I don’t own a car. I just lease one here in South Dakota. Do I still need auto insurance coverage?

Kirk

Sioux Falls, SD

To answer your question–yes, you will still need auto insurance coverage even if you don’t own a car and are just leasing one in South Dakota. The main issue here, really, is the car. Who’s going to take care of the car? When you drive your leased car, you know that it’s not your car. It’s still the auto dealer’s car. They, of course, would want to make sure that the car is taken care of even if somebody else is driving it. So, they would need you to have collision and comprehensive coverage.

Collision coverage will take care of things when you get in an accident like collide with another car or another object. The auto dealer will not shoulder the cost for any accident you caused while driving their car.

Comprehensive coverage covers the car if it gets damaged but the cause is not a road accident. If the car gets vandalized, your comprehensive coverage will pay for it. If it gets stolen, bursts into flames, comprehensive coverage will have your back. Hitting a deer or other animal is covered by this also.

In other words, if you lease a car, taking care of it is going to be your responsibility, and not anyone else’s.

Tags: auto insurance coverage, commercial insurance, comprehensive insurance coverage, leased car insurance

Can you tell me the difference between the liability and physical damage?

Karen

Sioux Falls, SD

Liability coverage covers the damages your vehicle does to others, damage for which you are legally responsible and if you do not have liability insurance you would need to pay out of your pocket for damages you cause.

Physical damage coverage consist of comprehensive and collision coverage. I will explain each one of them.

Collision coverage covers damage to your car when your car crashes, or is hit by, another car, or other object. This type of physical damage coverage pays to repair your automobile, less the deductible you choose at the onset of your car insurance policy.

Comprehensive coverage covers your car, and sometimes other automobiles you may be operating, for losses resulting from incidents other than collision. Comprehensive coverage typically covers your car if its stolen, damaged by flood, fire or animals. This comprehensive coverage comes with a deductible as well.

Tags: auto insurance, collision insurance coverage, comprehensive insurance coverage

How does an SR-22 work if you own more than one car ?

Richard

Sioux Falls, SD

In South Dakota when your SD license is suspended or revoked due to driving without insurance the return of your license will also depend upon you filing a SR-22 insurance policy which will prove to the state that you have valid insurance on all of your cars in your possession.

According to South Dakota law if you have been convicted of an infraction (No Insurance, DWI, Failure to Pay a Judgment, Vehicular Homicide or 2 (two) Reckless Driving in a year) you will be required to carry an SR-22 insurance policy. This coverage and filing will require you to show proof of insurance to the state for 3 years, that all cars you own are insured. If you do not own any cars, you must buy a non-owner or operator policy.

A: Oh…that’s kind of a silly question, but I guess I know where you’re coming from. I know a lot of people who treat their Aberdeen SR22 insurance policy like a piece of decorative oragami–they show it to a police officer or two so they can ooh and aah, but for the most part keep it hidden away, mostly useless. What they’re forgetting, and what you may be forgetting here, too, is that car insurane policies are intended to…wait for it…insure your car. If you get into an accident, then you should file a claim. Period.

Some people try to give you advice and say, only file a claim on your Aberdeen SR22 insurance when the cost is more than your deductible. But how do you know what the cost will be? Most companies don’t like it when you take your car for an estimate first, and just looking at it, you never know how much a car will cost to fix. Damages may look and seem small right off, but they, and injuries, can multiply and intensify later.

Some people are just paranoid because they think the second they file a claim, they’ll lose their Aberdeen SR22 coverage. Cancelling for filing a claim is against the law, actually, but your company may choose not to renew your policy later on. Just keep a back up, and you’ll be fine.

A: South Dakota non owner SR22 insurance is for those of us unfortunate enough to lack a set of wheels. Of course, we carless folk aren’t going to walk everywhere–we live in South Dakota. Where will that get us?–so we often use other cars to drive around. I drive a company car, and when I’m out of town I drive a rental car, and sometimes I drive my brother’s car. All of these cars are insured–but not in my name.

If you don’t ever get your license suspended, you can live a happy easy life and never pay an insurance bill. But the second you do, you have to get a South Dakota non owner SR22 policy, because in order for you to get your license back, you have to have insurance in YOUR name, even if the vehicle already has a billion dollars of coverage and a forcefield. Not to mention, you can only get liability coverage, too.

And South Dakota non owner SR22 policies are expensive, and it’s harder to save money on them. You can still do it, though, by cutting your coverage limits, combining your insurance policies, doing well in school, among other things.