A guest post from Lisa Coopersmith of Free Financial Planning Advice.
There’s a funny thing about Village Auto Insurance, and that is that there seems to be branches of this insurance company everywhere. That’s not really the case though. While you may see them all over the place, they are really for the most part individual companies that share the same name. While some states that share borders may also share branches, for the most part when you’re in a different state, it’s a different insurance company.
That being said, it’s an important thing to keep in mind. It’s hard to research a company that has such a generic name. While you might find just a few reviews of the company, take another look to see where the reviewer is located. Are they from your area? If the answer is no, then chances are that they are talking about an entirely different company altogether, and you need to discount whatever information you’ve gleaned from their review.
The thing is that when we take out an auto insurance policy, we’re hoping that we’ll never need to use it. But unfortunately, even if you are a careful, cautious driver, not everyone else is, and you may very well need to contact your insurance company to make some claims.
Here are some things that you might want to consider besides the obvious concern of how much you will be paying.
- In case of an accident where your car is damaged, will they pay for a rental? Having to go without wheels can be a very unpleasant surprise.
- What if the person who hits you isn’t insured? Will they cover the costs?
- How quickly are claims filed? You don’t want to file the claim only to have it actually dealt with a month or two down the road.
- Do they cover all of the standard bases, including bodily injury, damage to property, and medical costs?