Guide to Evaluating Budget Car Insurance

These days, Internet shopping makes it easy to find budget car insurance coverage for your needs. However, it helps to know what you're getting in car insurance even when you want to save a buck, which of course you do.First of all, if you drive an older car and you don't have any payments on that car, you don't need two types of insurance: collision insurance or comprehensive insurance. You do need liability insurance no matter what type of car you drive. Laws vary from state to state as to the amount of liability insurance you need to have, but if you're on the road, you do absolutely have to have liability insurance. It should be noted that liability insurance does not cover you or your vehicle in any way. It simply guarantees that you are responsible for the other party's car and/or injuries up to a certain amount, if you are deemed at fault in an accident. Budget car insurance can also include simple liability insurance, as well as two other types of insurance, comprehensive and collision insurance.If your car is newer and/or you still owe payments on that car, then you'll want to have both comprehensive and collision insurance. This is because the premiums you pay also include the insurance company's replacement of your car in the event you're in an accident.For the best kind of budget car insurance, of course you want to pay as little as possible for the coverage you need, whether it's just simple liability insurance or it includes comprehensive and/or collision insurance as well. So first, determine whether your car is old enough and not worth the cost of having it covered with comprehensive and collision insurance. Collision insurance covers your car's damage in the event you're in an accident, whether or not it's determined you're at fault. Comprehensive insurance covers damage to your car if it happens when you're not driving, such as if your car is vandalized when it's parked or if a tree limb falls on it, for example.Collision and comprehensive coverage become unnecessary when your car is old enough that its replacement value is not worth your insurance premiums. In that case, you're better off putting the extra money you save on premiums in a savings account or some other place where it's going to earn interest and then buy a new car with that money if your old one is in an accident and is no longer operable.However, if your car is new enough that collision and comprehensive coverage make the extra premiums worth your while because replacement cost is more than the premiums you pay, then you should indeed carry comprehensive and collision insurance coverage. You can get budget car insurance for these types of coverage, too.Once you have determined what type of insurance you need, go search for budget car insurance. Depending on your driving record, your age, any accidents you've had, any previous insurance claims you had, and so on, you'll qualify within a certain risk category. Within that risk category, though, quotes can vary wildly depending on the company and the underwriters' assessment of you. Therefore, it's best to shop around for the lowest cost insurance with the greatest coverage depending on what you need.Remember that budget car insurance can be had no matter the type of coverage you need or your driving record; it's true that if your driving record is less than perfect or if you're within a certain age and/or gender category, you may pay more than someone else will regardless. The area you live in also helps determine the amount of insurance you pay. Nonetheless, you should be able to get the best rate possible with budget car insurance by doing some homework and assessing competing quotes. Choose the lowest quote with the highest coverage in it. Make sure you also research insurance companies to make sure they have good records and handle claims promptly and fairly. If you do this, though, it should be easy to find budget car insurance for your needs.One last word of advice is that you should shop around both online and offline. There is budget car insurance available from some very reliable and reputable companies online, but just because you got it online does not guarantee that it will be the best of cheapest. Shop around, both online and offline, make sure you are comparing apples to apples for coverage and deductibles, and then you can determine which is most cost effective for you.