If policies, agreements, contracts and other legal documents are not understood or read carefully, it can cause a lot of problems later. Although most people won’t want to read every word of a policy, it is often the key to saving money or incurring additional costs. This is especially true for car insurance policies.
Although insurance agreements can be time-consuming and tedious to read, it is designed for a purpose: car insurance policies provide details that allow them to cover all possible eventualities. Some of these possible outcomes may prove to be crucial.
This article will explain why it is so important to thoroughly review one’s auto insurance policy before signing any contracts. You will also find information about common clauses that could negatively impact your ability to file an insurance claim.
The grocery shop hit and ran
Hit and run incidents are a frequent scenario for insured drivers. These incidents don’t necessarily have to involve someone being hit by a car, and the driver of that car flees the scene. They can also be as simple as situations in which one parks the vehicle at the grocery and then heads into the store. One might notice a significant dent when they leave the grocery store and head to their car.
Someone walked up to the car without leaving contact information. In such an instance, the natural thing would be to file a claim under the uninsured motorist clause. This incident technically counts as a hit-and-run situation. This is where the problems start.
Different car insurance companies will have different opinions about whether the deductible should still be applied in this situation. You might end up paying a large fee for the deductible if you don’t understand the details.
The car hire
Renting a car is another common scenario that most drivers will face. It could be due to being on vacation, or simply because one’s primary vehicle is no longer available. It doesn’t matter what the reason may be, it is important to find out if you are covered under your initial car insurance plan and, if so to what extent.
Truth is, while most cases, one’s rental car insurance provider will cover some or all of the risks, the exact amounts and conditions under which they apply can vary greatly from one insurance provider and even one rental vehicle under the same policy.
It is important to understand the details of insurance. This is why you should not only read the large print in brochures or advertisements, but also the small print. Many people rent cars thinking they are insured, but they find out that their rental car is not covered.
There are many important details in car insurance policies. Although they may not be very interesting, these details are crucial to learn how much and under what circumstances one will have to pay.