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Copyright © 1995-2000 Robert T. Heineman. All rightsreserved. Last updated 10/18/2000. License # 0581377.
Who is your current insurance company (not agent or broker)?
Please enter the name of your current insurance company. For instance, Allstate, State Farm, 20th Century, etc. Do not enter the name of the broker from whom you purchased your policy.
We ask for the name of your current insurance company to help qualify you for lower auto insurance rates. Statistically speaking, people that come to us with prior insurance are less likely to be involved in accidents than people without prior insurance.
We could speculate for days as to why this is the case. But, what ever the reason, people with prior insurance tend to have fewer accidents.
If you have insurance now, you may qualify for a lower rate with with some companies. That's why we ask.
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Please list the names of all drivers in your household. Also include the age, sex...
Please list the name, age and sex of each licensed person living in your house. The absolute number of drivers in a household does not necessarily effect the rate you pay. The age, sex, marital status and driving record does effect rate.
For example, a household could consist of four licensed drivers all over age thirty, with clean driving records, and only one car. Another household may have one driver over thirty, with a poor driving record, and one car. Other things being equal, the first household with more drivers will have a lower auto insurance rate than the second household with only one driver. The poor driving record has a greater effect on the rate than the number of drivers.
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Also include the ... number of tickets and fault accidents for each driver in the last 3 years.
The number of tickets in the last three years means the number of moving violations received in the last three years. Fix-it tickets generally do not count. Seat belt and car pool lane violations generally do count. In California, if a violation is over three years old it does not count, even if it is a major violation like drunk driving or reckless.
Fault accidents, for all practical purposes, are accidents for which you are completely or partially at fault. Most accidents are considered fault accidents for purpose of insurance rating.
Non-fault accidents are rare. Non-fault accidents are:
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Is the most frequent driver a full-time academic student with a G.P.A. of 3.0 or higher?
If the most frequent driver meets the following two criteria, a "Good Student" discount will be applied to your auto quote. The good student discount is significant. It can lower the overall premium by about 20%.
Good Student Discount Criteria.
If the most frequent driver graduates from college with a G.P.A. of 3.0 or higher, while insured with some companies, they may retain their good student discount until age 25.
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Vehicle ID number
The vehicle identification number is found on the vehicle registration. It is also usually found on the edge of the driver's door, on the dashboard above the steering wheel, and also sometimes found on your insurance policy. The vehicle ID number helps us to identify the exact year, make and model of your car.
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Exact model
Please enter the exact model with the descriptive "letters" or "codes" that often follow the model name. For instance there are many models of Honda Accord. There are Accord DX, LX, and LXI's. When you enter the model of your car please list the model including the descriptive letters or codes that usually follow the model name.
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Does this vehicle have four wheel anti-lock brakes?
To be eligible for the anti-lock brake (often abbreviated ABS for anti-lock braking system) discount, your vehicle must have anti-lock brakes on all four wheels. Some vehicles have ABS on only two wheels. Vehicles with two wheel ABS do not qualify for this discount.
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Primary driver.
Please list the name of the primary or most frequent driver for this vehicle.
If your household has more than one driver, and more than one vehicle, place a different driver on each vehicle.
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Please list any other safety features...
Please list other safety features your car may have to help lower your quoted rate. Examples of other safety features are:
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Bodily Injury/Property Damage Liability (B.I.P.D.).
If you are at fault in an accident, bodily injury/property damage liability protects you against lawsuit, pays for other people's injuries, and fixes property you damaged during the accident.
B.I.P.D. does not pay for your injuries or damage to your car, just other peoples' to whom you are legally liable. B.I.P.D. pays for damages outside your vehicle. It pays for your passenger's injuries only if you are at fault, and your passengers are not members of your immediate family or household.
A common limit of liability is $100,000/$300,000/$50,000. This means if you are in an accident (that is your fault), your insurance company will pay up to $100,000 per person you injure, $300,000 maximum for all people you injure, and up to $50,000 in damage you cause to other people's property-- like cars, houses, etc..
These limits apply to a single accident only. So if you are involved in more than one accident, coverage starts all over again.
You have a wide variety of potential limits of liability to choose from. Limits commonly range from the California state minimum of $15,000/$30,000/$5,000 to a hefty $250,000/$500,000/$100,000. You can go even higher if you buy a personal umbrella.
How much liability insurance should you carry? There is no "cut and dried" answer to this question, but the answer relates to your financial net worth, how much premium you can afford to pay, and your moral feelings towards other people.
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UM (Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist)
Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage pays for injuries, pain and suffering, and loss of earnings if you are in an accident with an uninsured or underinsured motorist, and it is their fault.
U.M. covers you and your passengers while you are in your car. It also covers you and the immediate members of your family no matter where you are-- in or out of your car.
For example, if you and your child are walking down the street and an uninsured motorist jumps the curb and hits you both, coverage is triggered.
$30,000/$60,000 U.M. coverage means the maximum pay-out is $30,000 per person, $60,000 per accident.
How much coverage do you need? If you and other members of your household are already covered by good health and disability insurance, you have less need for U.M. than a person with poor or no coverage. $30,000/$60,000 is common for people with good coverage.
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Uninsured Motorist Collision Deductible Waiver (U.M.P.D.)
U.M.P.D. waives your deductible if the following three conditions are all met:
In short, U.M.P.D. can waive your deductible under some unusual circumstances. In my experience (Bob Heineman), only about one in five accidents meet all three of these criteria. For instance if you are hit by someone who is drunk, and uninsured, and there is a police report to verify these facts, your deductible will be waived. On the other hand, if the accident is even 1% your fault, the deductible will not be waived.
A similar coverage, called Uninsured Motorist Property Damage, is available for drivers who elect not to carry collision coverage. If you carry U.M.P.D. without collision and the above three criteria are met, the insurance company will fix your car. The maximum amount the insurance company will pay is $3,500 or the value of the car, which ever is less. The insurance company will pay you even though you do not carry collision coverage.
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Medical Payments
Med. pay covers your injuries and your passenger's injuries if you are hurt in an accident no matter who is at fault. The coverage is a per person coverage, so if you have $5,000 medical pay and three people are hurt in your car, each person could potentially collect $5,000 to pay for their injuries.
To save money, many people elect not to carry medical payments on their auto policy, if already covered by a good medical plan.
If you reject medical payments, and you cause an accident, the liability (bodily injury ) portion of your policy can cover injured passengers, if your passengers are not members of your household or immediate family.
If you are in an accident that is not your fault and your unrelated passengers are injured, the other person's liability, or your uninsured motorist coverage will pay.
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Comprehensive and Collision Deductibles
Comprehensive pays to fix your car if it is damaged by fire, vandalism or flying objects (stones hitting your windshield). Comp. also covers your car if it is stolen.
Collision fixes your car if you hit something, or if something hits you.
I (Bob Heineman) generally recommend minimum deductibles of $1,000 for comprehensive and collision. Sometimes even higher deductibles are warranted.
Why high deductibles? First, they save you money. Second, you should utilize car insurance only to cover catastrophic, major problems, not little claims. I do not recommend submitting claims less than $1,000 because your rate will usually go up after you place a claim-- offsetting any economic advantage you gained by placing the claim in the first place.
If your car is older and not worth much, you may wish to consider eliminating comp. and collision totally to save money.
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Towing & Road Service
Towing and road service pays to have your car towed if it stops running. It also pays to get you started if your battery goes dead.
If you lock yourself out of your car, it pays for a locksmith to open your car.
Bob Heineman Brokerage offers one of the best towing and road services available-- there is no specific mileage limit the company will pay to have you towed. The only limit is you must have your car towed to the closest suitable repair shop that can fix your car.
For instance, if you are out in the middle of "tin-buck-too" when you break down, we will pay to have you towed 100 miles, if that is what it takes to get you to the nearest town. Many road service plans have a 5 to 25 mile tow limit.
How do you contact towing if you break down? Dial a free 800 number anywhere in the USA, and help will be on the way in short order.
You can use any convenient tow company, including AAA® authorized towers.
If you break down a couple blocks from a gas station, use the gas station's tow truck. When you return home, submit the bill to Bob Heineman Brokerage. He can usually issue a refund check on the spot.
One final advantage is cost-- usually only $9 per car per 6 months. The only disadvantage is we do not offer the nifty maps and travel services companies like AAA ® offer.
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Car Rental
Car rental (also called collision plus) pays for a rental car if you are involved in an accident that exceeds your deductible. Typical reimbursement is $25 a day up to a maximum of $500 while your car is being fixed. Other options exist offering higher (or lower) per diems.
Car rental has an interesting feature called loss of use. Loss of use means you will be reimbursed $25 a day after an accident, even if you decide not to rent a car.
If you get into an accident and decide not to rent, you can pocket the $25 a day, or put it towards your deductible. Few other companies offer such a neat feature!
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