Even from early on, we are told that to have insurance is a very important thing. This may be something that we have heard from our parents, thought by our teachers etc. We might even have been influenced by the many tons of media advertising that we are subjected to daily. We are taught that financial risk is something that you should not be happy to have. This is especially true when it comes to your car and thus the importance of car insurance policies. This is all working in the favor of car insurance companies who want to make you think that by buying their policies, you are totally covered from any negative financial issues. The problem is that this impression is too often broken when it comes to actually claiming your car insurance.

In this article we will have a look at car insurance policies and why it is very important to fully understand what is on the table before even committing a cent to it. It is a sad fact that the majority of problems arise from a misunderstanding of the policy between the insuree and the insurer. The insurer will provide policies, however is normally very careful that they aren’t taken for a ride by insurance fraudsters. They will set-up little escape clauses that you as the insuree have to be very careful off. The problem is that different insurance companies have different escape clauses. Let’s have a look at some common practices of insurers to either deny your claim of get you to pay extra for something that you don’t need.

The first and often most profoundly heartbreaking one is when the insurance company flat out denies your claim and says that you can’t do anything about it. In most cases like this, the insuree is taken aback and doesn’t know how to proceed further. It is important to note that car insurance companies have a legal obligation to fairly and promptly settle your claim. If they do anything else that you think might be contravening this, they are at fault and vulnerable to being sued. Depending on which country and state that you are in there are many different ways you can approach this. For most the first thing to do is to first write back to tell them that they have made a mistake, state their obligations and ask them to reconsider their response. If that fails, then you can appeal to your state or country car insurance commissioner for further help with you case. If the claim is big then you can also contact a attorney that specializes in insurance law and discuss your case of bad faith about your insurance company. The last and most extreme course of action is to sue your insurance company. Note that this may cost quite a lot and may not be the most suitable option for most to follow.

In addition to trying to get out of paying you your rightful claim there are also some dodgy things that car insurance companies do to get you to pay more than you need for your policy. Some people mistakenly think that car insurance policy premiums should rise every year. Car insurance companies are more than happy to jump on those people with a vengeance. This is especially so if you have had a claim the previous year where the insurance companies have a very valid reason to up your premium. Sometimes cunning insurance companies may even increase your coverage for the next year without you knowing about it. This might even be the case where you have decided to clean up your policy and delete some coverage items. You might find that those items that you deleted will magically reappear in the policy for the following year.

Very few customers will know that most car insurance companies will spend 75% of their resources in getting new customers and only 25% of their resources maintaining their current customers. It has somehow been hardwired in their brains that it is better to steal customers from their competitors than to build long lasting relationships with their current customers. This being the case they will often give new customers very good incentives to move your car insurance policy over to them however would not offer the same courtesy to their current customers. Policy holders should keep up with the latest promotions that their car insurance companies might be running. Call the insurer if you are eligible and insist that the same offer be extended to you or your will move your business elsewhere.

Another sneaky thing that insurers do to your car insurance policy is to mess around with your deductibles so that they can get more premium out of you. If you set your deductibles low, the price of your premium will go up. If your deductibles are high then your premium is low. It is always to the benefit of the insurer to keep your deductibles as low as possible so they can earn extra money from you. There are two times that they can hit you with this. The first is when you sign-up and aren’t particular about your deductibles. The second is when your car insurance policy is up for renewal and the insurance company sneakily reduces your deductibles back to “default”.

Misunderstanding or not taking enough due care and attention to your car insurance policy is the No.1 cause of dissatisfaction with your insurance product. Your policy is the contract between you and your insurer and binds everything together. It is thus vitally important that you read your policy before you actually accept it. This goes for when you are about to get a new policy or when you are renewing your policy for another year. Study it and be sure the insurance companies aren’t trying to pull a fast one on you.

Let Ryan Parker bring you through the maze that is the auto insurance policy. There are a few things that very few people know and will often be a deal breaker especially when it comes to the time to claim. He looks at the important points and why you need to be careful with which type of car insurance you get.