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Just like any other place in America, New York can be dangerous, especially when it comes to the safety of your personal belongings. Many car insurance companies consider New York a high risk area because of the high statistics of crime. Cars are at risk for being vandalized and stolen. Yet, high risk or not, New York drivers and car owners must have auto insurance ? it is the law.

Luckily, New York participates in a program for drivers and car owners to help them protect their vehicles against theft ? Watch Your Car.

Watch Your Car (WYC) is a special plan to help drivers and car owners not only recover their vehicles after they have been stolen, but to possibly even prevent the vehicle from being stolen. The federally funded program places decals on the windshield of a WYC participant?s vehicle, giving police officers notice that the owner of the vehicle does not usually drive the vehicle between 1 a.m. and 5 p.m., nor does the owner of the vehicle drive near international borders.

WYC also etches the vehicle identification number into the vehicle?s windshield; a VIN is often removed when someone steals a vehicle, but when the VIN is etched into the vehicle?s windshield, it makes it very difficult to remove. If the thief does remove it, serious damage occurs to the vehicle?s windshield.

A program such as Watch Your Car lets a car insurance company know that you are serious about protecting your vehicle against theft. This is very important when shopping for cheap auto insurance in New York as you are likely to get better rates if you take safety precautions. Of course, you should also take other safety precautions such as anti-theft alarms and parking your vehicle in a garage rather than on the street.

For more information about Watch Your Car, contact the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, or your local law enforcement agency.

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One morning a friend of mine was running late for class at school. His wife was throwing together some kind of breakfast while he gathered his laptop, notebook, and picked out the books he was going to need for school that day. He zipped up his pack and ran outside to warm the car up. Except, there was no car. It had been stolen. My friend ran into one disappointment after another that week as he first found the insurance company wouldn’t pay for a rental, then that the damage the thief did to the car would only be covered up to the deductible and that somehow he was going to have to come up with the 500 dollars before the car could be fixed.

He had supposed he had done due diligence by going to one of those car insurance quotes sites and finding the lowest priced quote. He had thought by getting cheap car insurance he had beat the system somehow. In reality, his cheap car insurance turned out to be crappy car insurance. His problem stemmed from a lack of information about his car insurance.

Before you buy your next auto insurance policy be sure you know all of the facts about the company’s service policies. Cheap car insurance is only cheap if the product is as good as the more expensive car insurance. A good place to start is with a free car insurance quote, however obtaining an auto insurance quote is not going to be enough unless you know what kind of service you expect and whether or not the company quoted will provide it. The two A’s will keep you straight. They are, Assets and Assistance.

Assets

You want to make certain that your car insurance quote includes every asset you could want or need in an emergency. When you are high and dry without a car, will your insurance cover your transportation needs? Check to make certain that the company you are buying car insurance from will provide you with an auto rental if something goes wrong. If your car is stolen–as my friend’s was– undrivable, or in the car repair shop for a few days you want to make certain that a car will be available to you. If not, you will be forced to call your in-laws and give them one more reason why you aren’t good enough for their daughter. Check that you have road-side assistance, some variation on lock-out service, and towing service provided by some insurance company. Remember the car insurance quote is only low if the car insurance product is good.

Assistance

Find out what the auto insurance company’s customer service is like before you buy from them. How do you find out something like that? First, there is no way to know for certain what type of people you will end up dealing with, but there are ways to know the probability of having a good experience. First, there is the low tech way of asking your family and friends what their experiences have been. The lemon auto insurance companies will immediately pop up in a network search of that kind, but let’s say that you are a hermit and have no family or friends, or like one friend of mine, your family is all from the catskill mountains without cars or running water. If that is the case then you will need to try the high tech method: use the internet. One way is to make use of the Better Business Bureau’s search engine. At www.betterbusinessbureau.org you can find if any complaints have been registered against the auto insurance company in question and whether or not the company has resolved those complaints. I have checked the auto insurance companies that have treated my family poorly and they all seem to have a complaint–not made by me–against their name.

Another way to check the customer service of a company is to find a claims telephone number on their website and call it up. If their claims people are nice to you, the likelihood of the customer service being a positive team has just raised. After you have assessed the courtesy level of the auto insurance company’s service department, then politely thank them for their time and hang up. No explanation necessary, they will just move on to their next call without giving you another thought. This technique is based on the theory that there are two kinds of companies: the ones who stock their sales teams with friendly people and put all the low-paid mean folks in their claims departments and the ones who stock both with friendly, professionals. Usually, this simple test will tell you the type of company with which you are dealing.

If the quoted auto insurance policy has both the assets you desire and a high quality of customer service, then the quote is a true quote. Remember if you think you might end up actually using the car insurance–which we should all assume we will–then check these two things before running after the apparently low premiums.

Technorati Tags: Assets, Auto Insurance Policy, Auto Insurance Quote, Auto Rental, Buying Car Insurance, Car Insurance Quote, Car Insurance Quotes, Car Repair Shop, Cheap Car Insurance, Customer Assistance, Disappointment, Due Diligence, Expensive Car, Few Days, Free Car Insurance, Insurance Company, Laptop Notebook, Service Policies, T Pay, Thief

The theft of belongings and electrical equipment from cars is on the increase and more so now with the introduction of and gain in popularity of the costly satellite navigation systems that are being installed in many cars. Thieves are targeting this piece of expensive equipment which has lead to more and more people claiming on their car insurance.

However a simple measure is all that is needed to deter the thieves when it comes to targeting your sat nav system. By having it security marked it will be less desirable to a thief as they can be traced back to the owner more easily. Security marking of your belongings doesn?t take long and some police forces across the country are for a limited time offering to do this free of charge, so it is worthwhile checking with your police force to see if they are offering this. If not then crimes prevention unit in your area can give you free advice on where to go to get your system marked.

Having your system security coded can save you money in the long run as if you claim on your car insurance for the theft then this will boost your premium up. With security coding you are less likely to claim. Security coding simply means that you have your post code etched into the system and it is a quick and easy process.

If property such as this is security coded then it is classed as ?hot? property and thieves are very wary of taking it as it is harder to sell on to others and greatly reduces the amount that the thieves can get for item. However in the case that a thief risks it and takes the system there is a far better chance that it can be recovered and returned.

It seems that the female motorists are being targeted more than the male, thieves are taking advantage of the single female motorist and police forces say that women drivers in particular should not only have their equipment security marked to avoid being targeted but should also be extremely careful when driving alone.

Always lock the car doors as thieves are targeting and getting into cars and women are being assaulted and robbed. So not only should you security code your sat nav and other belongings such as DVD players to save you money on your insurance claims, take precautions that you stay safe and secure when out driving alone.

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A question often asked is whether or not securing your car will help to reduce your UK car insurance premiums. Will this is certainly a factor you need to discuss with your car insurance company, you should note the following:

Steering Wheel Locks

While steering wheel locks may deter thieves from steeling your car, the fact is that most UK car insurance companies will not allow for the fact that you have one to affect the level of your car insurance premium. In short, if the thief is a professional, steering wheel locks are not much of a deterrent.

Immobiliser

If your car has an immobiliser system inserted ? such as the Thatcham Category 1 ? then you should be talking to your UK car insurance company about ways to reduce your car insurance premium. Indeed, as a security extra on the car in itself, your car having an immobiliser is likely to be the only factor your car insurance company will be willing to listen to when discussing ways to reduce your annual car insurance premium.

Garage

26 percent of all car theft in the UK last year took place right outside the front door of the car owner! So, if you have the ability to lock your car away at night in a garage, then mention this to your car insurance company as there is a very good chance that this will cause you to have a reduced car insurance premium! Remember, however, that if you arrange to have a car insurance discount based on the fact that you?ll be locking your car away all night, you?ll need to make sure that?s exactly what you do ? otherwise, if your car is stolen from in front of your house ? you may find that your car insurer will not pay out!

Location

64 percent of car crime in the UK last year took place in the neighbourhood of the car owner! In most cases, these were inner city areas. Where you live, and the crime rate in your area, will have a major influence on the car insurance premium you are quoted. So, if you are being quoted a very high UK car insurance premium, it might be time to consider moving!

And finally?

Obviously securing your car is more than just about reducing your car insurance premiums ? it is about making sure no one steals your personal belongings. To this end, keep in mind that 90%PRCTG% of car crime in the UK is opportunist car crime, so make sure you minimise the chance that your car will be stolen by keeping your car safe and secure at all times.

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With a study being conducted into which towns in the UK are considered to be ?hotspots? when it comes to having your car stolen or being involved in an accident and the results now being announced it is important to remember that you can still save money on your car insurance price even if you live in or near one of the hotspot areas.

The towns which have hit the top of the list have seen the most incidents which have required an insurance claim to be made and have such have labelled them as car damage hotspots. When it comes to cars being stolen then the worst place to live and try to get cheap insurance is in the North of England says the research from Budget insurance. Hull holds the top spot then Bradford and Leeds.

Of course there are many ways that you yourself can reduce theft with some of the most simpler being the installation of security features such as steering locks, alarms, etched windows, immobilizers and car alarms. These all help to deter the thief and so keep your car safe, you should also make sure that you keep your car in a garage rather than keep it on the side of the road and also remove any items which could lead to someone wanting to break into your car such as laptops, mobile phones, handbags and purses.

There are many practices that people can take in order to make the safer on the roads and so lessen the risk of being involved in an accident and so not have to make a claim on your car insurance, reducing the speed at which you drive is one of the best ways to lessen the chance of suffering from an accident as it gives more time for the car to slow down, speed is one of the leading causes of accidents and claims against insurance.

Hints, tips and advice on saving on your car insurance along with saving money on the car insurance price can all be found with a specialist broker, the broker will be able to search the UK marketplace for the best deal for your car insurance which means that you will be sure of getting the cheapest quotes along with all the information you could possibly want when it comes to getting insured, even if you live in what is considered to be one of the hotspot areas.

Another way of cutting down on the cost of the car insurance price is to take out a third party fire and theft policy, this type of policy is cheaper than the fully comprehensive policy but of course is more limited than taking out fully comprehensive cover. Third party will cover you for damage to the other party?s car if you should be involved in an accident and along with this you will have cover if your car should be stolen or damaged by fire. Fully comprehensive on the other hand will cover you for everything that third party does but will also give you cover to repair your own car, cover for passengers if they should be hurt along with other extras.

Technorati Tags: Alarms, Budget Insurance, Car Alarms, Car Damage, Car Insurance, Causes Of Accidents, Cheap Insurance, Handbags And Purses, Immobilizers, Insurance, Insurance Claim, Insurance Price, Laptops, Leeds, Mobile Phones, North England, Saving Money, Security Features, Specialist Broker, Steering Locks, Thief, Uk Marketplace