Auto: The Importance of Car Insurance

Auto: The Importance of Car Insurance
by Joseph Kenny

Why is car insurance so important? Most older drivers understand the importance of car insurance but some newer drivers may not.

For many newer drivers car insurance is more a pain than a benefit, with the pain part being located in the higher premiums they have to pay. Here are some of the main reasons car insurance is important.

The state in which you live in and drive in probably requires that you carry a certain amount of car insurance on your vehicles. The amount of car insurance that you must carry as a minimum on each vehicle varies from state to state.

States will also mandate what type of auto insurance is required. In some states, you only need liability, while other states may require more.

Drivers should understand that in many states if you are pulled over by the authorities and found to be without auto insurance you run the risk of having your vehicle impounded on the spot. In some states it is literally illegal for the police to allow you to continue driving once they know you do not have the proper automobile insurance.

In addition to having your vehicle impounded you may also find yourself being charged heavy fees and fines by the courts. Of course, in addition to all these troubles, you may have your driver's license suspended or revoked for a certain amount of time.

Car insurance protects you from personal liability should you be in an accident. Aside from the legal requirements, this is the main reason you want car insurance. If you are in an accident and you are at fault you can be held personally responsible for the costs of medical bills if a person is injured and major monetary awards if a person is killed. These costs can all but ruin most families.

It can mean selling your home, selling your stocks and bonds, or selling other assets in order to pay the costs. It can also mean years of future payments in the event you cannot pay them all at once, which most people cannot do. Depending on the amount of the rewards, you could spend the rest of your natural life paying them off.

But what about you? What if you are hit by someone who does not have insurance? If you do not have insurance either, chances are good you will be faced with your own medical payments. You can, of course, sue the other person but what if they are destitute and cannot pay? Your own car insurance will usually help with those payments.

In addition, depending on the type of car insurance that you have, your vehicle can be repaired or replaced, thus saving you the out of pocket expense of replacing it yourself.

The last reason for having car insurance has to do with repair of the other vehicle if you hit someone. As you know, vehicle repairs can be very expensive. If you are shown to be at fault in an accident you may be required to pay for the repairs or the replacement of the vehicle that you hit. Again, this is money that has to come out of your pocket.

As an aside to this, you are also responsible for any real property damage that you might cause. For example, if you run into a house and cause a wall to collapse, you would be required to make payment for those repairs. One single accident can all but force you into bankruptcy court if you are not protected by automobile insurance.

Joe Kenny writes for Only Stop, compare car insurance in the UK, visit them today for great travel insurance quotes from the leading UK insurance providers.