Canada Newswire is urging Canadian drivers to renew their auto insurance before September 1st in order to keep medical benefits associated with their policies.
After the deadline, medical coverage will drop from $100,000 of medical coverage to $3,500 for all injuries classified as “minor” by the insurance industry, including whiplash. By renewing now, that $100,00 of medical coverage will stay with you for another year.
According to Consumer Advocate Lee Romanov, “By renewing now I’ve kept my $100,000 coverage for Medical Treatment 10 extra months.”
Medical coverage is not the only element of auto insurance affected by the cut to Accident Benefits that goes into force next week. $72,000 of Attendant Care, Housekeeping, and Care Giving Expenses have also been eliminated in the name of saving money, but, insurance experts say, the average savings is only 1%.
Romanov elaborates, “It’s adding insult to injury implying it’s a savings for consumers, when it’s obviously a savings for the insurance industry. I was paying $2,576 for my car insurance, I went online, found a rate for $1,634, cancelled my existing policy and had another policy issued. I’m keeping my $100,000 Medical Coverage an additional 10 months with a 36% rate decrease as opposed to the 1%. That’s a savings of $942 instead of $26.”
A survey conducted in England by a British auto insurer reveals some interesting behavior about new car drivers. Most don’t have a clue about how their new cars work; they just get in and drive off.
The piece was eye-catching for me as I flashed back to a frantic call to my dealership several years ago as I was standing outside my car with the alarm shrieking and no idea how to stop it. I, like 35% of drivers (or at least those in England) hadn’t even glanced at the manual or I might have known to close the door, insert, and turn the key to disengage the alarm. (Notice it just took one ear-splitting incident for me to commit that procedure to memory.)
According to the study, 51% of drivers flick through the manual. Forty percent of women are more likely to drive without reading the manual as compared to 30% of men. The top five problems resulting from this self-imposed ignorance are:
- No idea how to open the hood.
- Clueless on the sound system.
- Stumped by seat position.
- Groping to turn on the headlights.
- Ditto for the wipers.
Thankfully, I was saved most of that by a salesman who wouldn’t let me have the keys until I knew how to do each one of those things. Coincidentally, that’s exactly what the study recommended — dealers and garages walking new car owners through the basics before letting them tool off in their new cars.
Seriously, in the event of an accident caused by your fumbling to find the light switch, neither the police officer nor your insurance agent is going to be all that thrilled with the news that you didn’t just read the book in the glove compartment. We all know about defensive driving how about some defensive reading?
While women are still considered lesser risks when it comes to car insurance – they still get better rates than men, for example – when women are driving alone they do have to be a bit more cautious than their male counterparts. Horror stories abound, but the reality is that some common sense safety tips will keep most women safe on the road, whether they’re traveling long distances, or just making a late-night commute.
What sort of safety precautions are advised? Here are some suggestions, provided by Irish driving club authority AA Roadwatch, and modified for a North American audience:
While You’re On the Road:
- If your car doors don’t auto-lock when you disengage the parking brake, lock them automatically, especially if you’re driving at night, or in questionable neighborhoods.
- Don’t keep your purse on the passenger seat. Leave it on the floor behind you, or on the floor in front of the passenger seat.
- Keep your back seat as empty as possible. If you’re on a shopping trip, or have a laptop you typically carry with you, put your bags or computer case in the trunk.
- Noise deters. If a stranger approaches your car, or another car is trying to push you out of your lane, or make you stop, use your horn.
- Trust your instincts. If you think you’re being followed, immediately go to a busy public place, such as a mall or shopping center – especially one with police presence. Failing that, find the nearest police station.
- Never, ever, pick up hitchhikers.
- Always keep your cell phone charged and accessible.
In Garages and Parking Lots:
- Always pick a well-lit spot. If you’re parking during the day, but know it will be dark when you leave, be sure you consider what the space will look like at night.
- Wherever it’s legal, and possible, back into a parking space, so you can drive straight out.
- Have your keys out and ready as you’re approaching your car; don’t waste time looking for them.
Must women follow tips like these for a few days, and then generally slack off. The key to staying safe, is staying alert, and listening to your instincts.
Every good business adviser or financial planner will tell you: when you’re ready to shop for any big ticket item, whether it’s a new refrigerator, a new car, or insurance for your car, the best thing you can do is comparison shop. Doing so is likely the only way to be certain you’re getting the very best deal on whatever you’re trying to buy.
In today’s world, with demanding work schedules, homes, children, and dogs to take care of, and the fact that many people feel pressured to buy when dealing with sales representatives face to face, more and more consumers are turning to the Internet to do their research. It is for this reason that so many insurance companies are offering quotes via the web.
Comparison shoping online gives consumers the ability to obtain free insurance quotes without having to provide detailed personal information. Instead, most websites require fairly basic information – the make and model of the car you want to explore, your age, gender and marital status, and sometimes, a zip code. Using this, almost every insurance company has enough data to generate at least a basic quote, subject to documentation of all the input information, of course.
How do you pick which companies to request quotes from? Do your research. If Titan is one of the insurers your considering, find and read a Titan Auto Insurance review; if Geico strikes your fancy, check out what Consumer Reports says about them. Ask your friends and colleagues which companies they use, and check out their websites.
Is Shopping Online Safe?
If you’re concerned that online research isn’t enough, or that it’s not safe, consider what the Missouri Department of Insurance had to say, “The Department recommends that you get three quotes when shopping. But with Internet shopping, three quotes take no time at all. You could probably get 20 quotes in the same amount of time it takes to drive to or call three agents.”
Online comparison shopping would seem to be the best way to research prospective insurers, then. It’s efficient, it’s inexpensive, and you can do it from work during your lunch hour, or even at home in your pajamas.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety isn’t content with merely picking the safest cars on the road, they also want consumers to know how to shop for safety features when they go to the car dealership. Rather than letting you be dazzled by deals on GPS systems and Bluetooth compatibility, they believe you should look at safety first.
When analyzing safety features, the IIHS says, there are two key categories you should pay attention to: crash avoidance, and crash worthiness. What’s the difference between them?
Crash Avoidance includes technology like rear cameras to help you safely back up, traction control, for better tire gripping on less-than-perfect road surfaces, and electronic stability control, which helps your vehicle handle curves and turns more smoothly.
Crash Worthiness on the other hand, is divided into three areas: size, structure, and safety restraints.
- Size: When it comes to crashes, bigger is better. Larger vehicles tend to have crumple zones – space between the front bumper and the interior, that can wrinkle without causing serious injuries. Heavier vehicles are less likely to roll over, or sustain much damage.
- Structure: Crash-worthy structures include roll bars, rubber bumpers, safety cages, and reinforced door posts – basically anything intrinsic to the design of a car that makes it more likely to withstand impact.
- Safety Restraints: These include everything from basic seatbelts to airbags – and the safest cars have a full compliment of the latter, including side-curtain airbags – as well as the ability to disengage the front airbags if the driver or front-seat passenger is smaller than five feet tall.
When shopping for you next car, choose one that has an array of crash avoidance and crash worthiness features, for the safest ride, but remember that no technology can protect you from an accident caused by being distracted. Keep your eyes on the road, and not on the video monitor or cell phone screen.
Advice & How-to, Canada Car Insurance | Cari | 
August 23, 2010 6:11 PM | 
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