Auto Insurance Quotes and the Excess Level

When drivers are obtaining auto insurance for the first time or even just reviewing a policy for possible exchange, they notice a lot of paperwork is involved. Reviewing and attempting to understand everything in the documents can be very confusing, and there are many words or phrases that seem to make no sense to anyone except those involved in the insurance industry.

One such factor that can alter your auto insurance quotes is the level of excess the owner chooses. This can seem like a rather confusing concept but is actually quite simple when properly explained. The purposed of having auto insurance is to protect the vehicle owner, the finance company (if any) and the other drivers or property owners who may be involved in an accident. If such an accident or property damage should occur, an insurance claim is then filed with the company providing auto insurance coverage.

Dissecting the claim requires an experienced claims representative. The representative works for both the insurance company and the policy holder to determine the monetary value of damage caused. Part of the claims payment process will determine the amount that the insurance company will pay as well as the portion that the customer is responsible to pay in case of accident.

The excess level, sometimes called the deductible, is the amount the policy owner has agreed to pay for any claim filed, regardless of the total amount of damage caused. The policy owner agrees to the excess level upfront, when the auto insurance quotes are accepted and an actual policy is purchased.

The excess level, or deductible amount, varies from zero dollars up to a common maximum of one thousand dollars. The excess level and policy premium have an inverse relationship. This means that a zero deductible amount will result in a higher premium amount, since the insurance company will have full responsibility for payment of any claim.

However, if the driver chooses a higher deductible amount, they have an excess level that reduces their total insurance premium price. Then, if an accident occurs that results in a claim payment, the consumer is required to pay their deductible level; and the insurance company will pay the balance of the claim amount. Auto insurance quotes give the buyer several excess levels to choose from, based on driving history and comfort level.

Drivers who are confident that their safe driving record will continue may already have a lower insurance premium and choose to opt for the zero excess level option. However, if new drivers are researching auto insurance quotes, they may request a policy with a higher excess level to keep the cost of the overall policy at an affordable price. These drivers may benefit from a lower policy price, but also run the risk of having to pay the excess level, or deductible, if they are involved in an accident. Therefore, the drivers who select a higher excess level should considering having a savings account funded with their portion of the deductible in case they are ever involved in an accident and required to pay for some of the expense.

The stars discussed in gossip columns and the benefit of Propecia

There's something of an irony when film stars start complaining their privacy has been invaded. The earning power commanded by these people depends on them being in the public eye. Whether they are Hollywood or television stars, or just generally famous because they have too much money, they only make more money if people are talking about them and spending money while doing so. Watching them get all upset and suing people who take photographs of them or write stories about them that aren't strictly true is just another way of keep their names in the headlines. Take someone like Bradley Cooper as an example. He's one of these actors who has managed to hit the big time and is doing his best to make it last for a few more years. Of course we all know him from The Hangover, the remake of The A-Team, and so on. But all actors have to start out somewhere before they get to the point People magazine names them "Sexiest Man Alive"!

For Bradley, one of the early questions raised was as to his sexuality. In Wet Hot American Summer, he has a gay sex scene with Michael Ian Black. Naturally, all young actors take the roles offered to them. If those roles are challenging and they do well, they go on to better things. But now we can look back, the gossipers can speculate on whether he's actually gay. It wouldn't be the first time the straight world had thought a gay man sexy. Anyway, it seems our 37-year old hunk has broken off his torrid affair with Zoe Saldana and has most recently been seen about town with Scarlett Johansson. There's no better way to combat rumors about your sexuality than to date A-list women. However, the latest gossip has switched attention from down there to up there.

Apparently our star is on the set filming The Hangover III and has paid a special stylist to stay by his side. What is this expert to do? Why has she been asked to sign a confidentiality agreement? Well, do tell - and spare no details! Of course the answer suggested is our star is worried he's losing his hair. He's afraid he will lose that sexiest man alive appeal and the accompanying pay checks for starring in Hollywood movies. So this stylist is applying the "cutting-edge" hairdresser techniques of forward combing to hide the receding hairline. Naturally our star is outraged at this attack on his virility. The film studio has rushed out evidence that there's no special stylist on the set. The counter accusation is the gossipers have been inventing stories again to sell their worthless magazines. It all makes for lots more publicity for our shy star who, on the sly, could be taking Propecia. That is, after all, the advantage of Propecia. No one need know you have a hair problem. What you keep in your bathroom cabinet is an easy secret to guard.

How can you save money on road trips when gas prices skyrocket?

The price of gas seemed to be going to achieve escape velocity and go into orbit recently... For those of you not into NASA jargon, that's gas at more than $5 a gallon. Even now, when the upward pressure seems to have eased, it can still be a shock to the credit card every time you fill up the tank. Which does force us to wonder whether we should abandon the idea of a driving vacation. Just think back to the time when we were young, we could jump in the car and drive off on a whim. It only cost a few dollars to drive several thousand miles. Now it can cost one-hundred dollars to fill up one tank. That's a big change but one we have to keep in perspective. In the 1990s, a gallon of regular gas would cost you $1.36. Today you would expect to pay about $4.30. In 1990, the average worker earned about $20,000. In 2012, the same worker would be earning about $40,000. So although gas price has gone up three-fold, average incomes have doubled. It's still more expensive to put gas in your tank, but not quite as bad, particularly when you consider modern vehicles are far more fuel efficient than they were twenty years ago. So where does this get us?

If you are going on a road trip, you should look carefully at the make and model of the vehicle you propose to rent. Ask for vehicles with good storage space for all the additional "stuff" you need to carry, but with the best mileage you can find. Instead of renting an SUV that goes through a tank of gas like it's not having to pay the bills, you could take less "stuff" and rent a hybrid. For those of you who have never driven a hybrid, this can be an educational introduction. Within minutes you learn how difficult it is not to watch the real-time mileage reports. That really encourages the driver to learn how to make driving the most economical activity in the world. Then there's how you buy the gas. Look around the credit card offers for the best cash-back for fuel. In this, be alert. Some only show the headline percentage in big print but double the reward for use in buying gas and groceries. If you shop wisely, you can usually find cash-back offers of 5% so, if you were looking at gas prices of about $4.30 per gallon, the actual cost comes down to $4.03.

Talk to a number of car rental companies to find the most fuel-efficient vehicles available. Plus, while looking around for the best cash-back offers, also look for credit card providers offering the best insurance deals on rental vehicles. Beacuse the car rental companies are usually trying to sell you their own insurance... So pay by the credit card you've picked and refuse their insurance offers.