No-fault insurance is a general term that is used to describe any auto insurance system that both requires drivers to carry insurance for their own protection, and that places limitations on their ability to sue other drivers for damages. As of today, 12 states are consider no-fault states so if you live in one of them your auto insurance is a little different than standard insurance policies.

In an accident, under no fault laws, your auto insurance company will pay for your damages (up to your policy limits), regardless of who was at fault for the accident. The other drivers involved, if there are any, will be covered by their own auto insurance policies.

In theory this is supposed to help keep insurance costs lower as well as making claims processing an easier job. As of now, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Utah are all no-fault states.

If you do have no-fault insurance coverage - also called “personal injury protection” or “PIP” - your coverage is most likely pretty limited. This type of insurance usually only pays for your medical bills and lost income up to the limits of your policy. Your pain and suffering, as well as medical bills over the policy limits, won’t be covered.

If your medical bills and lost wages are greater than the policy limits of your insurance, you may be able to collect from the driver at fault by suing them directly, under certain circumstances. The rules on whether you can sue the driver at fault for damages not covered by your no-fault insurance will vary from state to state.

In some states, lawsuits against drivers at fault after your no-fault insurance has been exhausted are limited to “serious” injuries or death. “Serious” means something different in each state, but generally includes broken bones, severed limbs, internal injuries requiring hospitalization, etc.

In other states, you can only bring a lawsuit against the driver at fault for damages not covered by your no-fault insurance if your total medical bills are over a specific amount, which varies by state.

Shopping for auto insurance can be a stressful thing. How can an average person know which company is the best choice for them? With the hundreds of companies and commercials claiming each one is the best it’s sometimes difficult to decide on an auto insurance company and policy.

Recently a study was released that graded the auto insurance companies and gave their premiums. This is a list of the top ten, with their grades and total premiums.

1.    United Services Automobile Association has $1.7 billion in premiums and scored an A+.
2.    USAA Casualty Insurance Company has $1.3 billion in premiums and scored an A+
3.    Interins Exchange of the Automobile Club has $1 billion in premiums and scored an A+.
4.    Dairyland Insurance Company has $92 million in premiums and scored an A.
5.    Auto-Owners Insurance Company has$380 million in premiums and scored an A.
6.    Sentry Insurance a Mutual Co. has $276 million in premiums and scored an A.
7.    Country Mutual Insurance has $527 million in premiums and scored an A.
8.    Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Co. has $115 million in premiums and scored an A.
9.    Mercury Insurance Co. (NYSE: MCY) has $674 million in premiums and scored an A.
10.    Kentucky Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. has $255 million in premiums and scored an A.

Most U.S. states have motor vehicle departments that use point systems to track your driving record. Each type of infraction you can make – moving violations such as speeding or parking tickets for example – has a different point value. When you commit one of these violations of the law then the corresponding number of points is added to your driving record. As you rack up these points your driving record worsens.

It’s also required that drivers have minimum amounts of auto insurance in each state. To obtain this, auto insurance companies will review the driving record of people that apply for a policy. Different policyholders pay different premiums primarily because of the last 3 -5 years of their driving records and the risk that is associated with them.

Insurance companies believe that drivers who have had tickets or accidents in the past 3 – 5 years are more likely to have them in the future and are therefore more of an insurance risk. Additionally, insurance companies get your driving record from all states you’ve been licensed in over the past 3 -5 years, not just the one you currently reside in.

If your driving record has negative information in it then it’s likely your insurance rate will increase. And this is just at the initial application. Any time you request a change to your policy, add a vehicle or change the covered vehicle or when your policy is up for renewal, your insurance company can reassess your risk and increase your premiums. These increases usually come from an internal “point” system insurance companies use to determine how much riskier it is to insure you.

Basically, your driving record is the most influential thing on your auto insurance. It affects your initial rate as well as coming into play any time you change or renew your policy. And once you go over a certain amount of points you lose your license and without a license you also lose your insurance

In a word, yes. In addition to notifying the police of an accident you should also let your insurance company know, as most policies require that you give “prompt notice” of any car accident or loss. You should file a report with your insurance company and let them know where they can send an insurance adjuster to have a look at the vehicle and assess the damage.

If you don’t notify your auto insurance company of an accident right away it could prevent them from investigating your claim thoroughly. If this happens they can reduce the amount offered for the claim or even deny it completely.

To help your auto insurer provide the best service you should get both the name and badge number of the police officer(s) that comes to the scene. You also need the other driver’s name, address, phone number, type of vehicle, license plate number, driver’s license number and their insurance company’s information. And if there were any witness or passengers get their contact information as well.

Also, take complete notes about the acceded, everything from the vehicles involved and how fast they were traveling to the weather and road conditions should be remembered if possible. Make sure you don’t make any verbal or written statements about who was at fault. And be careful about payments that are offered on the spot. If you accept these you can still be held liable at a later date for the same damages.

Just keep in mind your insurance company is there for times like this. Keeping them informed of exactly what happened can help them help you.

There are many types of insurance you will need throughout your life – auto, health, life and home just to name a few. No matter what type of insurance you are looking for you should thoroughly shop around because there is a lot of competition for your business. These days a lot of companies are competing both offline and online for your business. Here are a few tips for finding the best deal for your insurance needs.

The best place to start shopping is online. There are so many insurance companies willing to offer you a policy that it is almost mind-boggling. You can use search engines to find the quotes or even a price comparison website that allows you to see what premiums different insurance companies are willing to offer you at different prices. Searching online also allows you to do the due diligence to find out more information about particular companies, their policies and how they handle claims.

Secondly, don’t rush the decision process. Insurance policies are pretty complicated documents and you want to be sure that you understand your policy completely and that you have provided the correct information for quotes. If you don’t understand a particular piece of your policy it may come back to bite you in the future when you make a claim. And if you provide information that isn’t entirely correct then your quote can change when you go to finalize your policy.

Finally, it is almost always cheaper to pay the policy in full as it is due rather than paying quarterly or monthly. Usually the insurer will make you pay fees or interest rates if you choose to space out the policy payment over time rather than paying it all at once.

Following these suggestions can end up saving you a substantial amount of money each year for insurance costs. And since insurance often seems like an unneeded expense, until something goes wrong that is, the cheaper you can make it, the better.

In auto insurance there are many different types of coverage. These include bodily injury liability, property damage liability, personal injury protection, uninsured motorist protection and collision and comprehensive.

Bodily injury liability coverage is required in most states and it compensates the driver and passengers in the other car in case of an accident. This coverage also protects the passengers in your vehicle.  This coverage is sold in standard increments for both how much coverage you have per person in an accident and a limit per accident.

The amount of coverage you need here is determined by what assets you have that need to be protected as this coverage is mostly for protection in law suits resulting from an accident. If you have a decent yearly income and sizeable investments you should get more coverage to protect yourself. If you rent an apartment and don’t make much money then you can get lower amounts of coverage. Your deductible here is determined by several factors including your age, marital status, driving record and where you live.

Property damage liability pays for the repair and replacement of the other person’s vehicle or property in the case of an accident. Although state minimums can be as low as $5,000, you should consider a minimum of $50,000 coverage for each automobile you own. That way if you total somebody’s Mercedes you don’t have to worry about paying it off on your own.

Personal injury protection is one coverage that you can be a little lax with. This coverage pays for the medical and funeral costs of you and your family no matter whose fault the accident was. So, if you already have health, life and disability policies you don’t really need this coverage.

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage does exactly what it sounds like. In the event you are in an accident with a driver that doesn’t have insurance or doesn’t have enough coverage to pay your expenses then this policy kicks in. Since there are so many uninsured motorists in American this coverage is essential. It’s also relatively inexpensive. On average, for $100,000 of coverage a year it costs $40.

Collision and comprehensive coverage is for the full cost of repairs or replacement of your car following an accident. Comprehensive covers natural disasters, vandalism and theft. Comprehensive covers actual accidents. Either way the higher your deductible the less your premium will be. So, choose the highest deductible you can afford to save money. And if you have an older car that’s paid off you might want to consider skipping this coverage altogether.

Ultimately, the amount of coverage you need is determined by the amount you can afford to pay out of pocket in the event of an accident coupled with the amount you can afford for a premium. Talk to your agent about both of these and you are sure to work out what coverage is best for you.

Insurance is something people get for protection against the financial impact an accident or tragedy can have. Since there are various parts of your life where these accidents can occur, there are different insurances for each circumstance. Here is a little information about the main types of insurance.

First up is health insurance. While many people have health insurance through their employee, not everyone does. And even if you don’t have it through work you should try to get some sort of policy. When you are considering health insurance policies you should consider both the deductible (what you’ll pay out-of-pocket for health care) as well as what will be covered by your policy. The most common types of health insurance are PPOs (preferred provider options), which allow you to refer yourself to any provider in your PPO’s list, and HMOs (health maintenance organizations), which tend to be least expensive and most restrictive, usually assigning you a primary care physician that decides what medical treatment is necessary for you.

Auto insurance is another biggie. Most states require auto insurance, making it illegal to drive a car without it. Auto insurance protects you against any liability you have to others in case of a car accident as well as any damages done to you, your passengers or your vehicle. Generally, how much of this insurance you need depends on your assets. If you have an older car, rent your house or apartment and don’t make much annually then you don’t really need a lot of coverage. If you have a newer, expensive car that would be hard to replace then you might want to consider having more auto insurance in case of an accident.

Another type of insurance is life insurance. Life insurance policies generally cover the replacement of the policyholder’s income or work, estate taxes, and burial costs. To replace what a family member is contributing with life insurance you need to purchase around 12 times the amount of money they contribute annually.

A final type of important insurance is homeowner’s insurance. This protects you in case of damages to your home and property because of natural disasters such as fire, flood or hurricanes. When looking for a homeowner’s policy consider the different amounts of coverage offered other than on the house, the deductibles and percent of loss covered. Also keep in mind that basic homeowner’s insurance doesn’t cover the contents of your home so you’ll need to add it in or purchase it separately. If you rent or own a condo you only need insurance that covers the contents of your home and possibly liability insurance.

While these are only a few types of insurance available, they are the main ones and the ones that everyone should have at least a little coverage for. When purchasing any type of insurance be sure to do your research and shop around for what fits your needs best.

The basic types of auto insurance coverages are:

1. bodily injury liability, which provides coverage for bodily injury claims from the people you might injure in an accident

2. property damage liability, which covers any property damages to third parties — such as another person’s car you damage — which you cause or are responsible for

3. medical payments to the policy owner and other passengers in the policy owner’s car

4. uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which protects you when the negligent driver has no insurance or insufficient insurance (in most states, this covers only bodily injury losses — though some states also include property damage losses)

5. physical damage covers damage to your car

a. collision, which covers losses to your car when you are involved in a collision

b. comprehensive, which covers most non-collision physical damage to your car (if your car is damaged in a storm, or a windshield breaks, for example).