With car insurance being mandatory for most states, finding the lowest price possible by doing an auto insurance comparison may be the best way to afford to stay compliant to your state’s laws. With all the talk of Obama-Care, and the mandate for compulsory health insurance, many are finding that not only are they required to carry auto insurance, but now health insurance. In a free country, that seems counter intuitive to what our nation stands for. Whether you agree with the rationale behind the public policy that stands behind the mandate or not, to drive in most states, you must carry the proper auto insurance.
The debate carries on even after decades of the mandate’s enforcement about whether it is legal to require residents to purchase insurance policies. The standard for the insurance that is required varies from state to state, but overall the majority of the states require that you carry at the very minimum something called collision insurance. Collision insurance is that coverage that will pay for property or bodily injury if you are involved in a motor vehicle accident. Whoever is deemed as at fault of the accident is responsible for the damages incurred to both parties. Therefore, if you have someone who is not insured, both parties are considered uncovered.
The dollar amount of coverage varies per state. In most cases there is a per accident and per individual maximum that is specified in the policy. Although the minimums are mandatory, buying more than the minimum is always allowable. The additional amount adds additional cost to the policy, dependent on the increase in dollar amount added.
There are exceptions that some states have enacted to the mandate. In Virginia, the insurance is not compulsory. They have enacted a different mandate whereby if a person chooses not to be insured, they must pay a $500 annual fee per automobile insured. New Hampshire and Mississippi offer their residents, in lieu of taking out an insurance policy, the option to take out a cash bond that is paid and held within the state to be used in case of an accident.
In California and New Jersey where they have already existing compulsory laws, they have further enacted a Personal Responsibility Act. This act, in effect, says that if you are in an accident and driving without insurance, you are not able to recover non economic damages. That means that should you be hurt that you are not able to sue for things like pain and suffering if they are injured while driving uninsured. It is a way to further deter people from driving without insurance.
Other states have put their own restrictions on drivers to deter them from operating a vehicle without the proper auto insurance. In North Carolina for instance, you are required to hold liability insurance prior to being able to obtain a license. Proof of insurance must be supplied in order for the state to issue a license to the driver.
In addition to obtaining auto insurance to operate a vehicle, many states have gone further to require that all drivers carry with them at all times a copy of proof of insurance. If you are pulled over for any reason at all, you must provide proof to the officer that you carry current insurance, by presenting a copy of an insurance card. If you cannot produce a card, you will be issued a citation that can only be repealed if you show up to court displaying a copy of proof. The proof must show that at the time of the citation you had the appropriate minimum mandated insurance. North Carolina does not require that you carry a copy, but does require that if you are involved in an accident, you have the correct information to exchange with the other party.
Officials from the Arizona Department of Transportation, in an attempt to curb their high rate of uninsured drivers, have gone one step more to propose that each individual should be issued a license plate. In the event that there should be an accident, the car insurer who is responsible for the license plate would be the one who is responsible for all damages and injuries related to the accident. This Disneyland model means that the plates that are issued to a motorist would expire in concordance with the expiration of their auto insurance period. This would mean that those drivers who are not insured would be easier to spot as they would not have a license plate to display on their vehicle, or the plates would be marked with an expiration date. This would make it easier for authorities to target uninsured motorists. The debate on how to get a handle on the huge problem of non-compliant drivers rages on.
Uninsured drivers cost not only those they injure, or cause property damage to, millions per year, they also cause states millions. Trying to clamp down on uninsured drivers is no easy task. There is no way to prevent people from getting behind the wheel of a car if they are not insured. No one ever thinks that they will be in an accident, if they drive carefully, they should be fine. That is not the case as we all know; however, that is why we call them accidents.
In states where there are no compulsory laws, if you decide to drive without insurance then the responsibility should something happen is all yours. It can really devastate your financial outlook forever. It is hard to recover from an accident that is not covered. The injured party can literally go after everything you own to recover costs. So, although not mandatory, not having the proper insurance is something you really want to think about. An accident can be as minor as a fender bender, or as major as an interstate disaster, you just never know. Making sure that you have the correct insurance coverage, and enough to protect yourself in an accident, for the lowest price possible is very important.
Take a few moments now to input your zip code above and within minutes you will receive several different rate quotes. It will allow you to make the cheapest and best choice for your auto insurance needs. Why wait another day to start potentially saving hundreds. After all even if you don’t think that you can afford to comply with your states compulsory laws, you may be surprised how affordable it is by doing an auto insurance comparison check.
