Auto
Insurance Buyers Guide
Purchasing personal
auto insurance and registering your vehicle.
Step
1 • Understand what you're buying
The insurance
which you are required to buy to put your car on the road are called “Compulsory
Coverages.” They include:
- Part
1 - Bodily Injury to Others — This coverage
pays for damages (e.g. medical expenses, pain and suffering) to anyone injured
or killed by your car only in an accident that occurs in Massachusetts,
up to basic limit of $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident. Injuries
to the driver or passengers in your car are not covered under this Part.
If you drive outside of Massachusetts or on private property, or if you
drive with passengers in your car, you need Optional Bodily Injury to Others
(Part 5). Basic Limits are NOT enough coverage! You could be sued for more
than the required ($20,000/$40,000) limits for Bodily Injury to Others.
Buying higher limits may protect you from large losses. Your agent can help
you decide what limits are appropriate for you.
- Part
2 - Personal Injury Protection (PIP) — pays up to $8,000
to you or anyone you let drive your car, members of your household, passengers
and pedestrians, no matter who causes the accident. Personal Injury Protection
pays for medical expenses, replacement services and 75% of any lost wages.
PIP does not cover you while you are driving or riding on a motorcycle.
- Part
3 - Bodily Injury Caused By An Uninsured Auto — protects
you, anyone you let drive your car, household members and passengers against
injuries caused by an uninsured or unidentified ("hit and run")
driver. A minimum limit of $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident is
required.
- Part
4 - Damage to Someone Else's Property — pays for damage to
another person's property and costs associated with the loss of use of that
property, when you, a household member or another authorized driver cause
an accident. A minimum limit of $5,000 is required. With the rising costs
of automobile and property repair, it makes sense to purchase more than
the required $5,000 minimum limit. Limits of $50,000 or $100,000 are available
at minimal cost.
Coverages
you may buy, or Optional Insurance Parts include:
- Part
5 - Optional Bodily Injury to Others — extends your liability
protection (the basic $20,000/$40,000 limits under Part 1) up to the amount
you purchase under this part. Part 5. also provides coverage for accidents
beyond Massachusetts to anywhere in the United States, its territories or
possessions, or Canada. This coverage also pays for damages suffered by
passengers in your auto. Your agent can help you decide what limits are
appropriate for you.
- Part
6 - Medical Payments — covers medical expenses for you, your
household members and passengers, over and above amounts covered by Personal
Injury Protection (PIP) no matter who caused the accident. The minimum amount
you can buy is $5,000 if insuring an automobile and $500 if insuring a motorcycle.
Part 7. Collision-pays for damage to your car, less any applicable deductible,
no matter who causes the accident. If your car is financed, your lender
may require this coverage as well as a particular deductible amount.
- Part
8 - Limited Collision — pays for collision damage to your
car. You must not be more than 50% at fault and the owner of the other vehicle
must be identified.
- Part
9 - Comprehensive — pays for damage to or loss of your car,
less any applicable deductible, resulting from perils such as fire, theft,
vandalism, and striking an animal, but not collision. This coverage allows
up to $15 per day (to a limit of $450) for substitute transportation (rental
or other transportation costs including taxi, bus, and train fare) until
your stolen auto is recovered. Personal property is not covered unless it
is permanently installed in your car, such as a stereo. If your car is financed,
your lender may require this coverage.
- Part
10 - Substitute Transportation — This coverage
reimburses for car rental or transportation costs including taxi, bus, and
train fare while your car is undergoing collision or covered repairs. Coverage
from $15 a day/$450 max. up to $100 a day/ $3,000 max. is available.
- Part
11 - Towing and Labor — This coverage pays for towing and
labor costs incurred each time your auto is disabled. Your company will
pay only for labor done at the scene to the extent that the labor was needed
to get your car going.
- Part
12 - Bodily Injury Caused by an Underinsured Auto — pays
for bodily injury to you, household members and passengers, unless they
have a policy of their own, or are covered by a Massachusetts auto policy
of another household member with similar coverage. The accident must be
caused by someone without enough bodily injury coverage. It pays you up
to the difference between the total amount collected from the bodily injury
liability insurance covering the owner and driver of the other car and the
limits you purchased for this coverage.
Step
2 • Make Your Coverage and Rate Decisions
Your LSR service
representative will help you select the coverages and premiums that fit you
and your budget, review the available discounts, walk you through the application
process. We'll also help to prepare the documents you'll need to take to the
Registry of Motor Vehicles to get your vehicle registered, and give you an
indication of the cost of registration plates, title and sales tax for your
vehicle. A deposit premium of will be due with the application to bind your
coverage.
Step
3 • Register Your New Vehicle
You're now ready
to go to the Registry of Motor Vehicles at 176 Cabot Street in Beverly or
to one of the other branches across the state. Or, you can have us run to
the RMV for you for no extra fee. Registry questions? Go
to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue web site.
Step
4 • Review Your Policy
You should review
your policy Coverage Selections Page when you receive it. And remember, we
are always available to provide “person to person” service whenever
you have questions or a claim.
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