Car Insurance

If you live in an urban area, possessing a vehicle can be both costly as well as a hassle. Getting a parking place might rival locating a Taliban commander in its difficulty. Paying for car parking can leave a significant hole in your wallet. Due to the large number of motorists on the highway, car insurance prices tend to be higher in large cities. Gas mileage suffers during city driving because of the fairly slow speeds and repeated halts. As a result, a lot of city dwellers are saying no thanks to vehicle ownership and relying upon other options. Public transportation continues to be an important alternative, but a relatively new idea is taking hold in many U.S. cities: car sharing.

As outlined by CarSharing.net, at the beginning of 2010 there were 27 vehicle sharing programs in the U.S., helping 388,000 members and sharing 7,500 automobiles. They go by names like Zipcar, Car2go, and Community Car. The programs impose an annual membership fee and may even bill an application fee; Zipcar, for example charges a $50 annual fee and a $25 application fee in the Washington, D.C. area. A separate charge is applicable for every use of an automobile (for example, $30 for a four-hour reservation), which covers gas, insurance, and a specified amount of miles.

The types of individuals most likely to use a vehicle sharing program include:

* People who normally use public transportation but who require their own car on occasion

* People who own one car and from time to time require a second

* People who own small vehicles though from time to time require a larger vehicle

* Those who can’t afford to purchase an automobile but could spend the money for membership fees

* Individuals who want to avoid the annoying parts of car ownership, like maintenance, fees, and storage costs

* Naturalists concerned about the pollution that goes along with vehicle ownership

A person using a vehicle sharing service takes risks much like those she would take when driving a rental car. She may incur legal liability for injuring someone or harming another’s property when using the car. She may suffer injuries in an accident, resulting in healthcare costs and lost income. She may wreck the car and become responsible for repair costs. The car sharing service provides liability insurance, but the borrower does not have any guarantee that the level of insurance is going to be enough to pay all the damages. Also, that insurance might not apply if she lets an unauthorized person to drive, like a “designated driver” during a night on the town. If she doesn’t own a car, she should obtain a named nonowner auto insurance policy, that’ll cover liability, medical, and uninsured or underinsured motorist losses in addition to what the vehicle sharing service’s plan supplies. Additionally, certain umbrella liability policies may insure damage to a borrowed vehicle when the car sharing service’s policy doesn’t pay. An expert insurance agent can identify insurers that offer these kinds of insurance coverages and make clear the disparities in protection and cost associated with the different policies.

For individuals living in places where it is available, car sharing may be a very practical alternative to owning a car. Like every special service, it bears particular risks. However, by making some simple arrangements in advance, motorists can make the most of these types of services and always be comfortable that they’ve constrained their financial risks.

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