Insurance 101 (cont.)

After You Buy

Stay clean. No single factor is more important than your motor vehicle report (MVR) in determining the premiums for your liability coverage. Each time you receive a traffic ticket, you risk increasing your future premiums. In general, you will pay substantially higher premiums if you receive more than one or two tickets during a three-year period. If your state allows you to attend traffic school in exchange for removing a violation from your MVR, take advantage of the option.

Stay a stranger to your insurance company. Claims, as well as tickets, upset insurers. Don't involve your insurance company in repairing door dings or annoyances like cracked windshields even if you could collect a little something beyond your deductible. Pay for these repairs out of your own pocket. If someone damages your car, and you don't live in a no-fault insurance state, try to collect from the other person's insurance company before you involve your own insurer. Obtain a police report that indicates you were not at fault in the accident.

If you own a business, put the truck in your company's name. Discuss with your insurer how you'll use the vehicle. You may be able to persuade the insurer that writes your business policy to cover the truck as a company vehicle at a lower rate than you'd receive on a personal policy.

Get married. Insurers prefer drivers between the ages of 30 and 65. Some insurers give discounts to drivers aged 55 to 65. But once you're over 70, you're considered risky, as you are if you're under 30. However, insurers generally treat a married person under 30 as they would someone in the lower risk 30-65 age group. Marriage, they figure, puts an end to your partying days and keeps you off the streets at night.

Every time you receive your insurance bill, review your coverage. Make sure your bill is accurate and that you're receiving all eligible discounts. If there's been a change in your insurance profile (e.g., you just turned 30), inform your insurer. Consider eliminating your collision coverage if your car is over 10 years old or if the premium for that portion of your policy is more than one-tenth the value of your vehicle.