When an airplane crashes, we’ve all been brainwashed into watching the search for the black box. That’s the onboard recording device that captures what the pilots were saying as the plane fell from the sky as well as storing all the technical information from the instruments. We’re told it’s vital to be able to explain why each aircraft crashes. After all, the larger planes carry many passengers and, if one were to crash into a city center, it could do a lot of damage. We all have an interest in reducing the risk of air accidents. That’s why we’re hooked as television cameras record submarines going down to search the seabed to recover these vital boxes and as many bits of the plane as possible. Remarkably, experts rebuild as much of the plane as possible to see more clearly what damage was sustained before the plane hit the ground or fell into the sea.

Have you heard of event data recorders (EDR)? These are the little black boxes for the vehicles we drive on our roads. In 2008, a report published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) admitted between 65 and 90% of vehicles were already fitted with EDRs. The reason for the big range in the estimate is easy to explain. Almost every new vehicle rolling off the assembly line has an EDR fitted. It’s been a standard component for many years. But it’s not entirely clear how many older vehicles are still driving around without one of these recording devices inside. All we can say is that, as we slowly throw the old vehicles away, we’ll slowly move up to 100% installation. How can you tell whether your vehicle has an EDR? Curiously, until 2011, manufacturers did not have to tell you. Now, if you look in the driver’s manual, you’ll find confirmation.

Why should you care? Well, the NHTSA lists all the information these devices are supposed to collect. It’s very comprehensive, showing exactly what you were doing in the minute or so before the accident, i.e., how fast you were driving, whether you swerved, applied the brakes, whether you were wearing your seat belt, and so on. Anyone getting hold of this information can reconstruct how the accident occurred. You’ll be pleased to know EDR data is increasingly used to prosecute cases of vehicular manslaughter. Your insurance company will be able to compare your description of the accident with the EDR data. So, if you said you had to swerve to avoid an alligator on the road as you drove through the Everglades, you’d better be sure the EDR will tell the same story of a violent maneuver while braking sharply.

The EDR holds out the possibility of being able to detect more fraud, e.g. that you weren’t driving fast enough to cause the whiplash injury you now claim. If insurance companies can filter out more dishonest claims, this will reduce the overall cost of loss and, if the insurers are honest, reduce the auto insurance rates. Across the US, it’s estimated that several billion dollars in fraudulent claims are successful. Reducing this means more affordable if not cheap auto insurance for all us honest drivers.

Sometimes acronyms work really well. They lodge in the mind we’re forever stuck with remembering them like Washington’s self-fulfilling prophesy in the the VOTER Act, i.e. Voting Opportunity and Technology Enhancement Rights Act. Other times, we wish someone had taken out a gun and shot the clever idiot who thought up these mixtures of letters. Well, here comes an organization begging for a bullet. It’s the Insurance Information Institute or III for short. Obviously it was a day when inspiration was lacking.

Anyway, this cleverly named organization has just issued a Pulse Survey in which the insurance industry discovered that slightly more than half the people who buy their policies think the amount of cover is based on the resale value of their property and not the cost of rebuilding it. Slightly more than one-third reported reducing the amount of cover because the value of their homes had fallen and their mortgages were now underwater. Forgive the confusion here. It would be reasonable to reduce cover if the household budget was so strained they could no longer afford the full premium rate. But this finding suggests many mortgagors may now be in breach of the terms of their mortgages. Why, you ask. Because all mortgages require the borrowers to carry an adequate amount of cover. In this case, the amount should cover the cost of rebuilding assuming the building was a total loss. If the borrower fails to put adequate cover in place, the lender can substitute its own policy and add the premium to the monthly payments. It’s just too bad if that makes the mortgage payments unaffordable. As far as the lender is concerned, it’s your fault for cutting down on the amount of cover.

Let’s say you avoid the lender discovering your reduction in the cover but you then have to make a claim. Now the shock is going to become very expensive. Because the cost of materials and the labor to rebuild has been rising while the resale price of the buildings have been falling, it’s quite common to discover the amount insured is not enough to pay for the rebuilding. This should emphasize the importance of reviewing the amount amount of the insurance every year. Get at least two quotes from reputable local builders as your guide. This is particularly important if you have lavished special care on the building. The more you fit custom fixtures or improve on the fabric, the more it’s going to cost to reinstate. If there’s a shortfall, the difference comes out of your pocket. Those lenders have never been the most forgiving of people, so you could end up with your home as a pile of rubble and a civil action to recover the amount of the loan not covered by the home insurance policy.

So before you decide to reduce your cover, remember the purpose of insurance. It’s supposed to protect you from financial disaster. Arbitrarily saving a few dollars on the monthly payments may turn out a false economy. Always look for alternative strategies. When you use a site like this to obtain your home insurance quotes, run the process several times to find out whether you are eligible for discounts. It’s better to save money legitimately than to hide your head in the sand.

Nobody gets something for nothing. The only way to get a benefit or save money is by investing effort. More often than not, this means a regular commitment to work. After all, we Americans hate scroungers, condemning the entitlement mentality, and promoting the idea we should all earn enough to pay our way through life. This applies just as much to insuring the vehicles we drive as to all other aspects of our lives. So let’s start with a dose of reality. It’s not often economically convenient to change the state in which we live. This is unfortunate because the average cost of a policy is $789. Actually, it’s probably higher than this but the most recent figure released by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners only comes up to 2008. Anyway, where you live can make a significant difference. The average rate in North Dakota was $500, whereas living in Florida will cost you more than $1,000. Then, depending on your personal characteristics and other factors like the make and model of the vehicle you have chosen to drive, you can find a difference of more than $1,000 in the actual premium rate you have to pay. Just as many are now looking carefully at the packages they buy on cable, this can make it worth your while to look carefully at your insurance policy.

Although the basic math is the same for all insurance companies – they all want to take in the maximum and pay out the minimum – the actual way in which they calculate and manage the risk is different. For this reason, it makes sense to get quotes from all the more reliable companies in your state. The young drivers are the ones likely to find the biggest savings. Now comes the part it seems the vast majority find so difficult. You have to change your insurer to the company offering the best cover at the most affordable price. At present, the figures show only about 10% of drivers actually take this step. This is a remarkable testament to the power of blind loyalty. It’s completely irrational to automatically renew with a company charging you more than the average premium rate. Indeed, your failure to change actively encourages insurers to keep on increasing their premium rates. If you continue to pay without complaint, the company pays no penalty for taking ever more of your money. The only way you force change in the market is by enough people changing away from the most expensive insurers and buying from the most affordable.

Think of it as being like politics. Once a year, you get to vote on how well or badly your insurer represents your interests. If enough people refuse to renew, the company’s market share drops and it loses money. This upsets the stockholders and encourages the company to change its ways. This is consumer power in a market based on free competition. The efficient companies offering a good product at a competitive price prosper. The bad companies fail. So get auto insurance quotes from all the most financially reliable insurers, compare the rates and change. Over time, this simple event snowballs into a market move toward cheaper insurance for the many. Be active. Drive car insurance rates lower.

Every driver wants to strike a balance when it comes to insuring their vehicles. We all want to pay as little as possible. Indeed, some may be resentful there’s a mandate for liability insurance when unemployment remains so high and the pay offered by employers is low. The problem is cheap insurance usually means poor value. Yes, you get some cover, but there are likely to be problems in the small print of the policies and the claims process is often difficult to get through. Insurers prefer to take your money and not pay out. The more difficult it is to make a profit, the more difficult it is to get full value on a claim. So it’s better to pay a little more. This buys better terms in the policy and a more sympathetic welcome when you make a claim. That said, how do you get the most affordable rates?

It all starts with your own safety record. If you’re involved in multiple accidents and claim large sums of money, the insurer will either hike the rates or refuse further cover. The same applies if you’re suddenly caught for some more serious moving violations. In some states, picking up any ticket entitles the insurer to surcharge, i.e. add an extra fee for continuing the insurance. With convictions for driving while intoxicated or under the influence, you instantly become a high-risk driver. Insurers will cancel the policy if you pick up more than an average number of criminal convictions. Remember the insurer checks your claims record and has access to the public records of criminal convictions, so it does no good to lie on your application. Once the dishonesty is recognized, the insurer will either refuse cover or cancel the policy. In some states, the safety record extends to all the members in a family. So although you and your partner may be safe, any children or relatives who regularly drive your vehicles can pull down the rating.

Then check out the discounts. Most insurers reduce the rates if you insure more than one vehicle or package the auto and home insurance together. Going back to your safety record, you earn a discount if you stay safe, making no claim and picking up no tickets. You may also be rewarded if you’re a non-smoker, have a good credit score and have a good GPA as a student. Now look at the safety of the vehicle itself. Some makes and models have better safety records and lower rates. If you have seat belts, passenger airbags and anti-lock brakes, there are usually discounts on the elements of the policy covering personal injuries. If in doubt, talk to an agent of the insurer or pick up the telephone and ask what discounts are available. Another standard strategy is to accept a higher deductible. Before you agree to this, ask yourself whether you could afford the cash payments if there are several accidents in a short period of time. Play your cards right and you should receive lower car insurance quotes. If the rates still seem high on the first set of quotes, change some of your decisions on make and model, the amount of the deductible, etc. Hopefully, the next set of car insurance quotes will be lower.

There are some things that we are obliged to purchase so that we could enjoy the benefits of the things we posses. Like in case of land tax for home owners these additional expenses can be both annoying and uncomfortable to the family budget. And one of the most common things that are infamous for being such a disturbance is of course car insurance. Most of us have cars and know how it’s annoying to pay a considerable amount of money just in order to drive a car legally. Sure, there are certain benefits to having your car covered through insurance especially when you have an accident. But the rates most of us are charged with are just over the top. Still, there’s always a very simple solution that will help save your money on just any type of insurance – comparison shopping.

Shopping around for car insurance is pretty much like any other form of comparison shopping no matter what you’re looking forward to buy. Whether it’s a new car, an insurance policy, a mobile phone or a new table for your guest house the method of finding the best price are the same. What do we do when we want to find a competitive price on an item that we’re interested in? We start comparing prices on this very item at different dealers selling the thing. Doesn’t matter whether you do it online, using printed catalogs or going to each store in person – it’s just a matter of convenience. The main idea is to compare the prices on the same item at different sellers and determine the most competitive.

When looking for cheap auto insurance the main idea is the same – finding the most competitive insurance quotes. Still, there are certain peculiarities when shopping around for car insurance that you have to be aware of. First of all, insurance rates vary greatly depending on the actual selection of coverage you choose to include into your policy. So besides the idea of getting cheap auto insurance yous should also think about getting the type of policy that is adequate to your exact needs. This means that your policy should carry the exact coverage options you really need and that you will compare the quotes on the exact set and amount of coverage across all providers. Otherwise the fluctuation of rates will be too pronounced and it will be hard for you to determine which policy is both cheap and able to meet your requirements.

Another important thing to remember when shopping around for cheap auto insurance is that you should only get quotes from providers that are eligible in your area. Even the biggest providers don’t work in all states of the US so you should get quotes only from those that do. Otherwise you may find a competitive quote and then find out that you won’t be able to purchase the policy. And will have to start your comparison shopping all over again. Do you want that to happen?

When we gave up the trusty horse for the horsepower of the Model T, our grandfathers had an epiphany. They foresaw we could drive faster in machines that would injure and kill people. They were believers in the idea of financial responsibility: that if you break something you’re responsible for fixing it. That’s how the law of tort works, giving courts the power to order bad drivers to pay compensation to everyone they hurt. Except few people have the cash lying around necessary to pay these awards. So our wise forebears decided all drivers should carry enough insurance to pay the medical costs or, in the worst cases, the funeral expenses for those injured in collisions. When you look back at these early laws, they were all pitched at the high end of the scale. This ensured there was almost always enough available without the insured having to find any additional money from savings.

Unfortunately, very few states have reviewed these early minimum amounts. Inflation has therefore reduced them to a fraction of their real value. The result is most people with the minimum liability cover are underinsured. In some cases, this makes no difference because these drivers have no savings or assets. There’s nothing for them to lose. But an accident can come as a bad shock to home owners who suddenly find their pay garnished or their house sold (where there’s positive equity). Courts enforce their judgments when there’s cash to be found. This should come as a warning to everyone who currently drives with only the minimum. How lucky are you feeling?

But, in some states, the mandate goes a little further. In twelve states, we have no-fault insurance in which everyone insures their own vehicles and, in most cases, their own medical expenses. This should be the better approach because, instead of drivers fighting over who was to blame for an accident, everyone involved just claims on their own insurance policies. This doesn’t help passengers or the folk brave enough to be on the sidewalk – they don’t carry insurance. The normal law of tort allows them to claim from the drivers. But in the other countries where no-fault is used, the premium rates are low. Only in our great country do you find the no-fault states tend to be more expensive. One of the reasons for this strange outcome is the generosity of the law-makers. Take Michigan as an example. To guarantee there will always be enough money to pay the medical costs, the amounts claimable are uncapped. Yes, that’s right. There’s no limit to the amount that can be claimed. In today’s climate of high healthcare costs, this is a good thing except when the treatment is expensive and the need is for long-term care. Suddenly, you’re talking millions. The current batch of law-makers are now proposing to cap the mandatory auto insurance. So here’s the decision in simple terms for you. If you’re badly injured in Michigan, you can have the best treatment for as long as it takes. If the law-makers cap the amount, you can get the best of treatment until the money runs out. When you get the next set of auto insurance quotes think about whether you are covered for medical expenses.

Why should I compare car insurance deals?
You need to make sure that you compare car insurance deals not only to find the right cover for your needs but also to make sure that you get your car insurance cover at the right price

Isn’t the cost of cover about the same from all insurers?
No, the cost of cover can vary widely between providers, which means that you could get the same level of cover much cheaper with one provider compared to another

What’s the easiest way to compare cover?
The easiest way to compare car insurance cover is via the Internet and this is for a variety of reasons. You will find it faster to find affordable car insurance via the Internet, you can enjoy increased convenience online, there is plenty of choice available online and you will find some great deals on the Internet. These are just a few of the reasons why people choose to go online to find cheap car insurance

What should I look for when comparing car insurance cover?
When you are comparing different providers and car insurance plans you need to look at a number of different factors. First off, the price is going to be an important deciding factor, as you will need to ensure that you are able to afford the payments on the plan. However, it is not all about price, as you also need to look at the level of cover and the features that you will get with different plans

So should I not just go with the cheapest cover?
Whilst it may seem like a good idea to simply go with the cheapest plan because it makes good financial sense, the last thing you want is to be paying out for a policy that does not offer the protection you need and which could end up costing you more in the long run. This is why you should always find cover that is both suitable and competitively priced

How many insurance quotes should I get?
There is no limit with regards to how many quotes you get, although you don’t want to spend all day every day looking at quotes so you need to be sensible about it. Simply make sure that you get a good selection of quotes for the level of cover that you want so that you can see what the average cost of cover is and so that you can determine which provider is able to offer you the best deal

What will affect the cost of my cover?
Many things can affect the cost of your cover, ranging from your age and the type of vehicle that you have to the provider that you choose and the level of cover that you decide to opt for

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In the past comparing and buying auto insurance plans could be a very time consuming and frustrating process, which goes some towards explaining why many people used to simply sign up to the first policy that they came across without even comparing the differences in features and prices before they made any commitment.

These days, however, it has become far easier to compare auto insurance from a wide range of providers thanks the power of the Internet. Using the Internet provides a great tool for people who want to get the best deal on their auto insurance, as it provides so many benefits that people in the past never had access to. There are many reasons why it can be so beneficial to compare your auto insurance online and some of these include:

• Saving a lot of time and hassle: When you compare your auto insurance online you can do so from the comfort and privacy of your own home and at a time that suits you, whether it is night or day. This is great for people who work or have other commitments that make it difficult to contact insurance firms in office hours. It also gives you plenty of time to think about what you want without having to feel pressured into making a quick decision
• Having a great choice of providers: With so many insurance firms operating online you will have no shortage of choice when it comes to finding a suitable provider and plan for your needs. The Internet provides a huge amount of choice for those who want to find the ideal auto insurance plan for their needs at a price that they can afford
• Great value for money: You will find some great deals on the cost of your auto insurance cover when you use the Internet, which means that you will be able to get cover at a very affordable price that is within your budget without having to compromise on the level of cover that you take out
• Being able to check policies with ease: In addition to comparing the cost of cover it is also very important to compare the different plans and work out just what you will get for your money with each of the insurance plans that you are considering. Using the internet makes this a very fast and simple process, as you can check the details of all the policies you are considering with ease
• Being able to shop around: Comparing cover is an important part of finding the right auto insurance plan, and when you go online you can shop around with speed and ease, making it easier to find the best plan for your needs and budget

This year has shown many people who live inland just what it’s like when a hurricane or tropical storm comes their way. Up to now, it’s mostly been the folk living on the coasts that have had the joy of watching a hurricane dismantle their towns and cities. Now the folk who live up in the hills of Vermont are learning to live with the consequences. These range from the simple jobs of repairing roads and those picturesque wooden bridges, to the grisly tasks of trying to find the dead bodies that have been washed out of cemeteries. Following Katrina, there was considerable hysteria, and not only among people living on the coasts who were finally forced to confront the reality of angry nature. There was also panic in the boardrooms of the insurers. Although there had been regular hurricanes and storms, these companies had managed to remain profitable. But if claims on the scale seen in Mississippi were to become more common, they could all be wiped out. The result was seen in two very distinct changes. The first was to fight a higher percentage of claims. Indeed, many have criticized the ethics shown by some insurers who pay claims adjusters bonuses for avoiding payment of claims or agreeing very low settlements.

The second set of changes has been seen in the policies where many terms have been completely rewritten to exclude or limit the claims that can be made. The first obvious signs have been in the definition of the deductible. The majority of insurers used to rely on a fixed amount. This has changed over to requiring policyholders to pay a percentage of the home’s insured value as the deductible. The percentages range from 1 to 5%. So, if you have a home with a low value, you could find yourself required to pay a higher percentage. High-value home owners might “only” have to pay 1 or 2% for every claim. Obviously, insurers have not agreed standard terms so, as you drive down a street, every home might have a different deductible depending on which insurer writes their policy.

Did you know eighteen states allow the insurers to change the deductible depending on the definition of the weather event? This leads to a higher deductible for hurricanes than for other storms. So the big question is how to define a hurricane. Sadly, there’s no agreement. Some insurers wait until a storm is named by the National Hurricane Center, others have different guidelines depending on the amount of rain that falls and/or the strength of the wind. In the same neighborhood, this can lead to different deductibles and different approaches to deciding whether to accept the claims. To deal with this problem, some of the Insurance Commissioners have introduced new regulations. In Connecticut, no insurer will be allowed to impose a higher deductible if the winds consistently exceed 74 mph over a set period of time. In states where similar rules have been introduced, the insurers retaliated by requiring policyholders to pay out-of-pocket expenses. As home insurance companies find their profits under pressure, they turn to other means to recover their profit. It’s a vicious circle and unless Insurance Commissioners step in more forcefully, home insurance policies will become unaffordable when hurricanes are in the wind.