Car Repair Insurance

Most of you will think that car repair insurance is a waste of money especially now in these difficult financial and economical times. However, it is always a solid solution to keep your car repair costs in check. In this article we’ll try to explain some of the benefits that you get with this type of insurance.

Needless to say, the regular auto insurance that you have which allows you to legally drive the vehicle on the road will not cover such repairs. Even if the policy that you have includes comprehensive and collision coverage, it won’t certainly cover the repairs on the parts that fail or because of wear over time. Yes, we know that warranties cover repairs but you only get them for a certain amount of time, then what? This is where this form of insurance kicks in which will cover any part failures or normal breakdowns, those that generally are not covered by a regular car policy.

Some of you might consider car repair insurance as “extended warranty coverage”, which is quite true if you think about it. Some of these insurances can be targeted to certain components of the car, like transmission or engine damage.

You probably know that there are lots of mechanics out there that have bad habit of charging clients tremendous amounts of money for their services. Well, they can’t do that to a driver that has car repair insurance because the insurer will definitely not agree. So in a way, you’ll be keeping the mechanics honest.

As far as bumper to bumper insurance, this policy will cover most of the parts that are necessary in order to use the car in a safely manner. This includes (and it’s not limited to): engine, gearbox, drivetrain, brakes, exhaust and electrical components. What you should know is that it won’t cover things like broken lights, body repair as well as window and interior fixes.

If you decide to get a bumper to bumper insurance, make sure that you read carefully the fine print. There, you’ll most likely find information regarding those nasty hidden fees, limited coverage and penalties.

The great thing about these car repair insurances is that you can get one for the parts that you want so this means that this type of policy is very customizable so you won’t have to get a pre-made insurance package for your car – you can make your own. We all know how expensive car repairs can get, especially for a car that has a serious amount of miles on the odometer. Instead of paying those big bills, why not buy this type of insurance? In the long run, you’ll definitely save a lot of money.

However, it can’t always be sunshine and rainbows. Why? Because a car repair insurance policy has its disadvantages which must be taken into consideration. The fact that the coverage is customizable it means that you’ll probably cover only parts of the vehicle. However, not all of us are mechanics and we don’t know which ones are going to break first. So while you get coverage for component B, component A might break down when you least expect.

You also have to take into consideration the insurance burden. You already pay a hefty sum for the regular insurance policy and most of us get also comprehensive coverage. Add to this the car repair insurance policy and it can have a negative impact on your wallet.

Whenever the subject of affordable insurance comes into a debate, you always have to think about the claims handling. Yes, the insurance companies advertise that there won’t be any problems and they’ll give the money for the necessary repairs. They do this in order to grab as many customers as possible. The problems occur when something actually goes wrong with the car and if you haven’t read carefully that fine print we’ve mentioned before, you might end up paying yourself for the repairs, although you’ve been paying for the insurance all these years.

When the insurance company decides to make the payment, it might take even several months until the money reach the client. For this reason, many prefer to save a few bucks at the end of each month so that if something goes wrong with the car they can fix it, instead of waiting for the insurance company to make the mandatory payments.

If you have a mechanic that you can rely on, there’s no need in getting car repair insurance. If you don’t, you need to know that the costs of repairing a car have risen in the last few years and if something goes wrong with the car (and eventually it will), you’ll have to pay a small fortune to get it fixed in case your insurance doesn’t cover it.

If you have decided to get one, your main focus shouldn’t be on finding the cheapest one out there. A cheap car insurance policy won’t cover a lot of things or you’ll most likely be scammed. Make sure that you read the contract over and over again before signing the necessary documents. With the risk of repeating, never forget to read the fine print so that you can be sure you won’t get ripped off or scammed. Go through all of the terms so that you will know all there is to it about the policy. This way, there won’t be any unpleasant surprise if something happens to your car.

Regardless of how affordable the policy is, never pay the money up front. There are some policies out there that will ask you to pay for the repairs first and then wait to get the money back. Needless to say, there are slim chances of seeing that money ever again.

Lastly, avoid using a car repair insurance company that advertises its business via cards in your mail or those firms that call you over the phone saying that the manufacturer warranty on your vehicle is about to expire. These ones usually have the least amount of coverage for the highest rates out there so stay away from these scammers.

You should also avoid pre-paid service contracts that are sold by commissioned third party salespeople. Why? Because these people don’t really care if you get a good service. In addition, these car repair policies have lots of exclusions in their coverage and it might not be accepted at the shop where you repair your vehicle. The consequence? You’ll be paying more than you should for the necessary repairs.

Post tags: Tags: automotive articles, car repair insurance