Car Insurance Look

So, now that we have discussed the details behind it a bit, you are probably getting a clearer idea of what gap auto insurance actually is. Car dealers and lenders alike frequently offer this insurance to buyers when the car is sold or lent to them. However, rather than simply taking that offering, you as the owner may want to do some checking yourself first, because you may be able to get a better deal from a third party insurance provider.

The point is, gap insurance will help you out when your car is depreciated in value. It will protect you from having to pay out of your own pocket. The key is that it is really only useful while you still owe more than the car’s fair market value.

So, what is gap auto insurance? Good question. If you are like me, you have never heard of it before in your life. To understand gap insurance, you actually have to begin by understanding the concept of negative equity.

In truth, this is something with which all car owners should be at least passingly familiar. More often than not, a car will depreciate at a much faster rate than you expect. Even as you are paying off your loan, the car will be depreciating in value — so you may end up paying your dealer far more than your car is truly worth. This happens more often than you can even imagine.

The problem here is that most of the car insurance policies we have will only cover damages going up to the car’s fair market value. Therefore, you as the car owner can often be left having to pay for damages out of your own pocket, even when your car gets totaled.

As you will see, this is where gap insurance comes into play.

To be perfectly honest, I have never been in an auto accident, so I honestly have no idea how to file a car insurance claim should I ever need to.  I think that most of you are actually in the same place that I am right now and honestly, I think it is very important for everyone in the world to know exactly how to fill out a car insurance claim.  Whenever you are filing a claim, you want to make sure that you do it correctly.

It is usually pretty simple, however, you want to make sure that you fill out the claim form and after that is submitted, you will have to have an adjuster come out and look at the damage.  Once the damage is all assessed, it is now just a matter of watching out for your check.  However – sometimes you may not get all that you think you may get or the insurance money takes a while, that is when you really need to know what you are doing.

You need to make sure that you know your policy.  Knowing what is covered is important and that way you also know what deductibles are out there for you.  You also want to make sure that you stake your claim very quickly, that way you can help speed things right along!