What are included in a short term car insurance coverage? Are they similar to an annual car insurance cover? How else will the two differ?

Diether

Phoenix AZ

Aside from the obvious difference that short term car insurance has a duration from a few days to a few weeks and the regular car insurance is typically one year, the two types of car insurances differ in some ways too. Unlike the regular car insurance, a short term car insurance may not be available in many U.S. States and is not common in many locations.

The reason why people purchase temporary car insurance is to have a short term car insurance cover in effect while they are renting a car to drive to various locations for a vacation or borrowing a friends’ vehicle for a short duration of time. Furthermore, people buy a short term car insurance in anticipation of the hurricane season to protect the car in storage.

A short term car insurance cover is basically the same as those cover that a regular car insurance policy offers. Just like the regular car insurance policy, a short term car insurance policy will also basically have liabilities coverage to pay up for any bodily injuries and property damages you caused to other people and their cars in case of a road accident with the car you’ve borrowed or rented.

Also, just like a regular car insurance policy, you can also opt to include coverage for collision damages in your short term car insurance to pay up for the repairs done to the borrowed or rented car during a collision incident.

Additionally, for your own good but although not offered in many states, you can also add a short term car insurance cover in your policy that will pay or reimburse for the medical bills you and your passengers incurred during a road accident.

Probably the difference between a short term insurance policy and a regular policy lies only on the duration of the policy and not on the amount of coverage that each policy can provide.

Ask you car insurance agent if they offer short term car insurance since a period of six is usually the shortest period you can get car insurance.

My car while parked was hit by a delivery truck and the bumper got damaged. I took my car to my regular repair place here in Arizona and was given an estimate of $875. When I submitted this to the truck driver’s insurer, they requested me to have the car assessed at their partner repair shop and got an estimate of $720. I want to have my car fixed in my regular repair place even though it charges more. Will the truck driver’s car insurance still cover for that?

Elizabeth

Phoenix, AZ

The Arizona Department of Insurance states that you are allowed in Arizona to choose a repair shop and get damage assessment of your car. Car insurance providers will ask you to get other valuations to make sure that your choice repair place has quoted an evenhanded price, though. Additionally, all insurers have their preferred repair shops because they are known to have decent and competitive prices for repair jobs.

The Arizona Department of Insurance also mandates that the insurer may not require you to travel unreasonably to get damage assessment for your vehicle from a repair shop, or bring the car on your own to a specific repair place to have it fixed. In your case, though, you can appeal that the car repairs be done in your choice repair place. If explained and handled properly then you might be able to come up with a good settlement and the repair process can be charged to the paying car insurance company. If this would not be the case and the truck driver’s insurance company will only cover $720, but you still want to pursue having your car fixed by your choice repair shop, then you will need to shoulder the remaining amount.

My girlfriend often borrows my car, and that’s totally fine with me. However, she’s uninsured, and I am. I just want to know if my full coverage auto insurance would cover her if I let her drive it around Phoenix, Arizona.

Christy

Phoenix, AZ

Hi Christy, the answer is No. Even if you have a full coverage, that auto insurance policy only covers you and not your friend. The same thing goes when you drive someone else’s vehicle; even if the vehicle you’re driving is not covered by a policy, it’s okay because you are insured and it is your name which is written in that auto insurance policy.

However, there is an exception when it comes to driving a vehicle that is considered as “regularly available” for use. For example, you have three cars in your house but only two are being used regularly. You will have to list those two cars in your insurance policy as “regularly available”. Let’s say you seldom use the third car for the reason that you prefer using the other two and that third car only comes as a “spare” in case the two cars break down or becomes unavailable simultaneously. You would have to list that car too as a “regularly available” vehicle because it is there and the frequency of your usage over it comes from your preference only. In case you fail to have it listed, and you mess up while driving it, you cannot expect your policy to cover you.

On the other hand, if you use another person’s car (let’s say your friend asked you to get something and use her car instead) your auto insurance policy would still cover your liabilities, personal injury protection, etc. You may want to run these added information by your friend as she would gain more benefit out of this than you would. You may want to refer to her your insurance agent there in Phoenix, AZ, so she could get the best explanation on the benefits of getting an insurance policy of her own.

I just got my driver’s license but I do not have auto insurance yet in Phoenix, Arizona. I just want to know if I drive my friend’s vehicle even though I do not have car insurance?  Can I get a quote from you guys?

Jim

Phoenix, Arizona

It depends on the guidelines of the insurance provider of your friend’s vehicle you want to operate if you can drive their car legally and be covered by insurance. In most states both the car and the driver need insurance and in others just the car so you will have to verify with the Department of Motor Vehicles to check what your state requires with regards insurance coverage.

If you just got your driver’s license and reside with your parents they should tell their insurance provider of your licensing status in Phoenix, Arizona. Normally you would have to be listed to their car insurance policy to be properly covered. So if you are going to borrow your friend’s vehicle, it would be up to the terms of your friend’s car insurance policy whether you would be covered by their insurance.

Generally though, a person’s automobile insurance will cover those that the owner provides permission to drive the car but some car insurance policies have exclusions for covering certain people.