Portland Auto Insurance: Tips & Information
Portland Car Insurance
Hello, I'm Frank. Everyone knows that you have to be exceptionally careful before signing anything, including Auto Insurance.
That's why we've created this special page within the site to advise you on all aspects of buying Auto Insurance. Especially what to look for before purchasing that policy.
Choosing and Insurer
Auto insurance helps protect you and your family from losses resulting from motor vehicle accidents. Oregon law requires every car to be covered by automobile insurance.
The cost for coverage varies widely among companies doing business in Oregon. That's why it's important to shop around when choosing an insurance company.
Comparison shopping takes a little more time, but it can save you money!
However, cost is just one factor to consider when choosing an insurance company. It's also important to look at the company's financial condition and how it treats its policyholders.
A company's financial information is available from the following organizations that rate insurance companies. The organizations may charge a fee for these services.
Underwriting standards
Underwriting standards are rules insurance companies use to decide whether to insure you. A company may reject your application for coverage if your circumstances do not meet the company's underwriting standards or risk factors. Drivers with the lowest risk factors are least likely to have a claim, so they receive the lowest rates for insurance. Insurance companies typically review the following when deciding whether to insure you:
* driving record
* car make and model
* prior insurance coverage
* consumer credit history
Credit scoring
Many insurance companies look at a consumer's credit history to decide whether to issue an auto or home insurance policy or how much to charge. This practice is known as credit scoring or insurance scoring.
Insurance scoring has been controversial, and a number of states, including Oregon, have placed limits on its use. In Oregon, insurers can't use a Policyholder's credit information to raise premiums at renewal. Also, the law prohibits insurers from canceling or refusing to renew existing policies because of credit history problems.
Insurers can use credit information when deciding whether to issue a new policy, but only if they can document that it helps them predict future claim costs and price their products fairly. At the same time, they must demonstrate that credit information is used as part of an evaluation system that also relies on other relevant factors.
Oregon insurers and producers (agents) must tell consumers how the company uses credit information before running credit checks. If a company uses credit information to prescreen applicants, the company must notify you of this before running a credit check. If an insurer uses credit information to make an "adverse" decision, such as not to offer the best rate or not to offer a policy, the insurer must give you specific reasons for the adverse action. You have a right to a free copy of your credit report from the credit bureau. If you find an error in your credit report and arrange with the credit bureau to correct it, you can ask the insurer to reconsider.
Required Coverages
Oregon law requires every vehicle to be covered by auto insurance. Nevertheless, millions of dollars in damage is caused each year by uninsured drivers. This includes damage to vehicles and medical care for those injured in accidents.
Oregon's mandatory-insurance law requires that drivers have at least these minimum coverages
Bodily injury (BI) liability $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident for bodily injury to others.
Property damage (PD) liability $20,000 per accident for damage to the property of others.
Personal injury protection (PIP) PIP is Oregon's version of no-fault insurance.
It allows you and your passengers, regardless of who caused an accident, to have insurance coverage for "reasonable and necessary" medical, dental, hospital, surgical, ambulance, and prosthetic services incurred within one year after the date of an injury up to a maximum of $15,000.
In Oregon, minimum PIP benefits include limited coverage for loss of earnings, funeral expenses, essential services, and child care.
Medical services: Treatment is considered reasonable and necessary unless a provider receives a denial notice within 60 calendar days of claim notice. After that, the burden of proving that treatment was not reasonable and necessary is on the insurance company.
Loss of earnings: This benefit is available if your injury prevents you from returning to work. It begins on the 14th day of your disability. You receive up to 70 percent of wages up to a maximum benefit of $3,000 a month for 52 weeks.
Essential services: If you are not employed, you are entitled to reimbursement of reasonably incurred expenses for the essential services that you would normally perform. You will receive up to $30 a day for up to 52 weeks. This benefit begins on the 14th day of disability
Funeral expenses: You will be paid for reasonable and necessary funeral expenses within one year of the date of injury up to a maximum benefit of $5,000.
Oregon law and your insurance policy allow PIP benefit disputes to be resolved by arbitration as long as both parties agree at the time of the dispute. Know your PIP limit. Review this coverage carefully and consider raising your limit.
Uninsured motorist bodily injury (UMBI) and underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident for bodily injury to you and your passengers caused by an uninsured or underinsured driver.
UMBI and UIM coverage require your insurance company to pay all expenses that would normally be paid by the other person's company if you are hurt by an uninsured or underinsured motorist. Consider increasing this coverage on your policy, because an uninsured or underinsured motorist probably cannot compensate you for your losses. Remember, these are the minimum coverages required by Oregon law.
Rating Categories
If you are approved for coverage, the insurance company will place you in one of three basic categories of drivers: preferred, standard, or nonstandard.
Preferred: This category is for drivers considered the best risks, which usually means the safest drivers. Preferred drivers have maintained clean driving records for the past three years and pay the lowest rates.
Standard: This category is for drivers considered moderate risks. Rates for standard drivers are higher than those for preferred drivers. People in this category usually drive family cars and have reasonably clean driving records.
Nonstandard: This category is for drivers considered high risk. They pay the highest rates for insurance. This category may include drivers under 25, drivers with little experience, drivers with histories of tickets or accidents, drivers with poor premium payment records, and drivers with convictions for driving recklessly or under the influence of alcohol or other drugs.
Types of coverage
When you purchase an auto insurance policy, you're really buying several types of coverage. There are seven basic types of coverage
* Bodily injury liability coverage pays for damages other people incur if you or someone you allow to drive your car causes an auto accident. Examples of damages include medical expenses, rehabilitation, funeral costs, settlement of lawsuits, and legal expenses.
* Property damage liability coverage pays for damage to other people's property if you or someone you let drive your car causes an auto accident. It usually pays for repair or actual cash value (ACV) of others property and your legal expenses.
* Personal injury protection (PIP) coverage pays for medical, rehabilitation, funeral, and childcare expenses as well as for loss of earnings and in-home assistance if you and your passengers are injured in an accident, regardless of who is at fault.
* Uninsured and underinsured motorist bodily injury coverage pays medical, rehabilitation, and funeral expenses, loss of earnings, and other damages if you or your family are involved in a vehicle, bicycle, or pedestrian accident caused by an uninsured or underinsured motorist or a hit and run driver.
* Uninsured motorist property damage coverage pays for damage to your auto caused by an uninsured driver. This optional coverage generally duplicates your collision coverage, but may be a good buy if you have a high deductible on your collision coverage or don't have collision coverage.
* Collision coverage pays for repairing your vehicle in a collision or rollover.
* Comprehensive coverage pays for damage to your vehicle resulting from theft, vandalism, windstorms, fire, hail, etc. If you are approved for coverage, the insurance company will place you in one of three basic categories of drivers: preferred, standard, or nonstandard.
Preferred: This category is for drivers considered the best risks, which usually means the safest drivers. Preferred drivers have maintained clean driving records for the past three years and pay the lowest rates.
Standard: This category is for drivers considered moderate risks. Rates for standard drivers are higher than those for preferred drivers. People in this category usually drive family cars and have reasonably clean driving records.
Nonstandard: This category is for drivers considered high risk. They pay the highest rates for insurance. This category may include drivers under 25, drivers with little experience, drivers with histories of tickets or accidents, drivers with poor premium payment records, and drivers with convictions for driving recklessly or under the influence of alcohol or other drugs.
Extra liability coverage
You can buy a separate personal umbrella policy to provide extra liability protection if you are sued. An umbrella policy benefit will start paying when your other policy's liability limits are exhausted. For example, let's say you lose control of your car and cause an accident that kills one person, seriously injures four others, and damages seven vehicles and one residence. The liability damages sustained in this accident are likely to exhaust the limits of your auto policy. A personal umbrella policy provides additional liability protection.
Your right to be treated fairlyAn insurance company cannot deny, refuse to renew, limit, or charge more for coverage because of your race, color, religion, or national origin.
A company also cannot deny, refuse to renew, limit, or charge more for coverage because of your age, gender, marital status, domestic partnership status, disability, or partial disability unless the refusal, limitation, or higher rate is based on sound underwriting or actuarial principles.
In addition, a company cannot unfairly discriminate between individuals of the same (rate) class and essentially the same hazard (risk) in its rates, policy terms, benefits, or in any other manner unless the refusal, limitation, or higher rate is based on sound actuarial principles.
What to do if you can't get coverage
If you are an individual or company having difficulty buying automobile liability insurance, you may qualify for coverage under the assigned risk pool through the Automobile Insurance Plan of Oregon.
Additional information or assistance can be obtained by contacting your insurance producer (agent) or broker. They should be able to arrange coverage through the Western Association Automobile Insurance Plans.
A safety net for consumers
Most states, including Oregon, have a safety net to protect insurance consumers from financial loss if an insurance company becomes insolvent and is unable to pay claims. Oregon's safety net is called the Oregon Insurance Guaranty Association. The association was established by state law and is generally composed of licensed insurance companies doing business in the state. It pays covered claims of Oregon policyholders and other claimants up to $300,000 if an Oregon-licensed insurance company becomes insolvent. Claims are paid according to the terms of the original insurance policy, and the association won't pay any claim the insurance company would not have paid.