Five Common Car Insurance Myths

Here are five common car insurance myths about car insurance rates -- about what’s covered and what drives up insurance costs.

It's important to understand fact from fiction about your car insurance so you can monitor your annual rates.

A quick vote around SMK Insurance about the number one of all car insurance myths is: “If my friend has an accident while driving my car, it won’t show up on my insurance record.”

True or false? This myth is, without question, FALSE. It’s called car insurance because you’re paying to have your car insured against accident. So when you loan your vehicle, you loan your insurance. Any accident your friend has with your vehicle will show up on your insurance record. The lesson here is, be careful about handing over your keys. Sometimes (not always) nice guys do finish last.

Another of the common car insurance myths goes like this: “The police said the accident wasn’t my fault, so my rate won’t go up, will it?”

The police officer may simply be indicating that there’s no charge pending when they say you’re not at fault. The police gather evidence, provide assistance and restore traffic flow as soon as possible after an accident. In many cases it is not the police who determine fault for insurance purposes. That’s the job of the insurer.

The third of the car insurance myths left un-shattered may serve the common good. But I’m here in the capacity of an insurance advisor so here is the myth and here is the fact. Many people seem to hold with this belief: “Parking tickets increase my insurance rate.”

In truth, parking tickets have no impact on your insurance rate. However, if believing that makes more people conscientious about where and how long they leave their cars, then we all have a better share at premium parking locations to conduct business and enjoy the sites.

Please don’t confuse this with moving violations. There are a host of ways driving infractions can affect your driving record and your driving record has a direct bearing on your insurance rates. I’m putting a link to remind drivers of the point system and the various ways we can land ourselves in trouble while driving our cars. https://novascotia.ca/sns/rmv/licence/point.asp

And finally, the fifth car insurance myth can have a silver lining: “My rates will go up if I have an accident.”

True AND False! First, they won’t if the accident is proven to be the other driver’s fault. Second, if it IS your fault and you have purchased accident premium protection, your first at-fault accident is forgiven. I’m adding the link to SMK’s web page that explains how Premium Protection works but as I always remind my readers, if you have questions just call us. https://smkinsurance.com/premium-protection/ Understanding what are car insurance myths and what are insurance facts should be important to any car owner. A clear conversation about your insurance needs with your broker can save you a tidy amount in both the short and long runs.