Seattle is a city that is surrounded by mountains, water, and evergreen forests. It is home to thousands of acres of green land. It is the largest city in Washington State. Since the population is high and a lot of tech companies are based in Seattle, taking auto insurance in Seattle is very important. You can check the best car insurance companies in the country and decide which one you should opt for when you take auto insurance in Seattle Washington.

All the States in the nation have set the minimum requirement for auto insurance for every driver which is compulsory. However, there are still 10-15% of people from the entire population who are without any insurance. This can be a huge risk. For instance, if you meet with an accident with someone who is uninsured, you may not have to pay a heavy penalty but the authorities could tow your vehicle. Apart from that, you will have to pay for all the damages and medical bills from your pocket. Hence it is really important to have auto insurance in Seattle Washington.

Factors Determining Premium Rates for Auto Insurance in Seattle

Any insurance company before insuring you or before giving you a quote checks a few important factors related to you in terms of your driving and your vehicle.

Some of these factors are the model and make of your vehicle. If you own an expensive car then in the event of an accident, the company insuring your vehicle will have to pay out a fat amount to cover the repair or replacement costs. This is one of the reasons why they would set a high premium rate so they minimize their risk to a large extent.

Your vehicle’s parking spot or location is also important when deciding your insurance rate. Say suppose there are too many thefts happening in your area, there are higher chances of your vehicle getting stolen or damaged. Therefore, your premium rates will be higher in this region than if you stayed in a place that is low on vandalism and thefts.

Also, your driving record and other details pertaining to you as a driver will be checked. Factors such as your credit rating, your profession, marital status will be looked into. If you have a high credit rating and multiple speeding tickets, you will land up paying more in premiums as compared to any other driver with a good record.

Types of Coverage for Auto Insurance in Seattle Washington

There are many coverage options offered by insurance companies. Based on your expenditure choose the coverages that will help you be financially safe and secure without making you go above your budget.

When you opt for liability insurance, it helps cover your medical bills apart from paying for any property damages that are a result of an accident caused by you.

Every state has its own minimum requirement set in terms of auto insurance amounts. Therefore it becomes very important to check what other coverages you need to take to safeguard your pocket in the event of an accident. Most of the time the state minimum required coverage amount doesn’t cover all the accident expenses. In such scenarios, you have to shell out from your pocket.

There are also other expenses that have to be covered when your vehicle gets damaged because of other reasons which are not accident-related. This is where comprehensive coverage comes in the picture. This coverage takes care of repair costs if your vehicle is damaged because of vandalism, fire or flood or other natural calamities. It does not cover damages caused due to an accident.

Collision coverage takes care of the accident damages. Even if your vehicle is beyond repair, it will pay for it. This coverage is expensive than the others. Hence if you are looking to take the collision coverage, take it only if your vehicle has a chance of replacement.

Medical bills will be taken care of by Personal Injury Protection PIP. Irrespective of who caused the accident, the claim will be paid. Hence this is a very important coverage.

Apart from all the above, you have the underinsured and uninsured coverage which takes care of road accident expenses caused by an uninsured driver or one who has less coverage. This coverage is also very important to opt for.

Lastly, when checking for insurance company details and their ratings, always check the NAIC. Their ratings are not biased and give a good idea of the insurance company. The NAIC was formed especially to make sure that financial institutions got a fair treatment across all the 50 states.