Colorado Auto Insurance Quotes

Understanding Colorado auto insurance quotes can be difficult if you do not set aside time to research coverage options.

Insurance in the state of Colorado is mandatory for all drivers and this is why setting aside time to understand your auto insurance quotes is extremely important.

By doing this, you will be able to build the right policy as you find the right company to purchase coverage from in a timely manner. It's always great to compare cost

Here is your guide to understanding auto insurance quotes and retrieving quotes in Colorado.

What Are the Mandatory Auto Insurance Laws in Colorado?

All drivers in Colorado are required to carry a minimum amount of insurance on registered vehicle prior to operating them. If your vehicles are registered in the state, you must carry a minimum of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident in Bodily Injury coverage as well as $15,000 per accident in Personal Property coverage.

These limits are minimums and most insurance agents recommend to purchase higher limits for additional protection.

State compulsory insurance laws follow a tort system, which means that the insurance company will investigate and establish fault prior to paying for a claim. If you want coverage that pays for damage or injuries when you are at fault for an accident, you will need to purchase optional coverage types designed to protect you.

Optional Coverage Types to Consider in Colorado

As you start to request quotes and compare premiums, it is important to be aware of all of the optional types of coverage that you can purchase.

In addition to Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability, there are a variety of coverage options that will provide you with money to cover your own medical bills or collision repairs regardless of who is at fault. Here are some of the most common options available to you from providers in Colorado.

Physical Damage

Physical Damage coverage comes in two forms: Comprehensive and Collision. Comprehensive will pay you to repair or replace your vehicle when it is damaged or totalled due to covered losses that do not involve a collision.

Some of the perils that are covered include: fire, theft, hail, vandalism, falling objects, explosion and even incidents with wildlife. You will be able to choose a deductible, which is the amount you will pay before the company approves a claim, and this deductible will determine how much you pay for the coverage.

Collision coverage

Collision coverage will pay if you run into a vehicle or any other property. This portion of physical damage coverage carries a higher premium, especially when you have a less than perfect driving record.

To keep your premiums down, you can carry a higher deductible which passes less of the burden on to the insurer. If your vehicle is leased or financed, you are required by the finance company to carry full physical damage coverage.

Uninsured Motorist and Underinsured Motorist Protection

Based on statistics released by the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, about 11.5 percent of drivers in Colorado are uninsured. If you are involved in an accident with a driver who does not carry auto insurance, you must take the driver to court to attempt to collect for your civil damages.

Purchase Uninsured Motorist can help you protect yourself against people who do not follow the law.

You are not required by law to purchase UM coverage, but insurance companies are required to offer you UM coverage when you are requesting a quote. Effective January 1, 2008, there has been an expansion of the coverage to protect your rights as a consumer.

Make sure that you review the cost of insurance with and without this supplemental coverage, and get peace of mind in knowing you have coverage that will help you recover from an accident with an uninsured driver.

Medical Payments Coverage

The state of Colorado also requires insurers to offer all drivers the option to purchase $5,000 of Medical Payments coverage. This coverage will pay for you and your passenger's medical expenses following an accident.

It does not matter who is at fault, which makes the coverage great if the adjusters are battling to assign fault. Medical payments coverage can be rejected in writing.

Towing and Rental Car

Some companies who want to compete with automobile associations will also offer towing and labor coverage through the insurance policy. This typically only provides coverage for your vehicle listed on the policy and has restrictions.

Review these restrictions before you cancel any of your association memberships. If you are worried about replacing a vehicle while it is being repaired, purchased rental car coverage is wise. You can usually choose a daily limit that will apply only when you experience a covered loss.

How to Compare Colorado Car Insurance Quotes

Now that you understand which types of coverage types that you can choose from, now it is time to compare the cost of coverage as you combine different types and coverage limits.

The best way to compare premiums is to shop the rates with several different companies. Many first-time auto insurance shoppers are not familiar with the fact that providers each target their own market niches.

Their rates are actually designed to be competitive in specific markets and not in others. By comparison shopping, you can identify which provider is priced right in your market.

If you want to make comparison shopping less stressful, you should use a rate comparison tool that accurately gives you access to many rates. These tools will only request your information once to give you dozens of quotes.

If you believe that your time is valuable and you do not have time to visit agency after agency, comparison shopping online with a rate comparison tool is ideal.

What Do you Need to Get the Most Accurate Colorado Quotes?

Now that you know exactly how you should start shopping for auto insurance, the next step is preparing yourself for the process. It can take as little as 10 to 15 minutes to retrieve your own personalized auto insurance quotes online if you have all of the right information handy when you access the tool.

If you do not have the right information handy, not only will you spend more time at your desk, you also risk your premiums going up when your policy is issued. By providing the most accurate information possible, you do not have to worry about premiums changing between the quote and the issued policy.

Having a few key pieces of information will ensure that your quotes for insurance are correct. If you already have a Colorado insurance policy, be sure to request a copy of your Declarations page and a Letter of Experience from your current insurance provider to make verifying your information as easy as possible.

The Declarations page will include information on your coverage limits, your VIN, driver assignments, usage, and mileage. The Letter of Experience will show how long you have been with your current insurer and whether or not you have any claims recorded on your history.

If you fail to list prior claims, your rates will go up once a CLUE report has been run. This is because insurance companies all use a national database to report claims.

Additional information that you will need to provide accurate information includes:

• Driver information which includes birth date, driver license, date licensed and occupation
• Year, make, model of vehicle with odometer reading
• Usage and annual mileage of each vehicle
• Coverage options (when you do not currently have cover)
• Violation dates
• Accident dates and payoff amounts
• Finance companies
• Proof for discounts (driver courses, good student, mature driver)
• Payment information for automatic drafts

As long as you provide all of this information, you should be able to retrieve the most accurate quote possible. You can also adjust the coverage limits you already have if you would like a more comprehensive or a more affordable policy.

This is suggested when you are not sure which coverage limits you would like but you would like to see how much policy that you can get for your money. If your vehicles are financed, be sure to find out which deductibles are acceptable to the finance company so that your coverage is accepted.

When you are comparing the cost of insurance through providers in Colorado, be sure to consider much more than just price. In addition to cost, you should consider customer satisfaction and claims processing ratings.

You can check for complaints filed against specific insurers through the Department of Regulatory Agencies for your own protection.

Once you check for complaints, be sure to verify that the company is financially stable and able to pay off claims before you entrust them to pay for your loss.

By doing all of this, researching coverage types, and then using a FREE rate comparison tool, such as the one above, you can feel confident with the policy that you choose and the price that you pay.