2006, Kennedy voted “No” to “affirm U.S. commitment to war in Iraq and reject setting a withdrawal date for troops.”[24] He has also voted against selling civilian nuclear technology to India and against the construction of a physical barrier on the U.S.-Mexico border.[25]
These positions, in part, have helped him maintain the strong support of his district. After defeating his Republican opponent in 1994 with 54 percent of the vote, Kennedy has won his reelection bids with at least 60 percent. In 2006, he won 69 percent of the First’s vote—almost three times as many votes as his Republican rival, Jonathan Scott.[26]
Kennedy’s popularity has allowed him to cut a wide path for himself in Congress and follow areas of legislation in which he has had personal experience. One such area, mental health legislation, lies at the bad roads of his personal battle with addiction and his district’s emphasis on health care. According to his Web site, “he has led the fight to pass mental health parity in the House, ending discrimination in health insurance.”[27] He has fought to classify substance abuse as mental illness for insurance purposes, and he has proposed legislation that would change the name of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to the National Institute on Alcohol Disorders and Health.[28]
Another legislative policy that Kennedy has focused on, also derives from personal experience. He has been a crusader for limiting assault weapons and for imposing more stringent restrictions on who can obtain firearms. In his efforts for this legislation, he has summoned the memory of his uncles John and Robert, who were killed by firearms. “Families like mine know all too well what the damage of weapons can do,” he said in a floor speech to Congress in 1996.[29] He has sponsored legislation to “strengthen and reauthorize the assault weapons ban.”[30]
Many of the bills that Kennedy sponsored are of the banal variety: related to symbolic gestures for his district and for the health care industry. He has moved to designate a “National Health Information Technology Week,” a “National Health Information Technology Week,” and a “School Social Work Week.” He has proposed a bill that would “establish a program to provide financial incentives to succor the adoption and use of interactive personal health records” and one to “amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a program of grants for the detection and control of colorectal cancer.”[31] Kennedy, in the habit of the House, has chosen to specialize in one issue—health care—and focus on legislation related to it.
In the mid-1990s Patrick Kennedy was a political phenom blessed with a famous surname and the same progressive policies and promising future that his father and uncles brought to Washington a generation prior. His personal demons played a roll in curbing his ambition to higher office. But he has come to terms with his problems and has parlayed his life experiences to his advantage: he has gained the sympathy and—more importantly—the respect of his district by addressing his problems head on. Aided in no tiny part by his ability to bring hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money, he has become a popular congressman destined to benefit his district for as long as his father has served as senator of Massachusetts.
[1] Lynch, Dotty. “Washington Wrap.” CBS News. June 27, 2003.
[2] Ibid.
[3] “When we’re going around the country, [the Kennedy name] helps get your calls returned,” he said. He also “rewarded major donors with visits to the family’s fabled compound in Hyannis Port, Mass. “—
“Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy.” CQ’s Politics in America 2008. 2007. CQ Press: Washington, DC. p. 893.
[4] Ibid.
[5] “About Patrick J. Kennedy.” Representative Patrick J. Kennedy. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
[6] “Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy.” CQ’s Politics in America 2008. 2007. CQ Press: Washington, DC. p. 893.
[7] Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, op.cit., p. 893.
[8] Ibid, p. 892.
[9] “Approval Ratings Fall for Rhode Island Rep. Kennedy.” Fox News. April 19, 2001. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
[10] Miga, Andrew. “Rep. Patrick Kennedy Enters Drug Rehab.” Associated Press. May 5, 2006.
[11] Approval Ratings Descend for Rhode Island Rep. Kennedy, op. cit.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Approval Ratings Fall for Rhode Island Rep. Kennedy, op. cit.
[14] Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, op.cit., p. 893.
[15] Jacobs, Sally. “Despite woes, Kennedy strong in R.I. Public rehab forges bonds with voters.” The Boston Globe. November 5, 2006.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Ibid.
[18] “Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy,” op. cit. AND
“Rhode Island 1st District.” Congressional Districts in the 2000s. 2003. CQ Press: Washington, DC.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Ibid.
[21] “Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy,” op. cit., p. 892
[22] “Patrick J. Kennedy.” Center for Responsive Politics. < http://www.opensecrets.org/ politicians/summary.php? cycle=2006&cid=N00000360> Retrieved 15 September, 2008.
[23] “Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy,” p. 892-893.
[24] Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy,” op. cit., p. 893
[25] Ibid.
[26] Ibid.
[27] About Patrick J. Kennedy. “Representative Patrick J. Kennedy.” Retrieved 16 September, 2008.
[28] “Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy,” op. cit., p. 892
[29] Ibid, p. 893
[30] About Patrick J. Kennedy, op. cit.
[31] “Rep. Kennedy, Patrick J.” The Library of Congress: Thomas. Retrieved 17 September, 2008.
Filed under Car Insurance Ratings by on Feb 25th, 2011. Comment.
We don’t age backwards, and even if we did children face some of the same issues elderly people do when trying to drive a car. Face it: aging can effect the plan you drive. Puberty has slowly turned more towards decomposition, but this isn’t a reason to get depressed and stay in the house. No, life is still full of things to do and hopping into the car and motoring around town can help emphasize that. Here are some features that can be found in today’s cars that might help you if you are an older driver, or actually may interest you regardless. The helpfulness of some of these features is indeed universal.
Active Head Restraints - If you’ve ever been in a car accident or even had to finish in a violent sudden, you may well know the feel of whiplash. Active Head Restraints are to support protect your neck from such pains; minor or major. These head restraints are an extension of the seat which many people call headrests. The problem many have with head restraints is that they don’t adjust them into the appropriate plot, basically rendering them useless. However, there are vehicles now that have active head restraints that will adjust automatically depending on the location the seat itself is positioned into.
Adjustable Pedals - Adjustable Pedals are the type that allow a driver, generally at the push of a button, to adjust the distance of the vehicle’s pedals from their feet. This can be quite beneficial for shorter drivers.
Brake Assist - According to Wikipedia, in 1998 Mercedes Benz became the first company to make brake assist standard on all of its vehicles. Volvo and BMW have also done this. Essentially, it is what it states in its name: technology to help you with braking of the car. It is there to assure that there is enough pressure applied to terminate the vehicle when and as it needs to be stopped.
Dual Stage/Dual Threshold Air Bags: On these air bags the inflation rate or force at which the bag pops out is adjusted depending upon certain factors such as: the weight of the driver, the distance the driver is seated from where the bag will deploy, and the severity of the crash.
Four Doors: Having a vehicle with four doors instead of two can make entry and exit of a vehicle easier overall.
Large Knobs and Buttons: Check out the knobs, buttons, and levers within the vehicle that are used to control things such as the air conditioner. Larger buttons may develop adjusting such things easier, especially when you are trying to keep your attention on the road.
Wide Angle Mirrors: Bigger mirrors with wider angles provide the driver with a better concept, without having to twist and turn as much to look.
Low Trunk Height: A lower trunk will effect it easier to load things into it. You won’t have to heft up a heavy package as high.
Moderate Step-in Height: Support in mind how high a vehicle sits off of the ground. Some vehicles, such as bigger trucks are going to require extra effort and energy to climb up into. However, a lower step-in like found on many low riding sports cars could equally hinder a passenger trying to glean in and out., thanks to door entry design. Instead of going after that Corvette you can finally afford, might want to find something that rides a bit more mid-level.
Power Operated Seats: Adjust your seats with the push of a button instead of manually cranking on or pulling on a lever.
Side Air Bags: Side air bags add more protection in a crash.
Stability Control: This feature comes in extra handy on slippery roads. It is designed to help maintain control of the vehicle. This extra assistance can reach in handy to those who have slower reaction times to danger and obstacles.
Tilt/ Telescoping Steering Wheel: A steering wheel that is more adjustable will also execute the driver safer depending on the shape and form. The wheel can be moved for comfort and for distancing the driver the proper distance from the air bag.
Wide Angle Mirrors: Bigger mirrors with wider angles provide the driver with a better view, without having to twist and turn as considerable to search for.
Here is an automobile geared source you may salvage useful and the link to the Wikipedia article I quoted in Brake Assist:
www.aaa.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_assist
Filed under Car Insurance Wikipedia by on Feb 23rd, 2011. Comment.
Used trucks are at a premium right now in this economy. The cost of buying a brand new truck anywhere is impartial a bit too much to swallow for many small businesses, farmers and car buyers. Even in markets such as Sioux Falls, used trucks are a hot item.
According to the Keloland Automall statistics, the most searched truck for sale is a old-fashioned Ford F150. The Keloland Automall covers the Sioux Falls, Sioux City, and Northwest Iowa region, so that’s quite a big territory of people looking for used Ford F150s for sale.
Before you buy a used truck in Sioux Falls, or anywhere, you need to execute sure you know exactly what you need it for. That will determine the type of truck you recall. Are you hauling items, hauling trailers, or just driving around town? Do you need dually? What about GPS? There are many options in used trucks, so make sure you know what you need and then beget a list of what you want.
After you have your list, call your insurance agent and secure out how much insurance will cost on the different trucks you are looking to buy. You don’t want a nasty surprise after you’ve already bought your truck. This is one thing many buyers don’t think of doing. But different vehicles have drastically different insurance premiums. It doesn’t hurt to check that out before you buy a new to you vehicle.
Next check the safety ratings and consumer reviews. There are many different websites that review vehicles or have consumer reviews. I like reading Consumer Reports for their objective reviews. I usually cut whittle down my list after reading reviews.
If you don’t need a big engine, then I would recommend against buying a used truck with one. They are gas guzzlers. It’s painful filling your tank when gas is advance or over $4 a gallon.
Also reflect if this will be a family truck. Extended cabs are nice, but can be a proper pain to find a parking spot. You have to park diagonally else the encourage end sticks out quite a ways.
Finally you are ready to read dealership reviews and find the best place to buy from. Customer service is large and I can’t stress that enough.
Make sure you do your due diligence and you’ll make a great used truck purchase without any buyer’s remorse.
Search trucks for sale in Iowa City by looking for Iowa City dealerships.
Filed under Car Insurance Reviews by on Feb 20th, 2011. Comment.
