NYC auto insurance – Rules and requirement of auto insurance are different from state and another. It is important for someone to know them before purchasing. If you live in New York City (NYC), you have to know the types of coverage that are required or optional whether personal injury protection or full liability. NYC auto insurance especially has a little but complicated requirement, so let’s understand them and how to purchase them safely.
NYC Insurance Coverage
Similar to other states, NYC requires each driver to carry the basic liability coverage. The laws of NYC states that you are required $25,000 for bodily injury liability per person, $25,000 for total bodily injury per accident and $10,000 for property damage.
However, New York State has different minimum liability coverage on bodily injury. The liability limits doubles up to $50,000 or $100,000. In short, having a car is very expensive in New York City.
Besides, you are also required to have personal injury protection or PIP. This type of coverage is used to assist the medical expense and cover your lost wages and some other miscellaneous charges.
The New York State belongs to no-fault state, meaning that all drivers that have auto insurance should also include this coverage. Medical coverage is used to cover the medical expense of the insured no matter he/she is at fault of a car accident or not.
Some people think this coverage of NYC auto insurance is highly expensive, especially, when they also purchase medical insurance.
If you have just moved to NYC, you may be surprised with this one. In other states, uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is optional in your old state, but New York State requires you to carry this coverage.
It covers the insured until the limits you have bought in case you have a car accident that is caused by another driver and it is found that the accident-causing driver is not insured or does not have enough insurance liability to cover the entire liability.
However, possibly the State believes that this coverage of NYC auto insurance will be incredibly useful especially if you are involved in the event of hit-and-run accident.
Each car in New York has to carry auto insurance and it still takes effect when the car is registered even if the car is being used or not. If your car is not used, the State requires you to return the plates to cancel the registration.
Rates of Car Insurance in NYC
Why are there a lot of companies offering different rates? Of course, it is because the basic liability coverage does not cover the entire liability. Thus, you are required to have more than minimum coverage.
The current market trends have to be up to date before you purchase NYC auto insurance. Since 2007, the rates have been decreasing and there was a fall ranging from 0.5% up to 1% compared to the rates in 2006. However, a lot of experts believe that this fall will not last forever. The market of auto insurance is huge so it is predicted to be increasing again.
Purchasing Auto Insurance in NYC
Perhaps, there is no way for you to find cheap NYC auto insurance. However, you can do some steps to get the best rate and coverage. Since there are numerous numbers of insurance companies in this state, you have to do some research.
Do online searching and get several different auto insurance companies. Get quotes from them and then compare the rates. Be sure that you decide the coverage first before beginning your research.
Even though the rates can be expensive, you can decrease them by having good driving record, good credit rating, raising the deductibles, and getting some discounts. With all of those steps, you will be able to find suitable rate and coverage of NYC auto insurance.