Why Do You Need Car Insurance: The Logical Reasons and Explanations

In case you are wondering why do you need car insurance, the basic answer is pretty simple. It saves you from financial hardship in case you are involved in accidents or incidents. Just so you know, even the seemingly ‘smallest’ accidents can cost you hundreds of dollars. Consider yourself lucky if you only have to deal with the damage of the car and nothing else.

In most cases, you may have to deal with medical bills, not only for yourself, but also for the other drivers and possibly other casualties. Unless you are extremely loaded, then having a car insurance can help you save up thousands of dollars. Such an amount can really hurt your wallet.

About Car Insurance

The first answer to the question why do you need car insurance is the fact that it’s a must. Most of the states in America require drivers to have car insurance. It’s mandatory. Period. In the event you are caught in an incident without the car insurance, you may end up with a big fine, or even worse: you may end up in a jail. Different states would implement different regulations, so you should check with your state’s regulations and rules.

In Georgia, for instance, the state laws charge penalties for those who drive without (car) insurance. If it is your first time, you will be charged 60 day of suspension of the vehicle registration and license. It also depends on the circumstances why you were being pulled over, which can lead being jailed up to 12 months. If it is your second time, the suspension time would be 90 days and also $85 fine. It’s possible that the judge would automatically send you to the clink. If it is subsequent, you will get the same punishments of the second offense and also an extra possibility to go to jail. Your driver license would be suspended permanently in Georgia.

Be advised, though, you can actually buy insurance with the suspended license, but it is going to cost tons of money. known as SR-22 insurance, this one can cost you up to 150% even up to 400% of the regular policy. You can basically spend around $10,000 and also extra premiums, until the points expire. But if you can show the proof of insurance, you can get your license unsuspended.

States Where Uninsured Drivers Are Legal

As it was mentioned before, people are often wondering why do you need car insurance, but in these two states, they won’t have to wonder about such a thing. It’s legal to drive in Virginia without car insurance. However, there are several requirements that you need to address. First, you need to pay around $500 for Uninsured Motorist Fee every time you need to renew the vehicle registration. Or, if you are unwilling to do so, you need to post cash bond, such as a lot of cash proving that you can afford damages or bills related to an accident. It should be made from your out-of-pocket spending.

New Hampshire also allows you to drive without a license, but you should be able to show the proof that you can provide enough funds in case at fault accident happen to you. But people seem to be able to have good logic about it because the state has one of the lowest numbers of uninsured drivers in America.

The Financial Catastrophe if You Are Responsible

So, why do you need car insurance? First of all, it would protect you from catastrophic and chaotic scenarios. Imagine this: You just try to find a lunch during rush hour, but there’s a speeding car in your way and you don’t see it. The car crashes to you, which is basically an honest mistake happening on a daily basis. Both of cars are heavily damaged, while the other driver (along with the passenger) suffer from neck injuries. If you don’t have any car insurance, they can sue you and they can do it in 100% for the loss of use, medical bills, motor vehicle repair, and others. Consider yourself lucky if the total of the bill doesn’t go over $100,000.

That’s an expensive lunch, and that’s not even the costs to repair the damages to YOUR car – or whether you need to replace it. You should look at it this way: When uninsured driver is responsible for an accident, the effects are for everyone; not limited to that uninsured driver alone. The impacts are generally like this:

• The victim of the accident won’t be able to access their needed funds, leading to the piling up of their debts (with their interest). It will lead negative impact to the credit score.
• The responsible driver will suffer from the consequences especially when the whole thing involves personal injury law. It would get worse when several ambulance chasers would multiply the entitled compensation for their victims (and it usually goes along with the commission).
• The government. Even the government would experience the impact as they have to dedicate public attorneys and courtroom time for the (inevitable) legal battle between the conflicting parties. It means tax dollars would be spent on it. They also have to pay the out-of-pocket expenses for the public property damages, like guardrails or fences.

As you can see in this scenario, nobody wins. The only winners are the lawyers. Everything would get worse if you don’t have any car insurance. So, if you are wondering why do you need car insurance, these are basically the recaps for your question.

If You Are the Victim

What if you are the one being hit? The answer to the question why do you need car insurance still applies if you are the victim. You see, consider yourself lucky if you are hit by a driver having a car insurance. If you are hit by an insured person, be ready to wait for extremely long time to finally get the money that you have the right to. While waiting, you will have to deal with the medical payments and repairs, and even more. Basically, you will be reimbursed, but you will have to manage all those things on your own. In most cases, you put your sanity and credit score on the line.

This is the reason why they call it the liability coverage. The other driver responsible for your accident is considered liable for the damages of your car as well as your medical bills. He/she is responsible for the property liability coverage as well as bodily injury liability coverage. This is also another reason why the government won’t make comprehensive or collision insurance mandatory. They basically don’t care if you damage your own property or belongings. They only want to be sure of your responsibility that you can cover others’ bills or expenses.

General Reasons to Get Car Insurance

Why do you need car insurance? These are some reasons and explanations for one:

• Spend now to save more later. As it was already mentioned earlier, car insurance will help you from having to deal with huge expenses. Such a financial loss can affect not only you, but also your family. Think of having the insurance as making an investment. When you invest, you spend only a small amount now in order to save bigger expenses later. No one wants to be involved in accidents, but when it happens, the insurance can cover for the financial costs.
• Protect yourself (and others). The right type of insurance can seriously protect not only you, but also your family members, the passengers, and even other drivers. When accidents happen, you definitely want to know that you can cover the bodily injury or property costs that may happen. You should talk to the insurance agent to know what kind of insurance would be suitable for you. If you are already know what kind of insurance coverage to choose, then you can search for the online insurance quote. Basically, protecting your beloved ones should be included in the major reasons to having a car insurance.
• Solid peace of mind. Everyone makes mistakes. After all, we are only humans. However, in accidents, another person’s mistake can be yours. If you have car insurance (and you choose the right type one), you won’t have to worry about a thing. You can stay confident that you are securely protected, in the event underinsured or uninsured driver crashes into you.
• Save hassle and time. The effects of accidents are always tedious. Not only it is time consuming, but it is also energy draining. However, if you have the proper coverage, you can skip the complicated process. You are able to avoid difficult negotiation with the involved property owners or other drivers. Plus, you can effortlessly repair (or even replace) the vehicle without suffering from the headache from the exorbitant costs. Good (car) insurance would help you from having to deal with these headaches. When you make a claim, the insurance company should help manage the complicated process, and even support you through the whole process. You won’t even have to deal with replacements, repairs, vehicle towing, or others. Basically, if you have reliable car insurance, you can avoid the fuss and drama without making the issue gets worse.
• Supplement the health insurance. Do you know that car insurance is able to assist you pay for the medical expenses, which health insurance doesn’t want to cover normally. A good insurance can assist with expenses, like medical treatments or dental work required as auto accident’s results. In general cases, having a car insurance can also help you with the assessment for your other insurance.
• Help with leasing agent. In case you are leasing or financing the vehicle, it’s possible that your lender may want you to buy the comprehensive coverage as well as collision coverage. The leasing agent (or the lender) would be the lienholder of the vehicle while you make payments. And these two coverages can help protect the investments quite solidly. The coverage can help you pay for the vehicle’s repair (or even replacement) in case it’s damaged within a covered loss.

Final Words

As you can read from these explanations, the answer to the question why do you need car insurance is quite obvious. You won’t have to deal with financial hardship in case you are involved in the unfortunate event of car accidents or incidents. Even the seemingly smallest or simplest accident can cost you a lot. Think about its impact to your financial standing if there are serious casualties or victims. Ask yourself whether you can afford spending more than $50,000 or even more than $150,000 to pay all of the expenses? Not to mention that you will have to experience the stress and the hassle of the procedures.

As you see from these many reasons, there are more benefits to having the car insurance than not having one. It’s always better to be an insured driver than the uninsured one. Now that you already know the answer to why do you need car insurance, you may want to start now.

FAQ: Why Do You Need Car Insurance