Vehicle Changes

Mandy and Bill decided to sell the VW Jetta they have had for the past several months recently and are getting a Sunbird in its place. Yes, it's used and yes, it is even two years older than the Jetta is but since they had such good luck with another Sunbird that held up for them for several years -mechanically speaking - and since they still have that buggy parked in a friend of Bill's junkyard, he figures he can use the old Sunbird for parts if they have any problems with this one they are buying. (The only problem with the old unit was that it was rusted out and the frame then wouldn't and couldn't pass the state inspection.)

So, to transfer the Jetta to the Sunbird, Mandy also had to transfer the insurance over too and that's when she learned even though the Sunbird is two years older than the Jetta, the insurance rates for it will increase slightly.

Now, some people -if they had that happen to them -would be checking all over the place, getting new auto insurance quotes which in and of itself isn't a bad thing I suppose. However, we've had all our insurance through one particular company -car, home owners, mortgage too -and overall, have been quite happy with the coverage and service they give, so she isn't going to look for another company because of a small increase in the rates with this transfer.

Which brings me to another little lecture of sorts -along the lines of my post the other night about insurance stuff -and that is to recognize the need to have car insurance and also, to make sure the company you are dealing with is very reliable, quite reputable, in the service they provide for their fees.

This kind of insurance is to my mind, another of life's necessities. Some states don't require residents to carry any insurance on their vehicles and frankly, I think that is a very bad procedure for both the states and those who don't bother to carry insurance at all on the vehicles then either.

Just as we all like to think we are safe behind the wheel of our own car, I'd be willing to bet that there are very few of us who haven't experienced some type of auto accident at some time and perhaps then, and if so, did you have insurance coverage at that time? Maybe you only carried liability insurance -which only covers the other driver's car in the case of a two-car or multi-vehicle accident so you were protected as was the other driver, in case of a lawsuit type of thing and the other driver could then get their car repaired.

But what if that is all the insurance you had and your car is totaled? Then what do you do? How many people can afford to "eat" that kind of financial loss? Could you? I know for sure I can't so I always carry both liability and comprehensive insurance on my vehicle, regardless of the age of the car. I also carry the lowest deductible I can too -which also increases the insurance costs slightly but in my mind, it's well worth that little extra being paid out if my car is involved in an accident and damaged, then I only have to pay out the deductible to get it repaired or, if it is totaled, then I get the value of the car to put towards a replacement.

For me, knowing I have a good value with the company I have chosen to insure my car is important to for my peace of mind not just with respect to my car, my protection but also for others on the highway who maybe don't believe in the need to carry insurance as I do.