Reader’s Question:

My son’s car caught fire while he was driving it. He and my grandson got out safely but the motor vehicle and its contents were a total loss. He has full coverage in St. Louis, Missouri. What will be used to determine the value of the vehicle?

Tom

St. Louis, MO

Ultimately, your son will need to talk to his insurance provider’s claim department to find out how they determine a car’s value in St. Louis, MO. But, generally, his car’s value is determined by comparing his vehicle’s condition to similar cars. This may include input from local car dealers, private parties or recent sales. Condition,mileage and equipment, differences are also taken into consideration. Additionally, his insurance provider may use a computerized evaluation process to help them in determining the value of his vehicle.

Tags: auto insurance, auto insurance claims, automobile, car dealers

Reader’s Question:

I was wondering when you file an SR22, how much will that affect my insurance policy in St. Louis?

Parker

St. Louis, MO

Depending on your current insurance policy in St. Louis, an sr22 insurance may have a minimal cost or a major cost. If you are currently insured through an insurance carrier that will not file a sr22, you will need to buy another insurance policy. In addition to that, you must have “property damage liability” and “bodily injury liability” coverages with limits that are acceptable to the state that is mandating the sr22. If you do not have these coverages (or the proper liability amount) will have to adjust your insurance policy accordingly. Now, a sr22 includes a filing fee that only ranges from $15 to $25. If you currently insured through an insurance provider in St. Louis MO that will file an sr22 and you have those 2 coverages with the limits that are acceptable to your state, then you will only need to add the sr22 insurance and its minimal filing fee.

Reader’s Question:

I am shopping for a used vehicle, and have heard that it is more expensive to insure a red car than other colors, is this correct? I live in St. Louis MO.

Rick

St. Louis, MO

No, the color of the vehicle is not generally one of the factors that a car insurance company will use as a rating factor.

The myth is out there that a red or silver car costs more to insure but in all actuality insurance carriers do not consider the color, but they do look at the type of vehicle. If it is a red sports car it will likely cost more than a yellow family car to insure but due to the powerful engine and statistics of accidents relating to sports cars compare to a 4 door family sedan, not the color.

Some other rating factors that insurance companies consider in St. Louis MO include your age, your claims history, the kind of car you drive, in some states your credit history and your driving record.

Reader’s Question:

I live in St. Louis Missouri. Are you REQUIRED to have both under-insured and uninsured coverage in Missouri or just either or? I am searching for auto insurance for my car in St. Louis and I am not sure what I am required to have and which is optional.

Jane

St. Louis, MO

The state of Missouri requires that all motor vehicle motorists and owners carry some type of motor vehicle liability insurance coverage.

If you are the operator or owner of a car in St Louis Missouri, you are required by law to insure that car with coverage for injuries you cause to another, in at least $25,000 per person up to $50,000 per accident of bodily injury liability, and $10,000 for property damage liability insurance coverage.

A $25,000 in bodily injury uninsured motorist that can be made to one individual involved per accident, including you and $50,000 is the maximum bodily injury uninsured motorist payment that can be made to all persons involved per accident, including you is required.

Uninsured motorist coverage is therefore required while underinsured motorist is an optional additional coverage. To get more information on insurance laws of MO contact the Missouri Department of Insurance.

Reader’s Question:

I just want to ask if Missouri is a no-fault insurance state. I will be relocating to the St. Louis MO suburban area from a no-fault state in Michigan. Should I expect the cost of my insurance to be cheaper or at least lower?

Bob

St. Louis, MO

The state of Missouri is not a no-fault state. Missouri law requires all owners of motor vehicle to carry car insurance with liability limits of $25,000 per person for bodily injury up to $50,000 for bodily injury per accident and $10,000 for property damage per accident. The Missouri law also requires uninsured driver coverage of $25,000 for bodily injury per person and $50,000 for bodily injury per accident.

If another motorist hits you and leaves the scene you should contact the law enforcement station. They will investigate the hit and run and if they find the hit-and-run motorist you can file a claim against them and/or their insurance company. If you have physical damage coverage then your car is covered. If you have uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury coverage then your medical coverage would be covered. You should always buy as much insurance as you can afford.

If you are looking for a cheap car insurance, you may begin by shopping through the internet from these individual insurance company websites in St. Louis, MO.

Q: What’s ST. Louis SR-22 car insurance?

A: ST. Louis SR-22 car insurance is like the scary movie of car insurance. So, when you find out you have to get it, you have to ask yourself: will I be the moron who goes down to the basement while there’s a serial killer on the loose and say, “Is that you, Billy?”, or will I be the smart person who gets the gun and runs like the wind? Because the key thing that most people know about SR22s is that they cost money–but you can just lay back and let them charge you, or you can do something about it and come out alive.

Let me get into specifics about SR22. ST. Louis SR-22 car insurance isn’t so much a type of car insurance as it is an additional service your company does for you–they file an SR22 form with your DMV. The SR22 form is proof of financial responsibility. You need this because, for some reason or another, you have had your license suspended, and you can’t get it back until you have car insurance. But, since the DMV doesn’t want you driving without insurance for a few years (three for most offenses) while you earn back their trust, they need to be in communication with your car insurance company so they know you’re insured. If you decide not to pay your premium, then the car insurance company can tattle on you by sending another form in (SR-26), and you lose your license again.

Q: How often should I get a ST Louis MO online insurance quote?

A: Since getting a ST Louis MO online insurance quote is so easy, you could get one everyday if you wanted. You could randomly check in from your computer at work every half hour just to see if rates have changed by a few cents. Just stressing how easy it is, because you could do all that. It would be kinda impractical, though.

If your idea of fun isn’t watching grass grow, you should pick a few cues for looking up a new ST Louis MO online insurance quote. I think the one everyone should follow is your Renewal Cue. As in, when it’s time to renew your car insurance policy, go look at quotes from other companies to make sure your current company isn’t robbing you blind. Just because your company was all good when you first came by it doesn’t mean it will always be that way, so it’s not cheating if you check around. And looking for quotes doesn’t mean you have to change companies. What mama don’t know won’t hurt her.

Another thing–car insurance companies will change your rates when you change your habits. So, if your kid gets his license or you buy a new car or you move to a new house, then you should look for rates then, too, because all of those affect your auto insurance premium.

Q: Why is ST. Louis MO teen auto insurance so expensive? How can I make it cheaper?

A: As somebody who only recently left her teenage year, I can tell you that ST. Louis MO teen auto insurance is expensive because teenagers are insane. And bad drivers. And insane drivers. On a depressing note, car accidents are the leading cause of death among teens in the U.S. While there are a FEW teenagers who drive in a not-insane and generally responsible manner, car insurance companies are kind of lazy and zero-tolerance when it comes to pricing–they look at what you’re a part of, not who you are. Car insurance isn’t a place for you to be a special snowflake.

Still, you can win your car insurance company over and get them to charge you less for your ST. Louis MO teen auto insurance if you work at it. Instead of flowers and chocolates, good grades and defensive driving courses are what make insurance companies swoon. You should call yours up and find out about the discounts they have regarding the above. They really aren’t hard to get. With the good student discount, you usually just need to make Bs, and defensive driving courses can usually be rented from Blockbuster.

Q: So, I have to file an SR22, but I think you need to own a car to get insurance, or is there ST. Louis MO non owner insurance?

A: Yeah, normally if you don’t own a car, but you drive other people’s cars, you can just kind of slide along and mooch off of their insurance, but once you start having to file an SR22, you need to do more than drive an insured car. YOU have to be insured, in YOUR name. So, unless you want to buy a car (why not? you’ll probably have to take out a second mortgage just to afford SR22 insurance anyway), you can get ST. Louis MO non owner insurance.

If you drive rented cars a lot, for business or whatever, they give you the option to purchase insurance for while you’re driving that car. Now, ST. Louis MO non owner insurance isn’t a walk in the monetary park, but those insurance waivers from the car rental place DO add up, so if you’re trying to save money, non owner insurance is cheaper as well.

Even though you can only get required coverages (i.e. liability) with ST. Louis MO non owner insurance, whenever you’re driving a car which already has insurance, you don’t even use your coverage unless all of the money covering that car runs out, so if your car has personal injury protection, you’re covered even if your own insurance policy doesn’t.

Q: How can I get the best quote for an SR22 in St. Louis MO?

A: Like this!

No, just kidding. You don’t have to be Vin Diesel to get a cheap SR22 in St. Louis MO, although I guess if you were, price wouldn’t really matter.

I’ll tell you what I do. When I need to get a quote for SR22 in St. Louis MO, go online, pick an instant quote site at random, and then go back and forth filling out one of those forms (they only take about 15 minutes, but they’re so boring I can never do it all at once). You can get, like, 10 quotes or so from one of those sites. So I copy + paste those into wordpad and then go and check out places like Standard and Poor’s, to make sure none of them are broke and selling car insurance policies out of the back of a 1988 station wagon, and also J.D. Power’s, so I can see where they stand on pricing, customer service, blah blah blah.

Of course, those are only parts of the equation-the facts, if you will. Next thing I do is harrass everyone I know about the car insurance company they have until they give me an opinion. You should really pester your mechanic about this–they’re always working with insurance companies, so they have a good outsider/insider look at the biz.

And you gotta do it all, too. If you look for car insurance lazily, then you’re going to end up paying your premium from the bench your sleeping on in the park. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating, but apparently the average policy holder pays $400 more than they could if they actually put some time into searching for quotes for SR22 in St. Louis MO–sorry, but that’s way too much for me.