Reader’s Question:

Hi, I’m from Phoenix, Arizona and I am a new driver and quite new to auto-insurance. Could someone explain to me what Liability coverage is?

Pam

Phoenix, AZ

Hi, Pamela, right? Let’s get the facts straight. Liability coverage is that piece of automobile insurance that is required by most states now. Most states– that means unless you’re a resident of some states like, from memory — Virginia, New Hampshire and Wisconsin, liability coverage will be a fact of life for you. Surely you won’t move states just to skip it, kidding. So how does liability coverage work? Liability coverage works to protect the car owner from accidents that are his or her fault. One article I read about it cleverly points it out that a driver’s good luck or clean slate won’t last forever.

Here are some basics for you to understand the concept. I’ll leave out the clutter. In Arizona, you’re required to have Bodily Injury Liability Coverage and Property Liability Coverage. Bodily injury coverage serves to pay for damages like medical bills, even funerals. Property Liability coverage, this one saves you from the pain of paying for damage to property caused by you. The state requires you go to have a minimum coverage of 15/30/10. What the heck do these numbers mean to you? Simply put, the first number represents $15,000 of bodily injury for one person with a cap of $30,000 (the second number) total for all the people injured. The last number just means you’re covered up to about $10,000 of property damage. If damages exceed the numbers…that will be a different story already.

Tags: auto insurance, Beginner car insurance, New Driver Insurance

Reader’s Question:

Hi. In between policies, I got hit by a car that was insured. Is it possible to charge my medical expenses and the repair of my car? This happened in Davenport, Iowa.

Dolores

Davenport, IA

What a lucky lady! You know what, Dolores, you should thank your stars you’re from Davenport, Iowa. Had you come from other states, you would have had a bigger problem. So, right now your one and only problem is if it is possible for the driver at fault who is fortunately insured to cover all your medical expenses and all the costs that the repair of the damages to your car will incur? That is an interesting question. First, I know that your apprehension is that the insurance policy of the driver that hit your car will not cover all your expenses because you are not insured yourself. Well, because you’re from Iowa, the state’s law protects you because it is not mandatory in Iowa to have a vehicular insurance. However,

I really hope you have liability coverage for bodily injuries and property damages because that’s the only requirement that the state of Iowa asks of its residents. As a matter of fact, even if it appears that you are at the losing end because of the absence of an insurance at the time of this accident, you sure can claim liability from the offending driver’s insurance policy because that’s how insurance works in general.

Tags: auto insurance claims, car insurance

Reader’s Question:

My daughter has an SR-22 insurance in Houston,Texas. I would like know what we have to do to take it off.

Jason

Houston, TX

An SR-22 is a certificate of insurance in the state of Texas that show proof of automobile insurance with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) for the future, as required by law.

The insurance carrier notifies the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) if the car insurance policy is cancelled, terminated, or lapses thus if that happens appropriate enforcement action may be taken. The driving privilege or the drivers license will be suspended if a person is required to obtain an SR22 and there is no SR22 on file.

The form called the SR26 is filed by the company to cancel the SR22. So if your daughter is no longer required to carry an SR22 or the time period to carry this financial responsibility certificate is up already in Houston,Texas, she must inform her insurance company that she no longer needs to carry an SR22 so that it will be removed. Her insurance carrier will probably be needing some documentation that shows that she no longer needs to carry an SR22 insurance.She may be able to get this from the Department of Public Safety and show it to he insurance company so they can file a SR26.

Tags: auto insurance, sr22 insurance

Q: What kinds of SR22 proof of financial responsibility are there?

A: There are three main types of SR22 proof of financial responsibility which you can file, and those are

• Owner-operator: This means the car you drive is yours, and so you file your SR22 proof of financial responsibility with an otherwise normal car insurance policy. Owner-operator insurance is the cheapest available, although of course it depends on the options you choose.
• Operator: This means you drive, but you don’t own a car. Since with SR22 insurance you need to have an SR22 filed if you want to have your license back and drive legally, then you need to get operator insurance. Operator, also called non owners insurance, is pretty expensive.
• Owner: This kind of insurance usually applies to business owners–for example, if you own a car lot, or if you own a company which has company cars employees can drive, or a rental company with the rental cars. You’re unlikely to need SR22 insurance for one of these kinds of policies.

Q: What is the Sr22 Financial responsibility form?

A: The Sr22 Financial responsibility form is a very expensive piece of paper, which may be required of you by a judge or simply by the law or your state. You may be required to file an SR22 form if you have violated a certain traffic or insurance law. It all depends on what state you live in, but some typical things which will get you in trouble and filing an SR22 are driving drunk and driving uninsured, so if you do any of those things, unless you’re in a state which doesn’t require SR22s at all, then you’re stuck.

Your Sr22 Financial responsibility acts as proof of car insurance coverage with your Department of Motor Vehicles, and in most cases you will have to file it for three years. Some states, like Texas, have shorter filing periods, while other states have filing periods which vary depending on your category of offense and how many times you have reoffended.

An Sr22 Financial responsibility form is require to reinstate a suspended license. Once your license is reinstated, if you don’t pay your premium any time during your required filing period, your license is yet again suspended.

Reader’s Question:

Can I have an sr22 without getting liability or insurance for my vehicle?

Kim

Thank you for asking Kim.

Most states usually require vehicle owners to purchase a minimum amount of bodily injury and property damage liability insurance before they can drive legally their vehicles. All states have laws on financial responsibility. This means that individuals involved in a car accident will be mandated to provide proof of financial responsibility up to certain minimum amount limits. To comply with financial responsibility laws, most drivers buy car liability insurance.

You may be able to purchase a non-owners liability SR22 policy if you do not own a motor vehicle.

Goodluck!

MariCAR

Reader’s Question:

How much does an sr-22 cost?

Miguel

Thank you for asking Miguel.

The car insurance coverage bought that is associated with the SR-22 form will be rated depending on all factors that go into rating a policy, regardless of the SR-22 form filing. The insurance rates are not different if you are getting an SR-22 or not.

As for the actual SR-22 form, typically insurance providers are allowed to charge a nominal fee for filing the financial responsibility form (certificate) or sr22 to the state. State laws differ but typically the SR-22 form filing fee is only $15 to $25.

Your driving history is one of the rating factor in the cost of car insurance so the reason that you are mandated to obtain and carry the SR-22, such as reinstating your driving privelege after a DUI suspension, may affect your auto insurance premiums but the SR-22 form itself does not beyond the filing fee.

Goodluck!

MariCAR

Reader’s Question:

I just want to know what is an sr22? Why does it have to be carried?

Joe

Thank you for asking Joe.

SR-22 or financial responsibility certificate is proof that you have certain types of insurance, based upon the financial responsibility laws of your state and what they are mandating you to carry.

The reasons that an SR22 can be required differently from state to state. Generally, an Sr-22 is required when insurance policy is provided to a person who was involved accident or was convicted of a moving violation and was unable to show financial responsibility. Each state has different variations of this form and the insurance requirements.

The following SR-22s are associated with the following offenses in many states

* DUI or DWI or any serious moving violation
* At-fault accidents while driving without insurance
* Repeat traffic offenses or getting too many tickets in a short time period
* License suspension or revoked license

An SR-22 or financial responsibility certificate can and is mandated in many states as part of the reinstatement process after you have had your driver’s license suspended, revoked, cancelled or lapsed. This can include suspension for being a habitual offender of moving violations or because of being behind in child support payments; it all depends on your specific state’s laws.

Goodluck!

MariCAR