My girlfriend’s place here in Mississippi is often flooded when it rains hard and I’m worried that if I fetch her, my car would break down. In case this happens, would my insurance coverage pay for the damages in my car?

Bob

Jackson, MS

One of the factors that determine what your auto insurance premium should be is the risk that there is in the environment where you “regularly” go to or park your vehicle. If you and your girlfriend go out together before you got your car insurance, you may have to inform your car insurance agent about it. You have to know that small details like this matter much to insurance companies since it puts your vehicle to a situation wherein you may make a claim because your vehicle might suffer damages. However, normally, insurance companies cover claims like yours only if you have what they call a “comprehensive coverage.” This means that your insurance covers your vehicle for losses that may result from incidents other than collision. Such incidents may include falling objects, explosion or missiles, fire, earthquake, storms and hails, theft, malicious mischief, riot or civil commotion, collision with animals, and in your case flooding. In case any of these happens to your car while it is under a comprehensive coverage, the insurance company would pay you an amount equivalent to how much you need to get your car fixed. However, if your insurance company arrives in the decision of “totaling” your car, it would pay you your car’s cash value instead. Of course, the company would have to take into consideration your car’s depreciation and thus deduct it to what you declared as its initial actual value.

Would it be okay to shop around for a new auto insurance company while an auto accident that I figured in is still being processed? I mean, accidents tend to affect insurance premiums adversely. The accident was not my fault, by the way. My name is Mary and I live in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Mary

Gulfport, MS

I know what you mean. I totally get it. I know that insurance companies tend to give you steeper premiums if your insurance history lists an auto accident even if you were not at fault. The thing is, if you do that, it could be considered as an attempt to defraud the company. So, if they notice the hazy order of events in your insurance application, you could be in bigger trouble.

There are instances, however, where insurance agents are not able to find recent accident records or choose to ignore it. Usually within a year or so, the insurance history black eye won’t be noticed. If they don’t see it, it’s not going to be your fault and your premium will not be affected. There is a chance you can fly under the radar, so to speak. So, the next best step that you can do after the accident if you plan to change insurance companies would be to shop around and hope that the flying under the radar thing happens. If it does, you may be safe for a year or so. Just be careful with it, though. If they find out about it after a year, they may declare that you left it out on purpose and deny any of your claims, citing violation of disclosure laws. Check your local office in Gulfport, Mississippi, and find what you can about this disclosure law just to be sure.

I bought a car for my son on a loan here in Mississippi. Since he is the one who is going to use the car, I would just like to put the car insurance policy in his name. Is that possible? The loan, of course, is under my name. I hope you can explain this law to me.

Jasmin

Gulfport, MS

Unfortunately, Jasmin of Mississippi, the car insurance policy must be under your name. It is generally required of the borrower to provide a full coverage car insurance policy. This is meant to protect the lender until the car is fully paid. You yourself must be responsible for any kind of damage on the car. If you are not able to do this, your car may be subject to repossession. Hence, you really don’t have much of a choice but to purchase a full coverage car insurance policy under your name.

You don’t have to worry about getting your son covered, though. If you list him as one of the drivers of the car, he will still be covered in case of any accident or road trouble. How old is he? If he is a teenager, this might raise your premium a bit, but there sure are some ways to save money, too. Paying yearly instead of monthly, keeping your car safe through accessories such as alarms, and maintaining a good driving record lower the probability of accidents. The fewer the risks, the lower the premium.

Here’s another tip. Study the advantages of gap insurances. This is not included in the full coverage car insurance policy, but it is very useful for cars which are still being paid for. Should your car be totaled, gap insurance will shoulder the difference between the value of your car (at the time of the accident) and the loan you still have to pay for. In some cases, the value of the car is less than the unpaid balance of your loan, so the borrower must pay for the difference using his own money. I’m sure you wouldn’t want that to happen to you.

How can I purchase auto insurance online? Is it different from buying through an agent in Mississippi?

Marty

Jackson MS

First, it’s a good idea for you to purchase your auto insurance needs online as this can give you a lot of discounts. How to buy auto insurance online is not a complicated process in Mississippi. It simply requires you to fill out an online application form that is available in an insurer’s Web site. Once the form is filled, you can click the submit button and wait for an instant feedback from the insurer. The approval could take 24 to 48 hours. Finding the form is not difficult because it’s very clear from the front page what button you should click. Before buying insurance though, you may want to consider getting a few quotes first so that you don’t end up buying a policy that is more expensive compared to others. The auto insurance quotes are not difficult to obtain so long as you follow the given directions. The steps are provided and all you need to do is to follow them. This will not require a lot of your time.

How to buy auto insurance from an agent may be a little different since the agent gets to do the work. This may be less hassle for you but you have little control of the process. The agent will likely do his best to convince you to buy whatever it is he has placed on the table because if you won’t, he’ll be doing another work. This is different in how to buy auto insurance online because you get to adjust the coverages until such time that you are satisfied with it.

If you want to know which is more ideal, I would say that buying online presents more advantages compared to buying from an agent. There is the fact that you can do it anytime of the day in the comfort of your home or anywhere that is connected to the World Wide Web.

Is it true that cheap car insurances Mississippi are no longer offered by car insurers? My husband says he has noticed most car insurance companies raising their car insurance premiums. Many thanks.

Marianne

Jackson, MS

While there might be a trend of increasing car insurance rates in your area, saying that cheap car insurances Mississippi is no longer in offered by the market may be too much to say. The reality is, the intense competition among car insurance companies in the region can only push some insurance companies to lower their rates in order to attract more customers.

It could be that your husband didn’t shop hard enough to find cheap car insurances Mississippi. The important thing in looking for cheap car insurances is to shop as extensively as possible. There are numerous ways for car owners to find information on cheap car insurance in Mississippi. There’s the Internet and there’s the yellow pages. Either of these resources can give you excellent details on car insurance companies offering the lowest car insurance rates in the area.

There are other ways to find cheaper car insurance in your area. For example, you can inquire with your current insurance provider if they are giving discounts to multiple policy holders. If they do, then you can get significant savings on your car insurance policy.

I am desperate to get the cheapest car insurance in the Mississippi area. How do I find the insurance policy that has the most affordable rate?

Mark

Jackson, MS

You can find the cheapest car insurance policy by going online. Look for a good website that offers car cheapest insurance online quote Mississippi. These websites are typically managed by car insurance brokers or car insurance companies. They give good tips on how car owners like you can save on their car insurance expenses by getting the cheapest car insurance policy that the industry has to offer.

All you need to do is to log on to one of these car insurance websites. Fill out a form there indicating your personal background and information on your vehicle. Within minutes, you will be provided with car cheapest insurance online quote Mississippi. Decide if the quote is good enough for your budget. But since you want the cheapest one, you will have to visit a couple more car insurance websites.

Once you get several car cheapest insurance online quote Mississippi, you can pick out which among them is the lowest. However do not just consider the rates. You also have to be sure that the insurer is a reputable car insurance company because you may have difficulties making claims with an insurer that is not financially strong.