Yakima Car Insurance

Yakima is located in the Yakima Valley of Washington State. It is located 60 miles southeast of Mount Rainier along the Yakima River. As an extremely productive agricultural region, the general population is now more than the 2010 Census population of 91,067.

About a third of the households contain children under the age of eighteen. Agriculture, education, and tourism fuel the economy in the area.

The population of the area indicates that there is a lively need for personal auto insurance and homeowners insurance to protect the interests and assets of these families. Insurance is a vital part of building and keeping assets to continue financial stability.

Knowing how to purchase automobile insurance is an important portion of reducing the bite that auto insurance can take from your household budget. Be sure to check out the FREE comparison tool above!

Limits of Auto Insurance Required by the State of Washington

Each state has a minimum requirement for automobile insurance to acquire a driver's license and register an automobile. Washington requires at least the following:

• $25,000 – death or injury to another person
• $50,000 – death or injury in any one accident
• $10,000 – for damage to another person's property

There are other ways of fulfilling this obligation – pay a deposit to the Washington State Treasurer or purchase a $60,000 liability bond. Insurance is less expensive.

If you apply for insurance and find that you are uninsurable because of citations, accidents, and so forth, the State of Washington has sources for this type of insurance.

Be aware that this type of insurance is considerably more expensive than normal, so it's better to wait until insurance companies have declined your insurance to purchase this.

Before Buying Auto Insurance

If you own a vehicle, you need auto insurance according to the law. A wise action is to do research on insurance companies, agents, and their histories before purchasing auto insurance. A cute logo or spokesperson does not ensure that the company has the financial resources to pay claims or the reliability to handle your business. Find out by doing research.

The research you need to begin with is in your own neighborhood. Ask your friends, family, and co-workers about their auto insurance, who writes it, and their level of satisfaction with premiums, claim service, and general paperwork. Attempt to get the names of at least three companies to do further research.

Examine licensing of the insurance company in the State of Washington to begin with. Go to the website for the Washington State Insurance Commissioner to find out this information. This site will also give you an idea of complaints that have been filed against the company or agency.

On the web, you can use several other sites as references:

• A.M. Best, an insurance rating firm will give you information about the financial stability of a company
• National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) provides information about financial ratings as well as nationwide complaints
• Standard and Poor's Rating Services – McGraw Hill Finances

All of these sites can give their viewpoint of the financial stability of an insurance company. It's best not to rely upon just one site because they all use differing criteria for their ratings.

Getting Quotes after you've Done Your Research

Prepare for the paperwork you will have to do to obtain quotes. There are a few steps to prepare before asking for a quote:

Decide Upon Reasonable Limits of Liability

The basic limits of liability are those required by law. It may be advisable, however, to purchase more insurance to protect your assets should a lawsuit be filed. If you own a home, have savings, have retirement savings, and other assets, you may wish to carry the following limits of liability:

• $100,000 per person Bodily Injury Liability
• $300,000 per accident Bodily Injury Liability
• $50,000 per accident Property Damage Liability

Other types of insurance should be purchased to further protect you:

Medical Payments coverage that applies to medical payments and emergency treatment for an accident for you or your passengers:

• $5,000 to $10,000 per accident – This coverage responds if your health insurance will not pay for costs related to the accident

Uninsured Motorists Coverage that applies if the accident is caused by someone without insurance

• $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident bodily injury coverage

Physical Damage Coverage for Your Own Vehicle

Liability coverage does not pay for damage to your own car – you need to purchase physical damage coverage for that purpose. There are two types of physical damage coverage:

• Comprehensive coverage which pays for the following types of damage to your car: fire, theft, weather, vandalism, falling objects, and damage caused by animals
• Collision coverage that pays for just that – collision with another object, including another car.

Deductibles are requested for comprehensive and collision insurance. These deductibles are subtracted from a claim, should you have one. Deductibles vary from $250 all the way up to $1000 per accident. Even though credits on premiums are offered for higher deductibles, be sure that you don't lose sight of the fact that deductibles come directly from savings or current income. Be certain that you can afford your deductible.

Other Types of Insurance Available

You may wish to purchase the following types of insurance:

• GAP coverage, which pays off your car loan if the vehicle is totaled and the payoff, does not cover the entire amount of the loan against it.
• Towing and labor coverage which pays for towing and labor should your vehicle be disabled by an accident.

Be sure to include this coverage, if desired; in quotes for all the insurance companies you contact to be certain the quotes are alike.

Information You Will Need for Insurance Quotes

Prepare the following information to be given to insurance companies for quotations:

• Limits of liability, physical damage, and other coverage you desire
• Make, model, VIN number, and usage for all vehicles you own
• Average mileage for each vehicle
• Full names, dates of birth, addresses, drivers license numbers, marital status, and traffic records for all drivers – don't skip teens and elderly drivers, even if they drive on a limited basis
• You will be asked for your social security number, phone number, e-mail address, and place of garaging for all vehicles. If you're just asking for a quote, usually you can skip the social security number until you complete the final application.

Be careful on usage. If one of your vehicles is used primarily as a farm vehicle or as a business vehicle, your insurance policy may be affected. Farm rates are typically lower, but not always. Combining a farm owner's policy with a vehicle policy can achieve rate reductions.

Ways of Saving on Insurance

There are many ways to save on insurance premiums, and here are a few of them:

• Shop around – ask for at least three different quotes from separate insurance companies
• Good student discounts – students who carry a B or above GPA may be eligible for a discount
• Safe driving courses – for individuals 65 and above
• Higher deductibles – just be careful you can afford them
• Eliminating physical damage for vehicles that are older
• Carrying both automobile and home policies with the same company
• Ask your agent about discounts that are unique to a particular insurance company – one insurance company gives discounts for members of the U.S. military, another for membership in certain organizations, so it's worth asking

Comparing Quotes

Ask for paper copies of the quotes you receive for ease of comparison. Keep these quotes from year to year, so you can redo the research, see if anything has changed, and make a determination each year.

Don't become complacent and stay in one place out of habit. Comparison-shopping is always helpful. Use our FREE tool below to get started!

Finally, be certain to read your policy including all the extra paper. If there's anything you don't understand, ask. Make certain the coverage agrees with the terms of the quotation.