Obtaining car insurance after you’ve been charged with a DUI (Driving Under the Influence) can prove to be a challenging task. Most major car insurance companies will not give you coverage and those that will cover you charge an arm and leg for premiums. If you’re a first-time DUI offender, this doesn’t seem very fair, right? If you’re currently insured (In most states you have to be insured), it’s possible that your insurance premium may not go up at all. Many insurance companies check your record every few years. However, if or when they do find out, they could raise your rates or even cancel your insurance.
What Companies Look At Before Offering Insurance
There are several factors that come into play in a company’s decision to offer you an auto policy. Many insurance companies will look at your previous driving history, of course, and some will even check your credit to see how financially stable you are. They also look at your claims history reporting. All of these variables combine to create an “insurance score”, much the same way credit bureaus come up with a credit score.
What Is an SR-22?
An SR-22 is a Department of Motor Vehicles form that provides proof of insurance. This SR-22 is required who have been arrested or convicted for a DUI and want to get a restricted license. It also lets the DMV know that the car insurance company has issued at least a minimum liability coverage for the person filing the form.
Shop Around For Insurance
Make sure to get several quotes from companies before making a decision on purchasing car insurance. Perhaps your DUI lawyer can recommend a few companies that can help you with your SR-22 filing and offer a decent rate.
By: Maria Palma
Posts Tagged ‘Minimum Liability’
Obtaining Car Insurance After a DUI, DWI
January 7th, 2010Cheap Car Insurance in Arizona
November 29th, 2009
If you are looking for the cheapest possible car insurance in Arizona there are only two things you have to know.
First you need to know about Arizona’s low-cost basic liability policy. This policy is the cheapest insurance you can possibly buy in Arizona and still drive 100% legally.
Each state sets its own minimum limits when it comes to its approved basic liability policy. In Arizona the lowest pay-out limits you can buy are 15/30/10. What this means is that if you are at fault in an accident your liability insurance will pay a maximum of $15,000 in medical claims to any one individual who is injured and your insurance will pay a maximum of $30,000 if two or more people are injured, regardless of the total number of people injured or the extent of their injuries. Your liability insurance will also pay a maximum of $10,000 for any property damage you cause. This includes the cost of repairing the other person’s car.
One of the things you need to be aware of if you are going to purchase a minimum liability policy is that the maximum amounts that the insurance pays may not be enough to cover all of the medical or property damage bills in even a moderate-sized accident. If your basic liability policy doesn’t cover the full costs of the accident YOU could be forced to pay the difference. This means it’s possible for you to have insurance yet still lose your savings account or even be forced into selling your home.
The other thing you need to be aware of is that a basic liability policy doesn’t cover YOU at all. In other words it won’t pay a penny for the repair of your vehicle and it won’t pay a penny for your medical bills or for the medical bills of any passengers in your vehicle.
The second thing you have to know if you’re serious about finding the cheapest car insurance in Arizona is that the best place to find your insurance – whether it’s a basic liability policy, a full-coverage policy or something in between – is online.
Online insurance sellers have very few expenses and virtually no overhead so they are able to offer their insurance at far less cost than their brick and mortar cousins.
One trick to finding the very best price online is to make price comparisons on several different websites that are designed to compare the prices from different insurance companies. Don’t rely on just one site since each site only compares a small handful of insurance companies.
Once you’ve looked at prices on at least 3 different price comparison websites then simply choose the lowest price you’ve found and you’re done!
By: Alexis Jensen