Reader question:
What kind of information do I need to provide when getting insurance?
Christopher
I’m glad you asked.
This is a great question, because it’s something everybody should know. If you go through a god agent, they should guide you through this process and make this question unnecessary, but this isn’t always the case, and anyhow it’s good to know what kind of information you’ll need when you go to set up your insurance policy. If you don’t provide all the information needed, even if it is by accident or because you forgot, you could end up getting in trouble later for misrepresenting yourself once your insurance company finds out. This could even get your policy canceled. For this reason, it is important to know what you need to know as well as be up front and honest with your agent.
The basic information that you’ll need to provide is the make and model or your cars, their VIN numbers, about how many miles you’re driving every year, and what kind of coverage you want. But there’s more information beyond that which you will need. You’ll need to give your agent some more details about your cars, such as what kind of alarm system they have, if any, as well as what kind of safety features. They’ll ask you who will be driving the cars, and if the drivers have taken any driver’s safety or defensive driving course.
Even if they don’t ask, you need to give your agent information about your past driving difficulties. This means that you need to tell them if you have filed claims with other companies for at-fault accidents. You also need to tell them about your driving record, whether you have received tickets for any kind of moving violation. You may not want to provide this information if they don’t ask up front, because it could make you rate go up higher, but this is a bad idea. It may seem like they didn’t notice at first, but insurance companies usually have about sixty days to research your history, and anytime within that period can cancel your policy for a misrepresentation of your record.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.