Insuring a New Car

Bob:
Pat Brown from the Holt Dimondale Agency joins us to talk about uh, buying a new car and you know, I, I’ve done this so many times, bought a new car on a Saturday, assuming that the insurance coverage carries over but it doesn’t always..?

Pat Brown:
Gray area right there. Um, in insurance policies, insurance companies handled it in different, different aspects. If I have a car that I’m trading in that has full coverage on it and I I’m going to get another car that has full coverage, I’m going to be taken care of coverage wise. Cause it’s hard to call your agent on a Saturday. Somebody going to answer and you know, get that certificate of insurance that you need. If I’m trading in a car, there’s my old beater that I only carry liability coverage on and I’m going to buy a new car brand new one, one that has to have collision coverage cause you find that then you’re only going to have that liability coverage carry over. A lot of times the responsibility is before I drive off that lot, who’s going to cover me until I can get ahold of my agent on Mondays.

Bob:
And I’ve heard the horror stories where people buy a new car and drive out the lot and get in an accident immediately.

Pat Brown:
It happens a lot. Yeah. So again, the assumption is I’m covered. Uh, it’s always wise to check. If you’re thinking about it, call your agent, what do I need to do if I’m going to..some of those things you can set up ahead of time or if you’re buying your first car or adding a two year fleet of three or four cars, you know, again, Saturdays and Sundays, a lot of cars are sold those days and it’s a matter of, you know, making sure you get your, you know, your ducks in a row.

Mary:
That makes sense. What does the term sliding mean to my insurance policy?

Pat Brown:
Something you’re starting to see in, in our insurance world is sometimes some agents are automatically including coverages are telling you that you have to have these to purchase insurance. Maybe it’s a road service, maybe it’s extra expense for a rental car. Maybe it’s a sinkhole coverage on your homeowner’s insurance that you have to have, and they’re increasing the premiums that way. So sometimes if you see some extra, you know a lot of people don’t read your policies, but it’s a matter of, okay I see something that I didn’t see before. Make a phone call. What is this? You know, you’re only, you only obligated to purchase certain part of it. You know, we’ll make suggestions but we’re not going to put something on there that you don’t need or require them to have to have to have the insurance.

Bob:
Let me talk to you about distracted driving. Cause we were just having a conversation about a distracted driver.

Mary:
I watched a girl apply a full face of makeup and just weave in and out of lanes.

Pat Brown:
We’re on our third year of having over 40,000 deaths from distracted driving. You know the, the key now is it’s not just from crashes car to car, it’s pedestrians. Yes. The bicycles that we’re starting to see the distracted drivers coming into…

Mary: And with texting…

Bob:
You think you can do it, but you can’t!