You’ve said goodbye to studying long hours and taking tests and said hello to life after graduating college (which often involves managing things on your own). This new adventure can be hard, but we’re here to make sure you feel protected on the road if you are getting your own car insurance.
First off, liability insurance is important and legally required. Give yourself a healthy amount of liability coverage and do more than just the state minimum requirement. Remember, your liability limits cover what your legal liability is for a covered accident that involves injury to another person or damage to someone’s property, up to the limit of liability you selected. It is often better to have more than enough liability to be safe.
Also, consider comprehensive and collision coverage. These coverages are optional but are crucial when it comes to protecting your vehicle on the road. If you finance or lease your vehicle, many lienholders do require that you have both of these coverages included on your policy. Comprehensive coverage helps to protect your auto in scenarios like fire, theft, hail, flood, an animal hitting your car, or a tree falling on it. Collision coverage covers damages to your vehicle in the event that it overturns or collides with another car or object. (Despite popular confusion, this does not include an animal).
The deductible you choose would be your out-of-pocket expense that you agree to pay for losses up to that set amount you choose, such as $250, $500, or $1,000. If you can afford to carry a higher deductible on collision or comprehensive coverage, doing so may somewhat lower your rate. However, it is more important to consider what you would be willing and able to pay out of pocket, in the event of damage to your vehicle due to collision or other damage.
Now, this is all common insurance coverage that you may have had to deal with ever since you got that new license and drove off into the sunset, but now that you’re a more adult you, take some time to also consider these other important pieces of your auto insurance policy:
- If you’re moving in with roommates or a significant other after graduating, be sure to either add them to your policy or exclude them. At Metromile, we do require that anyone that lives in your household is included on your policy. In certain states, you are able to exclude drivers from your policy if you do not wish to have them added as secondary drivers.
- Protect yourself with Medical Payments or Personal Injury Protection (PIP). These can vary state by state, but in general, both will protect you for medical expenses in case you or your passengers are injured in an accident.
- Include Roadside Assistance to help you in a bind. At Metromile, if you have this coverage, you can request service 24/7 for circumstances requiring towing, jumpstarts, tire changes, lockout services, and emergency fluid or fuel delivery. You can easily request roadside assistance through the app or on your dashboard. Most of the time this coverage is not too costly and can really help you in the long run.
- Add Rental Car Reimbursement just in case. This coverage is optional and will reimburse you for a rental car if you are in a covered accident or loss and your vehicle is unable to be driven, up to the limits selected. You will appreciate having this coverage if your vehicle is in the shop or totaled after an accident and you still have to get to work or drive around town.
We all know a recent grad is always looking for a good deal. Did you know if you drive less then you can save more? Metromile offers pay-per-mile auto insurance and people driving less than 10,000 miles per year can typically see savings with Metromile. To see how much you could save go to www.metromile.com/insurance.