People are looking around for insurance policy right now and the insurance companies know this. They know consumers are thinking that they are paying money into these policies and if we’re lucky we don’t see anything in return because nothing bad had happened.

So you can go out there or go online to places like www.insurer.com, www.netquote.com are some of the websites that can really help you shop around. One thing to be cautioned about is that the bottom line and the cheapest policy aren’t always the best.

You want to get your insurance policy with the insurer who will be around to pay out if something bad happened. You want an insurer to be there if something happened.

Basic steps to save money on your insurance costs

1. Improve your credit score – a lot of people don’t think about this but the insurance companies check your credit score.
2. Auto insurance, increase deductible – increase your deductible from $500-$1000 and it could really save you money.
3. Bundle policies – being a loyal customer to a single insurer to give you the best deals.
4. Auto insurance, cancel collision/comprehensive coverage on old cars – think about how old your automobile is and asked yourself if you really need collision and comprehensive coverage insurance to protect your automobile. Is it worth paying all that money?
5. Auto insurance, ask for discounts – if you’re a student with good grades, that could give you a discount. If you’re someone with a professional degree that could keep you a discount. These are some the things anyone can look into the save some money on your auto insurance coverage.
6. Home and auto insurance – get an alarm system for your home or car.
7. Home insurance – rethink some of your policy, for example if you used to have expensive jewelries but you know longer have it anymore. Think about cutting those kinds of policies and a lot of times when you have these jewelries policy, you end up paying more to insure them than the cost of the jewelries itself.
8. Life insurance – think about why you need life insurance policy. Do you have dependents? Do you have a spouse or somebody you need to leave or protect if something happened to you?

   A lot of times people can get term life insurance policy, this lasts about 5 to 15 years or whatever you agree to. This can be a lot cheaper for people who buy a whole or permanent life insurance policy.

9. Life insurance – eliminate unhealthy and harmful behaviors. Stop smoking can cut down on your life insurance cost.
10. Health insurance – eliminate out-of-network option. A couple things people can do is to see your doctor that you want to go to are in the managed care network and that may save you some money from the network part of your policy.
11. Health insurance – cut back on some of the clauses that you do not need. For example, you are not going to leave for maternity leave or going to the dentist. You may be able to cut back on those clauses of your insurance and save some money.
12. Health insurance – if you are in the professional organization, if you are in the union you can shop around for less expensive health insurance.
13. Wedding insurance – if you are looking to save money do not get wedding insurance. The wedding insurance is to protect you from weather disasters or for some reason your dressmaker takes off with your check. Have a backup plan in case something happened because you don’t want to reinvite everybody to your wedding.

Here is five simple steps to lower your auto insurance bill

1. Pay all your bills on time in order to keep your credit score up.
2. Raise your deductible. If you raise your deductible from $200-$500, you can see your premium can drop as much as 15% to 30%. If you raise your deductible from $200-$1000, you can see your premium drop as much as 40%.

   The key on how much deductible is right for you is how much cash you have for that emergency fund in case something goes wrong.

   If you raise your deductible to $1000 that means you will have to pay $1000 to the auto insurance company before your insurance kicks in and the math is that 40% deduction will give you enough cash coming in to save up for that $1000.

   Psychologically it feels better if you got into accident and you would only have to pay $200. It’s not math issue because mathematically if you add each month how much you would save in the premium. It would exceed the typical deductible amount of $1000 and that’s the whole point of raising deductible.

   The flipside is that you don’t spend that money you’re saving on the lower premium which is sometime what happened and that is when people get into problems and can’t pay for the deductible.

3. Ask your auto insurance provider if you are eligible for any discounts. We hear this all the time on TV ads but how much does it really save you money?

   Surprisingly you can save 10% to 15% is not abnormal. If you are a good driver with no speeding tickets, you’re married, and if you have multiple policy at the same carrier. Often times you can see 10% to 15% discounts.

   These are some the things they would not offer to you and you would have to ask for it.

4. Don’t text or talk and drive. If you have an accident due to distracted driving, you will have a hard time renewing your auto insurance policy.

   What is more interesting now is that it cost more to insure teenage girls then teenage boys because texting while driving has exceeded testosterone and driving fast.

   This tells you a lot about how serious texting while driving really is.

5. Shop around. Auto insurance premium can vary significantly from one carrier to another.

   A lot of times people say it is such a pain in the neck to do this but ironically is not that difficult. There are two great websites www.insurance.com and www.insweb.com are great websites to do this. You can go there to the websites or you can call a couple of insurance carriers and for 15 minutes you can literally save yourself $1000 or more on your auto insurance depending on your adjustments.

Honestly, the amount of insurance varies depending on your age, your sex, location, and the distance of driving per day, and so on. So you’re cost of insurance will depend on that but the reasonable amount to spend on auto insurance is around $1000 per year per car.

When we say around it means it vary dramatically in different cities. If you live in certain cities, rates could be higher than other cities because of different traffic conditions.

So about $1000 per year per car, for expensive car it could be around $1200-$1300 per year and for older less expensive car it could be under $700-$800 per year.

Step one, check your credit reports for any errors because auto insurance companies use your credit to determine your rate. Request a copy of your credit report by locking on to annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228, you’re entitled to have one free copy per year.

Step two, find out the minimum car insurance that is required by law under your State Department of Insurance website. Only New Hampshire and Wisconsin don’t require car insurance but says they do require people to pay for their accidents, most people carry insurance anyway.

Step three, consider buying more liability insurance than the state requirements. Some consumer groups recommend a minimum of $100,000 of injuries per person, $300,000 per accident, and $100,000 in property damage reliability. Most American car insurance does not cover you if you drive outside of the US, some policy are valid in Canada and Mexico but check if your coverage meet those requirements.

Step four, collision coverage pays for the repair or replacement of your vehicle. If your car is more than five years old or less than $4000, it may not be worth getting collision coverage.

Step five, comprehensive coverage covers if someone steal your vehicle or your vehicle was damaged by a storm, fire, hail or vandalism but if your car is more than 12 years old, unless it is of valuable vintage car. The cost may outweigh the benefits.

Step six, considered other add-ons such as medical, emergency roadside assistance and glass breakage.

Consider buying uninsured/under-insured motorist protection, even if your state does not require this. This provision protects you from someone with no insurance causes a collision with you.

Step seven, shop around. Get a general quote from an auto insurance company website by inserting basic information such as your zip code. Some auto insurance companies websites offer different quotes from different companies, so you can compare different auto insurance rates in one website.

Just be aware that these colds online are only the bare bone policies with no add-on.

Step eight, once you choose the auto insurance company. Ask if you’re eligible for any discounts. Having airbags, anti-lock brakes, anti-theft devices in your vehicle can reduce your auto insurance rates. So does a clean driving record, carpooling, a car with low mileage, credit score, and good grades if you’re a student.

Drivers between the ages of 50 to 65 may also qualify for discounts.

Step nine, use the highest deductible you can afford in order to pay the lowest premium possible.

Step ten, once you have decided on a policy. Paid the entire premium upfront to save on the monthly service fees.

Did you know an estimated 14% of drivers in the US are on insured?

That is a new proposal in San Diego.

The idea is that the person at fault has to pay and to figure out the person at fault will be determined by the Auto Insurance Recovery as well as the auto insurance companies are the one who will determine the person at fault.

Uninsured drivers will get penalized because technically all drivers need auto insurance but there are some who don’t have. The uninsured motorists in California may have their vehicle impounded by any law agencies.

The auto insurance companies are against this claiming it is double taxation’s because home owners are already paying property taxes to cover these cleanup services.

The auto insurance industry is out with its ranking for the safest car on the roads in 2010. The list has been a lot shorter than the past years, but it is full of good news for Detroit auto makers.

Few vehicles got top mark this year from the auto Insurance Industry of Highway Safety but among the winners were American cars. Giving the year they had, any achievement is worth celebrating.

94 vehicles got the top prize for last year, now only 27 vehicles got the top ranking in 2010. This includes 19 cars, 8 SUVs. The large drop was due to tougher requirements for roof strength.

The new requirements by the Insurance Industry of Highway Safety for roof strength require the vehicle to support four times the vehicle weight in order to earn good ratings. The vehicles are also tested in front, rear and side crashes. For consideration of qualifying all vehicles must have electronic stability control to prevent skidding.

For the American auto industry, which were on the skid for more than a year there was good news in the Ford and its Volvo unit which got most awards for any company. Followed by Japanese auto maker company Subaru and the German Volkswagen, with five awards per piece.

Chrysler picked up 4 awards, and General Motors picked up 2 awards.

All vehicles have to meet all basic federal requirements in order to be sold. These are the vehicles that go far beyond that.
There are still major problems for Ford and the entire American auto industry. These auto safety awards and General Motors lower than expected losses might mean the automakers like the vehicles they produce are finally getting some stability control.

Insurance Industry of Highway Safety Awards for 2010

Large cars
Buick LaCrosse
Ford Taurus
Lincoln MKS
Volvo S80
Midsize cars
Audi A3
Chevrolet Malibu built after October 2009
Chrysler Sebring 4-door with optional electronic stability control
Dodge Avenger with optional electronic stability control
Mercedes C class
Subaru Legacy
Subaru Outback
Volkswagen Jetta sedan
Volkswagen Passat sedan
Volvo C30

Small cars
Honda Civic 4-door models (except Si) with optional electronic stability control
Kia Soul
Nissan Cube
Subaru Impreza except WRX
Volkswagen Golf 4-door

Midsize SUVs
Dodge Journey
Subaru Tribeca
Volvo XC60
Volvo XC90
Small SUVs
Honda Element
Jeep Patriot with optional side torso airbags
Subaru Forester
Volkswagen Tiguan

Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

It’s no accident cars are getting safer, increasingly new vehicles are being equipped with side airbags to protect the driver and passengers from head injuries. Electronic stability control help reduce skid and rollovers but insurance industry crash tests reveal that some cars are safer than others.

Rating just out, named 13 vehicles as top safety pick for 2007.

The Audi A6 wins for large car for side, rear and front impact crash. Saab 9-3, Subraru Legacy, and Audi A4, are all top for midsize vehicles. These vehicles have good crash test ratings in addition they have electronic stability control to help drivers from getting into crash.

For 2007 minivan top safety pick goes to Hundai Entourage and Kia Sedona. Along with seven sports utility vehicles.

The Mercedes M Class and the Volvo XC90 get the highest rating for large SUVs.

Among midsize competitors are Accra RDX, Honda Pilot, and Subaru B9 Tribeca are in top honors. The Honda CRV and the Subaru Forester are rated the safest vehicle for small SUVs class.

For carmakers, these top marks will likely translate to higher sales. Consumers are use to shop for horsepower, sound system and styling. Now they are looking into more on crash tests and safety ratings.

Automakers recognize that consumers are paying attention to the safety ratings to protect their family when they buy a new car. So, now we are seeing more new cars improving safety each year and that both consumer and automakers must make that a goal.

The insurance industry is happy to sell you insurance just about anything you want. There are four things you need to keep in mind regarding insurance.

The first one is to cover big risks, only risk that will financially devastate you need to be insure. For example, if you are the breadwinner of the house with kids, get life insurance for yourself so your dependents can take care of themselves and pay the bills if something happen to you.

Second, do not over insure. Buy the right kind of insurance and with the right amount. Don’t buy too much, avoid policies that only paid on certain events were only cover a certain loan.

Cancel coverage that you don’t really need. For example, disability is important to ensure your income that if you can’t work you still have income to pay your bills but when you’re retired you don’t need disability coverage. Many retired people keep it but they should cancel it.

Keep your emotions out. Do not buy insurance for emotions reason, it should be an objective reason. If you are very emotional about a recent tragedy, wait and cool off for a little while before you buy insurance to cover your family.

Insurance for weddings, this is very popular in the UK and is now taking a hold of the United States. You can buy insurance that cover the facility cancellation fee, no-show photographer, stolen gifts and even policy to cover if the bride or groom get cold feet. The wedding insurance can cost about 1 to 2% of the wedding ceremony. Deal with reputable insurance companies that will give you the refund if something wrong happened. In general, you don’t need to buy this, just make sure you are careful when planning your wedding and with the wedding services.

Travel insurance is really three components. One, trip cancellation, two personal items coverage, and travel medical coverage. Trip cancellation fee and personal items coverage, make sure you deal with a reputable travel insurance agency. If you have to cancel your trip it will be refundable back to your credit or cruise line. Buy the cancellation waiver only, which is 40 or $50. Because travel with trip cancellation can cost $500-$700, cancellation waiver cost a lot lower. Check your homeowner policy it may cover that or if you book your trip on your credit card it may have cancellation coverage and personal items coverage.

Travel medical insurance is important if you are traveling abroad especially for rock-climbing, scuba diving, any kind of extreme activities. Your health insurance may not cover emergency medical attention or emergency medical evacuation, so check your health insurance policy and you may want to buy travel medical insurance.

Something else is getting very popular right now is buying insurance for your pets. The trend is people are humanizing their pet and treating them as family members. There is pet health insurance coverage for routine treatments, exams, x-rays and surgeries. The average cost is about $30-$40 per month or $350-$500 per year. Our advice is only cover something will put you at financial risk and pet insurance is not something we would recommend buying.

No auto insurance policies are the same but most drivers figure they know what important to their insurance policy. While your road record is a factor but so is your credit score, nearly every auto insurance company are starting to use your credit score to set your premium. Some may put more weight on your credit history than your driving history.

State Senator Jeff Plale had cosponsor a bill that banned the practice because he says on the surface it doesn’t seem to make sense.

However, the auto insurance industry says there is a link, in fact they say state and federal studies have constantly found a strong correlation between credit scores and the risk of loss. There are several studies done that demonstrate a high correlation between your credit score and your likelihood to file a claim and it correlates with both numbers of claims and the dollar amount.

That may be the key risk the auto insurance company are assessing and not the risk of getting into an accident, it is the risk of filing a claim. That the insurance companies claim credit score can help in the future.

Credit scoring means low rates for more than 60% of the consumers but the practice is not good news for everyone. The people are most affected by are people who are not responsibly use their credit or who may have inaccuracy record on their credit report.

The bill to ban this practice is pending on the state, it is not only using credit score for your car insurance but also your home insurance as well. The insurance companies are allowed to use credit score to factor in setting rates.

The con artists get potential customers by advertising rock-bottom auto insurance prices and tricking the consumers into paying to fake insurance coverage. It is not until the customers are involved in an auto accident or stop by the police and charge by driving without auto insurance coverage. Then that is the only time the consumer will find out they do not have a valid auto insurance coverage.

If you don’t have a valid auto insurance and you were injured in an auto accident, you may not be entitled to receive certain benefits. More importantly if you were to be at fault for the accident caused with injuries or death. You may hold personally responsible for his or her medical expenses and other losses.

When shopping for a new auto insurance coverage makes sure to be aware of potential red flags can help you falling into a scam.

Do not pay for referral fee, licensed agents and brokers don’t charge for any fees. Do not pay your insurance premium through wire transfer services. This is not a practice in the auto insurance industry. Check to make sure that you’re dealing with a license insurance representative. The list of licensed insurance representative companies and agents are available on the Financial Services Commissions of Ontario website. www.FSCO.gov.on.ca

To help consumers form auto insurance scams the Financial Services Commissions of Ontario website offer consumer helpful tips on how to avoid auto insurance scam.

People will have to realize how much they can lose if they are involved in an auto accident and did not have a valid auto insurance policy. Remember driving without valid auto insurance, even on purpose is illegal. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have valid auto insurance purchased from a licensed agent, broker or an auto insurance company.

If you suspect fraudulent activity in your purchase of your auto insurance, contact the police.

The reason why it becomes a pre-own automobile because it is now register to that person and if that person bring it back in. The next person buys it, it is now a pre-own vehicle.

So what does that mean for your auto insurance coverage, generally you’re auto insurance covers toward the actual cash value of your car and not how much the bank loan you the money to buy your car.

For example, if your car is stolen or damaged beyond repair from an accident soon after you brought the new car. The actual cash value may be $14,000 but you owe $18,000 to your bank.

The difference is $4000, the gap will only be cover if you have gap auto insurance policy. Many people are surprised because they don’t think about it, make sure you talk about this insurance policy with your auto insurance agent.

So who needs gap insurance?

The experts generally say anyone buying a new car should consider, especially if you put a small amount of money down and financing the rest. For leasing a new car, gap insurance policy is often required.

Not all insurance company offer gap insurance, so you need to ask your agent. Gap insurance could keep you from coming up short.