Orem Car Insurance

Automobile insurance in Orem, Utah, is a family matter, as is almost everything in this city of over 88,328. Forbes, in 2010 rated the city the 5th best place to raise a family. The largest employers in the city are educational institutions: Utah Valley University and the Alpine School District.

This attractive city forty-five miles south of Salt Lake City is an ideal place to raise children and nurture families. For that reason, automobile insurance oriented toward the needs and budgets of families is important.

Budgeting auto insurance can be difficult when coping with all the varied needs of families.

The best way to approach shopping for automobile insurance is to have a strategy that will acquire bids or quotations from at least three dependable insurance companies that sell insurance in the Orem area.

To do this, it is necessary to follow a series of actions that will lead you to comparable quotations:

• Determine the legal requirements for auto insurance in Utah
• Investigate insurance companies within the state for financial stability, complaint ratios, and compliance with state law
• Decide the type of coverage your family needs for liability and physical damage upon your personal automobiles
• Collect the information needed to request comparable quotations
• Evaluate the quotations for not only the price but also the quality of insurance.

Legal Requirements for Auto Insurance in Utah

Automobile insurance is monitored by every state, individually; therefore, you need to consult state statutes for the legally mandated limits of liability. One way to do this is by consulting the Utah Insurance Department website.

In Utah, the minimum state requirements for auto insurance are:

• Liability

A person must carry $25,000 per person for bodily injury, $65,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $15,000 per accident for property.

• Personal Injury Protection (PIP)

Utah's no-fault law that requires you to purchase a minimum of $3,000 in PIP coverage to pay your medical expenses in the event of an accident.

• Uninsured/underinsured Motorists Coverage

This amount must be equal to your bodily injury liability coverage.

• Collision and Comprehensive Coverage

These coverage types are not required by law, but they are designed to protect your car against damages caused by another vehicle, an object, or a rollover.

Collision coverage provides protection against actual collisions. Comprehensive coverage, although not required by law, protects your car against damages such as theft, fire, glass damage, hail, wind, flood, vandalism, and animal damage.

Investigate Utah Insurance Companies

Legally, insurance companies and agencies must be licensed in the state to sell automobile insurance. To check the status of companies and agencies, go to the State of Utah's Insurance Department website.

Other important concerns about insurance companies can be their financial solvency and the complaint ratio they have collected within the state.

Financial solvency is important to insurance companies because sometimes-massive losses such as Hurricane Sandy may have depleted the reserves of individual companies, causing them to change their claims practices.

Complaint ratios within the state allow you to check on the way they do business in your state.

For information on specific companies, visit the following:

• National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) 
• A. M. Best rating services
• Standard and Poor's rating services

Be careful not to skip this area of investigation because it can give you a good idea of actually how an insurance company does business within the state.

A high ratio of complaints to premium written can indicate a certain carelessness in their business practices. You may not be concerned with this for years, but when a claim occurs or a dispute arises, this is important information.

What coverage do you need?

Families usually own more than one vehicle to cover the necessities of transportation to work, school, and errands. You may wish to purchase different insurance on each automobile to reflect its usage, ownership status, and drivers.

The minimum coverage required by law is not enough to protect your family and the assets you have collected - such as savings and property - from loss through catastrophic liability.

Suggested limits are:

• $100,000 per person/$300,000 per accident bodily injury liability
• $75,000 per accident property damage liability
• $10,000 PIP coverage
• $100,000/$300,000 Underinsured/uninsured motorists insurance

Physical damage coverage may vary, depending upon the ownership status and age of the vehicle. Comprehensive and Collision with a $500 deductible is recommended upon vehicles for which you're still paying.

An older vehicle that is totally paid for may not require physical damage coverage because the insurance costs more than you would collect in the event of an accident.

Information Needed for Auto Insurance Quotes

You'll need some statistical information to obtain quotes from insurance companies. Some of these are:

• Names, dates of birth, and drivers license number for all drivers - drivers even include the 15-year-old with a learner's permit
• Make, model, VIN number, annual mileage, and usage for all vehicles
• Location of garaging/parking
• Driving record for drivers for the past five years

Saving Money on Car Insurance

You have already begun the most reliable way of saving money on car insurance - getting several different quotations.

Insurance companies' rates within a state can vary depending upon statistics, weather experience, and types of vehicles. Getting quotes from more companies with help save money.

Other ways to save money can be:

• Keep driving records clear
• Watch your credit score
• Purchase home and auto insurance from the same company

Evaluate the Quotes

Of course, you have given each insurance company the same information to make sure quotes are comparable. Now it's time to evaluate the quotes:

• Make sure the coverage is the same
• Note the company's financial status and complaint ratios
• Compare prices

This is the point at which you return to the insurance companies and ask each of them about special discounts they may have available - sometimes belonging to an alumni association, work group, or credit union may earn discounts.

Be sure the companies are aware of good student awards for your children, driver's education classes, and defensive driving courses for older people.

Carefully evaluate the insurance, and then plan to schedule this process again next year. Insurance rates vary just as much as do other consumer products and it is good practice to examine them every year.

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