Travel Insurance 24

It sure it hot outside in most of the United States right now.  The heat affects many things, but some people may not realize how much it affects their cars.  Car insurance companies are well aware of increased wear and tear on cars in the hot summer months, and carefully compare what is covered by insurance by what is not.  Madison, Wisconsins WEAU News d some of AAAs Tips to help your car survive the heat.  Most drivers perform routine maintenance to protect their cars during the cold of the winter, but you should also do some maintenance for the dog days of summer.

• Batteries: The two things that wreak havoc on batteries are heat and vibration.  It is especially important during this uncontrollable heat to make sure that your battery is mounted securely and avoid any unnecessary vibration.  Battery fluid also evaporates faster in the heat, so clean off any corrosion and make sure that all of the clamps are secure.
• Engines: Since your engine is on overdrive during the summer heat, make sure to get routine maintenance done on your cooling system to protect your engine.  Also check for any deterioration on the rubber parts in your cooling system since heat makes them wear faster.
• Tires: Make sure that your tires are properly inflated to the vehicle manufacturers recommendations.  When tires are low, you are more likely to have a blowout because of the extreme heat on the roads making your hot tires even hotter.  Infinity auto insurance and other insurers hope drivers keep tires inflated because of heat, braking, and overall handling.  This helps reduce the risk of accidents and the claims on insurers.
• Fluids: Check all of your fluid levels because fluids help cool your car by taking heat away from other car components.  Transmission, power steering, and brake fluid, as well as motor oil are important to keep at the recommended levels.
• Air Conditioning:  Make sure that your air conditioning system is checked over and well maintained.  Cool passengers and drivers are better able to function on the roads and help avoid more accidents and car troubles.

Even with all of the proper preparations, you still may have a summer car breakdown.  As many people are keeping their cars more years to save money, older cars can breakdown more often if not properly maintained.  AAA recommends having a breakdown kit in your car just in case.  Be sure to keep your car as far off the road as you can and be safe in the event of a breakdown.

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According to the Rochester Homepage in New York, lawmakers in the state are working to crack down on fraudulent no-fault car insurance claims.  This is good news for car insurance companies, especially those dealing with fraud related to no-fault car insurance claims.  After a car accident, no-fault insurance allows drivers to be paid out even though the blame for the car accident is not placed on either driver.  Unfortunately, New York state lawmakers say that there are a lot of fraudulent claims being paid out and that New Yorkers are paying millions of dollars a year for these fraudulent no-fault claims.

Some criminals actually create car accidents so that they can file a no-fault insurance claim with their car insurer.  Insurance companies like Infinity auto insurance are obviously not happy about that and will be pleased to see lawmakers help cut down on false claims.  Lawmakers have already made it a felony to cause a car accident intentionally, the first step in cutting out this fraud.  Even though there aren’t that many people filing fraudulent claims, it really does effect everyone because it causes car insurance rates to increase.  Lawmakers hope to find a way to cut down on this expensive fraud very soon.

In recent years car insurance companies have realized that “one size fits all” really doesn’t apply to car insurance plans.  The New York Post article “Pay-as-you-drive insurance revs up” by Jeremy Olshan describes a new way to get some traffic off the clogged New York streets.  We recently wrote about insurance companies trying out the pay-as-you-drive system while some places in the country have been using this system for years.  The Bloomberg administration in New York is hoping that a system like this where you save money the less you drive will help keep some drivers off the road and unclog the streets.

While insurance companies traditionally made up for the more frequent accidents by high mileage drivers with premiums from low mileage drivers, this new way of charging customers would change all that.  Driving could be reduced by as much as 8%, emissions by as much as 2%, and oil consumption could go down as much as 4% with these incentives.  A State Farm insurance quote could lower drivers’ rates by up to $270 per car just by installing a device in your car that monitors the number of miles you drive and other driving habits.

Progressive’s Snapshot plan was approved in New York just recently.  In other states, drivers have saved as much as 30% off of their premiums by having their mileage and driving time monitored for six months.  Progressive also looks at acceleration and hard braking and takes those factors into account.  GMAC offers insurance plans using monitoring from their OnStar systems.  The pay-as-you-go plans are not yet available in New York, but have been successful around the country.  Drivers must drive less than 15,000 miles a year to qualify.  Those driving fewer than 5,000 miles a year have received over half off their premiums.  While some are concerned about privacy related to tracking drivers, the ability to save money and cut down on traffic seems to override that.

Recently a troubleshooter from MSNBC wrote of his quest to get a refund for a traveler in Mexico taken advantage of by one of the top rental car companies.  Christopher Elliott’s article, “I thought car rental insurance was optional,” details the American tourist’s battle when he was charged more than triple his online quote from Hotwire.  Car insurance companies often cover insurance on rental cars, so unless your plan does not it doesn’t seem like you would need additional rental insurance.

After a Hotwire estimate of $113 for a weekly rental car in Mexico, the tourist headed down there only to have the car rental price increased, mandatory insurance tacked on, and a service charge larger than both the other amounts.  He was also given some more miscellaneous fees above the estimate for a total of $397.  While he tried to fight the charges at the rental company in Mexico, it was to no avail.

The author, a travel writer, says that regardless of what happened in Mexico the tourist should have been charged the amount estimated by Hotwire.  Any discrepancy between the cheap car insurance rate and that charged by the rental company should have been cleared up between the two companies.  It’s possible that one of the Mexican workers tried to pull a fast one because a rental car company representative in the United States said that car insurance was not mandatory.

Some tips for avoiding such a situation when you are traveling follow.  Research and get coverage and estimates in writing before leaving for your trip, both from your car insurance company and any quotes you receive online or from the rental company itself.  If you think you are being forced to purchase insurance that is optional, back up from the counter and make a phone call to the company’s customer service number to see if the situation can be rectified.  If that doesn’t work or you’ve already paid for the coverage, send emails detailing your complaints to get a paper trail started.  By the way, the tourist was credited the amount above his estimate after this story.