Seriously.How do you really understand your car insurance coverage?
Answer:
Have you heard of "Buyer beware" the only way someone can get over on you is if you let them..educate yourself so you know what you are getting into with major/important purchases. Take a few days or even weeks researching when it comes to the major buys like a house or a car. You have the wrong perception on how insurance works. The main principal governing it is called indemnity. Defined "to make whole again" What you paid for something is irrelevant. It's the value of the item. Why would you think that the note would get paid in full?? Losses for autos are paid by ACV (actual cash value) not RC (replacement cost) unless is a classic or antique vehicle that has an "agreed value". Chances are you wont even get kelly blue book "good" rate. So you'll be out even more money. The company I work for includes new car replacement cost included in the policy, but it is only on brand new cars. It gives you the same car yr make and model only if it is a total loss and it occurs within 15 months or 15,000 miles which ever comes first. Remember...slow down and educate yourself. That way you wont be shocked if something like that happens to you. Imagine the poor guy that had that happen to them and never even even saw it coming! Things to remember..read you policy and ask alot of questions, and don't blame your insurance company..blame the car salesman who was just so freakin greedy and doesn't care what happens to you after you sign that paperwork and the finiance company for not telling you as well..not the insurance company.
insurance covers the car not the note. get gap insurance, that is a policy to cover the note when you are upside down. you get gap ins. from your bank
2 points
Comprehensive auto insurance covers the blue-book value of the car, minus the deductible. If you are concerned about the difference between the blue-book value and what you owe, you need to purchase what they call Gap Insurance, or Umbrella Insurance. This will cover the difference between your standard insurance coverage and the actual value of the vehicle. Call your insurance company or your lending agent for more details on purchasing gap insurance. It's a very good thing to have if you're not willing to risk being $4,500 in the hole if your car gets totaled.
You need to speak with an auto insurance agent and get him or her to explain the coverages. Always ask questions if you don't understand. That is what an agent is for. Loan/lease gap insurance is what you need and is available on many policies for a reasonable fee. This is sometimes sold with your car loan too.
Also, an insurance policy is supposed to put you back where you were - ie, the value of the car at the time of the loss. It is not supposed to make you better than you were. I used to have a company that sold replacement cost coverage, there may be some out there that do.
you need to get GAP insurance. It covers what you owe. Insurance companies offer it. Shop around.
Policy wording varies company to company, and state to state. The BEST thing to do is read over your policy, then sit down with your agent to go over the parts you're fuzzy about.
Unfortunately, "Geico" doesn't have an agent that works for you, but you CAN call them and talk to someone over the phone and ask them about how much you'd get.
More bad news, car dealers overcharge for cars when they can!!
Also unfortunately, people these days tend to buy cars with money they don't have - they borrow the money, which is a seperate deal than the policy between you & Geico. You CAN ask them if it's too late to add "gap" coverage to the physical damage portion of your policy - that pays the difference between the payoff on your car and the actual cash value, so you're not TOO screwed over.
You deductibles are at standard 500.00. IF you have a comprehensive or collision accident and the vehicle is totaled then you would get that actual cash value for you vehicle minus your deductible. So if it has an actual cash value of only 10,000 then you would be paid 9,500.00 for your vehicle. You woulod then owe your finance company the difference between what your insurance company paid and you loan balance int his case it would be 5,000.00. You are upside down on you loan meaning that you owe more than the vehicle is worth. I would suggest to you to get GAP insurance asap. GAP insurance pays the difference between what your insurance company paid and your loan balance. Your insurance company is not trying to get over on you, it looks like you finance company is.
I think that the #1thing that people never think about when they consider their car insurance coverages is that one of THE most important and expensive coverages on your policy is for medical costs for injuries sustained to you or any of your passengers in your vehicle. This can extend from minor injuries such as whiplash to death. Yes, it is important to protect loss of property, but if you are ever in a major car accident and there are injuries, the last thing you are going to be thinking about is how much you are going to be getting back for the car.
By only covering the vehicle (as opposed to the loan on a vehicle) the insurance company can charge you less. If you owe more than the vehicle is worth, you can purchase gap coverage to pay the difference. If you buy it from the auto insurance company, be careful to make sure you know how big of gap the insurance company will cover. In your case, the gap is quite large, so you might not be able to find a policy that covers it all.
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