The 3 Main Reasons You Need Auto Insurance
Car insurance can be considered a luxury to those who don’t have the extra funds to pay for it; however, it is also considered a need more than a want. The consequences of not being insured are worth the extra money to protect yourself every month.
Now, there is some debate about whether car insurance is worth the money paid each month if you’re only going to use it in an emergency. While it may not seem to average out on paper, in reality, the emergencies that can happen will be tens of thousands of dollars more expensive without insurance.
Is Car Insurance A Need Or Want?
Depending on where you live, car insurance is most likely a need. Most states legally require car insurance for anyone owning or operating a vehicle of any manner. Usually, states also have a legal minimum limit that you have to have.
While you may think the only reason to have auto insurance is to pay for wrecks, the three biggest reasons to have auto insurance are actually:
- It’s illegal not to be insured in most states
- It protects you from uninsured
- It helps with medical costs
They require a minimum limit to ensure that you can cover a portion of the costs if you cause an accident. Now, you most likely want to get car insurance that will cover more than the minimum requirement. Otherwise, you risk paying a ton of money out of your own pocket to cover the cost.
Furthermore, when looking from the other side, if you are in an accident and the person at fault is uninsured, you are likely only to get paid for the event if you take things to court and spend more money out of your pocket.
If you want to protect yourself from that, you can get insurance that protects you from the uninsured, and your insurance will cover the issues and handle it for you. Your insurance will fight the claim on your behalf, and you will do minimal work while everything is taken care of, including bills and charges.
Why Do We Need Auto Insurance?
Auto insurance is necessary for quite a few reasons, but the biggest is that it saves you from paying for damage to your car or others. Insurance will help cover repair bills; a totaled car and even medical bills from an auto accident.
Without auto insurance, you can be stuck paying for someone else’s car repairs and their medical bills out of your pocket. This has caused some people to lose their cars, houses and get behind on other bills because of the need to pay for an accident they caused.
Auto insurance can also help with broken-down cars and towing expenses as well. Some insurances will cover towing costs to a certain threshold and even some annual repairs.
Even if you never use auto insurance for more than just a towing issue, it is still in your best interest to pay for it monthly, so you have the security of knowing that you and others are covered.
Do You Need Auto Insurance If You Don’t Own A Car?
If you choose never to operate a vehicle, you will likely never need car insurance at all. However, even if you never own a car, you will need car insurance if you are driving one at any point.
The way insurance works are, no matter if the owner of the car you are driving is insured or not, it doesn’t count if you are not carrying insurance in your name and covering the car you are driving.
So, to ensure you and the car you are driving are covered, even if it isn’t yours, yes, you need insurance. Now, insurance may not cover as much for a random car as they would if it was yours, but it is better than nothing!
If you are renting cars at any point, they will also require you to have insurance of some form. They offer daily insurance, but it is rather expensive and not entirely worth it. It is much better to have car insurance for yourself annually to get in a car whenever you need it.
What Are 3 Reasons You Need Car Insurance?
Now, there is a laundry list of reasons you need car insurance, and some may seem like common sense, while others are far less thought about. However, some are many more important reasons than others.
If you are leasing a car, the agreement of your lease may be that you have car insurance. Leasing a car means that car isn’t yours, and therefore, whomever you are leasing it from wants to make sure you can pay for it, and you will be held responsible for all damages if anything happens to the car.
You can also manage to protect the passengers that choose to ride with you if an accident occurs. Depending on what type and how much coverage you have, you have car insurance; it can also help cover hospital bills for those you injure or get injured in a car accident.
The Three Main Reasons You Need Car Insurance
While there are many reasons to have car insurance, only three reasons stand out above all of the rest. These three reasons are the biggest needs for auto insurance, and if nothing else convinces you, these will.
It is important to know that even with these specific reasons, the number of reasons to get insurance heavily outweighs the handful of reasons not to have it.
It May Be Illegal To Not Have Insurance
Most states require anyone who owns or drives a car to have car insurance. This is a legal necessity, and you could be fined heavily for not being insured and operating a vehicle. Most states even have a minimum limit of what your insurance has to cover.
A limit minimum is the lowest amount that your insurance is legally required to cover in case of an accident. This only means that you have to get this amount and no less, but it is always recommended to get more.
Without more of a payout limit, you will likely end up paying a large portion of the damages out of your own pocket. This can get very expensive if you get in wrecks often, or even in one wreck that ends up really bad.
Not only will you be spending money paying for damages, but you can also receive tickets and fines for not being insured, depending on where you live—in some states, depending on how bad the wreck is. If you have been fined for not being insured, you can get your license suspended.
It is far more worth it to just purchase auto insurance and keep yourself safe from any consequences that come from being uninsured. Even a routine traffic stop can result in a ticket or a fine for not being insured.
If you live in an area with traffic stops often, or even if you just notice more police presence on the road, insurance will help keep you from getting fines and tickets for being uninsured.
Financial Protection
Of course, having insurance protects you from being held financially liable for an accident that was your fault. While your insurance is at risk for being more expensive after that, you will still pay less than having to pay for the bills for the person you hit.
Car insurance can also protect you from being responsible for damages to your car if you are hit by someone who is uninsured. If the other person is uninsured, you stand a chance to be responsible for every repair and the medical bills that come from that accident.
However, if you do have insurance, you can also add on uninsured insurance. This will protect you financially from being held liable for all of the repairs and bills that come from an accident that wasn’t even your fault.
It may seem like a lot is needed for something that may never happen; however, the tens of thousands of dollars that can result from an accident can financially take over someone’s life, no matter who is at fault.
It is far easier to pay for auto insurance monthly than deal with the fallout of being uninsured. The security that auto insurance allows you to have is far better than having that extra money each month, even if you never use it.
The other great thing is if you don’t have to use it, most policies get cheaper over time if you have no accidents or claims, so you will only pay less the less you need it.
Car Insurance Can Help With Medical Costs
In any situation involving an accident where you or the other drivers get hurt and have to go to the hospital, car insurance can help with your and their medical costs. Some policies automatically add this on, while some make you manually add it to your policy.
No matter if you have to add it on or not, it is definitely worth the extra costs. If you cause the accident, it can help cover the other person’s medical costs so that it doesn’t have to come out of your pocket.
If you get hit and have medical costs, your insurance can help with your cost, depending on if the other person has insurance. No matter what, it is a good option to have with your auto insurance to make sure you don’t get buried by medical costs.
What may be a routine check or a simple fracture can leave you paying thousands in hospital bills, and if the accident wasn’t your fault, why should you have to pay everything? Insurance can cover a percentage of the bills, so you don’t have to.
Final Thoughts
Car insurance can easily be seen by a want for some people. However, it is most absolutely a need. The safety and security you will have from knowing that you are taken care of in any accident situation are unmatched.
Paying for car insurance monthly is far better than being overwhelmed by bills resulting from a wreck that you thought would never happen. Even if you only ever use it once, insurance is still a much better idea than never having it.
