
Dylan Tate is an insurance content expert for SmartFinancial with over 300 articles about home, auto, business, health and life insurance under his belt. He has over nine years of experience writing for online publications, primarily about gaming and esports. In the process, he has become an expert in search engine optimization, news reporting, feature writing and copy editing.
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Driving without car insurance is illegal in nearly every state — and if you’re caught, the penalties can be severe. You may face fines, license suspension or even jail time. Driving without car insurance can also lead to costly financial setbacks. If you’re at fault in a crash, you could be on the hook for repairs and medical bills out of pocket — and future car insurance premiums may increase substantially.
A car insurance declaration page includes numerous details that can help you understand the basics of your insurance coverage, such as your coverage dates, premiums, deductibles and more. You can often find it at the front of your car insurance policy, though the formatting of the declarations page can vary from insurer to insurer.
Personal injury protection (PIP) is an auto insurance coverage that can help pay for medical bills, lost wages, funeral expenses and other costs after you or your passengers are injured or killed in a car accident. This coverage applies regardless of who is at fault and is mandatory in states with limited tort systems.
You may want to buy guaranteed asset protection, more commonly known as gap insurance, if you plan on making a small down payment on your car or financing your car over a period of several years.
Since modern vehicles have computers in them, it is possible albeit uncommon for them to be hacked. Self-driving cars and other technologically advanced vehicles could be even more vulnerable to cyberattacks, especially until manufacturers develop sufficiently advanced cybersecurity measures.
Your renters insurance deductible is the amount of money you must pay before your insurance company will contribute any money toward a personal property claim. When deciding what deductible to choose, you need to consider how much you can afford to pay up front in case of a covered loss and how much you want to spend on your regular premium payments.
Paying your homeowners insurance premium secures coverage against sudden property damage and personal liability claims, while paying your homeowners association (HOA) fees protects against foreclosure and allows your board of directors to manage HOA-owned property and fund other community efforts.
A car warranty insures your vehicle against breakdowns caused by defective parts and other internal failures, while car insurance can more broadly cover medical bills for you, your passengers and others involved in a car crash you cause along with car repairs following both collision and non-collision sources of damage.
There are various ways to reduce the cost of small business insurance such as shopping around, forgoing coverage types you don’t need, employing strategies to lower your exposure to losses that your business would otherwise be likely to face, asking your small business insurer about potential discounts and more.