Common Restrictions On Over 50s Car Insurance Policies

For people over fifty, the cost of insurance is something commonly thought to increase as your continue to age. While this may be true with health and life insurance, the cost of car insurance frequently lowers as you get older. Although this is in part thanks to years of safe driving and the experience gained because of it, many companies place restrictions on the car insurance policies of drivers in their fifties and older. While these restrictions help result in lower premiums, they also provide limitations or require additional action in order to receive them.

Mileage Limitations

Frequently, auto insurance companies offer discounts to drivers in their fifties or older based on a reduced level of driving. These mileage limitations can save older drivers a significant amount of money each month, but restrict the total distance that can be driven throughout the life of the policy. After retirement, many people end up making shorter drives, and spending time in their vehicles less frequently. The less time your car is on the road, the less likely you are to get into an accident. With this approach, the lower risk of a claim is passed on to the insured driver through a reduction in premiums. When getting a new policy, ask your agent if there are any limits on the distance your are covered for and verify where your policy is in effect. Some policies only cover certain areas – traveling abroad may require additional insurance.

Defensive Driver Course Restrictions

Another way in which insurance companies reward drivers is through discounts association with the completion of defensive driver courses. Although drivers in their fifties have much more experience behind the wheel than their younger counterparts, the process of aging undoubtedly impairs aspects of driving such as reaction time. Discounts in car insurance for drivers who have completed defensive driver courses are a common way for companies to encourage safe driving and reward drivers who have been in the driver’s seat for decades.

Government Imposed Restrictions For Some Older Drivers

In addition to restrictions on car insurance policies that many companies have in place in order to provide discounts to older drivers, there are numerous other driving restrictions put in place by local governments. While these restrictions will vary based on where you live, it is important to check with your insurance agent regarding any laws that may apply to you.

Some of the more prevalent restrictions for older drivers include:

• Driving During The Daytime Only – Driving at dark can be dangerous for aging drivers because of a reduction in sight quality. Many municipalities require drivers over a certain age to stay off the road from dusk until dawn.
• No Driving On The Highway – The highway can be a dangerous place thanks to heavy amounts of traffic and high speeds. As a single mistake in judgment can have serious consequences not just for the driver, but also those nearby, some places restrict where older drivers can operate their vehicles.
• Mandatory Use Of Driving Aids – Perhaps the most widespread restriction on drivers over fifty is the mandatory use of driving aids. A number of locales require older drivers to complete regular testing to ensure they’re safe to drive and anything needed to drive safely, from glasses to hearing aids, is documented on drivers’ licenses.
• Being able to obtain more affordable car insurance is a benefit of getting older, but the lower costs are normally not without a trade-off. When obtaining a new policy, verifying any limitations placed by the insurance company, and ask about any other potential discounts you can receive due to your age. By understanding the requirements and restrictions the insurers have in place, you can ensure that you’re getting the coverage needed while saving as much money as possible.

Toni King has worked as an insurance agent for the past ten years and loves sharing his experience through various blogs. Toni often works with older drivers to make sure they’re getting the proper coverage at the best price.

Looking For A Car Insurance? Get Usage Based Insurance!

For a car owner, it’s really a difficult task to find the right insurance for their vehicle. There are so many insurance companies out there in the market who can offer you with different options. Moreover, there are some companies which also offer discount on the coverage.

Looking at all the insurance covers is a time-consuming task, but it’s very essential if you want to find the best deal. There is a very popular car insurance coverage which you may also consider if you are someone who doesn't drive a car/vehicle for a significant distance often.

More popularly, it’s known as “Usage based insurance”. To put it simply, it means “pay as you go insurance”. It’s a kind of insurance coverage which calculates the cost of the insurance based on the miles driven by a vehicle.

Learn The Features Of Usage Based Insurance Cover

When it comes to usage based insurance coverage, it can be mainly classified into three kind of coverage. The first kind of coverage is mainly based on the odometer reading of your vehicle; it is based on the miles driven by your vehicle.

If you decide to choose the second coverage, you should first understand that this is a coverage which mainly calculates the cost of coverage on the basis of time traveled by you in the car. To calculate the time, there is a specific module which is used to calculate the time.

The third coverage calculates both the distance and length of time driven by the car. It also includes the speed and other information. Your insurance premium amount is calculated on the basis of all these factors, and so you should understand the features of the coverage before choosing any deal.

Can Your Usage Based Insurance Cause Privacy Issues?

Unfortunately, most of the people think that usage based insurance can cause privacy issues. Because of the module which collects all the data quickly, most of the people think that it may cause security issues. However, it’s not that so.

Obviously, if your car is giving all the essential details to the insurance company,you may sometimes freak out. Isn’t it? It can also become a concern for you, if it’s your teenage child who is driving the car. However, it’s the insurance company who will take care of all such safety issues. Therefore, you simply don’t need to worry if you have invested in usage based insurance cover.

Why You Should Choose Usage Based Insurance? Can You Enjoy Any Special Benefits?

Usage based insurance is the best insurance coverage for people who don’t want to pay any unnecessary amount for their coverage. This is a kind of coverage which gives you the option to pay the amount which you have traveled. When you choose this coverage, you can easily calculate the insurance premiums.

The best thing about this coverage is that you can easily track how much distance you have travelled and pay the amount. This is one of the major reasons of the popularity of usage based insurance coverage among the consumers. So, you should get it now.

Five Ways to Recognize How Much Car Insurance You Need

When it comes to deciding how much car insurance coverage you need, you should take the following five tips into consideration when coming to a decision whether you should increase or decrease or car insurance policy limits. 

#5 - How Much Driving You Do Each Day

Although a car accident can happen at anytime without any notice, drivers who drive a lot should think about increasing their car insurance coverage. This is because drivers who drive a lot have a greater risk of having a car accident. This is one way to determine how much coverage you need.

#4 - How Much Your Assets Are Worth

One of the main reasons why people need car insurance is to shield themselves from liability should they ever get involved in an accident. If you own a lot of assets or have a lot of money in the bank, then you need to adjust your coverage to make sure you have enough coverage that offers you the additional protection you need to shield your assets.

#3- How Frequently You Get Into Car Accidents

Drivers who are prone to getting into accidents should think about increasing their coverage. This is because drivers who get into accidents often are the most likely to have an accident. Drivers who have the greatest tendency at getting into accident need the most coverage because they are the most likely to get into accidents. By having the right amount of coverage, drivers who get into accidents often have the added reassurance that they will have enough car insurance to cover any property damage and personal injury claims.

#2 - The Type of Car You Own and Drive

Drivers who drive expensive cars need the most coverage because expensive can be very expensive to repair and replace. Drivers who do not have enough coverage in place may have to pay out-of-pocket for expenses that go above and beyond the policy limits of the car insurance. This is why it is important for drives to carefully consider how much car insurance they need when deciding how much coverage they need.

#1 - Mandatory Minimum Car Insurance Coverage Required by Your State

When deciding how much insurance coverage you need, there is a lot to consider. One of the most important things you need to consider is how much insurance you must carry on each of your vehicles. Every state has set mandatory minimum coverage, so if you do not have the right coverage on your vehicle you could be in violation of the law. Before deciding whether you need additional coverage, take the time to find out how much minimum mandatory car insurance is required and then decide whether the minimum mandatory is enough.

When searching for cheap car insurance in PA, you have a lot to consider. Your main priority should be to make sure you have all the insurance coverage you need. After taking everything we discussed into consideration, you may decide that you need more or less car insurance. Before making a decision on whether you need to decrease or increase your car insurance coverage, take the time to consider all of the tips outlined above.

Taking Full Advantage of Senior Savings with the More Obscure Car Insurers

Edward Oberg has retired from the insurance game and now spends his time reading cheap genre novels, shaking his head in dismay at the state of movies these days, haunting yard sales and hunting for the monster brook trout that delights in mocking him. He has vowed to defy the accepted wisdom regarding boring insurance reps by being extremely interesting.

I have a friend who told me recently that the best thing about getting up there in years is the assumption of wisdom people attribute to us, the finely-aged. Age-bringing-wisdom sounds good to me so I certainly won’t be disputing that particular assumption any time soon. Especially because sometimes that kind of thinking is worth more than the joy it brings us when we get to tell younger people The Way Things Are; sometimes it has practical benefits- like saving you money. Car insurance is a perfect example. For the particulars, read on.

Things Everybody Should Do

Some of the most pragmatic money-saving solutions are more universally-applicable than age-specific.

· Shop Around. Doing research to determine the best car insurance for you seems like a no-brainer, right? But sometimes people are swayed by the convenience of provider’s enrollment process or by the impressiveness of a talking gecko, streak-haired woman with a price gun, etc. Age has also given us patience, or so they say, so look around a little bit. There are a number of good search tools and smart-device apps that can aid you in your search.

• Don’t be Insurance-Complacent. I can’t count the number of times on the job I’d talk to people who stuck with terrible auto insurance coverage for years because that was the insurance they’d always had, and/or that their parents, friends, siblings, whomever had had. Even (perhaps especially) if you have insurance and have had the same policy for years, it can’t hurt to do some comparison browsing.
• Prevention and Preparation. If an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, a nickel of insurance is worth a dollar of out-of-pocket. Go over your insurance package, even if it’s one you’re content with, and look over your coverage choices. Do you have rental insurance? It’s almost never worthwhile, particularly if you don’t plan to rent a car. Do you have towing insurance? That can come in handy but if you’re also a member of AAA, can change a tire in a flash and you keep your vehicle in tip-top shape- in the event of a crash, towing is almost always covered anyway.
• Request a Higher Deductible. This one can be a gamble but the higher your deductible, the less you pay a month. Of course, if you do have to file a claim, you initial out-of-pocket is more. But that can pay for itself pretty easily if you go ten years without a crash and have paid in less each month for you insurance.

Consider Using Pay As You Drive Coverage

Depending on your driving habits, looking into a pay as you drive (PAYD) policy, also known as “pay as you drive”, can save you a good deal of cash. Since (some of) us older folk have slowed down a bit and (some of us) probably won’t be cruising the main, bar-hopping, drag-racing or in some cases, not driving to work every day. Some PAYD policies not only lower your monthly rate the less you drive, it also tracks driving habits with an internal driving-habit-recording doohickey. If you don’t drive all that often and/or drive carefully when you are out and about- PAYD might be for you.

The Senior Discount and the Less-Known Insurers

Those earlier-mentioned huge insurance houses with their anthropomorphic geckos and disaster-personified spokespeople and whatnot have a huge share of the market. They’ve also gotten some bad press recently for their customer service and rather calculated, sometimes outright cruel-seeming habit of doing what it takes to pay as little as it takes. Some of that is just the nature of the beast- when you're one of the top three huge with millions of clients between you, it’s hard to pay attention to the needs of that many people.

That’s good for you though because some of the well-established but lesser-thought of insurers have responded by appealing to more niche markets… like us! I’ll give you an example: although The Hartford isn’t exactly an unknown insurance house, they’re not often thought of for auto policies. However, they consistently rank as one of the top providers. In 2012 they topped JD Power and Associate best car insurance provider list and came in at number three on MSN Money’s ranking, plus ranked among the top five on virtually every other list of the kind. Most often cited was their pricing and the helpfulness and amiability of customer service people.

What’s most relevant to us though is their teaming up with the organization previously known as the American Association of Retired Persons to provide hybrid AARP insurance. Again, that’s just one example but feel free to look into this stuff yourself if you’re interested in keeping more cash in your pocket for expensive meals at great restaurants and fine wine… er… and by that, of course I mean Lawrence Welk albums Matlock DVDs.