You recently suffered a traffic accident, causing severe damage to your vehicle. Your question is the obvious one: Will my auto insurance policy pay to repair this damage?

The answer depends on the type of auto insurance you have.

States typically require that all motorists purchase liability auto insurance. This type of insurance covers the costs of repairing the dings that you cause to the vehicles driven by others or the property owned by others. If all you pay for is liability insurance, your insurance company will not pay for the repairs needed to your own vehicle following an accident.

However, if you also pay for collision coverage, then your insurer should pay for the repairs needed to your car. Collision coverage, after all, is designed to pay to fix your car if it is damaged in an accident that you caused.

You might also pay for comprehensive auto insurance coverage. This pays for repairs needed to your vehicle because of fire, road debris, hail, vandalism or other issues. It will also cover the cost of replacing your vehicle should a thief steal it.

Most states don’t require motorists to pay for comprehensive and collision coverage. However, depending on the age and condition of your vehicle, you might decide that investing in this additional coverage makes sense. If you own an expensive car, the protection that collision coverage offers might outweigh the negatives of the higher insurance rates that come with this coverage.

To make sure that you are paying the lowest possible rates for your insurance coverage — whether you’re investing in only liability or adding both comprehensive and collision — you need to compare insurance rates online. Today, you can enter your basic information on a host of Web sites to instantly bring up quotes from competing insurers. This is the most effective way to make sure that you’re not overpaying for the insurance coverage that you need.

Drinking and driving comes with serious consequences–consequences that affect everything from your driving record to your insurance rate. First off, it’s important to note that North Carolina lumps all driving infractions involving drugs or alcohol under the term Driving While Impaired (DWI), as opposed to the common Driving Under the Influence (DUI) nomenclature. While normal drivers are considered to be impaired with a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of .08 percent, commercial drivers and those who already have a DWI on their record are over the legal limit when they hit a BAC of .04.

If you get caught for DWI, you will most likely want to hire a lawyer, and in addition to their fees you will end up paying fines and court fees. You are also likely to face a license suspension and for some offenses, you could have to do community service or even face jail time. Any DWI conviction also runs the risk of increasing your insurance, since you represent a greater risk. If you,get multiple DWI convictions, have a lot of other moving violations or get your license suspended for any length of time, your insurance company might also decide to drop you altogether.

If you lose your auto insurance coverage or have your rates go up as a result of a DWI, it’s important to shop around and see if you can find insurance at a good rate. In Burlington, North Carolina, you should contact Don Allred Insurance. As your independent agent, we can get you multiple quotes, in fact you can use our website to get live comparative quotes, assuring that you get the best possible rate on auto insurance.

Sorting through the different types of auto insurance policies can feel like wading through a used car lot looking for the right car; everyone’s trying to sell you something, and it’s hard to believe that salesmen have your best interests in mind when they’re pitching their policies.

It’s easy to look only at the bottom line and choose the least expensive policy available to meet state insurance requirements. But this isn’t always the best option. When deciding between full coverage and liability-only insurance, the monthly premium is obviously a factor–but it shouldn’t be the deciding factor.

What’s the difference?

Liability-only policies generally meet minimum North Carolina state requirements–and nothing more. That means that they cover a minimum amount of damage caused to another vehicle or another person in case of an accident that you cause. But liability insurance won’t necessarily cover damage to your car or medical bills you sustain as a result of an accident for which you are found at fault.

Full coverage auto insurance doesn’t exactly exist. What do exist are insurance policies that cover more than the minimum damage. Collision coverage covers damages to your property in case of an accident. Comprehensive coverage also covers other damages your vehicle sustains that aren’t crash-related; this often includes theft, hail and weather damage, vandalism, and fire. Uninsured and underinsured motorist insurance covers your property damage and medical costs in case of an accident in which the other driver has an inadequate policy to cover your damages.

Making a Choice

When deciding what type of policy is best for you, your best bet is to talk to an independent agent in Burlington here at Don Allred Insurance. We’ll be able to help you make the best choice for your situation. You can also compare quotes here to get an idea of the different premiums for different types of coverage, so you can mix and match types of coverage to fit your needs.

Your insurance in Burlington, NC keeps rising due to a claim or two, making your premiums significantly higher than when you first got your auto insurance. You have a few ways to get around this issue so you aren’t waiting for a few years for your premiums to adjust back down to normal.

The first option is to talk to your North Carolina independent agent or Don Allred Insurance to determine whether you are eligible for discounts on your insurance rate. Some options for discounts include taking driver improvement courses to reduce the amount of points on your license if you received violations due to accidents, combine insurance policies with other family members, or add additional coverage such as renter’s insurance to a package.

Another way to reduce the amount you pay every month is to increase your deductible or drop your coverage down to a minimum. The advantage with the deductible change is that you won’t lower your coverage level, but the disadvantage is that you pay more in the event that you have a claim before the insurance company covers it. If you drop your coverage down to a minimum, you reduce your rates without touching your deductible but you are only covering the bare bones amount that North Carolina requires.

You may want to shop around other insurance companies to see if you have a lower rate available, if your current company is unable to help you with your needs. Sometimes switching to a completely new provider is the only way that you’re able to reset the rate climb.