By now, we all know that car insurance is a bit of an essential if you own a car. A lot of things can go wrong, from a bump in the parking lot, cracked windscreens, and more serious accidents involving other cars. Let’s not forget that there are also hi-jackings, theft of the whole car, and break-ins where anything left in the car is pinched.
It’s just part of the risk of owning a car. And of course, the bad stuff isn’t over once the incident has taken place. Oh no. You then have to sort out the recovery process. This could mean paying for damages to your own car, damages to another car or property, paying the towing company, replacing valuables, and even legal issues. It’s the aftermath that your insurer’s there for. They’re the chaps who fork over the big bucks to help you get back on the road.
It’s all part of the agreement that you enter into when you take out insurance. Owing to the fact that it’s an agreement, it’s quite appropriate to think of car insurance as a 2-way street. Which most of us don’t. In fact, most people would be surprised to find out that it’s not only the responsibility of the insurance company that they’re insured with to keep them covered.
Let’s explain why by looking at the agreement, your part in it, and your insurer’s role.
Car insurance = an agreement
Car insurance is officially a contract between you and your insurer, whereby you pay an agreed sum of money (also known as a premium) to the insurer in exchange for the cover of a defined set of potential risks and perils. This way, if any of these incidents happen your insurer will pay up and help you get back on the road.
Your role in the car insurance agreement
There are 2 parts to your role. The first is that you must pay your monthly premium on the date that you’ve agreed to. If there’s no payment, then there’s no cover. Your insurer can’t take the risk to cover you if you haven’t stuck to the agreement and paid for it.
Different insurance companies have a different approach to missed payments, so we can only really talk to 1 example from King Price to give you an idea of what happens if you don’t pay your premium.
Let’s say that you’ve missed just the 1 payment date for whatever reason. Your insurer (in this case, King Price) may charge an additional admin fee and give you a grace period of 15 days from your original payment date before attempting to deduct the money again.
If the premium still isn’t paid, then you won’t be covered for anything that could go wrong in that month. Of course, if you managed to sort out your payment in the grace period and something goes wrong that you need to claim for, then your insurer will handle your claim once they’ve seen the payment.
Now, what if you miss another month’s payment? Unfortunately, if you miss 2 payments in a row the contract is considered broken and your cover will be cancelled.
We mentioned another part to your role, and this part of the contract is where you agree to take reasonable care of your car to prevent (as far as is possible) incidents from happening. This would include things like locking your car when you leave it or not driving dangerously. Basically, you need to have a vested interest in your car. It should matter to you if something goes wrong. Your insurer should explain your role in more detail in your policy documents, which is just 1 of the reasons why you should read these docs.
Your insurer’s role in the car insurance agreement
Now here’s the part that you probably know more about. Your insurer’s role is to pay out your claim. The details of everything that your insurance covers will be explained to you in the policy docs, including what’s not covered. It’s so important to know this type of info in case you claim for something only to be disappointed by a rejected claim and are confused and angry.
Understandably, most of us don’t really read the policy docs because the language is archaic and stiff. The good news? There are insurers out there, like King Price, that have reworded these docs so that the language is easy to read and understand.
Looking for car insurance that takes a fair approach to the agreement between you and them? Want an agreement that’s secure and understandable? Take a moment to get a super cheap car insurance quote from the king of price!