A profile of Permanent General Assurance Corporation was added to our auto insurance company directory yesterday. Over the coming weeks we will be continuosly adding new companies to this directory to help our visitors to learn more about the companies from which they may be considering purchasing auto insurance.
When shopping around for auto insurance, it’s important to understand the different ways to buy and understand some of the pros and cons of each. There is a huge market for auto insurance out there today and it can be overwhelming when you first start out your shopping experience.
One option to buy auto insurance is to go through a broker, such as Eastwood Insurance. Brokers, in general, do the shopping for you which can save you time and money in the long run. It’s important to know when you are going through a broker, because sometimes consumers may think the broker company is actually supplying the insurance coverage, when really a different company is, causing billing and customer service confusion.
Purchasing directly from an insurance carrier can have its benefits because you know what you are getting right off the bat. You may see an advertisement on TV or the web and can call directly to get your price. On the other hand, if you are interested in ensuring you are getting the lowest quote, shopping around by calling each carrier is timely and can be extremely redundant. You can also use websites such as smartautoinsurance.com to help you shop around and determine if you are getting the best price. It’s a competitive market, so the informed consumer definitely saves more.
“High-risk” or drivers with a checkerd driving history have always paid more for their auto insurance coverage from coast-to-coast. However, in Maryland the upcharge for being a “bad driver” is unusually steep.
The insurer of last resort in Maryland is prohibited from allowing high-risk drivers to pay their auto insurance premiums in installments (ex. monthly) like other drivers, they must pay the entire annual premium up-front. If they can’t afford to pay the entire year of premiums up-front ($2,500 per year on average) they must borrow money to finance the premiums. In these cases 75% of the interest is within 5 months, in case the policy is canceled early
The system has been denounced as unfair to 70,000 low income or immigrant drivers in Maryland who are forced into this pool, after being turned down by other auto insurance companies.
About half the drivers enrolled in the pool are eventually canceled for nonpayment and more than 60% have no traffic offenses but were refused other auto insurance coverage because they lack a credit history or driving experience. Thousands are recent immigrants.
More information about Maryland auto insurance.
